Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
Thursday
Opera singer Davit Varzhapetyan seeks to create bridge between Armenia
and Canada's Armenian community
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Canada-based Opera singer Davit
Varzhapetyan, the artistic director of Opera Belcanto Theater has
arrived in Armenia.
Mr. Varzhapetyan seeks to create a cultural bridge between Armenia and
Canada’s Armenian community, and therefore organizes joint events.
How did you become interested in Opera art?
When I was 4 years old, my mother took me to the Armenian Church of
Istanbul, where I began to sing. I liked almost all church songs, I
was especially impressed by Komitas. Later we immigrated to Lebanon to
avoid Turkish oppressions. There, I was singing in different choirs,
participating in festival, and I was noticed and offered to study in
Germany.
One time Gohar Gasparyan visited Beirut – and we had organized a big
and beautiful events on this occasion. After listening me sing, she
said: “I want you to come to Armenia and study with me”. I forgot all
other offers and I agreed to come to Armenia.
In one of your interviews you mentioned that you want to present the
best voices of Armenia in Canada. In your opinion, who are the best
performers of our country?
I thought about this for the first time in 2010. Later on, I was
introduced to young opera singers Hovhannes Ayvazyan and Davit
Babayants, whom I liked and began to work with them. I invited the
guys to Canada, they were introduced to the local Armenian community
and took part in different concerts.
I always try to maintain contact with my country and I find it mu duty
to present the local singers and artists abroad. A long time ago, when
the Komitas musical union was established in Canada, I felt obliged
towards Armenia and I wanted to create a bridge between Armenia and
Canada’s Armenian community and during that time we invited numerous
dance groups, singers, musicians and performers to Canada.
The full interview is available in Armenian.
Category: 2017
BAKU: Azerbaijan ready for substantive talks to solve Karabakh conflict
Trend, Azerbaijan
13:10 (UTC+04:00
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 30
By Seba Agahyeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan is ready for substantive negotiations for the early settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the change of the inadmissible and unsustainable status quo, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend June 30.
“The need for holding substantive talks to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was stated in a joint statement after the meeting of the [Azerbaijani, Armenian] presidents in Saint Petersburg,” he said.
“In this context, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs during their recent visit to the [South Caucasus] region offered holding a meeting of foreign ministers. Azerbaijan expressed its consent and willingness regarding this proposal.”
Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness for substantive talks to settle the conflict, according to Hajiyev.
Earlier, Armenian media outlets reported that the country’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian didn’t rule out a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in July.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
BAKU: Baku consents to Minsk Group co-chairs’ proposal on meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs
APA, Azerbaijan Baku consents to Minsk Group co-chairs’ proposal on meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs Azerbaijan has expressed its consent to and readiness for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ proposal about holding a meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev told APA on Friday. He noted that the joint statement made following the Saint Petersburg meeting that took place at the level of presidents stressed the necessity of substantive talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “In this context, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, following their recent visit to the region, made a proposal to hold a meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries. Azerbaijan has already expressed its consent to and readiness for this proposal,” the spokesperson said. Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its readiness for substantive negotiations on an early resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the change of the inadmissible and unsustainable status quo, Hajiyev stressed. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988. A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people. The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994. Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden. Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996. Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
BAKU: James Appathurai: NATO encourages Azerbaijan, Armenia to engage in substantial talks on Karabakh conflict settlement
APA, Azerbaijan
James Appathurai: NATO encourages Azerbaijan, Armenia to engage in substantial talks on Karabakh conflict settlement – INTERVIEW
APA presents interview with Mr. James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia
Q: What do you think of the current level of Azerbaijan-NATO relations? How important is Azerbaijan to NATO?
A: We believe that when our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure. In that context, Azerbaijan is a valued and committed NATO partner. And cooperation between us is in our mutual interest. For instance, Azerbaijan contributes to our mission in Afghanistan. And at the same time, NATO is also helping Azerbaijan. NATO and our Allies have considerable expertise in defence and security sector reforms and Azerbaijan draws upon this resource: to modernise its armed forces and its defence education; to promote transparency in its armed forces; to undertake demining activities; and by participating in NATO exercises, like NATO’s annual disaster response exercise, which will take an Azerbaijani team to Bosnia-Herzegovina later this year. NATO and Azerbaijan have recently agreed a new Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP). The plan sets out agreed objectives for cooperation, and agreed timelines to achieve them. Going forward, we encourage Azerbaijan to work more with us, including to meet the objectives of the Partnership Action Plan for Defence Institution Building, which Azerbaijan endorsed in 2004.
Q: Azerbaijan is currently cooperating with NATO within the Resolute Support Mission. What are the plans for the future?
