Category: 2020

Armenian jazz musicians to perform online to mark International Jazz Day

Andranik Taslakhchian
Public Radio of Armenia
April 30 2020


A number of Armenian jazz musicians will unite for a live concert today to mark the International Jazz Day.

The online concert to be streamed on the Facebook page of the Armenian Jazz Association at 8 pm will feature Levon Malkhasyan, Vahagn Hayrapetyan trio, Armen Hyusnunts quartet, Rafayel Petrosyan trio, Koryun Grigoryan quartet and Lusine Sargsyan, New Quintet Jazz Band, The Birds Etno-Jazz Band.

International Jazz Day raises awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people, as well as an educational tool.

In November 2011 the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed 30 April as “International Jazz Day.”

 This International Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about the art of jazz, its roots, its future and its impact.

This important international art form is celebrated for promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity, and respect for human rights and human dignity, eradicating discrimination, promoting freedom of _expression_, fostering gender equality, and reinforcing the role of youth for social change.

Unedited video of murders in Armenia’s Gavar is released

Vanyan Gary
News.am, Armenia
April 30 2020
(PHOTOS) (PHOTOS)

16:22, 30.04.2020

Shamshyan.com has published an unedited version of the video footage of Tuesday’s killings in Gavar, Armenia, and photos in connection with this incident.

As reported earlier, a shootout took place in Gavar Tuesday between a group of people from this town and some residents of Noratus village. As a result of the shootings, Zorik Paronikyan, an investigator, and a young resident of Noratus sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Four others were wounded, two of whom were taken to a Yerevan hospital and the other two—to Gavar hospital.

But some hours after the incident, the relatives of the dead entered the Gavar hospital, broke windows and doors, and stabbed two of the aforesaid wounded in the hospital room, as well as one other person.

An investigation is in progress within the framework of the initiated criminal case.

There are detainees, both in connection with the shootings and subsequent incidents.

video and photos at

Justice ministry: Workload of Armenian Special Investigative Service should be minimized

Talar Tumanian
News.am, Armenia
April 30 2020

16:35, 30.04.2020
                  

Commandant`s spokesperson: Avinyan has not resigned, and doesn`t have any such intentions

Toneyan Mark
Arminfo, Armenia
April 30 2020

ArmInfo.  Deputy Prime  Minister, Commandant of the State of Emergency Tigran Avinyan has not  resigned, and does not have such intentions. Avinyan’s press  secretary Vahan Hunanyan wrote about this on his Facebook page,  reacting to media reports about the deputy prime minister’s  resignation.

“As the media, which are close to fake news and and some users  applauding them, continue to live in the world of fantasies, trying  to present what they wish as a reality, , I once again want to state  that Deputy Prime, Commandant of the State of Emergency Tigran  Avinyan  has not resigned. and doesn’t have any such intentions,  “Hunanyan emphasized.     Earlier, the media reported on the alleged resignation of Deputy  Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan. Information about Avinyan’s  resignation was disseminated by Gevorg Achemyan, former manager of  the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, member of the Civil  Contract party.

Artsakh Foreign Ministry addressed on the occasion of the anniversary of the operation "Ring"

Vanyan Gary
Arminfo, Armenia
April 30 2020

ArmInfo.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh published a commentary on the 29th anniversary of the large-scale operation “Ring” on the  deportation of the Armenian population of the border villages of  Artsakh.

In particular, the report says that the operation was carried out  with the direct organization and coordination of the central  authorities of the USSR and Azerbaijan, which finally transferred the  Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict to the military plane, launching the  subsequent full-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the Republic  of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

On April 30, 1991, a massive shelling of Getashen and Martunashen  villages of the Shaumyan region launched Operation Ring, during which  tanks, combat helicopters, and artillery were used for the first time  against civilians. Azerbaijani special police units (OMON), with the  support of units of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of  Internal Affairs and the Soviet Army, broke into Armenian villages  formally supposedly for , but in  reality for killing, robbery, terror against the Armenian population  with subsequent deportation>, in the source. As a result of  military-police actions, dozens of Armenian villages of Northern  Artsakh, as well as the Shahumyan, Hadrut and Shusha districts were  destroyed, almost ten thousand people were deported, more than 100  were killed, several hundred people were taken hostage. The fate of  many of them remains unknown until now.

