Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Asbarez – The CineCulture Series and the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, are sponsoring a special screening of the film Lost Birds at 5:30pm on Friday, April 7, in the Leon and Pete Peters Educational Auditorium (west end of the SaveMart Center, near Shaw and Woodrow Avenues), on the Fresno State campus.

Directors Ela Alyamac and Arda Perdeci will be flying to Fresno from Turkey to be the discussants at the screening of their movie.

Set against the backdrop of the First World War in a small Armenian village in Ottoman Anatolia, Lost Birds is a historical fairy tale told through the eyes of a young brother and sister left behind in the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Lost Birds is the first film made in Turkey to depict the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It was brought to the screen by the five years of work, persistence, and courage of filmmakers Aren Perdeci and Ela Alyamac, who share writing and directing credits. Lost Birds handles the task of telling a very dramatic story in a fairy tale narrative and this leads the audience to feel something magical yet so real at the same time.

Bedo and Maryam’s happy home life is torn apart when their grandfather is apprehended and taken away by soldiers. Now, forbidden to go outside by their mother, one morning, the two children sneak away to play in their secret cave. But, when they return, they find their home and the entire village empty. Together, with the wounded bird they have been nursing back to health, the children embark on a perilous journey to find their mother.

On March 16, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian will visit New York to attend events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s membership to the United Nations.

Minister  Nalbandian is expected to meet with UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Peace of Art () will display a message of peace on electronic billboards on seven locations in Massachusetts, calling on the international community to recognize the first genocide of the 20th century.

Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, Peace of Art president, explained: “April 2017 is the month of remembrance of the Holocaust and all genocides in the world, and on this occasion we are calling on Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide by honoring the memory of the innocent victims of all genocides. The billboards reflect the historical moment, when His Holiness Karekin II, together with Pope Francis on behalf of the Armenian and Catholic community worldwide, released doves soaring towards Mt. Ararat, sending a message of peace to Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide.”

Every year since 1996, Hejinian has been displaying the Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards. In 2003 Peace of Art, Inc., began to sponsor the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Billboards. In 2015, Peace of Art, Inc. launched its Armenian Genocide Centennial awareness billboard campaign, “100 Billboards for 100 Years of Genocide,” in the U.S. and Canada to commemorate not only the victims of the Armenian Genocide but also the victims of all genocides.

 

Joseph Castro, president of Fresno State University, has been named man of the year by the Knights and Daughters of Vartan for his support of the Armenian community, the reports.

In its announcement, the Knights and Daughters highlight Castro’s support for the Armenian Genocide Memorial monument on the campus, the only such memorial on a U.S. college.

The group also recognized his backing for the Armenian Studies program at Fresno State and his efforts to further initiatives between Fresno State and American University of Armenia.

He will be honored as the group’s second man of the year at a banquet to be held March 25 at Pardini’s Catering and Banquets.

The Knights is an Armenian fraternal organization. The Daughters is an organization that supports the Armenian culture and development of Armenian women.

Azerbaijan has declared three Members of the European Parliament internationally wanted for their recent visit to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, RIA Novosti reports.

MEPs Frank Engel, Eleni Theocharous and Jaromir Stetina visited the Artsakh Republic to observe the Constitutional referendum held on February 20.

The court has ruled to arrest the MEPs, Press Service of the Prosecutor General’s Office has said.

An overwhelming majority of Artsakh citizens voted in favor of a new Constitution, which envisages shift to a presidential form of government.

Horizon Weekly – Despite continuous efforts by Azerbaijani authorities to discourage foreign diplomats, parliamentarians and observers from visiting the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh/NKR), former Canadian parliamentarian, the Honourable Jim Karygiannis will be visiting Artsakh in the upcoming week to serve as an international observer in the republic’s constitutional referendum that is set to be held on February 20, 2017.

A long-time supporter of Artsakh’s independence and its people’s right to self-determination, Mr. Karygiannis is visiting Artsakh at the request of the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC). Previously and as recent as 2012, Mr. Karygiannis led a team of Canadian Election Observers for the presidential election in the Republic of Artsakh.

In a statement released after the elections, he explicitly stated; “It was a picture-perfect election from start to finish and witnessing the election process in a new democracy was a positive learning experience. I also met with government officials, residents of Nagorno Karabakh and members of the Canadian Diaspora who were visiting and learned more about the challenges facing this Artsakh”.

“Mr. Karygiannis’ timely visit to Artsakh is yet another indication that the young republic is a democratic and a fully functioning state, with a thriving market economy and an active civil society, that is striving to achieve its freedom and the formal recognition of its independence,” ANCC said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian says the case of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin will not become a precedent.

“I can’t say who will benefit from the Lapshin case, but it will certainly not add honor to anyone,” Edward Nalbandian told a press conference today.

“On the contrary, persecuting people for exercising their fundamental rights to the freedom of movement and freedom of expression is a shame,” the Foreign Minister said.

According to Minister Nalbandian, the case will hardly become a precedent.

“People have visited and will keep visiting Nagorno Karabakh,” Edward Nalbandian said. “More and more people have been visiting Nagorno Karabakh over the past years despite Azerbaijan’s discontent.