A: We highly value the participation of Azerbaijan troops in NATO-led Resolute Support Mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces. Azerbaijan is an active and steady contributor to NATO-led operations. Azerbaijan’s current contribution to Afghanistan includes 94 personnel and comprises political, military, logistical support, transit and non-military engagements such as training, humanitarian demining, and a financial contribution to the Afghan National Trust Fund with more than 1,6 million USD. We look forward to continuing this successful cooperation especially as NATO will continue to sustain its Resolution Support Mission.
Q: Is it difficult for NATO to work with a country that suffers from a conflict like Nagorno-Karabakh? What do you think of the future of this conflict?
A: Last year’s surge of violence, along with regular cease-fire violations along the line of contact, shows how important it is for all sides to withdraw the heavy weapons, exercise restraint, adhere strictly to the ceasefire, and reduce tensions. This is the only way toward a peaceful settlement as there is no military solution to this conflict. NATO plays no direct role in the negotiations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They are conducted in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. However, we encourage both Azerbaijan and Armenia to engage into substantial negotiations and to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Q: As you know Germany has decided to withdraw its forces from the Incirlik military base in Turkey. What impact do you think this decision is going to have on NATO’s stance on the region?
A: The Secretary General is in regular contact with both the Turkish and German leadership on this issue. We welcome the ongoing dialogue between them and hope these two important Allies will swiftly resolve this issue. This disagreement does not have any direct impact on NATO operations.
Education: ASA Announces Silver and Gold Medal Award Winners
Armenian Weekly
This year the Armenian Students’ Association is pleased to announce that the following students were awarded this highly coveted award, which was instituted to encourage academic achievement.
The Armenian Students’ Association
The Armenian Students’ Association (ASA) Silver Medal Award Committee selected eight high school seniors to receive the Silver Medal Award.
The following students were selected to receive this award Melanie Talan Alcala of Montebello, Calif., graduate of AGBU Vetches & Tamar Mandurian High School enrolled at California State University Fullerton; Gregory Andreopoulos of New Hyde Park, N.Y., graduate of Chaminade High School enrolled at Fordham University; Nicholas Hatfield Hanoian of North Smithfield, R.I., graduate of North Smithfield High School enrolled at University of Vermont; Serena K. Pelenghian of Arcadia, Calif., graduate of AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School enrolled at Occidental College; Svetlana Petrosyan of Fair Lawn, N.J., graduate of Hackensack High School enrolled at Rutgers University; Andrew Madanian Reppucci of Belmont, Mass., graduate of Belmont High School enrolled at Northeastern University; Daniel Yeghia Sarafian of Northridge, Calif., graduate of AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School enrolled at UCLA – Irvine; and Peter S. Taraian of Rehoboth, Mass., graduate of LaSalle Academy enrolled at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The Silver Medal Awards are given annually to high school seniors who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic ability.
The ASA Gold Medal Award is recognized as the highest Scholastic Award within the ASA. Any member of the ASA who is an undergraduate student and is at least a sophomore in an accredited college or university within the United States is eligible for consideration for this award.
Selected to receive the award this year is Janina Aimee Messerlian of Greenville, R.I., a student at Nicholas College.
Applications for Gold and Silver Medal Awards can be obtained at: www.asainc.org. The eadline for submitting applications and documentation is May 1, 2018.
Education: “VivaStart” – educational program that shapes service culture
Panorama, Armenia
The first graduates of this year’s “VivaStart” program have received certificates of completion. Considering high-level service as an important indicator of the quality, the company has provided an opportunity to just another group of students from different universities to get hands-on experience in sales and customer service.
As the press service of VivaCell-MTS reports, first, 21 students took part in theoretical trainings, then in a two-month period they strengthened their professional skills and attained practical knowledge in Yerevan and regional service centers.
“VivaStart” educational program has been conducted since 2015. Acknowledging the importance of customer satisfaction, VivaCell-MTS has equipped 124 students with professional knowledge and practical skills through this educational program. The participants have acquired effective communication skills for customer service, studied the products and services offered by the company and learned how to use marketing techniques for promoting those products and services. The uniqueness of this program is conditioned by its outreach not only to Yerevan, but also to regions.
“Regardless of one’s workplace or position, everyone should remember that communication is the key to human relations. The more civilized those relations are, the more the parties involved will benefit. This is the governance model of VivaCell-MTS: respect and readiness to support are our key values. The knowledge and experience you have gained during this period should guide you also in the future,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.
During their meeting with the General Manager Ralph Yirikian, “VivaStart” graduates shared their impressions and opinions about the program, and emphasized the importance of the knowledge they had received.
Guided by a responsible business culture, VivaCell-MTS has been cooperating with universities in Armenia for over 12 years, by readily sharing its experience with students and giving them the best opportunities for development. So far, 12 graduates of “VivaStart” program have been hired by VivaCell-MTS.
Chess: Armenia’s Haik Martirosyan wins Karen Asrian Memorial Chess Tournament
Panorama, Armenia
The 10th Karen Asrian Memorial International Chess Tournament is over at Jermuk, Armenia. At the final round, three chess players scored 7 out of 9 points.
