Wednesday,
Armenia’s Former Top Judge Wounded In Gun Attack
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - Arman Mkrtumian, chairman of the Court of Cassation, at a news
conference in Yerevan, 3 April 2009.
Arman Mkrtumian, the former powerful head of Armenia’s highest criminal court,
was shot and lightly wounded late on Tuesday in a reported armed attack on his
house carried out by gunmen.
Police said Mkrtumian’s 30-year-old son fired a gas pistol at the three masked
attackers armed with assault rifles when they burst into the villa located in
Dzoraghbyur, a village just outside Yerevan. One of the gunmen was wounded and
caught by the Mkrtumians while the two others fled the scene, firing random
gunshots in the process, according to a police statement.
The police also released a short video showing the alleged attacker who was
identified as Hovannes Ryzhenko, a 45-year-old resident of Gyumri. The man had
blood on his face and a bandage wrapped around his head.
“The neutralized person was detained,” Sona Truzian, a spokeswoman for
Armenia’s Investigative Committee, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Wednesday.
She said law-enforcement authorities are taking “all necessary measures” to
track down the other attackers.
The authorities did not immediately suggest any motives behind the gun attack.
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal inquiry under an article of the
Armenian Criminal Code dealing with “banditry.”
Mkrtumian received medical treatment at Yerevan’s Erebuni hospital shortly
after incident. A hospital official said he refused hospitalization despite
sustaining a gunshot wound. The retired judge made no public statements on the
attack.
Mkrtumian, 57, headed Armenia’s Court of Cassation for ten years. He resigned
in early June more than one month after mass protests brought down the
country’s previous government headed by Serzh Sarkisian.
Throughout his tenure Mkrtumian was accused by lawyers of severely limiting the
independence of lower courts. In June 2013, for example, about 200 lawyers went
on a two-day strike to protest against what they called arbitrary decisions
routinely made by the Court of Cassation.
Yerevan Hopes For Lower Russian Gas Price
• Tatev Danielian
Armenia - Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller speaks at a ceremony in Yerevan,
16Apr2015.
The Armenian government will ask Russia’s Gazprom giant to cut the price of its
natural gas supplied to Armenia during upcoming negotiations, Energy Minister
Artur Grigorian said on Wednesday.
Armenia currently pays $150 per thousand cubic meters of Russian gas imported
via Georgia. By comparison, the Russian gas price for Europe stands at around
$230 per thousand cubic meters.
The Armenian side and Gazprom were expected to review the tariff late last
year. But visiting Yerevan in October 2017, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev said the “special price” will remain unchanged until the end of 2018.
Alexei Miller, the Gazprom chairman, accompanied Medvedev on the trip.
Grigorian said that Armenian officials and Gazprom executives will start
negotiations on a new gas deal in November. “We will do everything to get a gas
price that’s lower than the existing one,” he told a news conference.
The minister did not specify the extent of the price reduction that will be
sought by Yerevan.
Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas distribution network cut its retail fees for
households and corporate consumers in November 2016, more than two months after
Karen Karapetian was appointed as the country’s prime minister. Karapetian
managed the network from 2001-2010 and held senior executive positions in
Gazprom subsidiaries in Russia from 2011-2016.
He was replaced as prime minister by Serzh Sarkisian in April this year just a
few weeks before mass protests brought down Armenia’s former government. The
protest leader, Nikol Pashinian, took over as prime minister in early May.
So far the Russian government and Gazprom have given no indications that they
are ready sell gas to Armenia at a deeper discount. Some analysts have
suggested that with Karapetian no longer in government the Russians could
actually raise the existing price.
Gazprom accounts for over 80 percent of Armenia’s annual gas imports. The South
Caucasus country also buys gas from neighboring Iran. Officials in Yerevan have
for years insisted that Russian gas is cheaper than Iranian gas.
Grigorian revealed that Yerevan is now discussing with Tehran the possibility
of a lower Iranian gas price for Armenia. “I think that very soon we will have
the final gas price declared by the Iranian side, which will certainly be
compared with the price of Russian gas,” he said.
Press Review
“Robert Kocharian says that he is returning to active politics in order to
defend his honor and dignity,” “Zhamanak” writes in a commentary on the former
Armenian president’s interview with a Russian TV channel aired on Tuesday. The
paper says Kocharian essentially blamed Serzh Sarkisian for the recent
revolution in Armenia, saying that his successor should not have tried to cling
to power.
