Category: 2020

 22:58,

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Today, on May 19, the Greeks honor the memory of the victims of the genocide against the Pontic Greeks by the Ottoman Empire and its successor the Republic of Turkey in the period of 1916-1922.

Simultaneous to the Armenian Genocide the Turkish government launched a campaign of eliminating other non-Muslim ethnicity living in the country. By the way, witnessing the massacres and mass deportations of the Armenian people, the Pontic Greeks started forming the first guerrilla groups for self-defense. Turkish anti-Christian campaign continued during the upcoming years as well. According to various estimates, 300-350 Greeks were killed in Pontus as a result of the Turkish policy, while a small number of survivors found shelter in Greece and other parts of the world.

Everybody has heard about the Smyrna Massacre, and the policy against the non-Muslims in 1940s. Relying on previous experience, the Turks formed labor battalions for eliminating the Greeks. They also launched the large-scale operation of assimilation. In 1953-55 the Turkish government carried out massacres of Greeks in Imbros, Tenedos and Istanbul.

Istanbul pogroms of Greeks in September 1955 were another demonstration of anti-Greek policy, after which the Greeks started to abandon ancient Byzantine capital. The Cyprus invasion of 1974 and the massacres following it once again showed that the Turks do not tolerate any kind of Greek presence.

At the same time it shoud be noted that these Turkish acts, like in the case of the Armenian Genocide, never recieved adequate international reaction. In 1994 the parliament of Greece declared May 19, the day when Kemal Atatürk landed in Samsounda city, the Greek-Pontic Genocide Remembrance Day.

Simultaneous to the debates on criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial, the launch of the campaign for the international recognition of the massacres of Greeks was extremely unwanted for Turks. The activities of the Greek authorities in that direction have always been reacted nervously.

24 years ago, on April 25 1996, the issue of the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide entered the agenda of the Greek parliament  with the formulation of declaring April 24 the day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. It was mentioned during the debates that the Armenian Genocide ''was one of the 1st steps taken in the direction of pan-Turkism and pan-Turanianism. The genocide and elimination of the Hellenic element of Pontus was followed by the elimination of the Greek element in Constantinople, Imbros, Tendos, the criminal invasion of Cyprus and its barbaric conquest, and today the elimination of the Kurds, Turkey's threats against its neighbors and the usurpation of lands''.

I published an article in ''Yerkir'' weekly in 2006, saying ''Armenia should be one of the 1st to adopt a legal document adequately condemning the Greek massacres… In general, Armenia should be the initiator of recognitions and condemnations of genocides at international arenas, since crimes against humanity are issues touching each member of the international community and the indifference stemming from some political calculations, which Armenia has been facing in terms of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, should never become part of Armenia's official policy''.

On March 24, 2015 Armenia officially recognized the genocide of Pontic Greeks. The joint efforts against the Turkish denialism is important, and it's important first of all for the Turkish society, since only justice can set free from the chains of the past.

Years ago, during the debates on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide the late Prime Minister of Greece Stefanos Stefanopoulos said, ''The unfortunate Jewish people had the luck to see Willy Brandt on his kneels at one of the concentration camps, I think in Auschwitz, publicly apologizing from the international community and humanity. Is there anyone here or across the world that can believe that Demirel or any other Turkish president or prime minister can ever kneel down for the same reason on the banks of the Euphrates, in the gorges of Erzurum or Kharberd and apologise from the humanity for the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, given the fact that Turkey pre-occupied with its nationalistic and chauvinistic delirium, distorting the history and mocking the victims of its own policy, raised a monument dedicated to the memory of Turks slaughtered by Armenians''.

And today this rhetoric question is still relevant not only for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also for the Pontic Genocide.

Postscriptum

During the debates on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide one of the Greek parliamentarians said, ''The 1st court against genocide took place in 405 B.C. It was the trial of Lampsacus one year before the end of the Peloponnesian War. At that time the Athenians had declared that if the Spartans and their allies are defeated, they will cut off the right hand of each of their enemies, and moreover, a week before they had drowned in Aegean Sea, the allies of the Spartans –  Corinthians and the population of Andros. But when following the defeat of the Athenian navy Athenian Admiral Philocles was arrested, Lysander asked him what punishment he thinks he deserve, Philocles answered, ''Deal out the exact same punishment you would have suffered had you been defeated''.

