Category: 2018

Art: Iranian-Armenian Painter Combines Western Art, Eastern Mysticism

Chakrian Hovsep
IFP News
Oct 12 2018


By Fatemeh Askarieh
–

– 11:58

Combining western arts with eastern mysticism is one of the leading features of the paintings of Iranian-Armenian artist Sonia Balassanian.

These days, Homa Gallery in Tehran is hosting a warmly-received exhibition of Sonia’s paintings, which is a combination of poetry and geometrics.

Inspired by the oriental culture, Sonia creates artworks with western themes. The artist’s exhibition displays a collection of works from the different stages of her artistic development.

Some of Sonia’s paintings include some irregularly interconnected lines resembling some repeated words. This gives the audience a sense of facing a piece of writing. The artist has used only cold and dark colours to convey the special themes in her mind.

In some of her works on display in Homa Gallery, the artist deals with some architectural elements from the east and uses geometric forms, fabrics and layouts as main themes of her abstract paintings. For example, in one piece, she has used white bricks within a barrel vault to portray the image of Iranian markets.

In her minimalist pieces, Sonia uses a combination of ochre color with blue, grey and white reminding the audience of the classic Persian architecture.

She takes advantages of her homeland’s art to recreate the monotonous rhythm of brick buildings in an innovative form.

Sonia is an Iranian-Armenian artist who left Iran in 1965 for New York, and has since been living there. She holds a BFA from the joint program of Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She is also an alumnus of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. Her numerous works have been exhibited internationally.

Sonia has won several prestigious awards from Philadelphia and New York’s museums and universities.  Her works are now held in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, Armenia’s Contemporary Arts Center and personal collections in various parts of the world. They have also been put up for auction at Christie’s and Tehran auctions, among others.

She is one of the most influential artists in Iran’s modern art, and has created some leading artworks.

Sonia’s works will be on display in Homa Gallery until October 16.

What follows are photos of her works retrieved from Honar Online:

Azerbaijani Press: Actions of Armenian PM’s wife: if not stupidity, then provocation

Jhanna Virabian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 12 2018
19:45 (UTC+04:00)
339

By  Trend

Armenia continues to take provocative actions against Azerbaijan, not abandoning attempts to hinder the negotiation process aimed at peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

As is known, once again such an attempt has been recently made by the Armenian side on the initiative of Armenian prime minister’s wife Anna Hakobyan within the “Women for Peace” campaign.

The Armenian side chose the occupied Azerbaijani territories as a platform for implementing the “mission of good and peace”. This time the Armenian side invited female public figures from Russia. Among them were founder of the VERA Hospice Charity Fund Anna Federmesser, writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, “Women’s dialogue” party leader Yelena Semerikova.

Commenting on this fact, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed that attempts under the guise of a “humanitarian mission” to push a group of women from the Russian Federation to make a visit to the occupied Azerbaijani territories are not consistent with the mandate of Russia as a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group.

These attempts do not serve to the conflict settlement and do not correspond to the spirit of the conversation held in Dushanbe between the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia. It was stressed that this issue would be raised by the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Trend, a well-known Russian security expert and TV presenter Yevgeny Mikhailov called Hakobyan’s initiative illogical.

Mikhailov stressed that Hakobyan stands for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but at the same time invites a delegation of Russian women, including notorious writer Ulitskaya due to her opposition views, to the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“The question is – why did the Armenian side invite the Russian delegation, rather than the Azerbaijani one? Mikhailov said.

“Armenia is in a conflict with Azerbaijan, not Russia,” he said. “The visit of Azerbaijani delegation to the Nagorno-Karabakh region would be more logical. I think that these actions of the Armenian side will not in any way speed up the settlement process.”

“Moreover, everyone knows Baku’s reaction to such visits to Azerbaijan’s territories,” Mikhailov said. “That is, it is clear that those Russian women who visited the Nagorno-Karabakh region at the invitation of Hakobyan will be added soon to the list of undesirable people in Azerbaijan. And this will be correct.”

“If not stupidity, then Hakobyan’s actions are a provocation that does not bring the sides closer to peace,” he added.

