Category: 2020

Armenia official: We are thinking about increasing national debt

Arbi Tashjian
News.am, Armenia
April 9 2020

15:22, 09.04.2020

YEREVAN. – I do not rule out and do not see any problem with increasing the national debt. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan stated this Thursday during a press conference at the Government Press Center.

As the deputy PM, however, it is too early to announce the amount and time of the new debt.

“Based on the situation we have today, I think it is too early to give assessments in numbers,” Grigoryan stressed. “Things are developing in such a way even in the world that it will take some time to be able to publicize our courses of action more accurately. Of course, we are thinking, of course there are scenarios [for increasing Armenia’s national debt], but at the moment I would not like to voice more specific information about its time and amount.”

To note, former deputy PM Vache Gabrielyan had recently noted that increasing the national debt is also one of the necessary steps to overcome the current crisis.

Armenia hopes to run 1,000 coronavirus tests a day

Arbi Tashjian
Panorama, Armenia
April 9 2020

An increase in the number of coronavirus recoveries and people leaving quarantine locations is expected in Armenia in the near future, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

In the premier’s words, further coronavirus measures will be discussed at the Commandant’s Office on Friday, but the biggest challenge is to create an opportunity for performing 1,000 tests a day starting from tomorrow.

“Today we held a consultation, with the [health] minister clarifying steps to be taken in this context. In the initial phase, the number of tests may be less than 1,000,” the PM said. “However, as a result of discussions, we came to the conclusion that there should be an instruction. In other words, just inviting and testing people without any criteria will be a waste of time and resources.”

All healthcare workers, as well as patients with pneumonia and viral diseases will be tested for coronavirus from Friday, Pashinyan said. 

National Geographic: Ani, medieval Armenia’s "city of 1,001 churches"

Babken Chilingarian
PanArmenian, Armenia
April 9 2020
April 9, 2020 – 16:57 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The National Geographic has unveiled a fresh article about the city of Ani, the capital of medieval Armenia, which “was a thriving center of trade and faith” and is now survived by its haunting ruins.

Ani was the cosmopolitan capital of medieval Armenia, one of the earliest kingdoms to adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301, the article says.

“The site of a fifth-century fortification, Ani was chosen to be Armenia’s capital in the 10th century. It became home to as many as 100,000 people, and was so richly endowed with sacred buildings that it came to be known as the “city of 1,001 churches,” the feature says.

“Its strategic position along trade routes between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea made it an attractive possession, condemning it to centuries of invasion—and eventually, a long period of abandonment.”

According to the piece, although different empires rose and fell on the site, Armenian identity prevailed.

“The serene ruins of the city, once swarmed by armies through the ages, has always been a special place for Armenians. In the wake of the Armenian Genocide, it stands as an even more powerful reminder of Armenia’s losses and of its astonishing endurance,” the article condcludes.


NG: This abandoned site was once the ‘City of 1,001 Churches’

Emil Lazarian
National Geographic
April 9 2020


FLORIAN NEUKIRCHEN/AGE FOTOSTOCK
History Magazine

The Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Ani was built in 1215 alongside the Akhuryan River, the modern border between Turkey and Armenia.

By Antonio Ratti

PUBLISHED April 9, 2020

East of the Turkish city of Kars lies a complex of lonely medieval churches. Octagonal towers, crumbling walls, and fallen columns lay scattered across vast grasslands. In the gorge that drops away to the Akhuryan River—which forms Turkey’s border with the modern state of Armenia—is an ancient bridge, broken in the middle.

These ruins are all that remain of Ani, the cosmopolitan capital of medieval Armenia, one of the earliest kingdoms to adopt Christianity as its state religion in the early A.D. 300s. The site of a fifth-century fortification, Ani was chosen to be Armenia’s capital in the 10th century. It became home to as many as 100,000 people, and was so richly endowed with sacred buildings that it came to be known as the “city of 1,001 churches.”

The lives of Jesus and St. Gregory the Illuminator are represented in frescoes inside Ani’s 13th-century Church of St. Gregory of Tigran Honents. IZZET KERIBAR/GETTY IMAGES

Its strategic position along trade routes between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea made it an attractive possession, condemning it to centuries of invasion—and eventually, a long period of abandonment.

Following its absorption into the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, Ani remained a distant memory until the early 1800s, when European travelers began to visit the site of the medieval city. The ruins of Ani were located on a geopolitical fault line at the edges of the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian Empires. Visiting the remains of the city was risky as political tensions were running high.

Nevertheless, some visitors carried out hasty surveys and aroused interest among scholars. In 1817 Scottish diplomat and traveler Robert Ker Porter passed through and recorded his impressions. While remaining vigilant in a place whose “gloomy ruins” were perfect hiding places for “sanguinary freebooters,” Ker Porter’s account transmitted his excitement: “On entering the city, I found the whole surface of the ground covered with broken capitals, highly ornamented friezes; and other remains of ancient magnificence.”