This was the 1st Nuremberg iin the history of humanity…

Written by ARMENPRESS Director Aram Ananyan, translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 21:26,

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan held a video conference with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs  Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the Armenian FM and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs exchanged views on the regional developments following the recent video conference.

The sides also referred to the opportunities of paying a regional visit by the Co-chairs and holding meeting at ministerial level following the elimination of coronavirus-linked restrictions.  

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 09:50,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia issued 3 collector coins, the CBA told Armenpress.

Yeghishe Tadevossian – 150th anniversary of the birth

Yeghishe Tadevossian (1870-1936) is one of the well-known masters of Armenian landscape and portrait painting. He is an honored art worker of the Armenian SSR.

Tadevossian was born in Vagharshapat, Armenia. He studied at Ter-Hakobyan boarding house in Tiflis (1879-1881), Moscow’s Lazarian Seminary (1881-1885) and School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1885-1894). He worked as an art teacher at the Gevorgian Seminary in Etchmiadzin (1894-1895). Tadevossian participated in many exhibitions in Yerevan, Tiflis and Moscow. In 1916, he assisted in creating the Union of Armenian Artists, and was elected as its Chairman. He was one of the founders of the Georgian Academy of Art (1923) and one of its first professors.

Mainly a painter, Tadevossian exposed his talent in the field of graphics, applied arts, mosaic and sculpture as well.

Tadevossian’s first works speak of a profound sense of color and loyalty to classical traditions. The landscapes created by the artist are peculiar as they express freshness and lyricism (“Aragats”, 1917, “Ararat”, 1934).

Tadevossian is a brilliant portraitist. The painter's mastery is shown in the early portraits (“A. Shirvanzade”, 1929, “H. Tumanyan”, 1933), and his last painting “Komitas”, 1935, boasts a prominent portraiture. As a contemporary of the rise of the Armenian national liberation movement, Tadevossian periodically referred to the past of the Armenian people (“Funeral Repast: Death of Artashes”, “Torq Angegh”, 1910, “Arshak and Parandzem”, 1921).

The works of Yeghishe Tadevossian are at the National Gallery of Armenia, Charents Museum of Literature and Art, the Moscow State Museum of the Oriental Art, and elsewhere.

 

Obverse: a fragment from Yeghishe Tadevossian’s “Justine, the painter’s wife” (1903) painting.

Reverse: fragments from Yeghishe Tadevossian’s “Self-portrait” (1933), “Araqelots Church on the Sevan Island” (Sketch, 1934) paintings.

 

Designed by Lusine Lalayan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

 

Nominal value                    100

Metal/alloy                         silver 9250

Weight                              28,28

Size                                  28,0 x 40,0

Quantity                            500

Edge                                 even

Quality                              BU

 

 

Hrachia Nersisyan – 125th anniversary of the birth

 

Hrachia Nersisyan (1895-1961) is a prominent Armenian actor, People’s Artist of the USSR (1956).

He received education at French and American Colleges, and at the Armenian Essayean College, Constantinople. Stage activity started as an actor in the Penklyan theater group. Starting 1919 he played at the theatre “Armenian drama” of Constantinople. In 1922, together with V. Papazyan, M. Janan and other actors, Nersisyan moved to Soviet Armenia and, starting 1923, he became a lifelong resident of Yerevan and an actor at the First State Theater (now the National Academic Theater after Sundukyan).

Nersisyan’s mastery and talent were fully revealed in his playing of Falstaff, Othello, King Lear (“The Funnier Women of Windsor”, “Othello”, “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare), Paghtasar Aghbar (“Paghtasar Aghbar” by H. Paronyan, Elizbaryan (“For the Sake of Honor” by A. Shirvanzade), Protasov (“Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy), Mac-Gregor (“My Heart’s in the Highlands” by W. Saroyan). Since 1925 he has starred in films as Rustam (“Namus”, 1925), Pepo (“Pepo”, 1935), Davit Bek (“Davit Bek”, 1944), Ghambaryan (“Why the River is Making Noise”, 1958), Nerses Aghbar (“Tzhvzhik”, 1961).