“Hayots Ashkhar” says Kocharian’s political comeback has been one of the most
important political developments of this summer. “This is only the beginning,”
the paper says in reference of the former president’s recent moves and
statements.
“Zhoghovurd” notes the readiness of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) to cooperate with Kocharian. The paper finds it natural, saying that
Kocharian’s and Sarkisian’s interests “again converge now.” “They are now
united by the criminal investigation into the March 1 [2008 violence,]” it
says. “Driven by their self-defense instincts, they now have to join forces and
fight together.” The paper says that the HHK and its spokesman Eduard
Sharmazanov in particular criticized Kocharian in the not so distant past.
“During Serzh Sarkisian’s presidency Kocharian voiced criticism of the
authorities from time to time and Sharmazanov was the first to counter it,
often using crude language.”
“Even under the former authorities there were people who warned that enslaving
the judicial system is a dangerous path that lays the foundation of a vicious
tradition of courts serving some people today and others tomorrow,”
editorializes “Hraparak.” The paper says Kocharian and Sarkisian are now paying
the consequences of their tight grip on the judiciary. “[Kocharian] hopes now
that the judicial system is not that devastated and crushed and will dare to go
against the will of the new authorities and rule in his favor,” it says.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
Category: 2018
"SOS Sevan" appeals for help to Prime Minister Pashinyan
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 28 2018
“SOS Sevan” appeals for help to Prime Minister Pashinyan
Yerevan August 28
Yerevan August 28
Naira Badalian. The initiative “SOS Sevan” addressed an open letter to the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, asking to withdraw the bill approved by the government on additional water releases from the lake.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, members of the initiative expressed great concern about the bill. As they noted, the discussions organized on behalf of the Prime Minister, in fact, did not have the nature of public discussions, the issue of the appropriateness of using strategic water supplies for irrigation purposes was not submitted for public discussion, and representatives of the initiative and experts were not informed about the discussions. The authors of the letter remind that the lack of water is indicated as a justification for additional water withdrawal from Sevan. At the same time, there is no information on the illegal use of water from the Sevan-Hrazdan system, the water volumes provided to the fish farms of the Ararat region, excess water intake, program”.
The members of the initiative consider unconvincing the government’s statements that the profit from the sale of electricity generated as a result of additional releases will be directed to the modernization of the irrigation system Sevan-Hrazdan, which, in the long run, will be designed to reduce losses in the system. In 2017 additional discharges were made in the amount of 170 million cubic meters, and the generated by the sale of electricity 1645139600.0 drams were not spent for these purposes, and the funds are planned to be directed to the budget.
Proceeding from the above, “SOS Sevan” appeals to the Prime Minister with a request to withdraw the bill and hold hearings with the participation of all interested parties. It should be noted that on August 23 the Armenian government approved a draft law on amendments and additions to the law on the approval of annual events and comprehensive programs for the restoration, protection, reproduction and use of the Lake Sevan ecosystem. The project provides for increasing water releases from the lake from 170 million cubic meters of water in 2018 to 210 million cubic meters. In the beginning of the discussion, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the issue is one of the most problematic, and the decision was preceded by a month and a half of discussions. “The discussions were stormy and it became clear from their results that there are real risks of creating a deadlock for agriculture,” Pashinyan said, adding that the situation is deadlocked for the authorities. “Unfortunately, the irrigation system causes a lot of questions, and we must provide answers to these questions. It is necessary to understand how true the statements about the existence, as the press like to say, of the “water mafia”. If this is so, then it is unequivocal that it should capitulate as soon as possible, “he said. The draft law will be submitted to the parliament for approval on August 28th.
On July 17, 2017, the National Assembly of Armenia approved the law on increasing the volumes of water discharge from Lake Sevan from 170 million cubic meters up to 270 million cubic meters. The reason for this decision was the fact that the water basins in the country are not full. The Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia opposed the proposal to increase the water intake from Sevan, and independent experts unanimously reiterated that lowering the water level in Sevan will lead to irreversible consequences due to the intensification of the waterlogging process. According to the ecologist, specialist for water resources Knarik Hovhannisyan, the Armenian government asks to increase the releases every year, arguing this with a deficit of irrigation water, in fact only about 25% of the water from Sevan reaches the farmers, the remaining 70% is lost. Nevertheless, the law was adopted, which, as expected, was reflected at the level of Lake Sevan.
