Category: 2020

Coronavirus spread rate declines in Armenia

Nahapetian Samvel

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 17:23, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. The rate of doubling the number of coronavirus infected persons has declined in Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports Health Minister of Armenia Arsen Torosyan said in a Facebook Live.

‘’If we view by daily percentage point rise, we have recorded 4.6%, 6.8% and 1.3% rise in the past 3 days. The number of infected persons now doubles in every 8 days, before it was 7 days. Our task is to maximally drop this pace’’, the Minister said.

As of April 6, 11:00, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Armenia is 833. 8 people have died. The total number of recoveries is 62.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

8 coronavirus infected patients in Armenia are in very critical condition

Emil Lazarian

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 17:41, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. 8 out of the 833 people in Armenia who have been infected with the novel coronavirus are in a very critical condition, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said live on Facebook.

“Most of our patients even do not have a fever, but 146 citizens have pneumonia. Nearly 35 people are in critical condition and 8 in a very critical condition”, the minister said.

He informed that at the moment 1,500 citizens are under quarantine, and 5,000 citizens are under self-quarantine with a special instruction.

As of April 6, 11:00, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Armenia is 833. 8 people have died. The total number of recoveries is 62.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




6 policemen tested positive for coronavirus

Hunanian Jack

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 18:14, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. Preventive measures are implemented at the Police of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy police Chief Hayk Mhryan said at a press conference.

”At the moment we have 6 policemen infected with coronavirus, 11 are isolated”, he said.

As of April 6, 11:00, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Armenia is 833. 8 people have died. The total number of recoveries is 62.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Artsakh is ready to take all necessary measures of self-defense – MFA

Jalatian Sonya

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 18:20, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Artsakh is ready to take all necessary measures of self-defense in accordance with international law and, in particular, the provisions of the UN Charter, reads the statement of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh over the ceasefire violation incident by Azerbaijan on April 5.

The foreign ministry expressed concerns that the incident occurred amid the temporary suspension of monitoring of the ceasefire by the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and in a situation when the whole world is struggling with a new type of coronavirus pandemic (COVID19).

”The Azerbaijani side once again grossly violated the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, as a result of which a serviceman of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh was wounded.

It is worrying that this incident occurred amid the temporary suspension of monitoring of the ceasefire by the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and in a situation when the whole world is struggling with a new type of coronavirus pandemic (COVID19).

Such provocations are an open disregard on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities of the call of the UN Secretary General Anthony Guterres for a ceasefire around the world to direct the efforts of all mankind to overcome the global challenge – the coronavirus, as well as ignoring the appeal of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the parties to the conflict to strictly observe the ceasefire and refrain from any provocative actions that may increase the level of tension in a given period.

The non-constructive behavior of Baku has become another manifestation of the irresponsible and aggressive policies of the Azerbaijani authorities and deserves the most rigorous assessment and condemnation from the international community.

Reaffirming its obligations to comply with the agreements on maintaining and strengthening the ceasefire, as well as the Secretary-General’s appeal for global armistice, the Republic of Artsakh urges Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations and abandon provocative actions.

At the same time, the Republic of Artsakh is ready to take all necessary measures of self-defense in accordance with international law and, in particular, the provisions of the UN Charter”, reads the statement.

Asbarez: Registration Begins for Pasadena’s Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program

Karagyozian Lena
April 6, 2020

Pasadene Unified School District begins enrollment for the Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program on April 6

Open enrollment for the new Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program in Pasadena has kicked off and students may begin registering online beginning Monday through August 6 for the 2020-2021 academic year, announced the Pasadena Unified School District Board on Friday.

During a meeting on March 26, the PUSD approved a new Armenian Dual Language Immersion high school program open to students in grades 9 to 12, which will be located at Blair School, home of the District’s  International Baccalaureate secondary school programs; students will have access to IB courses. Blair serves students in middle and high school and is composed of three adjacent campuses.

“This is a unique opportunity to expand PUSD’s bilingual and biliteracy academic options that now include our district’s first high school Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program,” said Superintendent Brian McDonald.  “The commitment that the parents and community have demonstrated by establishing a program that encourages families to remain in PUSD is remarkable, and I am pleased to welcome them to PUSD.”

PUSD currently offers Dual Language Immersion Programs in French, Mandarin, and Spanish.

To register, current PUSD students must submit an application between April 6 – 20, 2020, to enroll in the program. New-to-PUSD resident students and out-of-district students may apply online between April 6 through August 6, 2020.  Additional details are posted on PUSD’s Open Enrollment website at openenrollment.info

Classes, including language immersion, will be taught by fully-credentialed bilingual teachers who have additional preparation and expertise in teaching Armenian. The program will be located at Blair School, which serves students in grades 6-12 and has vibrant International Baccalaureate programs, an International Academy, a Health Careers Academy, and a Spanish Dual Language program.