Mastering the art of personifying with great ease and using a broader spectrum of means for expressing, Nersisyan could equally portray tragic, dramatic, and comical roles, while conveying deep emotional content. Nersisyan’s creative pathos is the compassion for the truly persecuted hero, which is emphasized in the artist’s recent roles.

Artistic profile, aesthetic value of art and emotional appeal has given Hrachia Nersisyan wide popularity.

 

Obverse: a fragment of the bas-relief on the memorial dedicated to Hrachia Nersisyan (author – Stepan Kyurkchyan).

Reverse: a portrait of Hrachia Nersisyan (author – Nerses Kirakosyan).

 

Designed by Lusine Lalayan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

 

Face value               10000

Metal/fineness          gold 9000

Weight                     8,6

Diameter                  22,0

Quantity                   300

Edge                        ribbed

Quality                     proof

 

Henry Verneuil - 100th anniversary of the birth

 

Henri Verneuil (born Ashot Malakian, 1920-2002), a French filmmaker of Armenian origin, a writer, a member of French Academy of Fine Arts. He studied at the Applied Art School in Marseilles, and then entered the École Nationale d'Arts et Metiers in Aix-en-Provence in 1942. After graduation, he worked as a journalist, then became editor of “Horizon”, an Armenian magazine. In 1945, appearing as Henri Verneuil he published a series of articles on the Armenian Question in “La Marseillese”. Starting from 1948, Verneuil worked in cinema. He produced more than 40 films (“The Forbidden Fruit” (1952), “Maxim” (1958), “The President” (1961), among others, with the participation of world-class actors.

One of the best examples of contemporary cinematic art is Henri Verneuil’s “Mayrig”, a biographical film shot in 1991. It features the history of the Armenian family who survived the Armenian Genocide and migrated to France. In 1996, the film was awarded a César, and the script was translated and published into dozens of languages, becoming a credential for the adamant-like spirit and revival of Armenians.

 

Obverse: images of Order of the French Legion of Honor, Parajanov’s Thaler and Cesar prizes awarded to Henri Verneuil.

Reverse: a portrait of Henri Verneuil, a videotape and the fragments of the posters of the “Forbidden Fruit” (1952) and “It Happened All Night” (1960) films.

 

Designed by Eduard Kurghinyan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

 

Nominal value                   100

Metal/alloy                        silver 9250

Weight                              28,28

Size                                  28,0 x 40,0

Quantity                            500

Edge                                 even

Quality                              BU

 

In case of using the Press Release, the reference to the original source is mandatory.

CBA Public Relations Service

Tel/Fax: (374-10) 56 37 61

E-mail: [email protected]

www.cba.am

  

Notice

Collector coins are made of precious metals and are issued to present to the society the national, international, historical and cultural, spiritual and other values of the country, to immortalize these values in the metal and to meet the demands of the numismatic market.

Like any other currency the collector coins have face value which makes them the means of payment. However, the face value of these coins is much lower that their cost price which includes the cost of the precious metal used for manufacturing of the coin, mintage and other expenses. Low face value and high cost price allow these coins to be considered as the items of collection and not the means of payment used in money circulation. The collector coins have also the sale price set by the Central Bank of Armenia.

As the items of collection the collector coins are issued in very restricted quantities and are not reissued.

Numismatists, collectors and all interested persons can buy the Armenian collector coins in the sales salon “Numismatist” which is in the building of the Central Bank of Armenia and is open for everyone.

 10:49,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Artsakh military has successfully tested an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) during the final phase of a military exercise at the Tigranakert training grounds on May 19.

The combat drone is developed and modernized by civilian and military specialists of Artsakh, the military said.

According to the military, the drone functions independently from various positioning systems, has high maneuverability and striking capacities and is controlled easily.

Artsakh’s Defense Army said it will launch serial production of the combat drones “in the coming months” and the weapons will be deployed in the military.

The Artsakh military’s top brass personally inspected the drills.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:13,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. 230 new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 5,271, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

255 patients have recovered. The total number of recoveries has reached 2,419.