As the Armenian National Olympic Committee told Panorama.am, Armenian IM Haik Martirosyan became the winner of the tournament due to the additional accessories, leaving behind Armenian GM Tigran Kotanjian and GM Andrey Zhigalko from Belarus.
To remind, Haik Martirosyan will be granted the International Grandmaster title in the coming future.
92 chess players, including 21 GMs from 13 countries took part in the 10th Karen Asrian Memorial.
The Lebanese-Armenian sculptor visited the Ministry of Diaspora
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
228. RA Minister of Diaspora received Raffi Tokatlyan.docx
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
JPEG image
IMG_9833.JPG
JPEG image
Adrienne Alexanian Presents Father’s Memoir, Forced into Genocide
ARMENIAN
ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:
Contact:
Danielle Saroyan
Telephone:
(202) 393-3434
Web: www.aaainc.org
ADRIENNE
ALEXANIAN PRESENTS FATHER’S MEMOIR, FORCED
INTO GENOCIDE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this week, the Armenian Assembly
of America (Assembly) co-sponsored a book presentation of Forced into Genocide: Memoirs
of an Armenian Soldier in the Ottoman Turkish Army, written by Yervant
Edward Alexanian, an eye-witness to the massacre and dislocation of his family
and countrymen in Ottoman Turkey during the Armenian Genocide. Adrienne G.
Alexanian, Yervant’s daughter, has spent years preparing her father’s
manuscript for publication, which she presented at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic
Church in Washington, D.C on Sunday. The Assembly co-sponsored the event with
St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, Knights and Daughters of Vartan, and the
Armenian National Committee of America.
Born in
Sivas, Turkey, Yervant survived the Hamidian massacres as an infant to later
fight for survival as a conscript in the Ottoman Turkish Army during the 1915
Genocide. Despite everything he went through and witnessed, “he was prepared to
die” instead of saving his own life by converting to Islam. He fled to America
in 1920, where he spent his life advocating for justice for his people. There
are no other books or comparable account which exists in Armenian literature on
this aspect of the Genocide.
Yervant
passed away in 1983, leaving behind many documents and pictures discovered by
his daughter. Adrienne explained that the memoirs came to light by chance while
she was going through her father’s belongings. He did not share stories of the
Armenian Genocide with his daughter, wishing to not burden his family. Instead,
he wrote down his memoirs as a form of therapy that would later live on through
Adrienne’s efforts.
Award
winning Middle East journalist Robert Fisk highlighted Yervant’s memoirs in one
of his articles on Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide in The Independent on March 22, 2017. “Forced
into Genocide is Yervant Alexanian’s own frightful account of his people’s
suffering, with unimpeachable documentation – in vast enough amounts to prevent
the usual Turkish ‘genocide deniers’ (twins of the European ‘deniers’ of the
Jewish Holocaust) of denouncing the book as a forgery,” Fisk wrote. “It is a
story which Erdogan should be reading – and publicising – right now, for it
involves more ‘Nazi practices’ than the new Sultan of Istanbul would ever want
to acknowledge,” he added.
The Assembly
also co-sponsored a book presentation with Adrienne Alexanian last month in
Boston, MA with the Armenian Museum of America, the Armenia Cultural
Foundation, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) New England District,
Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives, and the National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).
“On behalf
of the Armenian Assembly of America, I commend Adrienne for her perseverance
and tenacity in bringing this compelling account and heroic journey to light. It
is truly remarkable and we greatly appreciate Adrienne’s enthusiastic
presentation,” Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny stated.
Adrienne
Alexanian is an Armenian Assembly Fellow Trustee and, along with her mother
Grace, generously provided an endowment to the Assembly toward advocacy for
Genocide recognition in memory of her father in 1993. As an NGO representative
at the United Nations for both the Armenian Diocese and the AGBU, Adrienne
initiated, organized, and moderated numerous forums promoting all aspects of
Armenia’s agenda. She is also an educator and a 2010 recipient of the Ellis
Island Medal of Honor.
Established
in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
###
NR#: 2017-051
Available
online at:
Alexanian.jpg
JPEG image
Forced into Genocide.jpg
JPEG image
Lebanese-Armenian figures Mr. and Mrs. Sargis and Zvart Najarian were awarded by the RA Ministry of Diaspora
Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora. Sincerely, Media and PR Department (+374 10) 585601, internal 805
1-1.jpg
JPEG image
2-2.jpg
JPEG image
3.jpg
JPEG image
4-4.jpg
JPEG image
5.jpg
JPEG image
6.jpg
JPEG image
7.jpg
JPEG image
8.jpg
JPEG image
JPEG image
10.jpg
JPEG image
11.jpg
JPEG image
12.jpg
JPEG image
Zvart-Najarian-30-06-2017.docx
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document