Some of the churches, he wrote, were more intact than others, but even they “are as solitary as all the others structures, on which time and devastation have left more heavy strokes.” (Historians are using lasers to unlock mysteries of Gothic cathedrals.)

In 1839 British Army captain Richard Wilbraham marveled at the solidity of Ani’s defenses and the presence of Christian iconography. “The sacred symbol of Christianity is introduced in various places,” he observed. “Huge blocks of blood-red stone, let into the masonry of the tower, form gigantic crosses, which have defied the hand of the destroying Moslem [sic].” Despite these glimmers of scholarly interest, time and weather continued to take their toll on Ani. Several more decades would pass before archaeologists arrived to carry out a formal survey.

The medieval kingdom of Armenia once extended far beyond the modern boundaries of today’s nation. In ancient times these lands came under the control of the Persians, then the Seleucids, the Parthians, and the Romans. But as these different empires rose and fell, Armenian identity prevailed. (This photographer is creating a new Armenian narrative.)


Ahead of its timeAni’s cathedral was completed in A.D. 1001 by Trdat the Architect (who also reconstructed the damaged dome of the Hagia Sophia cathedral in Constantinople). Its ribbed vaulting would not be seen in European cathedrals until at least two centuries later. During Ani’s sacking by the Seljuks in 1064, it was converted into a mosque; but returned to Christian usage in 1124. Its dome was destroyed in the earthquake of 1319. JANE SWEENEY/AGE FOTOSTOCK

Christianity became a central part of Armenian history when it was still a young faith. The religion took hold and Christian Armenia existed alongside the Byzantines, the Sassanians, and then the Arab-Muslims.

In the 10th century the Bagratid dynasty rose to power in northern Armenia. King Ashot III (952-977) chose Ani as his royal capital. Between 977 and 989 his successor, Smabat II, constructed its double, northern walls, crowned with round towers. Trade routes making up the Silk Road shifted to pass through the city. Flush with wealth, the rulers started to build more churches. (See the enduring spirit of the Silk Road today.)

Georgia to evacuate Georgian, Armenian students from USA

Badalian Vardan
Aysor, Armenia
April 9 2020

Georgia and USA will ensure the evacuation of Georgian and Armenian students from the United States agreed with the coronavirus, Georgia’s PM Georgi Gakharia stated, according to RIA Novosti.

“We are working on the issue over ten days, as a result, according to the joint decision of Georgian and U.S. governments, 79 students who are currently in the USA will be transported,” Gakharia stated, adding that with the request of the Armenian side, 35 students from Armenia will too be evacuated from the USA by the special flight.

The Georgian PM said that the U.S. side will ensure the flight to Doha from where the Georgian side will organize flight to Tbilisi.

Georgia to help organize the return of 35 Armenian students from the US

David Nargizian
Public Radio of Armenia
April 9 2020

Georgia will help evacuate 35 Armenian students from the US, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced, according to the government’s website.

The Governments of the US and Georgia have agreed to organize the return of 79 Georgian schoolchildren stranded in the US, Gakharia said.

According to the Prime Minister, a flight from the United States to Doha will take place tomorrow, April 10. The flight will be operated by the American side. The transportation of the 79 children from Doha to Georgia will be ensured by the Government of Georgia.

Giorgi Gakharia said that upon the request of Armenian colleagues, they will also transport 35 schoolchildren who are Armenian nationals.

April Is Armenian Genocide of 1915 Commemoration Month in PUSD [Pasadena]

Emil Lazarian
Colorado Boulevard
April 9 2020
April Is Armenian Genocide of 1915 Commemoration Month in PUSD

By Laura Hackett

To ensure that the Armenian Genocide is taught properly, the PUSD will provide teacher-training workshops and educational resources to all of its high school social studies teachers and students. PUSD stated that it “recommits itself to engaging teachers in extensive discussions about best practices around teaching the subject of genocide and the most effective ways of communicating the important society themes that run through the continuum of genocides of modern history.” The PUSD, in collaboration with the City of Pasadena Human Relations Commission, “commends its conscientious educators” who teach about human rights and genocide.

The PUSD Board resolution reads as follows:

The Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children of Armenian descendants lost their lives at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in their attempt to systematically eliminate the Armenian race. PUSD recognizes that the genocide of the Armenians constituted one of the most atrocious violations of human rights in the history of the world; and despite the overwhelming proof of the genocidal intent, the Republic of Turkey has inexplicably and adamantly denied the occurrence of the crimes against humanity committed by the Ottomon and Young Turk rulers; and in response to the Genocide and at the behest of the President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. State Department, the Near East Relief organization was founded and was provided unprecedented complete access to all U.S. Government documents and files concerning the plight of Christian minorities; and the Near East Relief was the first Congressionally-sanctioned American philanthropic effort created exclusively to rescue the Armenian Nation and other Christian minorities from annihilation after U.S. Ambassador to Constantinople Henry A. Morgenthau, Jr., pled for assistance upon personally witnessing the systematic massacre of Armenians; and Near East Relief efforts resulted in delivering $117 million of assistance between 1915 and 1930, including the delivery of food, clothing, and materials for shelter, setting up refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, and orphanages; and the generous philanthropy of the American people, including many Californians, directly resulted in the salvation of the Armenian and Assyrian refugee nation from being completely annihilated by the Genocide by saving more than one million refugees, including more than 130,000 orphans through their humanitarian assistance; and the Near East Relief evolved into the Near East Foundation in 1930, and continues to provide humanitarian aid to people throughout the Middle East and Africa; and on April 24, 2013, the President of the United States stated, ‘A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future’; and the State of California has been at the forefront of encouraging and promoting a curriculum relating to human rights and genocide in order to empower future generations to prevent recurrence of genocide.