According to official data, in 2017 water intake totaled 266.757 million cubic meters of water, instead of the envisaged 270 million cubic meters. As a result, already at the beginning of the current season of holidays, ecologists began to signal about the problem of Sevan fouling by algae, which, according to experts, is due not only to a high temperature background, scanty precipitation, the dumping of extremely polluted waters into the basins of the country and the lack of water treatment stations, but also to last year’s additional in the water.
As the chairman of the NGO “Association for Sustainable Development” Karine Danielyan recently said, today’s state of Lake Sevan is not an accident. “I take it like a lake cry for help, we have been sounding alarm for years: if we continue to treat Sevan like this, instead of a lake we will have a swamp, and water will not be suitable even for irrigation.” Now we are faced with this problem. The active reproduction of blue-green algae is an indicator that the lake is actively approaching water logging.In that part of the water where there is active flowering, there are also poisonous substances, “she noted. The ecologist indicated that Lake Sevan has been in conflict with the flowering process since 1964, every 2-3 years, but never the scale was the same as now. Karine Danielyan explained that the flowering in the lake is due to several factors: biological, lack of physicochemical water treatment stations, these stations failed after the collapse of the USSR, as well as a decrease in the water level in the lake and high air temperature. “Every year, we raise the issue of inadmissibility of solving irrigation problems at the expense of water releases from Lake Sevan.” If we lose Sevan, we will lose Armenia, “added K. Danielyan.
Armen Ashotyan: The new Armenian authorities are obliged to make every effort in order to maintain post of CSTO Secretary General for Armenia after this scandal
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 28 2018
Armen Ashotyan: The new Armenian authorities are obliged to make every effort in order to maintain post of CSTO Secretary General for Armenia after this scandal
Yerevan August 28
Yerevan August 28
Ani Mshetsyan. “In his recent interview, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that he was against the candidacy of Yuri Khachaturov as Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and proposed other candidates, but I think that the President of Belarus did not fully reveal this issue, I think that Belarus was against Armenia’s chairmanship in this organization as a whole. ” This was reported on the page of the social network Facebook by the chairman of the permanent commission of the National Assembly on foreign relations Armen Ashotyan.
The Ambassador noted that this problem is probably not related to Khachaturov’s personality, because if membership was transferred to Armenia, then the leaders of other countries could not nominate their candidates for this post.
In particular, Ashotyan wrote: “This whole situation shows how much effort former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made for our country in order to resolve the issue of the CSTO Secretary General in our favor.” As it became clear, the case against Yuri Khachaturov affected the case the point of view of the CSTO member countries and somewhat spoiled the credibility of the organization.The issue of maintaining our positions in the CSTO is becoming increasingly important, against the backdrop of the fact that we can become an observer country in the CSTO, In conclusion to all that has been said above, it becomes obvious that there were problems on the military political agenda of Armenia, which had not existed before. It is obvious that the new Armenian authorities, irrespective of the case instituted against Yuri Khachaturov, are obliged make every effort to preserve the post of Secretary General of the CSTO for Armenia after this scandal, “Ashotyan concluded.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Belarus-1 that Belarus offered other candidates for the post of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary General, and was right. “We looked deeper on this issue – from the point of view of the new leadership of Armenia, the policy pursued by Nikol Pashinyan and his government, we discussed our joint actions in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the problems that now exist in the CSTO itself, as well as those areas of action for which are the responsibility of the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, “Lukashenko said.
Secretary General of the CSTO Yuri Khachaturov is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order in the so-called “March 1, 2008 case.” At that time he held the post of the head of the Yerevan garrison. By a court decision of July 28, he was arrested and then released on bail in the amount of 5 million drams. In the same case, the second Armenian President Robert Kocharian and former Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan are on the wanted list.
On August 2, the Special Investigative Service stated that the preventive measure chosen against Yuri Khachaturov is not an obstacle for him to absent himself from Armenia for some time. At the same time, the CAS did not detail the permissible period of its absence.