At the moment the number of active cases is 2,758.

3 more patients (aged 78, 65 and 68) have died, raising the death toll to 67.

So far, 44,071 people have passed testing.

 

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:08,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. On May 16, 2020 Ucom paid the coupons of Ucom corporate bonds,  Ucom told Armenpress.

“These bonds are the first ones by Ucom, issued within the framework of the public offer registered in 2019. In May, 2019 Ucom placed AMD bonds with an annual coupon yield of 11% and USD bonds with an annual coupon yield of 7.5%. The first corporate bonds of Ucom were allowed to trade on AMX Armenia stock exchange.

Let us remind, that the maturity period of nominal coupon bonds is 36 months, the frequency of coupon repayment is quarterly. It should be added that the announcement of the bonds’ public offer was registered with the Central Bank of Armenia and is available at https://www.ucom.am/hy/personal/best-deals/bond”, the company said in a statement.

 13:24,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia urge citizens not to go to the airport to welcome their relatives coming from abroad, the Police said in a statement.

“During the landing of planes arriving to Armenia from abroad some citizens rush to the airport to welcome their relatives. We remind that citizens of Armenia arriving from abroad are being transported to the isolation places via buses. In other words, there is no opportunity and necessity to welcome the relatives. We urge not to go to the airport to avoid crowds and also for health safety purposes”, the Police statement says.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:08,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of High Tech Industry is coordinating the work of the military-industry sector, with a clear chain involving all parties concerned having been formed through close cooperation with the Defense Ministry, Deputy Minister of High Tech Industry Stepan Tsaturyan said.

“We have a doubling of the budget for the military industry, which I think is one of the most important points. We have 4 military factories which have shifted under our authority, we are closely cooperating with them”, he said.

The High Tech Industry Ministry is also actively working with the Defense Ministry and its agencies, to have a clearer picture of the demands, the possibilities of automation in the tech sector. The ministry is greatly highlighting research.

“The companies are mostly engaged in scientific-research, and in this work the application of their knowledge and the realization of the created solution is simultaneously connected with their production”, Tsaturyan said, adding that they are working to complete the chain and form an eco-system.

Up to now the system was functioning discretely. “And we find the ministry’s most important step to completely coordinate this and connect this chain, in order for the eco-system to function correctly and accurately serve to the common goal,” he said.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:13,

STEPANAKERT, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. In accordance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh has sent notifications to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić on taking temporary legal measures by Artsakh, provided for by these international treaties, as a result of introducing emergency situation in the country due to the threat of spread of novel coronavirus COVID-19, the Artsakh MFA told Armenpress.

The notifications indicate that an emergency situation for a period of 30 days was introduced throughout the Republic on April 12, 2020 and was extended until June 11. The Republic of Artsakh undertakes to inform the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of the legal measures it has introduced for the period of emergency, as well as to inform about the date of termination of such measures.

The Republic of Artsakh acceded unilaterally to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1992 and to the European Convention on Human Rights in 2015.

 15:17,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The monument honoring the legendary Ararat-73 football club in Yerevan has been vandalized. 4 statues have been stolen.

The statues were erected in 2016 to honor the squad of the year 1973 of the FC Ararat Yerevan, the year the team won the USSR Top League and the USSR Cup.

“This is vandalism”, player of Ararat 73 Sergey Poghosyan, now retired, told ARMENPRESS.

Poghosyan was outraged to learn about the incident. He emphasized what a great meaning the statues have for the entire team, especially for those who are still alive.

“It has been years since I am asking relevant structures to install video surveillance here, however they haven’t responded till now”, an angered Poghosyan said near the remaining statues.

“Today, something happened which I find to be vandalism”, Poghosyan said. “I came here the moment I found out. These statues mean a lot to us, this was a slap to the nation, this theft was a great slap to the face”, he said.

The statues of Ararat-73 manager Nikita Simonyan and players Robert Tsaghikyan, Onik Abrahamyan and Harutyun Keheyan were stolen. The remaining statues are in place.

Police said they have launched proceedings. 

Reporting by Varvara Hayrapetyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan