Category: 2018

The Met (NY) Exhibition Overview: Armenia Sept. 22 – Jan

Lilit Nahapetian
The Metropolitan Museum, NY
ARMENIA
At The Met Fifth Avenue
September 22, 2018–January 13, 2019


This is the first major exhibition to explore the remarkable artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people in a global context over fourteen centuries—from the fourth century, when the Armenians converted to Christianity in their homeland at the base of Mount Ararat, to the seventeenth century, when Armenian control of global trade routes first brought books printed in Armenian into the region. 

Through some 140 objects—including opulent gilded reliquaries, richly illuminated manuscripts, rare textiles, cross stones (khachkars), precious liturgical furnishings, church models, and printed books—the exhibition demonstrates how Armenians developed a unique Christian identity that linked their widespread communities over the years. 

Representing the cultural heritage of Armenia, most of the works come from major Armenian collections: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; the Matenadaran (Ancient Manuscripts); the National History Museum in the Republic of Armenia; the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Lebanon; the Brotherhood of St. James in Jerusalem; and the Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice.

Almost all of these works are on view in the United States for the first time; some have not travelled abroad for centuries.

#MetArmenia

The exhibition is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.

Additional support is provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, The Giorgi Family Foundation, the Karagheusian Foundation, The Nazar and Artemis Nazarian Family, the Ruddock Foundation for the Arts, The Strauch Kulhanjian Family and The Paros Foundation, Aso O. Tavitian, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The catalogue is made possible by the Michel David-Weill Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund, the Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend Family Foundation, Joanne A. Peterson, The Tianaderrah Foundation, The Armenian Center at Columbia University, Elizabeth and Jean-Marie Eveillard, and Souren G. and Carol R. K. Ouzounian.

Four Armenian officers joining Noble Partner-2018 drills in Georgia

Tatoyan Vazgen
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 17:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A group of four Armenian offiecers will participate in the Noble Partner – 2018 drills, set to be held in neighboring Georgia on August 1-15, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Troops and military hardware from NATO member states and Georgia’s allies have already arrived in the country’s Black Sea port of Poti.

The Armenian servicemen will be among more than 3,000 troops training in command and field drills under the leadership of the Georgian Armed Forces and US Army Europe.

In the fourth edition of the exercise, service members from 13 NATO and allied countries will be involved in drills in Tbilisi.

Also, the gathering will feature troops from the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, Estonia, France, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine and Armenia.

Armenia’s 1000 largest corporate taxpayers paid over 446.6 billion drams in various taxes for first half of 2018

Frangulian Shushan
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, July 30. /ARKA/. Armenia’s 1000 largest corporate taxpayers paid over 446.6 billion drams in various taxes in the first half of 2018, by 18% or 68.1 billion drams more than in the same period of time in 2017, the State Revenue Committee said.

According to the State Revenue Committee, about 343.7 billion drams of that amount were collected directly by the tax authorities, and about 102.8 billion drams by the customs authorities.

Of that amount about 168 billion drams were collected as direct taxes (income tax – 92.4 billion drams and payroll tax – 75.6 billion drams), some 211.8 billion drams were collected as indirect taxes (VAT – 177.1 billion drams and  excise taxes – 34.6 billion drams), and also 66.6 billion drams were collected as other taxes and duties.

Armenia’s 1000 largest corporate taxpayers accounted for 74.1% of the total amount of taxes and duties collected in January-June 2018. Taxes and duties totaled more than 602.1 billion drams, an increase of 9.6% from the year before.

The list was topped by the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine in the southern province of Syunik that paid over 24.6 billion drams as taxes, up from 9.7 billion drams paid for the same period in 2017.

Second in the list is Gazprom Armenia national gas distribution company, which paid 20.7 billion drams, down from 24.4 billion drams paid a year before. It is followed by Grand Tobacco, which paid 16.7 billion drams, up from 15.6 billion drams paid for the first half of 2017. The fourth is GeoProMining Gold company, which paid about 8.8 billion drams against 8.1 billion drams paid for the same period in 2017.