Official Yerevan invited CSTO colleagues to consider the possibility of replacing the candidacy of the CSTO Secretary General from Armenia in connection with the criminal prosecution of Yuri Khachaturov.
Vice Speaker of the Parliament: If the post of CSTO Secretary General passes to another country, all political responsibility for this will fall on Prime Minister Pashinyan
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 28 2018
Vice Speaker of the Parliament: If the post of CSTO Secretary General passes to another country, all political responsibility for this will fall on Prime Minister Pashinyan
Yerevan August 28
Yerevan August 28
Ani Mshetsyan. Recently, the new Armenian authorities, unfortunately, made many mistakes. On August 28, Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Republican Party spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov stated this during a conversation with journalists.
Sharmazanov said that at a rally on August 17 the Prime Minister stated that the Armenian-Russian relations are remarkable and are actively developing. “Over the past 25 years, I have never seen or heard any hint from the Russian foreign minister that the Armenian government, which is a strategic ally of the Russian Federation, says one thing and does something completely different: Armenian-Russian or Armenian– American relations will not develop by toasting.
I also have concerns related, in particular, to the CSTO. The statement of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has once again confirmed that no one simply presented the position of the CSTO Secretary General to Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan did everything possible to ensure that the post of secretary general in this authoritative organization was given to Armenia. If one day the position of the secretary general passes to another country, then all political responsibility for this will lie with Prime Minister Pashinyan and his government, “the vice-speaker stressed. The RPA spokesman stressed that today we should look forward, as the future is very vague and the government should be ready to face the possible challenges. “Let no one get the impression that we are happy with the deterioration of the Armenian-Russian relations, that Lavrov touched Pashinyan’s government, or Peter Switalsky said that the current government of the Republic of Armenia does not have a clear position on possible assistance from the EU. it’s too early to talk about large-scale investments by American companies in Armenia’s economy, we are not happy with all this, time has shown that we are most interested in stability in our country, at least in the sphere of security. Shade serious, and they need to articulate Unfortunately, during the meeting on 17 August, we witnessed performances Pashinyan, who for some time has forgotten that he is now a major political figure in Armenia, and this is very sad, “-. concluded Sharmazanov.
It should be noted that chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Armen Ashotyan, on his Facebook page, Facebook published a statement stating that the leaders of other CSTO member countries would prefer to see the representative of their country as their secretary general. Ashotyan noted that all this became possible only thanks to the policy of Serzh Sargsyan. “The new authorities of Armenia are obliged to make every effort to preserve the post of the CSTO Secretary General after the scandal for the republic,” the deputy concluded.
It should be reminded that the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in an interview with the Belarus-1 TV channel stated that Belarus offered other candidates for the post of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary General, and was right. “We looked deeper on this issue – from the point of view of the new leadership of Armenia, the policy pursued by Nikol Pashinyan and his government, we discussed our joint actions in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the problems that now exist in the CSTO itself, as well as those areas of action for which are the responsibility of the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, “Lukashenko said. It should be reminded that CSTO Secretary General Yury Khachaturov is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order in the so-called “March 1, 2008 case.” At that time he held the post of the head of the Yerevan garrison. By a court decision of July 28, he was arrested and then released on bail in the amount of 5 million drams. In the same case, the second Armenian President Robert Kocharian and former Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan are on the wanted list. On August 2, the Special Investigative Service stated that the preventive measure chosen against Yuri Khachaturov is not an obstacle for him to absent himself from Armenia for some time. At the same time, the CAS did not detail the permissible period of its absence. Official Yerevan invited CSTO colleagues to consider the possibility of replacing the candidacy of the CSTO Secretary General from Armenia in connection with the criminal prosecution of Yuri Khachaturov.
Tonoyan announced Armenia’s intention to purchase multifunctional aviation
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 28 2018
Tonoyan announced Armenia’s intention to purchase multifunctional aviation
Yerevan August 28
Yerevan August 28
Marianna Mkrtchyan. The armed forces of Armenia, possessing clearly expressed ground forces, hoped for air superiority and air defense only in the air defense and missile systems. This August 28, speaking with a lecture before the participants of the upcoming Shant-2010 exercises, said Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan.
Noting the importance of steps to equip the army, modernize the management system and strengthen the fighting efficiency of personnel, Tonoyan assured that now work is in progress to update the armament projects, within which it is planned to purchase multipurpose aircraft. “To this day, the Armenian Armed Forces had clearly defined ground forces, which in the struggle for air superiority hoped only for air defense and land-based missile systems, but times have changed.” To ensure the VS greater maneuverability, it is necessary to have fighter-bomber aircraft, since no missile system will not replace the use of these opportunities in terms of flexibility and endurance, “said the head of the Armenian Defense Ministry.
Tonoyan presented his vision of the development of the defense sphere, priorities. Referring to the prerequisites for the development of the Armed Forces, the minister noted the importance of constant training, reforming and turning the army into a more maneuverable reality. “Horizontal communication, without bureaucratic delays, should become the norm, not an exception.We will remove the artificial barriers that interfere or seriously complicate the interaction, excluding the so-called” herd “method of work when individual links advance their agenda without knowing the general idea that unites them, “the minister said.
Tonoyan also stressed the modernization of the advanced by equipping it with modern technical means, as well as improving the efficiency of combat missions. According to the Minister, thanks to the works carried out in the second half of 2016 and in 2017, the equipment of advanced video surveillance equipment has dramatically changed, which has made it possible to significantly reduce the enemy’s capabilities to carry out a sudden diversionary penetration. According to him, in the process is a project to create an integrated system for detecting the enemy, making decisions, defeating the enemy’s fire and engineering facilities, and assessing the damage.
Tonoyan, among the priority tasks facing the Armed Forces, also highlighted the process to improve the methods of carrying out combat duty. “Our goal is to significantly shorten the time of finding personnel under the enemy’s sights, to increase the level of protection and stability, and to increase the likelihood of destroying enemy subversive groups,” the head of the defense department said.
Armenian foreign ministry representative releases details over replacement process of CSTO Secretary General
ArmenPress, Armenia
Aug 28 2018
Armenian foreign ministry representative releases details over replacement process of CSTO Secretary General
YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The launch of process on replacing the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) by Armenia has been followed by a stage of consultations in different platforms of the organization, Armenian foreign ministry’s acting spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan told reporters at a briefing, asked at what stage is the replacement process of the CSTO chief, reports Armenpress.
“Consultations are being held in accordance with the existing rules of procedures aimed at finding consensus solutions, as well as clarifying these rules of procedures”, she said.
Asked whether a representative not from Armenia will be appointed CSTO Secretary General, the MFA acting spokeswoman reminded that during the CSTO summit n 2015 6 member states of the organization made a decision based on consensus according to which the representatives of member states can be appointed as CSTO chief by rotation, according to the Russian alphabet. “According to this procedure, Armenia has fixed the position of the CSTO Secretary General for three-year term and accordingly has presented its candidate, and all decisions in the CSTO are being made based on consensus”, Naghdalyan said.
Armenia proposed the partner states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to start a process of replacing the Secretary General. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia has charged CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov over the 2008 March 1 case under the Article 300.1 part 1 of the Criminal Code for breaching the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia in conspiracy with others. Khachaturov was serving as deputy defense minister of Armenia in 2008.
On July 27 the Special Investigative Service filed a motion to remand Khachaturov into custody. The court approved the motion. But on July 28, Yuri Khachaturov has been released on bail.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Hampshire man rubs shoulders with international superstar during charity mission
Daily Echo (Newsquest Regional Press)
Tuesday
Hampshire man rubs shoulders with international superstar during charity mission
by Christopher Yandell
A HAMPSHIRE man was joined by international superstar Sir Elton John during a mission to give the gift of hearing to people in Armenia.
Sir Elton, who has sold more than 300 million records during a career spanning five decades, rubbed shoulders with Lymington audiologist Brian Tilley in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
Writing on Instagram Sir Elton, 71, said: “It’s impossible to describe the sheer joy you feel watching someone hear properly for the first time.”
Brian’s visit was organised by the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which has supplied almost two million hearing aids to people in more than 100 countries.
Sir Elton is one of Starkey’s high-profile supporters along with entrepreneur Richard Branson and former US President Bill Clinton.
The legendary singer-songwriter was accompanied by his husband, David Furnish, and Starkey’s founder, Bill Austin.
Brian was among 15 audiologists from across the UK and Ireland who visited Armenia with a six-strong team from Starkey’s European headquarters in Cheshire.
The trip followed a previous visit made in October last year, when he and his colleagues fitted more than 1,800 people with hearing devices.
Brian, who is based at the All Ears Hearing Centre in Lymington, said: “I was pleased to be asked back to give the gift of hearing in Armenia.
“It’s great to be involved in something which means so much to people who haven’t got the facilities in the own communities.
“This is proof that the Starkey Hearing Foundation doesn’t just visit once and leave with no support.
” It shows that what’s given is for the long-term, with aftercare provided.
“It’s wonderful to be involved in continuing the support of the Armenian people.”
According the World Health Organisation, more than 360 million people suffer from a disabling hearing loss, with the greatest number living in developing countries.
Who needs the Russian military base in Gyumri more: Is Yerevan an alliance with Moscow?
What the Papers Say (EV) (Russia)
Tuesday
WHO NEEDS THE RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN GYUMRI MORE
Is Yerevan an alliance with Moscow?
by Alexander Khramchikhin
Source: Nezavisimaya gazeta, N180, , p. 7
The Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation includes three military bases (MB) located outside the country. Two of them are in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (after the war in 2008, Moscow recognized the independence of both republics), fully integrated with the armed forces of the respective republics, under the Russian command. The 102nd military base of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Armenia in Gyumri is in a completely different status.
Formally, the 102nd MB is not integrated into one grouping with the Armenian Armed Forces, but, of course, there is a close coordination between them, joint exercises are held regularly. Nevertheless, its status is extremely difficult for geopolitical reasons.
Armenia is cut off from Russia by Georgia, completely hostile to Russia, and Azerbaijan, completely hostile to Armenia.
Due to these circumstances, the 102nd MB has not so much military as political significance. It is located on the border with Turkey and acts as a guarantor against this country’s involvement on the side of Azerbaijan in a new war for Nagorno-Karabakh, if any. Of course, the Russian base, because of the incompatibility of the potentials, cannot resist the Turkish army, but an attack on it will mean aggression against Russia as a whole, in accordance with the norms of the international law, that is, it will guarantee that Russia will have to start a war against Turkey.
It is clear that the Russian army will in no case march against Ankara, but it should prevent occupation of Armenia by the Turks (even partial).
[Translated from Russian]
Culture: Yerevan Pantomime Theater invited to take part in prestigious Russia film festival
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 29 2018
Culture 18:18 29/08/2018 Armenia
Yerevan State Pantomime Theater has received an invitation to take part in the 16th Golden Knight International Film Festival to be held in Moscow, Russia, with its performance Ardalion.
This is the first Armenian theater to take part in this unique international festival, Artistic Director of Yerevan Pantomime Theater, Honored Arts Worker of Armenia Zhirayr Dadasyan told Panorama.am.
This year the festival is held under the slogan “For the Sake of Moral Ideals and Honor of the Human Soul.”
He stressed they had not submitted a bid to take part in the festival, adding its expert commission had picked their play, offering them to perform it at the closing stage of the festival to take place in late November or early December.
He linked it with the fact Ardalion enjoys popularity among the Russian experts circle.
“It is a great honor for us to take part in this festival,” Dadasyan said.
The award ceremony of the Golden Knight will take place in the Moscow Central Church on 10 December.
Sports: 11 Armenian shooters participate in World Championship to qualify for Olympics
MediaMax, Armenia
Aug 29 2018
11 Armenian shooters participate in World Championship to qualify for Olympics
Armenian national shooting team has departed for Changwon in South Korea, where they will participate in World Championship.
11 athletes, led by Head Coach Seyran Nikoghosyan, will compete in the championship.
Rifle competition: Hrachik Babayan, Christian Lauer, Hayk Babayan, Irina Lauer, Alla Poghosyan.
Gun competition: Norayr Arakelyan
Running target competition: Hovhannes Margaryan, Lilit Mkrtchyan, Gohar Vardanyan, Satenik Mezhlumyan and Arusyak Grigoryan.
World Championship for all types of shooting is held once in 4 years, between the Olympic Games. This time 6 athletes will qualify for rifle and gun competition, International Shooting Sport Federation reports.