Prosecutor General: No criminal case has been instituted regarding Artur Vanetsyan`s possible work for foreign special services

Adrine Hakobian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 30 2020

ArmInfo. No criminal case has been instituted regarding former NSS head Artur Vanetsyan’s  possible work for foreign special services. On April 30, RA Prosecutor General  Arthur Davtyan stated this in an interview with reporters.

To recall, earlier on Facebook, MP Hrachya Hakobyan turned to  Vanetsyan in the form of a question, noting whether it was possible  that he was recruited by foreign intelligence services, and resigned  as head of the NSS after the Prime Minister made him acknowledge this  putting the available facts . At the same time, the MP noted that  foreign agents are caught and judged only when they want to spoil  relations with a particular country, and Armenia, in his words, does  not want to complicate relations with any state.

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General refused to comment on this  publication for journalists, noting only that this kind of  information should be confirmed based on the results of operational  activities. Davtyan only noted that no criminal case was opened  regarding Vanetsyan’s possible work for foreign special services. 

Forecast: In case of a phased settlement, terrorists will take the place of Artsakh people

Ani Tigranian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 30 2020

ArmInfo. The implementation of a  phased plan to resolve the conflict around Artsakh will lead to a  mass outflow of the people of Artsakh, former chief of the General  Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant General Norat  Ter-Grigoryants, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

“This will be a real crime, a continuation of the crime against the  Armenian people that began in 1988. As a result, not the previous  residents will settle in these territories but terrorists, including  ISIS, criminals of all kinds, representatives of special services,  and other people from similar categories. “This is exactly what  Turkey is seeking, this is the essence of its modern policy. We  perfectly see this on the example of Syria,” he emphasized.  

Commenting on the vision of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  regarding a phased settlement of the conflict, the general noted that  the surrender of seven districts to Azerbaijan has been talked about  for a long time.  Baku and Ankara are forcing mediators to this, and  judging by Lavrov’s latest statement, both Russia and the other  co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group are gradually inclining  to this.  On April 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  described the document adopted in April 2019 at a meeting of the  Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow as the  most important step in implementing the UN Security Council  resolution on the Karabakh settlement. “These documents suggest  progress in a settlement based on a phased approach. I believe that  at the first stage, the solution of the most pressing problems, the  liberation of a number of areas around Nagorno-Karabakh and the  unblocking of transport, economic and other communications, “he said.   Meanwhile, the surrender of any Artsakh territories will become,  according to Ter-Grigoryants, a continuation of the pogroms of the  Armenian population in Sumgait and Baku. According to his forecasts,  this is Azerbaijan’s goal after failing to expel the Artsakh people  from Artsakh in the early 1990s.

However  not being able to achieve this even by war, Baku is trying  to get the Armenians to leave Artsakh by means of negotiations, in  particular, the phased plan.  Ter-Grigoryants considers that Russia’s  interest in the phased settlement plan is determined by the close  cooperation of Moscow and the veiled beneficiary of this plan-Ankara.  “Pipes, gas, oil are just a part of this cooperation. I never  understood or shared Russia’s desire to strengthen Turkey. Especially  considering that Russia’s ally Armenia stands on the other side of  the barricades at the throat of Pan-Turkist projects,” the general  emphasized. 

“The threat of another aggression of Azerbaijan has not disappeared.  The enemy continues to arm himself. The authorities are spreading  hatred towards the Armenian people, preparing the population for a  new war.  In this light, we need to continue the process of acquiring  the latest weapons. I only welcome Prime Minister Pashinyan in this  matter. At the same time, the existing weapons should not be  discounted. This is not junk, they need to be improved, the level of  use, the level of control of these weapons should be improved. All  these measures will increase our combat readiness and, therefore,  reduce the likelihood of war “, Ter-Grigoryants summarized.