The CPS OIL CORPORATION company, which paid 8.16 billion drams, compared with 6.1 billion drams for 6 months of 2017, was fifth.

The list of top 10 large taxpayers also includes PHILIP MORRIS ARMENIA (8.1 billion drams), Alex Holding (7.6 billion drams), JTI ARMENIA (7 billion drams), Electrical Networks of Armenia (6.5 billion drams) and International Masis Tabak “(5.8 billion drams). ($ 1 – 480.89 drams). -0-


Armenian prime minister’s party nominates Hayk Marutyan as Yerevan mayor candidate

Hovhannisian John
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, July 30. /ARKA/. The Civil Contract party has already put up is candidate for the Yerevan mayor post, Alen Simonyan, a member of the party, told journalists Sunday night. 

He said that the selection has been carried out in two rounds. Of the four candidates singled out by the party initially, two remained at the second round- Simonyan himself and Hayk Marutyunan.

Eventually, Hayk Marutyan was nominated as Yerevan mayor candidate.  

The position came vacant after Taron Margaryan’s resigned as mayor on July 9.  

A new election was scheduled for July 16, but not sufficient city council members were present at that session, and the election was postponed. -0— 

Armenian Republicans denounce Kocharyan detention as antidemocratic step

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, July 30. /ARKA/. The faction of the Republican Party of Armenia reacted angrily to the detention of former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan. 

The party members think that this process ‘has nothing in common with democracy, legality and independence of the justice system’. 

In their opinion, the criminal case strikes hard at political things inside Armenia and ‘such unjustified accusations lay grounds for political split in the country’, which are especially dangerous ‘amid challenges around Armenia and Artsakh’. 

They also think that the trouble caused to Kocharyan may tarnish Armenia’s reputation in international and judicial organizations.  

A Yerevan district court late on July 27 ruled that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) could hold Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.

Kocharyan is now charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons, and the agency has applied to court for a detention warrant. 

The same charge was brought against Yuri Khachaturov, secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, who had been the chief of the Yerevan garrison at the time of the bloody events of 2008. 

However, Khachaturov was released on bail, for AMD 5 million.  

Also former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan is wanted by the law-enforcement authorities as a defendant in the case. 

He is accused of illegally using the Armenian armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the disputed presidential election held in February 2008. –0—


Armenian church to be restored in Turkey

David Nargizian
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 16:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The historic Armenian Germuş Churchin the southeastern Turkish city of Şanlıurfa will soon be opened to tourists after some extensive renovation, Daily Sabah reports.

It was reported several years ago that the church had been turned into a cattle shed. The building was reconstructed by Armenians some 15 years ago, yet it failed to become a tourist destination.

Located 10 kilometers northeast of the city center and on the edge of Germuş Mountain, the historical church has stood the test of time. The date of its construction is not precisely known, as there are no inscriptions, but the church is estimated to be built at the beginning of the 19th century.

The Chairman of the Regional Tourist Guides Chamber, Müslüm Çoban noted that Armenians used to live in the surrounding area of the church. “The old houses and underground structures in the region should also be opened to tourism,” he said.

“There are two churches in the village but the smaller one is almost completely destroyed. The Armenian Church is still standing. The existence of more than one church in a place indicates its importance. The opening of the church will attract the attention of many foreign tourists.”

Startups get international mentoring at Sevan Startup Summit

Jirair Kafian
iTel.am, Armenia

An international team of 26 mentors worked with startups during Sevan Startup Summit 2018 on July 22-29.

Assisted by the EU program Support to SME Development in Armenia (EU-SMEDA), the mentors held over 160 meetings with the competing teams.

According to EU-SMEDA team leader Eva Naeher, they help organize the summit for the second successive year.

“We are helping young companies, investors, partners and mentors come together. During this event Sevan went global and more is yet to come. It’s an exciting journey. There is really a great future for Armenian startups,” she said.

Head of the mentors’ team Chuss Lozano added they shared knowledge and experience with the startups throughout the week of the summit.

“Most of the startups are coming with ideas and they need to know how to validate those ideas and get to know how to put their ideas into a business,” he noted.

Lozano also emphasized the fact that this year 40% of the participating startups were from other countries.

Sevan Startup Summit 2018 is co-organised by the EU program Support to SME Development in Armenia (EU-SMEDA).

Eating pomegranates could help manage high blood pressure

Ara Felekian
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 13:45 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – High blood pressure can be avoided by making simple diet changes. Eating fewer salty foods and more vegetables can help someone stop levels getting too high, which could cause premature death. Eat this potassium-rich food to reduce hypertension risk, The Express says.

High blood pressure could be slashed by eating a whole pomegranate.

The seeds of this tropical fruit and its juice are rich in potassium, according to clinical nutritionist Dr Josh Axe, which could help slash hypertension.

“They’re also loaded with fibre, vitamin C and vitamin K, among other nutrients,” added Dr Axe.

“Pomegranate juice has also been found to be one of the healthiest fruit juices in the world.”

The fruit contains an estimated 236 milligrams of the blood pressure lowering nutrient in each 100 grams, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

High blood pressure can be caused by an imbalance between two vital nutrients, sodium and potassium, in the blood.

“Potassium is a key mineral that the body relies on heavily to function properly,” they said. “It helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt.”

“Your kidneys help to control your blood pressure by controlling the amount of fluid stored in your body.

“[They] do this by filtering your blood and sucking out any extra fluid, which it then stores in your bladder as urine.

“This process uses a delicate balance of sodium and potassium to pull the water across a wall of cells fro the bloodstream into a collecting channel that leads to the bladder.”

A study published in 2013 found eating pomegranates for two weeks helped lower blood pressure.

Just 21 participants who already had high blood pressure took part in the trial, and needed to consume 150ml of pomegranate juice a day for two weeks.

Published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, the results showed a drop in blood pressure for participants.

Armenian investigators charge head of Russia-led security bloc with "subverting public order"

David Nargizian
EurasiaNet.org

Armenian officials took pains to emphasize that the case was only about internal affairs, but the response from Russia was not enthusiastic.

Joshua Kucera Jul 30, 2018

CSTO secretary-general Yuriy Khachaturov meets with former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan in August 2017. (photo: CSTO)

Amid a period of heightened tensions between Yerevan and Moscow, Armenia has charged the head of the Russia-led security bloc with the crime of “subverting public order.”

Yuriy Khachaturov, the head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), was freed on bail after a late-night court appearance past midnight on July 28. He has been charged as part of an investigation by Armenia’s Special Investigative Service into a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2008. Former president Robert Kocharyan was arrested on July 28 as part of the same investigation, also charged with “subverting public order.”

Armenian officials emphasized that the charges have only to do with Khachaturov’s role in the 2008 events – he was the head of the Yerevan military garrison at the time of the crackdown – and had nothing to do with the CSTO.

“This is purely an internal process, within the framework of a criminal case under investigation in Armenia involving an Armenian citizen,” said Tigran Balayan, spokesman for Armenia’s foreign minister.

Khachaturov was named secretary-general of the CSTO last year, only the second person to hold the position, taking over from longtime head and high-ranking Russian intelligence officer Nikolay Bordyuzha.

Armenia has the right to choose a new secretary-general. “Secretary generals are appointed from member states in alphabetical [order],” Valery Semerikov, a deputy CSTO secretary-general, told Armenian news site Tert.am. “That authority is vested with Armenia until January 1, 2020.”

