Category: 2018

SAVIOUR OF ARMENIAN ORPHANS

1. Stella was born in Albia, Iowa in 1875. She graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BA in 1892 and taught high school in Lincoln for 6 years.

2. In 1901 she became a missionary, and moved to Talas, Turkey to become the the Girls’ School Principal, supervising 125 pupils and 14 teachers.

3. Stella missed the Young Turk Revolution. She was home on a 1-year furlough in 1908. When she returned, the Ottoman Empire was changing — for the worse.

4. During the Balkan Wars, Stella and her colleagues in Talas continued their schools, church and hospital, but also provided aid for soldiers’ families.

5. In 1915 she appealed to the governor to stop arresting and torturing local Armenian men. He refused. She visited many of the 600 men in the Cesarea prison.

6. When the deportations started she tried to travel with her students to the desert, but was forbidden to do so. She gave them food, money and her blessing.

7. When the United States entered the Great War in 1917, she and her colleagues were deported themselves. Stella studied at the University of Chicago, waiting for the word to return to Talas.

8. In 1919 she was on the first ship to go to Turkey to provide humanitarian aid. In their old district, the Talas team found 88,000 needy people, including 4,000 Armenian orphans. Stella became Director of Orphanages to care for them.

9. For 3 years, during the war between Greece and Turkey, she arranged for their care, and sent many to relatives in other countries. But when the Turkish Nationalists won the war, and “invited” all Christians to leave Turkey, within a month, Stella and her colleagues personally took the 3,000 remaining Armenian orphans to safety in Beirut and Athens.

10. To learn details about Stella Loughridge and her equally remarkable colleagues, read Grit and Grace in a World Gone Mad: Humanitarianism in Talas, Turkey 1908-1923 by Wendy Elliott (published in the Fall 2018). See for more information.

Armenia’s Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan has clarified the legal basis for detaining then-MPs Nikol Pashinyan, Sasun Michaelyan and Ararat Mirzoyan during the demonstrations in April.

Speaking during a parliamentary committee sitting, the Prosecutor General responded to a question from Yelk faction MP Edmon Marukyan, stressing that the MPs were detained on April 22 for organizing illegal rallies and marches.

Marukyan requested the Prosecutor General to present the legal grounds for detaining the lawmakers, stressing that Pashinyan was basically kidnapped because no one was aware of his whereabouts.

Marukyan also noted that after the detention, motions have been filed to the parliament to strip the MPs of immunity. Marukyan asked to clarify on these motions.

Davtyan stressed that a detainee is entitled to a phone call to notify on his whereabouts.

“At the same time, the investigator in charge of the proceedings has the right to delay this call up to 12 hours at the agreement of his superior. As far as I know the necessary deadlines have been maintained in this issue”, the Prosecutor General said.

He clarified that the Prosecutor General’s Office had filed a motion to the parliament on stripping from immunity only in regard to Nikol Pashinyan, but this was followed by the deputy PM’s request on retracting the motion. “After this I addressed a letter to the Speaker of Parliament and asked to remove this issue from the agenda”, he said.

On April 22, opposition MPs Nikol Pashinyan (incumbent PM), Ararat Mirzoyan (incumbent deputy PM) and Sasun Michaelyan, were detained by police during a rally in Yerevan, despite their immunity. The lawmakers were released a day later. The same day, PM Serzh Sargsyan resigned and Pashinyan was subsequently elected PM on May 8

Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan doesn’t consider the change of executive power as a basis for his resignation, stating that the Prosecutor’s Office is an independent body.

During the meeting with reporters in the Armenian Parliament on May 15, commenting on the rumors about his resignation, Artur Davtyan said independent bodies are being created in the state institutions for which guarantees for their formation and independence of activity are being defined.

“The Prosecutor General is elected by 3/5 of the total number of MPs. These procedures are not accidental. They are directed for these bodies to be independent. And they are independent firstly from the executive power. Now the executive power has changed in our country, but if the change of executive power must definitely lead to change of the heads of independent bodies, I think in this case we will violate the independence guarantees”, Artur Davtyan said.

He assured that he has never had, doesn’t have a political dependency and will not have during his future activities.

Armenia’s Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan has announced that there are no political prisoners in the country.

Speaking to reporters in the parliament, Mr. Davtyan stressed that numerous reputed international structures, numerous embassies, various human rights organizations have carried out monitoring in the last years and none has acknowledged anyone as a political prisoner in Armenia.

“It turns out that we all cite the definition of political prisoner in the relevant international legal document but when it’s the turn for commenting we fall into extremes. I have often seen comments which cause an impression that if someone is engaged in politics and then one day this someone is imputated with crime then this someone is a political prisoner. But that’s wrong, materials are required for this,” he said.

He clarified that when charges are brought against someone it is done by describing an act, which has compliance with an act under the criminal code. “Now at this important moment we must do our best in order for not to decrease the role of our courts. Evidences are being examined openly and publicly in the court, after this all there will be appropriate assessments,” he said.

Speaking on the release of Andrias Ghukasyan on a signature bond from remand, Davtyan stressed that this has been the court’s decision and he hasn’t gotten acquainted with neither the decision nor the grounds for Ghukasyan’s release.

“We’ve had hundreds of cases when we didn’t agree with the court’s verdict, we have appealed. As a result of these appeals we’ve had both [overruling] and [upholding]. This is a court proceeding where there is nothing new”, he said.

A reporter asked the Prosecutor General if his contradiction with PM Nikol Pashinyan’s statement on political prisoners (PM Pashinyan states that there are political prisoners in Armenia) won’t obstacle joint work with the Prime Minister, to which Davtyan responded: “Any official can present his/her viewpoint, a prosecutor is presenting his/her viewpoint based on existing materials in the proceeding, while I don’t see any contradiction in terms of joint work”.

At the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, deputy minister of transportation, communication and information technologies Andrei Simonyan has been relieved from duties.

“In accordance to Paragraph 1, Article 9 of the law on public service of Armenia and taking into account the recommendation of acting minister of transportation, communication and information technologies Vahan Martirosyan:

Relieve Andrei Simonyan from the position of deputy minister of transportation, communication and information technologies based on his application,” the PM’s decision says.

Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expects that the parliamentary majority Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will approve his government’s program.

“I think yes, it [RPA] will approve, and we will work normally. No one should be tempted to misjudge the political situation”, the PM said at a briefing.

Commenting on the question about the dates of snap elections, the PM said: “We will discuss it. I think this year [the elections will be held]”.

At the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Armen Harutyunyan has been relieved from the position of Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of the Republic of Armenia, the government’s press service said.

“In accordance to Paragraph 6, Article 7 of the law on state administration system bodies of Armenia and taking into account the recommendation of Armenia’s acting minister of justice Davit Harutyunyan:

Relieve Armen Harutyunyan from the position of Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of the Republic of Armenia based on his application,” the PM’s decision says.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he is convinced that the government will work productively.

Pashinyan was talking to reporters about discussions on the appointments of young officials in the Cabinet. “They are saying he is inexperienced, without experience of administration about me too. We are beginning a new chapter. I think the composition of the government is balanced. Both the experienced and inexperienced are inexperienced in being ministers and not in life and political career.

A minister’s activity isn’t a specialized, rather a political activity: I am convinced that the government will work productively. If issues relating to productivity arise in terms of individual officials and ministers, they will be quickly solved, but I am convinced that everything will be good,” PM Pashinyan said.

Soldier wounded in Artsakh on May 13 as a result of the Azerbaijani shooting is in critical condition, Gayane Hovhannisyan – head of the military-medical department of Armenia’s defense ministry, told reporters.

“The soldier was wounded in the night of May 13, after which he has been transported to the Stepanakert military hospital where he underwent a surgery. After stabilization he has been transported to the central hospital. Now he is in intensive care unit, is connected to the artificial respiratory device”, Gayane Hovhannisyan said, adding that at this stage there is no need for another surgery.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has appointed Shahen Avagyan – the former Secretary General and Chief of Staff of the ministry of foreign affairs under FM Edward Nalbandian – to serve as his adviser.

Mr. Avagyan was dismissed from office in the foreign ministry at the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.