“Most likely, women deliberately chose this provocation for one purpose – to support the actions of Armenia in Azerbaijani territories,” Mikhailov said, adding that such actions cannot be called peacemaking.

“Yerevan, apparently, has not fully realized that it is impossible to solve problems through war,” he added.

“Therefore, until now, all Yerevan’s actions, including the invitation of Russian women to the Nagorno-Karabakh region, are aimed at the development of the conflict and attempts to convince society of its one-sided rightness,” Mikhailov said.

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.

Azerbaijani Press: Foreign Ministry: Visits of French mayors to occupied Azerbaijan`s Nagorno-Karabakh region serve to promoting illegal separatist regime

Emil Lazarian
AzerTac, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2018
 
 
Foreign Ministry: Visits of French mayors to occupied Azerbaijan`s Nagorno-Karabakh region serve to promoting illegal separatist regime
 
Baku, October 11, AZERTAC
 
“Strongly condemning the visits of the mayors of the French cities of Alfortville and Valence to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we state that these actions are a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, as well as the Azerbaijani legislation and serve to promoting the illegal separatist regime created by Armenia on the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” said the press service of Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as they commended on the visits of the mayors of the French cities of Alfortville and Valence to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
 
The Foreign Ministry said: “Such provocative acts of the local authorities violate the letter and the spirit of the agreements signed between France and Azerbaijan, as well as the national legislation of France. Moreover, such visits are not conducive to the earliest resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in the process of which France acts as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
 
We recall the Circular on the legal framework of external actions of local authorities signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France on May 24, 2018, which obliges the local authorities to respect the international obligations of France and prohibits them from interacting in any form, including concluding agreements, carrying out visits and holding joint actions with the separatist authorities of territorial entities which have not been recognized by France.”
 
“Once again we draw the attention of the French side to the mandatory nature of this Circular, adopted and acting in accordance with Article 73 of the French Constitution and Article L.1115-1 of the General Code of Local Authorities, and call them to take all necessary measures for the unconditional and immediate implementation of its provisions,” the ministry added.
 

Azerbaijani Press: Armenia undermining France’s efforts in settlement of Karabakh conflict: Baku

Emil Lazarian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2018
13:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Armenia is using the Organization of La Francophonie for its political purposes, Spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

“The presentation of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan at the Pavilion of Armenia in the “Village de la Francophonie”, opened in Yerevan on October 9 of this year as part of the 17th Summit of the Francophonie Organization in Armenia is another provocative step of Armenia serving its occupation policy,” she said.

“We would like to emphasize that these acts of Armenia that committed military aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan grossly violate the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and at the same time contradict with the Charter of the Organization of La Francophonie, the goals and objectives of the Organization.

“Armenia’s attempts to politicize the agenda of the Organization of La Francophonie are vivid evidence of its intentions to camouflage the occupation and aggression policy of this country, as well as to undermine the efforts for peaceful settlement of the conflict made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including France, which is the initiator of the Organization of La Francophonie.”

These actions of Armenia also contradict the statute, goals and intentions of the Francophonie Organization, the Foreign Ministry stressed.

Francophonie Organization is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones (French speakers) or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.

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 pct 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.

‘We must unite around not only slogans, but the future we want to build,’ Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau says in Yerevan summit

Emil Lazarian
| 13:59 | October 11 2018
Category
Politics

The Francophonie Organization is an arena where states can listen to each other, and the country is a full member of the arena – be it a 99 million or 9 million population country, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his remarks at the XVII summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie in Yerevan, Armenia.

“Together we were able to create a dimension where we are guided with mutual respect, where our states can develop, listen to each other, and all this in French language,” he said. “We must unite not only around our speeches, but also the future which we want to build. This summit is taking place at a very important time. We are obliged to reconsider our Living Together slogan, because we can overcome challenges only in the dimension of the Living Together slogan,” he said.

Trudeau highlighted the involvement of African countries in the organization.

“Africa today is considered the moving force of La Francophonie, taking into account the population and pace of development,” he said.

