ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
Friday
President of Costa Rica praised the role of the Armenian people in world history
Yerevan August 11
Tatevik Shahunyan. Armenian Ambassador to Mexico and Costa Rica Armen
Ayvazyan (residence of Mexico City) presented his credentials to the
President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis.
As RA Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo, during the meeting the President
Solis highly appreciated the potential and role of the Armenian people
in world history, underscoring Costa Rica's interest in developing
relations with Armenia.
In his turn, Ambassador Ayvazyan also stated Armenia's interest in
developing mutually beneficial and multidisciplinary cooperation with
Costa Rica. The sides also discussed regional and international
issues. At the request of President Ayvazyan presented the latest
developments around the Karabakh conflict, the consequences of the
April war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the efforts of the Armenian side
and the OSCE Minsk Group towards a peaceful settlement of the problem.
In this context, President Solis assured that Costa Rica supports the
efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in the direction of an exceptionally
peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Within the framework of the visit, Ambassador Ayvazyan also met with
members of the Costa Rican Cabinet of Ministers and discussed
prospects for developing multi-profile cooperation.
After the Americana at Brand rejected billboard space for a film about genocide, state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) has joined a local Armenian group in asking mall officials to reverse their decision.
Last week, the Glendale chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America requested that the Americana reconsider its denial of billboard space for “Architects of Denial,” a documentary that examines genocides, including the Armenian genocide, through survivor accounts.
In a statement on Thursday, Portantino said he supported the committee’s request.
“I thought to myself that Hollywood has long-celebrated thought-provoking and hard-edged filmmaking that stimulates conversations about historical events,” Portantino said. “It seems like labeling art as ‘too political’ was an odd reason to deny the appropriate free _expression_ of a historical documentary.”
Jackie Levy — executive vice president of operations for Caruso, which owns and operates the Americana — invited the film’s producers to discuss further the proposed film advertisement.
PanARMENIAN.Net – An Armenian team of young women was selected among the finalists and won the People’s Choice Award in a months-long app-building competition, The Technovation Challenge, organized by Google at the company’s campus.
More than 11,000 girls from 103 countries formed teams to address issues in several categories: peace, poverty, environment, equality, education, and health. This week, the finalists traveled to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View to pitch their ideas to a panel of tech leaders and other experts.
The Armenian team was comprised of Aghavni Hakobyan, Sona Avetisyan, Svetlana Davtyan, Violeta Mkrtchyan, Vardanush Nazaretyan, Google said in a blog post.
When a deaf classmate visited their school, the team of five girls from the village of Karbi, Aragatsotn village, came up with the idea for an app — aptly called Armenian Sign Language — to help people learn Armenian sign language using videos of sign gestures. Armenian Sign Language was developed to help connect those with poor hearing and those with good hearing. The app is suitable for English and Armenian speakers of all ages.
Four girls from Kazakhstan behind a safety app called QamCare were crowned the winner of the Senior Division and will receive $15,000.
Armenia, other finalists Kenya and India will receive $10,000 each.
CALEDONIA — Celebrations of the Divine Liturgy at Racine County’s Armenian churches will take on special significance Sunday, with the addition of historic chalices on loan to those congregations.
The chalices — which were recovered from a seminary that was destroyed during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-21 — will be used in the preparation and distribution of communion at St. Hagop Armenian Church, 4100 Newman Road, and St. Mesrob Armenian Church, 4605 Erie St., during Sunday’s morning services.
It will be the first time in more than 100 years that these liturgical vessels will be used for their intended purpose of holding bread and wine during Sunday worship, according to the Rev. Avedis Kalayjian, pastor of St. Mesrob. Kalayjian said that he and the Rev. Daron Stepanian, pastor of St. Hagop, are working together to share these historic treasures with their congregations.
“We hope to share them with the broader Racine community as well,” he said. “Armenians, fleeing persecution in the Ottoman Empire, have been in Racine for over a century. Being reunited with these liturgical vessels after all this time is a meaningful and profound opportunity for Armenians, and we would like to share this event with the community at large.”
_expression_ of faith
The chalices are on loan to the congregations from their current owners, Levon Saryan, a member of St. Hagop’s Board of Trustees, and Chuck Hajinian, a member of St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in Greenfield who has family ties to Racine. Both men are collectors of Armenian artifacts and together they recently purchased the chalices as part of collection of historic items from an estate sale.
Through documentation and research, they’ve discovered that these beautifully ornate, silver chalices, both dated from the 1800s, had been donated to the Armenian seminary of Armash, located outside of Istanbul, in the 19th century. During the genocide, Armash’s Armenian residents (including monastery graduates) were rounded up by Ottoman authorities and sent on death marches to Syria, and the seminary was looted of its priceless artifacts before its monastery was destroyed, according to Hajinian and Saryan.