Armenian DLIP will be open for students in grades 9-12. The model would be consistent with other DLIP high school programs in PUSD by offering one class per grade level when fully implemented at the high school level. The instructional model will follow the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education. Staff will conduct additional planning and outreach to determine the selected program model for possible middle school and elementary school options, should the program expand in future years.

The new Armenian Immersion Program will offer the following classes in 2020-21: Armenian I, Armenian II, Armenian III, and Armenian IV (subject to minimum student enrollment). As the program expands, PUSD plans to offer additional courses including Armenian Literature and Armenian History and Culture.

Language course placement will be determined by the student’s ability in the target language as well as prior course completion.

“This was the finest example of collaboration and partnership between the Armenian community and the Pasadena Unified School District,” said Maro Yacoubian, a community member who advocated for the creation of the program. “With the unwavering commitment from parents and community members, we have not only filled a void in the community but have also created a groundbreaking educational opportunity.”

“By establishing this academy, PUSD will have the distinct honor of having created the first Armenian Dual language, history/culture, with IB program in the nation,” said community member Goldie Gastjan. “This unique program will present the opportunity for students beyond Pasadena to attend this school. Our community families are anxiously waiting, and we see a very bright future.”

“I am thrilled with the Pasadena Unified School District’s vote of approval to establish an Armenian Dual Language Immersion program at Blair School, the first of its kind in the U.S.” said Arsine Shirvanian, a community member who advocated for the program.

A welcome and program event will be planned once schools reopen. The first day of school for PUSD students is August 17, 2020.

The approval is conditional upon enrollment in the program of 150 students who are new to PUSD and is expected to draw interest from Pasadena-area families, including students who were previously enrolled at a soon-to-close private high school. The program will be capped at 250 students in the first year. If the program does not meet enrollment projections, course offerings and the program location are subject to change.

Asbarez: Egypt’s Armenian Community Donates Funds to State’s COVID-19 Efforts

Tambiyan Samvel
April 6, 2020

With the pews empty, Armenian religious leaders performed Palm Sunday Mass, which was broadcast on Facebook Live

While Armenians in Egypt were celebrating Palm Sunday, the Primate of the Armenian Church of Egypt, Bishop Ashod Mntastaganian announced that the Armenian community would donate 1 million Egyptian pounds (around $65,000) to Tahya Misr, the state charitable fund, in order to assist Cairo’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Ah ram Online reported the donation news and quoted Mnatsaganian thanking the Egypt for being home to thousands of Armenians.

“We owe it to this Holy Land. It is the least we can offer as a helping hand to fight this pandemic in a country that showed a warm attitude towards our nation in the past and continues to do so at present, for which we are grateful,” Mnatsaganian said in a telephone conversation with Ah ram Online immediately after the Palm Sunday Mass.

The Palm Sunday Mass was was broadcast on Cairo’s St. Gregory the Illuminator Church’s Facebook page.

In 2018, the community also donated one million Egyptian pounds to the Amiri Main University Hospital in Alexandria during a celebration of “Egyptian-Armenian Fraternity,” organized by the country’s Ministry of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/06/2020

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Monday, April 6, 2020
Armenians Repatriated From Russia, Quarantined
        • Aza Babayan
Russia -- Russian police officers patrol on the nearly-deserted Red Square in 
Moscow, April 6, 2020
The Russian government has waived its ban on commercial flights abroad to allow 
at least 400 citizens of Armenia to return home from Russia because of the 
coronavirus epidemic.
It suspended all flights in and out of Russia on April 3 to try to stem the 
spread of coronavirus. The decision left hundreds of Armenians stranded at 
Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport.
At the request of the Armenian Embassy in Russia, Moscow allowed a Russian 
airline, Red Wings, to transport 222 of them to Yerevan on Monday. They all were 
placed in quarantine by Armenian health authorities immediately after arriving 
at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport.
The Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations released a short video that showed 
officials clad in protective gear escorting the evacuees to buses that took them 
to two hotels where they will stay for at least two weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian announced afterwards that the Russian 
government has allowed Red Wings to carry out a second Moscow-Yerevan flight. 
The flight is scheduled for Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said later in 
the evening.
Most of the evacuees are understood to have been selected by the Armenian 
Embassy. According to Ambassador Vartan Toghanian, priority was given to transit 
passengers from other Russian cities and people travelling with young children 
or lacking money to stay in Russia.
Toghanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Sunday that a total of about 3,000 
Armenian nationals have asked the embassy to help them return to Armenia. “There 
are two categories of people willing to return: those who are ready to pay and 
to go to Armenia and those who are unable do to that because of financial or 
other problems,” he said.
The envoy said the Armenian mission in Moscow is now looking into ways of 
helping the latter category. “First of all, we will try to accommodate them in 
several hotels outside Moscow,” he said, adding that other stranded Armenians 
will likewise be offered free but temporary accommodation in two cities in 
southern Russia.
Russia is home to hundreds of thousands of Armenian migrant workers. Many of 
them now risk losing their jobs due to coronavirus-related lockdowns ordered by 
authorities in various parts of the country.
According to Armenia’s Labor and Health Inspectorate, almost 12,000 people have 
returned to Armenia from “countries in the high-risk zone” and been ordered to 
self-isolate since March 19.
Food Exports From Armenia Restricted
        • Robert Zargarian
Russia - A shopper holds a buckwheat packet at a Moscow supermarker, March 20, 
2020.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has temporarily banned exports of key 
foodstuffs from its member states, including Armenia, to other countries, a 
senior Armenian official confirmed on Monday.
Deputy Economy Minister Varos Simonian said the Russian-led trade bloc’s 
executive body, the Eurasian Economic Commission, has initiated the three-month 
ban in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The ban will not apply to 
humanitarian aid that might be provided by Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan 
or Kyrgyzstan, he said.
The foodstuffs in question include various cereals, soya beans, sunflower seeds, 
onions and garlics. Unlike Russia, Armenia is not a major exporter of these 
products.
The Eurasian Economic Commission explained on its website that the export 
restrictions are meant to “provide the population with sufficient quantities of 
such products during an escalation of the sanitary-epidemiological situation.”
The Moscow-based commission at the same time decided last week to temporarily 
lift import duties on foodstuffs imported by the EEU member states.
“We are talking, for example, about potatoes, onions, garlics, carrots and a 
number of other products,” Simonian told a news conference. “Their imports to 
the EEU area will be taxed at zero rates.”
This is aimed at preventing major increases in food prices in Russia and the 
four other ex-Soviet states.
The prices of flour, sugar, butter and cooking oil sold in Yerevan supermarkets 
and smaller stores have already risen in recent days.
Gegham Gevorgian, the head of Armenia’s State Commission for the Protection of 
Economic Competition (SCPEC), blamed this on a coronavirus-related weakening of 
the national currency, the dram, which began last month.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian echoed this explanation when he answered 
questions from Facebook users later in the day. “I must point out that some of 
these price hikes may be connected with exchange rate fluctuations,” he said.
Runner-Up Calls For Karabakh Election Boycott
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Masis Mayilian speaks to RFE/RL, Stepanakert, February 22, 
2020.
Citing the coronavirus pandemic, the candidate who finished second in the first 
round of Nagorno-Karabakh’s presidential election has called on supporters to 
boycott a runoff vote scheduled for April 14.
Masis Mayilian has at the same time refrained from withdrawing from the race.
Official results of the March 31 election showed Ara Harutiunian, a wealthy 
businessman and Karabakh’s former prime minister, winning over 49 percent of the 
vote. Mayilian garnered 26.4 percent, meaning that the ballot has to go into a 
runoff.
The vote went ahead despite serious concerns about the spread of coronavirus in 
Karabakh. Mayilian and several other presidential candidates demanded its 
postponement during the election campaign. The authorities in Stepanakert 
countered that precautionary measures taken by them helped to prevent any 
coronavirus cases in Karabakh so far.
In a weekend statement, Mayilian, who is also Karabakh outgoing foreign 
minister, said his supporters should stay away from polling stations on April 14 
because of the “growing danger of coronavirus.”
He also criticized the authorities’ handling of the polls, saying it was “very 
far” from Karabakh residents’ expectations of democratization. He cited in that 
regard the findings of election observers from Armenia that reported voter 
irregularities.
Still, Mayilian “took note” of the official results and stopped short of 
explicitly rejecting them as fraudulent.
The election runner-up has avoided any contacts with the media since March 31. 
He did not answer phone calls from RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Monday.
The chairwoman of Karabakh’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Srbuhi 
Arzumanian, said it has received no formal notifications from Mayilian about his 
withdrawal from the race. This means, she said, that his name will be on the 
ballot on April 14.
Nagorno Karabakh - Voting is underway in the presidential and parliamentary 
election in Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert,31Mar,2020
Meanwhile, Harutiunian signaled support for the holding of the second round. 
“There are only several days to go [before the runoff,] and we should … finish 
the elections,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service from Stepanakert.
Asked whether he is urging supporters to again go to the polls, Harutiunian 
said: “Let the CEC announce the final results [of the first round] first and I 
will appeal to my compatriots after that.”
Karabakh Armenians also elected on March 31 their new parliament. Harutiunian’s 
Free Fatherland party won more than 40 percent of those votes and will have the 
largest number of parliament seats.
Azerbaijan strongly condemned the Karabakh elections, saying that they run 
counter to Azerbaijani and international law. It also said that that the 
Armenian-populated territory, which broke away from Azerbaijani rule in 1991, is 
governed by an “illegal regime installed by Armenia.”
U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group stressed, for 
their part, that Karabakh is not recognized as an independent state by the 
international community and that “the so-called general elections” cannot 
predetermine the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks mediated by them.
By contrast, Armenia defended the holding of the elections marke by high voter 
turnout. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian described the polls as democratic and 
said they could facilitate a resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
Putin, Pashinian Discuss Russian Gas Price For Armenia
Turkmenistan -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian speak during a summit of ex-Soviet states in Ashgabat, October 
11, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian telephoned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on 
Monday to discuss the price of Russian natural gas for Armenia which Yerevan 
hopes will be cut due to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The sides discussed issues related to natural gas supplies to Armenia,” read an 
Armenian government statement. It gave no details of the discussion.
A Kremlin readout of the phone call did not explicitly mention the gas issue. It 
said instead that the two leaders talked about their government’s efforts to 
stem the spread of coronavirus and that Pashinian thanked Putin for “assistance 
provided by the Russian side.”
According to the Armenian statement, Pashinian was appreciative of Moscow’s 
decision to allow continued cargo shipments between the two countries despite 
the coronavirus-related closure of Russia’s borders.
Pashinian spoke to Putin one week after his government effectively asked 
Russia’s Gazprom monopoly to cut the price of its gas imported by Armenia. In a 
letter to Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian 
argued that international oil prices, which greatly determine the cost of 
natural gas, have fallen sharply over the past month.
Gazprom executives and Russian government officials have not yet publicly 
commented on new tariff negotiations requested by Yerevan.
The Armenian government appears to hope that a price cut will at least offset a 
major rise in domestic gas prices for households and businesses, which was 
formally requested by Armenia’s Gazprom-owned national gas distribution network 
on April 1.
The retail prices have remained unchanged since Gazprom raised its wholesale 
tariff for Armenia from $150 to $165 per thousand cubic meters in January 2019. 
This has translated into additional losses for the Gazprom Armenia network.
Pashinian also discussed the matter by phone on March 31 with President 
Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, which is also heavily dependent on Russian gas. 
According to Lukashenko’s press office, the two men agreed that the current gas 
prices set for their countries are “inflated” and “do not correspond to 
international levels.”
In televised remarks aired over the weekend, Lukashenko claimed that because of 
the collapse in oil prices Belarus is now paying more for Russian gas than 
European Union member states.
Pashinian ‘Encouraged’ By Armenia’s Latest Coronavirus Numbers
Armenia -- Masked pedestrians on the streets of Yerevan, March 17, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Monday reported a significant drop in new 
cases of coronavirus in Armenia and said his government will consider easing a 
nationwide lockdown if a downward trend continues in the coming days.
Pashinian said that only 11 more people tested positive for the virus in the 
past 24 hours, the lowest daily increase in more than two weeks which brought 
the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 833.
“Today’s figures are encouraging for us,” said in a video address to the nation 
livestreamed on Facebook. “We can’t be certain because we have to also look at 
tomorrow’s figures. But if hopes raised by these figures materialize … they 
should inspire all of us to remain maximally disciplined and comply with 
restrictions for one more week.”
“And if our theory materializes, it will mean that starting from next Monday we 
will be able to think about easing the [quarantine] regime,” added the premier.
Armenia had only 249 confirmed coronavirus cases when its government issued 
stay-at-home orders and forced the closure of nonessential businesses on March 
24. The number of infections continued to rise by over 10 percent per day in the 
following days, leading the authorities to impose more transport restrictions.
In particular, they suspended public transport in Yerevan and restricted travel 
between the Armenian capital and the rest of the country. Official statistics 
show that the daily infection rate began falling on April 3.
Pashinian also reported that another person died from COVID-19 late on Sunday, 
raising to 8 Armenia’s death toll from the virus. The premier said the 
68-year-old man also suffered from diabetes and other pre-existing diseases.
According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, five other infected people 
recovered from coronavirus in the past day. The total number of such recoveries 
thus rose to 62.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

The California Courier Online, April 9, 2020

Yeghisabet Arthur

1 –        US Indicts Turkish Halkbank for Illegal
            Transfer of Billions of Dollars to Iran
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         ‘We Armenians Survived’: Physician’s Contribution Draws
Past to Present
3 –        Save Your Favorite Restaurant, Order Direct
4-         Pasadena School Board Approves New Armenian Dual Immersion School
5-         Afeyan: Phase 2 of COVID-19 Vaccine Trials in Spring

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1 –        US Indicts Turkish Halkbank for Illegal
            Transfer of Billions of Dollars to Iran
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Halkbank, whose majority shareholder is the Turkish government,
pleaded not guilty in New York on March 31, 2020, to criminal charges
that it helped Iran illicitly transfer tens of billions in dollars and
gold, wrote Aykan Erdemir and Philip Kowalski in an essay published on
April 3 by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy
institute based in Washington, D.C.

On October 15, 2019, the Federal Southern District Court of New York
accused Halkbank of “fraud, money-laundering and sanctions offenses,”
alleging that Halkbank and its executives aided Iranian-Turkish gold
trader Reza Zarrab in a “multi-billion dollar scheme to circumvent
U.S. sanctions on Iran.”

Initially, Halkbank refused to appear in court “claiming that the
criminal charges are beyond the U.S. court’s jurisdiction,” Erdemir
and Kowalski wrote. However, when “prosecutors proposed escalating
contempt fines which could have totaled $1.8 billion after eight
weeks,” the bank agreed to respond to the court charges.

Originally, the Turkish and Iranian officials had concocted a scheme
to exchange gas for gold to circumvent the U.S. sanctions, by claiming
that the gold was headed not to Iranian government entities but to
Iran’s “private sector.” Erdemir and Kowalski stated that “the scheme
ultimately yielded the Iranian regime some $13 billion in Turkish gold
between 2012 and 2013. Once the U.S. Congress introduced legislation
to close the ‘golden loophole’ in 2013, Iran used Turkish front
companies to issue invoices for fake transactions of food and medicine
that fall under the humanitarian exception to U.S. sanctions. In one
infamous case of over-invoicing, a Turkey-based luxury yacht company
used Halkbank to sell nearly 5.2 tons of brown sugar to Iran’s Bank
Pasargad at the price of approximately $240 per pound.”

This scheme was first exposed in December 2013 by Turkish
investigators who implicated then Prime-Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
several of his ministers and other senior officials, including
Halkbank’s managers. Erdogan shut down the probe by firing the police
officials, prosecutors and judges!

The scandal resurfaced in March 2016 when Iranian-Turkish ring-leader
Reza Zarrab was arrested in Miami after he flew to Florida to visit
Disney World with his family.

In March 2017, U.S. authorities arrested Halkbank Deputy CEO Mehmet
Hakan Atilla upon his arrival in New York. Zarrab pleaded guilty and
agreed to testify in court against Atilla. Zarrab confessed that he
had bribed senior Turkish ministers and top Halkbank executives. He
even implicated Erdogan in the corruption scheme, stating that Erdogan
had personally approved the illegal actions.

“Halkbank’s Atilla received a 32-month prison sentence in May 2018, a
significantly shorter one than prosecutors had originally sought,”
according to Erdemir and Kowalsky. “After Atilla’s return to Turkey,
Erdogan rewarded the convicted sanctions buster by appointing him CEO
of the Istanbul stock exchange, following the president’s established
pattern of rewarding other senior accomplices of Zarrab with cushy
appointments.”

Erdogan personally appealed to Pres. Trump and other senior officials
to block the court case of Halkbank, claiming that US courts have no
right to try Turkish citizens. The Courthouse News Service reported
that “One of Zarrab’s shell companies, Royal Holding A.S., listed its
address as a 35th floor unit in Trump Towers Istanbul. Before pleading
guilty to money laundering, sanctions evasions and bribery, Zarrab
retained Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to lead a campaign of
shadow diplomacy that echoed the one in Ukraine. Shuttling between
Turkey’s capital of Ankara and the White House, Giuliani met with
Erdogan, Trump, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and other
senior U.S. and Turkish officials in an attempt to negotiate a
prisoner swap. The New York Times reported that Tillerson resisted the
White House pressure for a deal that would have effectively killed the
Zarrab case.”

Erdogan’s and Giuliani’s efforts succeeded in stalling the prosecution
for almost two years, but ultimately failed when the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Southern District of New York went forward with the
charges last October.”

Senator Ron Wyden, the Senate Finance Committee’s top Democrat, told
Courthouse News Service: “It sure looked like Donald Trump was doing
the bidding of Erdogan and Giuliani, and there were real questions
about whether this was about getting Halkbank off the hook, even
though there were allegations that they were orchestrating the largest
sanctions evasion scheme in history.”

During Pres. Trump’s Senate impeachment inquiry earlier in 2020,
Senators Wyden, Robert Menendez and Sherrod Brown asked a joint
question which was read aloud in the Senate by Chief Justice John
Roberts: “Has the president engaged in a pattern of conduct in which
he places his personal and political interests on top of the national
security interests of the United States?”

Wyden told Courthouse News Service: “Donald Trump has significant
financial interest in Turkey,” referring to Trump Towers Istanbul. “We
read regularly that his family has forged personal relationships with
important Turkish officials. And so, you have to ask—which is what is
part of our inquiry—whether the Trump policy toward Turkey is in a
significant way colored by his personal and political interests and
not the national security of the country.”

If Halkbank is found guilty of violating U.S. sanctions, the court
could impose a hefty penalty, regardless of the wishes of Pres. Trump.

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2-         ‘We Armenians Survived’: Physician’s Contribution Draws
Past to Present

ALAMEDA, Calif.—Author Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut’s second non-fiction
book: We Armenians Survived! Battle of Marash 1920 became available
for purchase at the Amazon Kindle Store in December 2019. The book
consists of eye-witness accounts of civilians caught between the
opposing forces of Turkish combatants against the French army.

“I knew my mother’s people, the Shamlians, Topalians and Berberians of
Marash, Turkey lost relatives to heartless torture before being
summarily killed but luckily they survived as did an adolescent, Lydia
Bagdikian, not a family member, whose memoir is featured in the book,”
says Chesnut.

Chesnut first learned of her family’s experiences during the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923 when she was an adolescent. She always wanted to
let readers of history know the truth of what happened. Chesnut
succeeded in this with the publication, to overwhelmingly positive
reviews, of her first book about her father published in 2014—Deli
Sarkis: The Scars He Carried.

“I’m reading Ellen Chestnut’s latest book “Battle of Marash” while in
quarantine due to the pandemic. Rather than repeat the excellent
previous reviews for this book, I just want to add my personal
recommendation for this book which is a heartfelt compilation of
memoirs by survivors of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. While this
first genocide of the 20th century was horrific, the stories of
persecuted Christians and their amazing survival and incredible
accomplishments as immigrants is heart warming. In one passage I
learned that a co-developer of the malaria drug that is now saving
CV19 patients’ lives was just one of these incredible survivors. What
an amazing people,” wrote readers Jim and Randi, who gave the book a
five-star review on March 28, 2020.

The review references three chapters of the book that feature the
memoirs of Dr. Dicran Berberian about the Battle of Marash. “It turns
out that Dicran Berberian (my mother’s first cousin) was the
co-discoverer of the antimalarial drug Plaquenil now known as
Hydroxychloroquine. This is being used by some doctors to treat people
with COVID-19,” said Sarkisian Chesnut.

Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut’s second non-fiction book is available not
only at the Amazon Kindle Store but can be ordered at any bookstore in
America both in Ebook and paperback version.

Chesnut has decided that all proceeds from book sales will help
Armenian compatriots in distress in both Lebanon and Syria—Armenian
Relief Society for Armenian Syria Relief and the Armenian Missionary
Association of America for Armenian Lebanon Relief. “By ordering this
book, you will not only be getting an informative book filled with
inspirational stories but you will be helping Armenians in the Middle
East! Thank you for your heartfelt support!” said Chesnut.

For more information, visit

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3 –  Save Your Favorite Restaurant, Order Direct

By Rostom Sarkissian

For The California Courier

You’re hungry, your pantry looks like the grocery store shelves in a
horror movie, and you’re craving kabob, pad Thai or that juicy burger
from the local spot you love, so what do you do?

Before you pick up your phone and press some buttons on a delivery app
like GrubHub, UberEats, or Postmates, think about the restaurant you
love. If you want them to exist in the short or long term, close that
app and order directly from them the old-fashioned way: call them or
as we did in the early days of the internet, go to their websites.

This advice applies all the time but is especially important now. If
your favorite restaurant is open during this pandemic, then by law
they are only allowed to do take out or delivery. They don’t deliver,
you say? Call them and ask because you’ll be surprised at how many
have figured out an in-house delivery option. If they haven’t, then
order from the apps. But if they have, then please order from them
directly. It’s the greatest thing you can do to help them!

My family’s restaurant, Aslan Mediterranean Cuisine, has been in
operation for 33 years in Los Angeles, and I can’t explain to you how
much you will be helping ALL the restaurants that you love by ordering
directly from them. With that simple act, you will be putting extra
money in their pockets because the big tech companies take up to 30
percent of restaurant’s revenue—right off the top—on every order you
place.

These tech delivery companies start their relationships with
restaurants by enticing them with the promise of new customers. But
over time, what they end up doing is converting a restaurant’s
existing customers into their platform’s users. Before restaurants
realize it, they become captives to the Faustian bargain they made at
the beginning. Since customers get the exact same meal they’re used
to, they don’t realize that they’re actually ordering from a billion
dollar “broker” company, rather than the mom and pop business they
think they’re supporting.

Before the coronavirus created this existential crisis, these delivery
companies were already draining small restaurants of crucial revenue.
Now that everyone is staying at home, these delivery companies have
become even more popular. Sensing an opportunity to capture customers
and worrying about a David vs. Goliath narrative, these companies put
out press releases touting their efforts to help small businesses,
while simultaneously creating marketing gimmicks that further
disadvantage small businesses. GrubHub eventually got bad press for
their “Supper for Support” promotion which costs restaurants $21 on
the first $30 of a sale, and UberEats comically offered to waive their
fees for restaurants on pick up orders, which happens as often as you
pay for an Uber ride so you can then walk home.

As an essential industry, restaurants have an exemption to stay open,
but only for delivery and take-out. Every restaurateur we know has
seen their revenue slashed; we have agonized at having to reduce hours
and let loyal staff go; we all worry about how we’re going to pay our
bills; we are constantly thinking about how to make sure that we and
our staff stay safe and don’t get sick when we interact with our
customers, and; the prudent ones among us have limited our shopping
days and locations to ensure the safety of our staff, thus increasing
our input costs because we can’t always shop where the produce is the
cheapest.

Like most restaurants, we don’t serve food that is quintessentially
unique, so our customer’s demand is considered elastic (i.e. when
price goes up, the customers will go somewhere else) so we have been
shouldering the increased material and food costs while simultaneously
being drained of much needed revenue by our delivery “partners.”

What we, and many restaurant owners have found to be hopeful is the
genuine desire by Americans of all stripes to help their favorite
local restaurants survive. Americans are rallying around efforts to
feed first responders, meet the nutritional needs of vulnerable
populations and ensure that children who need healthy meals get it
while supporting the remaining small business that are allowed to be
in operation.

The best way you can help is by ordering directly from all the
restaurants you love. I promise you, if you order that way, they will
love you right back!

Rostom Sarkissian is a Los Angeles-based public affairs professional
with over 20 years of experience in campaigns, project management,
non-profit development, government & media relations and small
business marketing. His family’s restaurant, Aslan Mediterranean
Cuisine, has been serving Mediterranean food with a Lebanese, Armenian
& Greek flair since 1988.

A longer version of this piece can be found on Medium where the author
delves into what restaurant owners can do to level the playing field
and shares some advice on how we can all be more safe when we order
take-out / delivery, shop for groceries & other essential goods during
this pandemic.

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4-         Pasadena School Board Approves New Armenian Dual Immersion School

PASADENA—In response to community interest, the Pasadena Unified
School District (PUSD) Board of Education has approved a new Armenian
Dual Language Immersion high school program for the 2020-2021 school
year. The 9-12th grade program will be located at Blair High School,
home of the District’s  International Baccalaureate secondary school
programs; students will have access to IB courses. Blair serves
students in middle and high school and is composed of three adjacent
campuses. Registration for the Armenian Dual Language Immersion
Program begins April 6, 2020, at openenrollment.info

“This is a unique opportunity to expand PUSD’s bilingual and
biliteracy academic options that now include our district’s first high
school Armenian Dual Language Immersion Program,” said Superintendent
Brian McDonald.  “The commitment that the parents and community have
demonstrated by establishing a program that encourages families to
remain in PUSD is remarkable, and I am pleased to welcome them to
PUSD.”

PUSD currently offers Dual Language Immersion Programs in French,
Mandarin, and Spanish.

To register, current PUSD students must submit an application between
April 6 – 20, 2020, to enroll in the program. New-to-PUSD resident
students and out-of-district students may apply online between April 6
through August 6, 2020.  Additional details are posted on PUSD’s Open
Enrollment website at openenrollment.info

Classes, including language immersion, will be taught by
fully-credentialed bilingual teachers who have additional preparation
and expertise in teaching Armenian. The program will be located at
Blair School, which serves students in grades 6-12 and has vibrant
International Baccalaureate programmes, an International Academy, a
Health Careers Academy, and a Spanish Dual Language program..

Armenian DLIP will be open for students in grades 9-12. The model
would be consistent with other DLIP high school programs in PUSD by
offering one class per grade level when fully implemented at the high
school level. The instructional model will follow the Guiding
Principles for Dual Language Education. Staff will conduct additional
planning and outreach to determine the selected program model for
possible middle school and elementary school options, should the
program expand in future years.

The new Armenian Immersion Program will offer the following classes in
2020-21: Armenian I, Armenian II, Armenian III, and Armenian IV
(subject to minimum student enrollment). As the program expands, PUSD
plans to offer additional courses including Armenian Literature and
Armenian History and Culture.

Language course placement will be determined by the student’s ability
in the target language as well as prior course completion.

“This was the finest example of collaboration and partnership between
the Armenian community and the Pasadena Unified School District,” said
Maro Yacoubian, a community member who advocated for the creation of
the program. “With the unwavering commitment from parents and
community members, we have not only filled a void in the community but
have also created a groundbreaking educational opportunity.”

“By establishing this academy, PUSD will have the distinct honor of
having created the first Armenian Dual language, history/culture, with
IB program in the nation,” said community member Goldie Gastjan. “This
unique program will present the opportunity for students beyond
Pasadena to attend this school. Our community families are anxiously
waiting, and we see a very bright future.”

“I am thrilled with the Pasadena Unified School District’s vote of
approval to establish an Armenian Dual Language Immersion program at
Blair School, the first of its kind in the U.S.” said Arsine
Shirvanian, a community member who advocated for the program.

A welcome and program event will be planned once schools reopen. The
first day of school for PUSD students is August 17, 2020.

The approval is conditional upon enrollment in the program of 150
students who are new to PUSD and is expected to draw interest from
Pasadena-area families, including students who were previously
enrolled at the soon-to-close AGBU high school.

The program will be capped at 250 students in the first year. If the
program does not meet enrollment projections, course offerings and the
program location are subject to change.

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5-         Afeyan: Phase 2 of COVID-19 Vaccine Trials in Spring

The first human trial of a vaccine to prevent the coronavirus could
advance to the next step this spring, Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan
said April 9.

“It’s difficult to put a specific date on things just because it’s a
very dynamic situation,” Afeyan told CNBC. “We’ve entered phase 1
trials. … We’ll enter hopefully phase 2 of trials… we expect that to
happen in the spring, perhaps early summer. And success there will
hopefully lead us to phase 3 trials.”

Moderna partnered with the National Institutes of Health to accelerate
the development of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19. Phase 1 human
trials of the potential vaccine began in the Seattle area in
mid-March.

Afeyan expressed hope that the first results of COVID-19 vaccine
testing to come in spring.

Afeyan, who is also CEO of venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering,
helped co-found Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna in 2010.

Afeyan said he expects other companies working on a vaccine, such as
Johnson & Johnson, could also be successful in developing an effective
one.

“We hope that everybody succeeds because the worldwide demand for
these types of interventions is far in excess of what any one player
can deliver,” he said.

Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it hoped to begin human trials of
its experimental COVID-19 vaccine by September. Other companies are
attempting to develop a drug to treat COVID-19.

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CIVILNET.Pashinyan and Putin Discussed the Price of Russian Gas for Armenia

Hambik Zargarian
CIVILNET.AM

6 April, 2020 21:05 

By Ani Paitjan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Armenia’s government, they discussed issues related to the supply of natural gas to Armenia.

No further details were provided on the issue. 

A gas price hike has become a worrying issue for Yerevan since the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan wrote a letter to Gazprom (Russian gas supplier to Armenia) Chairman Alexey Miller, proposing that both sides start negotiations on the matter. Grigoryan argued that it was time to start a new round of negotiations on changing the price of gas supplied to Armenia, since economic disruptions caused by coronavirus will significantly reduce energy consumption levels in Armenia.

Armenia imports more than 80% of its gas from Russia. At the beginning of 2019, Russia increased the price of gas to Armenia by 10%, from $150 to $165 per thousand cubic meters.

Despite that price rise, the cost of gas supplied to Armenian consumers remained unchanged.

Before the negotiation process proposed by Armenia to decrease the gas price, Gazprom Armenia, the Armenian subsidiary of Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, applied to the Public Services Regulatory Commission with a request to increase gas tariffs for consumers from July 1.

Currently, households entitled to social benefits are charged $200 a year for 600 cubic meters of natural gas annually. Gazprom Armenia’s plan is to increase the rate by about 36%, which means that some Armenian consumers will be charged around $270 instead.

At the same time, the company is proposing to reduce the $277 currently charged for consumers for 10,000 cubic meters per month by 2.2% to $270.

Armenia and Russia have begun talks on gas prices. Negotiations are not over yet, but time is of the essence, as the coronavirus pandemic is damaging the world economy as well as collapsing oil and gas prices. 
 

CIVILNET.Armenian PM Says Statistics Mean End to Lockdown Won’t Be Ruled Out

Garnik Tadevosian
CIVILNET.AM

6 April, 2020 22:09 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has presented a lockdown exit economic strategy. Karabakh presidential candidate Masis Mayilyan has called on people to not participate in the April run off election. The government has revealed a new app allowing citizens to test for COVID-19 symptoms. And Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will hold a live stream Q&A session this evening.