The visitors include not only outstanding public, political and culture figures, but also tourists.

“The more they [Azerbaijan] try to prevent the visits, the more they advertise Nagorno Karabakh. Everyone wants to go and see it,” the Minister noted.

“This only causes harm Azerbaijan’s reputation and the reputation of all those cooperating with Azerbaijan on such issues,” Edward Nalbandian said.

On December 15, 2016, police in Belarus detained Mr. Lapshin, a popular travel blogger based in Moscow, for his prior visits to the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and for his criticism of the Aliyev regime.

On 20 January 2017, at President Aliyev’s request,  the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus decided to have Mr. Lapshin extradited to Azerbaijan.  An appeal to the ruling was recently denied.

The AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) officially partnered with My Armenia-a program funded by USAID and implemented by the Smithsonian Institution- to boost tourism and cultural preservation in the rural region of Vayots Dzor in Armenia. During the press conference, plans were announced to co-publish a multimedia e-book on the region as part of the AVC series.

“Tourism is one of the many dynamic developing sectors in Armenia. Committed to its mission of supporting Armenia’s socio-economic progress, AGBU is actively engaged in the development and promotion of innovative products, such as e-books, to increase awareness and promote Armenia as a unique touristic destination attractive for people of all age groups and diverse interests,” said AGBU Armenia president and AGBU Central Board member Vasken Yacoubian.

The Vayots Dzor e-book will be part of AVC’s multi-platform media product series accessible from smart phones, tablets and web browsers. The new e-book will cover the history and geography of the region of Vayots Dzor and will contain a range of information on local cuisine, architecture, archeology, festivals, regional events and adventure trips. Available in seven languages, subscriptions to the e-book series are free. The first two in the series are The Armenian Highland and Exploring Yerevan. History of AGBU, the third e-book in the series, is set to be launched by the end of 2016.

“This project comes to add to the mission and continued efforts of the Armenian Virtual College in introducing the Armenian heritage to the global community,” said Dr. Yervant Zorian, AVC founder and AGBU Central Board member. “Seeing the popularity of our multimedia e-book series, we believe e-publication is the best means to present the wealth of our heritage in a state-of-the-art manner. We are delighted that the Smithsonian Institution and USAID are also committed to further developing tourism in Armenia and are excited about this collaboration. The e-book on Vayots Dzor is going to be part of a series that will be covering various regions of Armenia.”

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum and research complex in the United States attracting more than 30 million visitors per year. It also has an overseas presence in 130 countries promoting cultural resilience, conserving biodiversity, studying and supporting cultural and natural heritage. The Smithsonian My Armenia program aims to enhance and increase cultural heritage tourism in the regions outside of the capital city of Yerevan through a unique combination of research, scholarship, support for artisan craft, capacity building, and a strong focus on fresh thinking for tourism development. Smithsonian and Armenian researchers are working with local communities to identify and document their cultural expressions, including food, crafts, music, dance, and traditional knowledge. The information collected will then be used in the AGBU AVC e-book and other platforms to promote and share stories about Armenia’s cultural, historic, and artistic riches with visitors from around the world.

“Through USAID and Smithsonian joint efforts, the My Armenia program will aim to demonstrate the productive relationship that can occur between culture and economic development. Enhanced and diversified cultural heritage tourism developed by experts and the efforts of My Armenia, in close cooperation with key partners such as AGBU AVC, can drive sustainable economic growth in rural communities and support them in improving the sustainability of Armenian cultural heritage,” said Olivier Messmer, chief-of-party of the Smithsonian My Armenia program.

The plane crash that killed 71 people in Colombia last month, including dozens of players from Brazil’s Chapecoense football team, was caused by human error, an investigation says, the BBC reports.

Colombian officials said there was no technical failure and blamed the pilot, the airline and Bolivian regulators.

A recording had already indicated the aircraft had run out of fuel.

The plane, operated by Bolivian company LaMia, plunged into a mountainside near Medellin. Only six people survived.

Preliminary results of the Colombian investigation said the pilot failed to refuel en route and was too late in reporting engine failures caused by the lack of fuel.

Colombia’s Secretary for Air Safety, Col Freddy Bonilla, also said that aviation authorities in Bolivia and the airline accepted conditions presented in the flight plan that were “unacceptable”.

Sputnik/Evgeny Yepanchintsev

 

According to press service of the Southern Military District, Russian Air Defense Troops repelled a missile attack by a simulated enemy during a drill at a military base in Armenia, reports.

Russian Air Defense Troops repelled a missile attack by a simulated enemy during a drill at a military base in Armenia, the press service of the Southern Military District said on Monday.

“At more than 6,500 feet Air Defense units of the Russian Transcaucasia searched, identified, tracked and struck with electronic missile launches … the simulated enemy,” the statement released by the press service said. According to the statement, Russian military took a 93-mile-long cross-country march to the Alagyaz training range and back.

The attack of the simulated enemy that, according to the drill’s scenario, used weapons of mass destruction was repelled with Buk-M1-2 and S300-V missile systems. The maneuvers were held in rocky snow-covered mountains, the statement added.