“The chalices are an _expression_ of faith, which those priests paid for with their lives in the Armenian Genocide,” Hajinian said.
And, being able to use them again in church gives people a lot of comfort and a connection to their past, Rev. Kalayjian said.
While they aren’t certain of what happened to the chalices following the genocide, the collectors assume that they became property of the Turkish government and eventually reached the antiques market in Europe, Saryan said. He and Hajinian purchased them from the estate of another Armenian collector, who lived in Washington, D.C., and specialized in Armenian needlelace and embroidery.
While they legally own the chalices, both Saryan and Hajinian said that, from an emotional standpoint, they feel the chalices belong to the monastery and the Armenian people. They hope to eventually donate them to a museum or other institution, where they can be preserved for future generations and continue to tell the story of the Armash monastery.
In the meantime, they would like to share the chalices and their story with as many people as they can in this area, and said they are available to give presentations to any interested groups. Inquiries can be sent to Saryan at [email protected] or to Hajinian at [email protected].
On Sunday, the chalices will be used in the morning Mass, during the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God, at St. Hagop and St. Mesrob Armenian churches. Sunday is one of the Armenian Church’s five principal feast days. Service times are 9:30 a.m. at St. Mesrob, and 10 a.m. at St. Hagop.
If You Go
Divine Liturgy services, featuring historic Armenian chalices, will be held at two churches in Racine County on Sunday. They are scheduled as follows:
9:30 a.m. service at St. Mesrob Armenian Church, 4605 Erie St., Caledonia. 10 a.m. service at St. Hagop Armenian Church, 4100 Newman Road, Caledonia.
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
Thursday
"Stabilization Fund" will allow current tariffs for electricity in
Armenia until 2036
Yerevan August 10
Naira Badalyan. Armenia strives to maintain the current tariffs for
electricity until 2036. "The Armenian government at this stage is
discussing the prospect of creating a "stabilization fund", which will
neutralize the impact of external risks on the tariff policy of the
energy sector," Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural
Resources of Armenia Ashot Manukyan stated at the Governmental meeting
on August 10.
According to the minister, this is a very ambitious project and is
included in the development program for the development of Armenia's
energy sector until 2036. However, in all likelihood, it will be
approved in the form of a separate normative act. "We are trying to
find a way to implement this project, which will allow us to implement
this project in the next 15 years.
According to him, the long-term concept for the development of the
energy sector to the government will be presented until September this
year. "We must take into account our hydropower potential, the
potential of the Meghri hydropower plant, the solar and wind energy in
the country, and understand what steps we need to take to ensure
energy security," Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said.
The government of Armenia has approved an agreement related to construction of the 76-MW Shnokh hydropower plant on the Debed River in the province of Lori, news agencies are reporting.
According to a report from Arka, the project cost is estimated at $150 million and construction of the hydroelectric facility is “part of a strategy to ensure energy security of the nation.”
The Shnokh project will be developed and owned by Debed-Hydro LLC and will involve the construction of 22 km of tunnels.
The facility is to be built with public and private funding. The Armenian Investors Club is involved with the project. This club is a non-public contractual investment fund founded in January 2017.
According to the Investors Club of Armenia’s website, the project will have a construction period of three years and a payback period of 13 years with an internal rate of return of 7.26%. Shnokh will have a depreciation period of 50 years, with a tariff (VAT included) of US$0.078 per kilowatt-hour and annual electricity supply of 300 million kWh. The total investment amount (VAT included) is $150 million, of which the club will provide $22.5 million.
This plant has been under investigation for some time. In 2008, HydroWorld reported that Armenia was inviting expressions of interest from consultants to perform a feasibility study of a project called Shnogh, then with an anticipated capacity of 70 MW.
The Armenian Weekly says hydroelectric plants produced nearly one-third of Armenia’s electricity in 2016, compared with 20% a decade ago.
The Russian “Pravda” newspaper published analysis days ago over the Karabakh issue and Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s most advanced S-400 missile defense system.
In the author’s conviction and as he claimed in the piece when Turkey reached an agreement with Russia over the purchase of the S-400 systems in April, FEW could suppose that could affect the balance of power between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In an interesting way, they ‘came to that conclusion’ only after the comments by Azerbaijani lawmaker Rasim Musabekov, suggesting “Russian interference into the Karabakh conflict on the side of Armenia would inevitably lead to Turkey’s taking the Azerbaijani side.”
The time coincided with reports by Turkish sources, saying the country plans to deploy the newly obtained missile systems at the border with Armenia. Let us put aside the long-persisted Azerbaijani practice of intimidating us with its “big brother” Turkey, as do the fact why Russia acted so ‘naively’ to sell weapons in a region where it positions itself as a mediator. Similarly, it would be best to leave out the Russians’ ‘surprise’ over reports of Turkey’s initiative to deploy the missile systems at the border with Armenia, likewise Russian cynical justifications of arm sale to Azerbaijan for solely ‘business considerations.’
Let us only accept the fact that Russia sells weapons to Turkey with follow-up new questions, surfacing whether Russia plans to sell new arms to Turkey, what kind of weapons, if so, and whether Turkey can resell those arms to Azerbaijan. Does the Armenian diplomacy track those possible developments? We addressed the question about the possibility to resell arms to Armenian ministries of foreign affairs and defense.
In its official clarification, the foreign ministry referred to the Russian legislation mandating the required document of the so-called ‘end-user certificate’ for military devices and equipment which is a document used in international transfers, including sales and export of the arms to certify those will be used only for the stated purposes, that the buyer is the final recipient of the materials, and not planning on transferring or re-exporting of the materials to third parties without the agreement of the original supplier of the arms.
Thus, it remains to see what kind of ‘end-user certificate’ exits between Russia and Turkey!
Armenian member of Iranian parliament: Iran is interested in Armenia as EAEU member
10:38, 11.08.2017
Iran is quite serious about deepening and developing economic ties with Armenia.
Karen Khanlarian, an Armenian MP from the Iranian parliament, told the aforementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
“The best proof is the bill that relates to the joint use of the Norduz-Meghri border gate,” added the Armenian deputy. “Iran is interested in Armenia not solely as a neighboring country, but as a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union [(EAEU)].”
Khanlarian noted that the two countries have far-reaching objectives, and perhaps this is why the construction of a free economic zone has gotten underway nearby Meghri town, on the border with Iran.
And when asked whether Iranian businessmen are interested in investing in Armenia, he responded as follows: “There are Tax Code, currency issues in connection with investments. There is an interest in Iran. I hope the existing problems will be resolved. Such promises have been made that the system will be further streamlined.”
Leaders of Second Armenian Republic should perform as negotiators
‘If we enter into a race of buying weapons, we will hardly be able to win Azerbaijani oil, therefore, we should develop our own military industry and economy’, “Yelq” bloc MP Gevorg Gorgisyan expresses his opinion.
He is convinced: “We should be in a scientific race, we can and should win that race. In that case we can solve Artsakh issue in favor of Armenia. Otherwise we will have to go for a compromise which is not acceptable to our society.”
According to the MP’s characterization, speaking of the return of some territories, we should put the question of Artsakh people’s security in the first place: “We have Nakhichevan completely emptied of Armenians. In this case we should make it clear who we work with. In case of any compromise we put the lives of Artsakh people under threat. Then we weaken the existing grounds. We have liberated Artsakh as a historical Armenian land with Armenian people and with the aim of providing the security of the latter, is it not so? Artsakh is not solely Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region.”
The leader of “Heritage” party Raffi Hovhannisian notes – it is necessary that the leaders of the Second Armenian Republic perform as a negotiator party: “Armenian diplomacy will win if even late but it recognizes Artsakh by Constitution and borders.”
The politician emphasizes that the policy of attacking operations of Azerbaijan is active: “Demanding targeted announcements from the Co-Chairs is not enough. From military and diplomatic perspectives we should be united so much as not to have a need of asking anything from the Co-Chairs. Asking a favor speaks of a diplomatic gap.”
Let us mention that pursuant to expert evaluations, an initiative aimed at the recommencement of negotiations over Artsakh conflict resolution is expected by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in the Autumn.
It is time for the sides of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to take steps for building confidence, international mediators announce. The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Richard Hoagland expressed hope that steps will be taken in this direction in an interview with the Voice of America. He noted that it is hard to achieve total demilitarization though it is very desirable. We must reduce the probability of military clashes, Richard Hoagland said. The ambassador lists the following steps: withdrawal of snipers from border areas and line of contact, increase the number of international observers and install special equipment. He notes that the possibility of incidents is always there when two armed sides are close to each other. The mediators have big expectations from the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in New York which may be followed by negotiations between Presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev in fall. As to new proposals by the mediators, Ambassador Hoagland said there is a comprehensive document but there are steps and stages ahead to reach it. He extended hope that during the next high-level meeting the sides will do serious work and declare some steps even if it is impossible to achieve a lasting settlement. According to the ambassador, the cornerstone of the settlement is compromise which will demilitarize the situation and bring peace, prosperity and security for the peoples of the region. The United States continues to work with Russia over this issue, despite the aggravating relations between the two countries, he noted. According to him, nothing absolutely has changed in their work, and politicians may clash but they continue to work hand in hand. The American co-chair of the Minsk Group underlined that even under the most complicated relations between Washington and Moscow there have been spheres where they continued to work together, like in the case of the Karabakh conflict.