Trudeau also saluted Charles Aznavour, noting that he loved the singer very much. “The entire Francophone world united with an homage for Charles Aznavour. Charles saw all nuances of our language and cultures in detail. I see the same here also,” he said.

Trudeau thanked Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, OIF Secretary General Michaelle Jean and the Armenian people.

‘For those who fell with the sun in their eyes, who just wanted to live’ – Macron signs Armenian Genocide memorial guestbook (photos)

Emil Lazarian
| 14:14 | October 11 2018
Category
Politics

French President Emmanuel Macron has signed the guest book of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute after paying tribute to the genocide victims in the Yerevan memorial.

“We are here today with difficult emotions and feelings. On behalf of France, I pay homage to all those who fell with “the sun in their eyes”, those who “just wanted to live”. France denounced the genocide back in 1915 by scholars. And it accepted the children and families who were fleeing the genocide, and those who exulted our nation even more.

France will never forget and will fight for truth and recognition. This sad bowing. For those, who fell. For present and future generations,” Macron said in the guest book.

Russia fully supports anti-corruption fight in Armenia – Pashinyan

Jagharian Tania
| 15:09 | October 11 2018
Category
Politics

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan has reassured that Armenia doesn’t have sovereignty restrictions, and he, as the country’s leader, is the warden of sovereignty.

“Generally there’s been much talk about the presence of the Russian 102nd military base in Armenia to justify that supposedly Armenia’s sovereignty has restrictions. I am reassuring that today Armenia is as much sovereign as, for example, France. In this situation I consider myself the warden of Armenia’s sovereignty and I am happy that all our partners, including Russia, respect Armenia’s sovereignty,” the Armenian PM said in an interview to France24.

Pashinyan also noted that Russian authorities fully support the anti-corruption fight in Armenia.

Service dog of Artsakh army wounded in Azerbaijani military sniper fire (photos)

Lilit Nahapetian
| 17:39 | October 11 2018
Categories
Artsakh
Region

Azerbaijani military has opened sniper fire at an army position of Artsakh, Arshavir Gharamyan – presidential special envoy of Artsakh – said on Facebook.

He said that the Azerbaijani sharpshooters opened more than 40 shots in one hour.

“This is how Heydar’s son is keeping the agreement on the ceasefire…More than 40 shots in one hour from sniper rifles, in the direction of the dog which has climbed up the trench from fury,” he said.

He posted a photo of the wounded dog (pictured above).

President seeks ‘transition to once again happen within law and Constitution’

Garo Vardanian
| 17:50 | October 11 2018
Category
Politics

The only way for resolving the Armenian domestic political developments is the path of dialogue, negotiations and agreements, in conditions of law, rule of law and the Constitution, President Armen Sarkissian told reporters during a visit today to the Charles Aznavour Home in Yerevan.

Reporters asked whether the president plans to sign the controversial bill into law. “After returning [from abroad] I began meetings with the prime minister, the Speaker of Parliament, and political parties, with the goal to achieve what we are speaking about, in order for the transition to once again happen within the framework of the Constitution and law,” he said.

The controversial bill is an amendment to the Rules of Procedure law of the parliament, whereby in the event of a parliament session being unable to be held because of lack of quorum, or if lawmakers are anyhow prevented from participating, it will be considered interrupted rather than failed, with a possibility of resuming at a later date. The aim of the bill is apparently a limitation of possible circumstances of dissolution of parliament. The bill was adopted on October 2 by the parliament which is dominated by Republicans [HHK], which sparked demonstrations. Adopted bills should be signed into law by the president to come into effect.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/11/2018

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Thursday, 
Francophonie Summit Starts In Armenia
Armenia - French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a summit of the 
Francophonie organization in Yerevan, .
Armenia hosted on Thursday a summit of the Paris-based Francophonie 
organization attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime 
Minister Justin Trudeau and the leaders of three dozen other French-speaking 
nations.
The two-day summit, also attended by government delegations from over 40 other 
states, is the largest international forum ever held in Yerevan. It highlights 
what the current and former Armenian governments have described as Armenia’s 
“privileged relationship” with France.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian opened the gathering with a speech delivered in 
French.
“I and all Armenian people are happy to host in Yerevan the 17th summit of the 
heads of Francophone states and governments,” he said. “Welcome to Armenia!”
“Armenia is a young member of the Francophonie … and yet there is no need to 
prove its commitment to promoting cultural and linguistic diversity and 
fundamental values of the French language and the Francophonie,” he said. Those 
values include respect for democracy and human rights, added the Armenian 
leader.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and French President Emmanuel Macron 
greet each other at a Francophonie summit in Yerevan, .
Armenia and Moldova are the only former Soviet republics among the 
Francophonie’s 54 full members. The three Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine 
have an observer status in the organization
Macron also addressed the summit, describing the Francophonie nations as a 
global and diverse “family” that can contribute to international peace which he 
said is under growing threat.
“We do not have the same skin color, our gods do not bear the same names and 
some of us do not believe in God,” he said. “We also live in very different 
climate zones and our songs are not similar. Our histories do not originate 
from the same sources and there have been many wounds between us which are only 
now starting to heal.”
“Yet strangely enough, this diverse family is united around a single language … 
That language does not belong to anyone, it belongs to all of us,” declared 
Macron.
Armenia - Leaders of French-speaking nations pose for a photograph at a 
Francophonie summit in Yerevan, .
While in Yerevan, the French president is expected to hold talks with 
Pashinian. The two men most recently met in Paris on October 5 when the French 
government organized a national homage to Charles Aznavour, the legendary 
French singer of Armenian descent who died earlier this month.
Pashinian paid tribute to Aznavour in his speech. At his request, the summit 
participants remembered the late crooner with rapturous applause.
One of the highlights of the summit will be the election of the new head of the 
Francophonie. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo is widely expected 
to replace Canadian Michaelle Jean as the organization’s secretary general.
France and the African Union publicly backed Mushikiwabo earlier this year. 
Canada’s government withdrew its support for Jean ahead of the Yerevan summit.
Former Armenian Customs Chief Under Investigation
        • Tatev Danielian
Armenia - Armen Avetisian, head of the national customs service, at a news 
conference in Yerevan, 20 April 2004.
The National Security Service (NSS) has launched a corruption investigation 
into a man who ran Armenia’s national customs service during former President 
Robert Kocharian’s rule.
The NSS said on Thursday that it suspects the controversial former official, 
Armen Avetisian, of illegal involvement in entrepreneurial activity and money 
laundering. But it did not clarify whether he or anyone else has already been 
formally charged.
The NSS claimed that Avetisian financed the construction of a luxury hotel in 
Yerevan when he headed the State Customs Committee (SCC) from 2001-2008. The 
financing was carried out through an obscure company registered in Cyprus and 
falsely presented as foreign investment, it said.
A video report released by the NSS also featured footage of Kocharian praising 
the expensive hotel project during his presidency.
The development might be related to NSS Director Artur Vanetsian’s recent 
allegations that Kocharian and his family accumulated hundreds of millions of 
dollars worth of assets when he governed Armenia from 1998-2008. Vanetsian 
promised last month to publicize “soon” evidence of the alleged enrichment.
Kocharian has dismissed the corruption allegations, challenging law-enforcement 
authorities to prove them.
In an August interview with the Yerkir-Media TV channel, he denied that 
corruption was widespread during his presidency. In particular, the embattled 
ex-president insisted that Armen Avetisian did not make a huge personal fortune 
while in office.
“I’m not saying that people were saints,” he told Yerkir-Media. “But all this 
talk is very, very far from reality.”
The Armenian customs service solidified its reputation as one of the country’s 
most corrupt government agencies during Avetisian’s tenure. The latter 
developed extensive business interests, according to media reports.
Serzh Sarkisian sacked Avetisian shortly after he succeeded Kocharian as 
president of the republic in April 2008. Just one week after taking office, 
Sarkisian accused customs officials of abetting smuggling to illegally enrich 
themselves and penalizing importers refusing to pay kickbacks.
Armenian Copper Plant Warns Of Shutdown
        • Karine Simonian
Armenia - Toxic smoke billows from a copper smelter in Alaverdi, 6Sep2018
Top executives of a copper smelter in northern Armenia warned on Thursday that 
it will be shut down if the government starts enforcing strict environmental 
regulations there.
The Soviet-built plant located in the town of Alaverdi was recently fined 
$800,000 for exceeding air pollution quotas set by the government in 2005. The 
former Armenian authorities avoided punishing the plant for that.
Visiting Alaverdi on October 1, the recently appointed head of the state 
Environmental Inspectorate, Artur Grigorian, accused the plant’s management of 
failing to implement its five-year plan to reduce toxic emissions that have 
long contaminated air in and around the industrial town. “The emissions have 
not decreased,” Grigorian said at a public discussion.
Citing financial problems, the smelter management said that it is unable to pay 
the fine and comply with the pollution caps. It warned that it will have to 
halt production operations and lay off the plant’s 500 or workers.
Hundreds of those workers led by the plant’s chief executive, Lusine Mejlumian, 
blocked on Wednesday a highway and a railway passing through Alaverdi to demand 
that the government refrain from taking the punitive measures.
Mejlumian, other senior executives of the company and some of the workers met 
with the deputy governor of the Lori province, Aram Khachatrian, on Thursday. 
They told him that the plant will stop producing copper if the government does 
not meet their demands within the next few days.
Khachatrian promised that senior government officials in Yerevan will discuss 
the matter on Tuesday.
“Dear workers, let’s wait and see what kind of an answer we get,” said 
Mejlumian. “You will then gather and decide your further actions.”
“If the government decides that the plant must work it will work,” said another 
senior executive, Nikolay Feofanov. “If not, it will not work.”
The Alaverdi plant’s parent company, the Vallex Group, is currently in serious 
financial trouble, having lost control over Armenia’s second largest copper and 
molybdenum mine after failing repay its massive debts to a Russian commercial 
bank.
The bank, VTB, had lent Vallex the bulk of $380 million which was invested in 
mining and ore-processing facilities at the Teghut deposit also located in 
Lori. Open-pit mining operations there began in 2014.
Vallex shut down the mine in January this year because of being unable to 
refurbish its waste disposal facility. Most of the 1,200 or so people working 
at Teghut lost their jobs as a result. VTB took over the mine in payment for 
the debt.
Vallex used the Alaverdi plant as collateral when it secured the loan from VTB. 
It could therefore lose control of the smelter as well.
Press Review
“Aravot” has no doubts that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team 
will have a comfortable majority in Armenia’s next parliament which is expected 
to be elected in December. The paper predicts that Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous 
Armenia Party (BHK) will finish third, not second, in the snap elections after 
making “pledges of allegiance” to Pashinian. It says the likely election 
runner-up is the Luys alliance made up of two parties that have until now been 
allied to Pashinian. It suggests that no other political group will be 
represented in the National Assembly.
This reality, according to “Aravot,” makes the question of who will hold 
Pashinian’s government in check even more pressing. “True, the prime minister 
and his ministers will not be taking bribes, getting involved in corruption 
schemes or proving ‘tutelage’ to businesses. That will mark huge progress in 
the development of our country, a prerequisite for positive public sentiment. 
But this does not mean that there will be no reason to criticize the 
government.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” also expects Pashinian to enjoy an “absolute majority” in 
the new parliament. “At this point, it is simply impossible to prevent the 
government from being monopolar,” writes the paper edited by Pashinian’s wife. 
“That can be prevented only if there emerges another force that will seem more 
credible to the public … and be even more honest and transparent. But, let’s 
face it, there is no such influential force at the moment.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that President Armen Sarkissian on Wednesday met with 
parliamentary representatives of the Republican Party (HHK), Tsarukian’s BHK 
and Dashnaktsutyun following his consultations with Pashinian and parliament 
speaker Ara Babloyan. The paper says the meeting came after it became clear 
that most members of the current parliament are not opposed to its dissolution 
and the holding of fresh elections in December. “In this situation, Armen 
Sarkissian’s moves were unexpected, to say the least,” it says. The paper 
speculates that the president may not be sure that the three parliamentary 
forces will honor their pledges not to thwart the polls.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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