Artsakh foreign ministry issues statement on the 29th anniversary of ‘Koltso’ operation

Kalashian Nyrie
Panorama, Armenia
April 30 2020
Politics 20:28 30/04/2020 NKR

The Artsakh Republic foreign ministry issued a statement on the 29th anniversary of the ‘Koltso’ Operation. Panorama.am presents the statement in its entirety:

“29 years ago, under the direct organization and coordination of the central authorities of the USSR and Azerbaijan, a large-scale operation ‘Koltso’ (‘Ring’) was carried out to deport the Armenian population of the borderline villages of Artsakh. This bloody operation ultimately transferred the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict to the military plane, initiating the subsequent full-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

On April 30, 1991, the massive shelling of Getashen and Martunashen villages of the Shahumyan region launched the operation ‘Koltso’, in the course of which tanks, combat helicopters, and artillery were employed for the first time against the civilians. Azerbaijani special police units (OMON), with the support of internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Soviet Army, broke into Armenian villages formally supposedly for “checking the passport regime”, but in fact for killing, robbery, terror against the Armenian population, followed by deportation.

As a result of the military-police actions, dozens of Armenian villages of Northern Artsakh, as well as the Shahumyan, Hadrut and Shushi regions were destroyed, about ten thousand people were deported, over 100 people were killed, and hundreds of people were taken hostage. The fate of many of them remains unknown so far.

The Azerbaijani authorities considered the operation ‘Koltso’ as the beginning of the complete cleansing of Artsakh from the Armenian population. It became another manifestation of the policy of ethnic cleansing conducted by Azerbaijan in 1988-1991 in Sumgait, Baku and other settlements of the Azerbaijani SSR, as well as in the villages of Northern Artsakh.

The Armenian pogroms carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to the demand of the people of Artsakh to exercise its inalienable right to self-determination and the subsequent military aggression against the Republic of Artsakh in 1991, which was repeated in April 2016, demonstrated that only the establishment and strengthening of an independent statehood can ensure the right of the people of Artsakh to live freely and safely in its homeland. The international community’s recognition of this reality and the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh will become an additional deterrent against Azerbaijan’s desire to unleash a new war and will ensure peace and security in the entire region of the South Caucasus.”

Film: The film about William Saroyan is now available online

Tambiyan Samvel
Panorama, Armenia
April 30 2020
Society 17:32 30/04/2020 World

The film directed by Lusin Dink,  the daughter of renowned Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist Hrant Dink’s brother “SaroyanLand” (2013) is now available online, Ermenihaber reports.

“SaroyanLand” is a documentary drama focusing on the journey of renowned American- Armenian writer William Saroyan to the birthplace of his Armenian family in Bitlis, Turkey in 1964.

Saroyan portrayed himself as an American and a Bitlis-tsi, an Armenian from the city of Bitlis in Turkey. In 1964 he made a long voyage in Anatolia, leading him to his home town Bitlis. The docu-drama road movie “SaroyanLand” tells the story of this voyage, making use of his own memoirs and short stories, as well as the accounts of his travelling companions. In Saroyan’s own words, told by a voice over, we see his anger, passion, longing for his homeland, ability of empathy and love of humankind. The script of the film, based on interviews, reenactment of Saroyan’s stories, and the authors memoirs is a collage of his voyage in Turkey, told in his own words. While replicating Saroyan’s voyage 49 years later, we witness the self-discovery of a man, who by following the traces of his ancestors, also finds himself.


The Artsakh security is not for bargain – president

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
April 30 2020

The Artsakh leadership has been consistent in their position that the security of the country is not for bargain, the President of the republic Bako Sahakyan stated on Thursday during the
annual statement at the sitting of the National Assembly.

In response to question about the phased solution of the NK conflict under consideration that has also been raised in the recent statement by Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, the president said there would be no return to the past both in terms of territories and the status.

To note, during the sitting Bako Sahakyan made an annual statement introducing the performance of the Artsakh Republic President’s program in 2019 and from January 2020 till the end of term of office of the acting Artsakh Republic President.