The concern for human rights is a major element in the History-Social Science framework for California public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade.  The PUSD noted the significant Armenian student population in Pasadena, and that many students have family members who experienced the Armenian Genocide first-hand, as well as the years of denial.

This PUSD Board resolution coincides with the decision to place an Armenian DLIP (Dual Language Immersion Program) at Blair High School. Superintendent Dr. McDonald stated that the Armenian DLIP program would raise money to make sure that it had necessary resources, including an Armenian teacher, optional smaller classes, and a crossing guard that would assist students going between Blair Middle School and Blair High School. Due to COVID-19, the PUSD is closed for the rest of the school year; students are being educated through distance learning. The Governor of California, in accordance with Assembly Concurrent Resolution 51, proclaimed each April 24 as the State Day of Remembrance in recognition of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.


Nikol Pashinyan: Armenian authorities have control over the spread of coronavirus

Emil Lazarian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 9 2020

ArmInfo. The Armenian authorities, in general, are in control of the spread of coronavirus. This was stated on  April 9 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a  government meeting.

According to him, all data on sick citizens of the country were  integrated and presented in an electronic system in which all data is  updated online. According to the situation at the moment there are 12  inaccuracies that are being specified. Since the start of the  epidemic in Armenia, 921 cases of morbidity have been officially  confirmed, taking into account 12 inaccuracies, this figure would be  equal to 909.  Nikol Pashinyan also said that starting from April 10,  about 1 thousand tests will be performed daily in the republic.  It  is mandatory to test employees of medical institutions involved in  the treatment process, as well as those suffering from pneumonia and  other chronic diseases. This, according to the prime minister, is  necessary in order to have a holistic picture of the current  situation.

It should be noted that according to the data as of 11:00 on April 9,  28 new cases of infection with a new type of coronavirus were  detected in Armenia. Thus, in total, 921 cases of coronavirus were  confirmed in the republic, 138 people recovered, and died 10. The  last death was registered today: an 80-year-old patient who also had  a number of chronic diseases became a victim of coronavirus.  Currently, 773 patients are receiving actual treatment.

Ministry of Healthcare: The number of coronavirus infected in Armenia may reach 3600 by April 29

Ara Felekian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 9 2020

ArmInfo. If the rates of coronavirus infection continue, then by April 19, 1800 cases will be registered in Armenia, and by April 29 – 3600. The Minister of Health  of Armenia Arsen Torosyan wrote about this on his Facebook page. As  positive news, he noted that the rate of infection over the past 5  days is much lower than what was recorded in total in the context of  the last 10 days.

“These small achievements can easily evaporate if we” weaken “and  return to our daily life without observing the rules that prevent the  spread of the disease,” he said.

To recall, according to the data as of 11:00 am on April 9, 28 new  cases of infection with a new type of coronavirus were detected in  Armenia. Thus, in total, 921 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in  the republic, 138 people recovered, 10 died. Currently, 773 patients  are receiving actual treatment.

Parliamentary Committee investigating events of April war had satisfied Serzh Sargsyan`s request

Khoyetsian Rose
Arminfo, Armenia
April 9 2020

ArmInfo.The Parliamentary Committee to Investigate the Events of the April War of 2016 had satisfied third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s request. The office of  the Third President of Armenia reported this.

According to the source, in yesterday’s letter it was not clear of  the parliamentary committee’s decision- would they provide the third  president of Armenia a copy of the video recording of his upcoming  testimony. . Thus, we did not receive  an answer to our question.

In today’s letter it is noted that without preconditions, Serzh  Sargsyan’s request on being allowed to have a copy of the video  recording of his upcoming testimony at a parliamentary committee  hearing investigating the 2016 April War circumstances has been  granted. Considering that the committee satisfied the request that  was put forward by Sargsyan, the third president of Armenia confirms  his decision, presented in the response of the commettees’s office  dated April 7 of the current year>, the statement emphasizes.

It should be noted that the third president of Armenia said that if  his request is satisfied, he is ready to take part in the meeting of  the parliamentary committee to investigate the events of the April  war on April 16.  To recall, the parliamentary committee to  investigate the circumstances of the April war in Karabakh was  created in 2019. The Committee included representatives of all  factions of the National Assembly. The purpose of her work is to  identify possible errors, shortcomings or inaction on the part of the  then authorities during the aforementioned period of aggravation of  the situation at the border, which led to the death of more than 100  Armenian servicemen.