Armenia was moving to find a replacement for Khachaturov. “Placing great importance on the authority and ensuring uninterrupted work of the organization, Armenia has proposed to the CSTO countries to start the procedure of replacing the secretary-general,” Balayan said. “Armenia is loyal to its responsibilities to strengthen and increase the power of the CSTO.”

It’s not clear how important the CSTO secretary-general is now that it is no longer in the hands of Russia. Khachaturov was a very low-profile leader compared to Bordyuzha, who regularly spoke to the press and was one of Russia’s most prominent foreign policy voices.

Armenia’s new leadership has a delicate relationship with the CSTO. On the one hand, it is a conservative organization and has made an explicit priority of trying to prevent “color revolutions” in the post-Soviet space; Pashinyan’s “Velvet Revolution” is a color revolution in pretty much every respect except Russia’s decision not to oppose it head-on.

On the other hand, the CSTO is a key element of Russia’s security guarantee for Armenia, which will be crucial in the case that a large-scale war breaks out with Azerbaijan. If that happens before 2020, Yerevan will be choosing the person who – at least nominally – will be managing the alliance’s response.

The reactions from Russia to Khachaturov’s legal troubles were mixed.

The Russian foreign ministry issued a statement commenting only on the bureaucratic next steps, without commenting on any political ramifications: “In accordance with the procedural rules of the CSTO, the Armenian side itself must officially initiate the recall of its citizen from the post of secretary-general of the CSTO, if such a decision has been made in Yerevan.”

But a “high-ranking diplomatic source” told the Russian news agency Tass that Balayan’s statement was “unprofessional.”

“To hear something like this is especially strange considering that the recent changes in Armenia did not affect the working of the foreign policy apparatus, which not long ago presented to the CSTO Khachaturov’s candidacy, and most importantly knows very well the procedure” of replacing a secretary-general, the Tass source said.

Fyodor Lukyanov, the leading Russian foreign affairs analyst, told the newspaper Vedomosti that Khachaturov’s legal issues were purely related to Armenia and so “no one will interfere.” But military analyst Ruslan Pukhov told the paper that “the arrest of the CSTO secretary-general would undoubtedly lead to a decrease in trust in Russian-Armenian relations, including in the military sphere.”

For those Russians inclined to see the worst in Armenia’s new government, this was just more evidence of Yerevan’s untrustworthiness. “Imagine that, for example, Norway without warning put on trial the secretary-general of NATO. But with Russia, something very similar has happened – Armenia has charged the current head of the CSTO, the most important military-political bloc for Moscow,” wrote the news site Vzglyad.

“Pashinyan’s claims that he wants to continue the policy of good neighborly relations with Russia are not true,” the analyst Sergey Markov told Vzglyad. “We see that he speaks about friendship, but persecutes political figures oriented toward Russia. The persecution of an official figure in the CSTO is a manifestation of bad relations with the Russian leadership.”

Looking on the bright side, Markov concluded that “losing” Armenia wouldn’t be that bad for Russia. “It’s good that Russia has no vital interests in Armenia. Even if Pashinyan invites American soldiers to Armenia I’m not sure that it would be a significant blow to Russian interests.”

Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet, and author of The Bug Pit.


Int’l Day of Friendship to be celebrated in Armenia for first time

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia

July 30 is observed worldwide as the International Day of Friendship. This day is celebrated through festivities, friend gatherings, wine and joy in numerous countries across the world.

The UN resolution (A/RES/65/275) adopted in 2011 declared 30 July as the day of friendship and solidarity promotion.

The holiday is set to be celebrated in Armenia this year for the first time, the Eurnekian group of companies said in a statement.

The Eurnekian group and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry have launched the “Friendship Day in Armenia” program in an attempt to add a new ‘wonderful and joyous’ holiday to the Armenian calendar, the statement said. 

“Friendship does not recognize sex, age, social status or any other difference that can exist between members of the same community. It is for ALL and is based on the principle of EQALITY.

“The events organized by the involved companies have already launched in Armenia,” the group said, calling on everyone to join the celebrations.