Category: 2021

Sydney: SBS Apologizes to Armenian-Australians for breaching code of practice in report on Artsakh

Vanyan Gary
Sept 13 2021

SYDNEY: SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) has apologised to the Armenian-Australian community after an independent Ombudsman determined that a report aired by the Australian network’s World News program concerning the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh War breached its Code of Practice, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

The three-minute segment in question, which was sourced from Al Jazeera and presented on 3rd July 2021, placed the blame of landmines left in the Azerbaijani-occupied territories of Artsakh squarely on the Armenian side. It failed the fundamental principles of media objectivity and the importance of providing the perspectives of all sides of a conflict, including perspectives from third parties, such as from independent international human rights organisations.

This sparked a strong response by the ANC-AU on behalf of the Armenian-Australian community, which was promptly referred to the SBS Ombudsman for review to determine if a breach had been committed by the multicultural public broadcaster.

SBS Ombudsman, Ms Sally Begbie has responded with her findings, which evaluated the network’s editorial decision to air the story against Code 3.2 (Accuracy) and Code 3.3.1 (Balanced and impartial news and current affairs). She determined the segment was a breach of conduct.

Ms Begbie acknowledged that the statement contained in the report, that landmines were “planted across seven districts of Nagorno Karabakh by soldiers from Armenia over nearly three decades” was inaccurate under the Code [3.2 (Accuracy)] and was “potentially misleading to an Australian news audience that is unlikely to have detailed knowledge of this conflict”.

Ms Begbie continued: “Having set up this inaccuracy, the report also did not meet the Code 3.3.1 (Balance) requirement to provide ‘a balanced and impartial presentation of issues and events, including through the provision of a range of relevant and material viewpoints’.”

The Ombudsman’s response also contained an apology on behalf of SBS, and affirmed that she has requested Director of News and Current Affairs, Ms Mandi Wicks, reminds her editorial team that they must “ensure that the news provisions of the SBS Code of Practice are met even when using material from one of SBS’s broadcast partners”.

ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian, thanked SBS for addressing the complaints raised by Armenian-Australians.

“We thank SBS executives for sending our complaint through the proper channels for independent review, and are encouraged by the Ombudsman’s accurate finding that a breach was made at the expense of the long-suffering indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh,” said Kayserian.

“The Republic of Artsakh was grossly misrepresented in the Australian media during the war, which made the Azerbaijani dictatorship’s subsequent occupation of the self-determined Armenian state even more difficult to deal with by our community.”

“We trust this process, which has been positive, will serve as a reason for the media fraternity to become better informed on the Artsakh conflict and the injustices that continue to be committed against Armenians by the authoritarian leadership of their neo-Ottoman neighbours, Azerbaijan and Turkey, who appear to be determined to resurrect the genocidal ideology of Pan-Turkism today,” Kayserian added.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia thanked those community members who brought this issue to attention. To report future impartial segments broadcasted by Australian media outlets, please click here.

Please click here for further information on the ANC-AU’s complaint addressed to the head of Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service George Savvides and SBS Managing Director James Taylor.

http://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/SBS-Apologises-to-Armenian-Australians-for-Breaching-Code-of-Practice-in-Report-on-Artsakh


Howell dentist inspired to give back by grandmother’s survival after Armenian genocide

Chalian Meline
Livingston Daily
Sept 13 2021
Jennifer Timar

Livingston Daily


Howell dentist Shant Bedikian knows how food insecurity impacts a family. His own family escaped genocide and religious oppression in the Middle East. Access to nutritious food was not a given.

His grandmother Azadouhi Bedikian was a survivor of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire, which occurred between 1915 and 1916. 

One night when Azadouhi was just a girl, Turkish soldiers massacred most of her family, Bedikian said. The Armenian genocide during the WWI era involved mass killings, deportations and forced assimilation of Christians into Muslim Turkish culture.

Azadouhi and two of her younger siblings were the only ones to survive the massacre of their family and many of their neighbors, he said. 

“The kids ended up in orphanages,” Bedikian said. 

He said were it not for the Near East Foundation, which formed in 1915 in response to atrocities committed against Armenians and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire, his family would not be thriving today. His grandmother ended up in Syria.

“If it wasn’t for groups like missionaries who supplied food and water, then I don’t know.”

The family is Armenian Orthodox, a denomination of Christianity. Before the massacre, Bedikian’s family members were pharmacists.

“Grandma met Grandpa in Syria,” he said. “Then they went to Lebanon and then France.”

His family began immigrating to the U.S. in the 1970s, beginning with Bedikian’s uncle. 

“When my dad came here he had $1 to his name. They had to build their American dream.”

His mother’s side of the family also left the Middle East.

“Mom is from Iraq. Part of it was the Iranian Islamic revolution,” Bedikian said. “They thought it would hit multiple countries and left.”

Bedikian, 40, grew up in Southfield and Birmingham. He is raising his family in Novi. He graduated from dental school at New York University in 2007 and started his dental career working for a hospital. He worked at Bright Side Dental locations for a few years, most recently in Sterling Heights. 

Earlier this year, his dream manifested. He opened his own dental practice, Sincere Smiles Dental, at 1070 W. Highland Road/M-59 in Howell.

While he is living the American dream, he does not take food security for granted.

“Growing up, food was, you better finish your plate. The dinner table is sacred.”

On Thursday, Bedikian was among about seven volunteers at a Gleaners Community Food Bank food drive at Fowlerville High School. 

For every new dental patient he sees, Bedikian donates 12 gallons of milk to Gleaners’s M.I.L.K Movement, which stands for Making Investments in the Lives of Kids.

Milk he donated was among the food items distributed at the drive. People also picked up other foods, including frozen chicken, vegetables, juice, canned goods and dry goods. 

Bedikian said he learned the M.I.L.K. Movement was underfunded and needed a committed donor. 

“Food security is big for us. My family was immigrating to multiple counties,” he said.  “My wife emigrated from Iraq, and it’s important to us. Providing food is one less thing for people to worry about.”

Ideal Practices, which helps dentists open new firms, also has a program that helps people start businesses in impoverished countries overseas, many in Africa. 

“For every practice that opens in the U.S., they help people start up a business in another country,” Bedikian said.

He said he also donates to Aid Beyond Borders, a charity that provides aid to Armenian villages, including people displaced by last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict over a disputed region in Azerbaijan.

Emily Hamilton, a community partnership specialist for Gleaners, said upwards of 100 families receive groceries at each of their food drives. They hold food drives around the county, including in four school districts — Fowlerville, Howell, Hartland and Pinckney — and usually get a minimum of 30 families within a two-hour time frame. 

“In 2019, data was telling us in Livingston County food insecurity was at 9%, but we knew that was not the case anymore because we were seeing it at our food panties and mobiles,” Hamilton said. 

She said Feeding America released projections for 2021, which estimate food insecurity in the county rose to 10.3%. 

“That is about 19,500 people,” Hamilton said. “It’s staggering because we don’t think of that here. I think people think, not here.”

Amy Verhelle-Smith is the food nutrition director at Fowlerville Community Schools. 

Verhelle-Smith said Fowlerville schoolchildren have benefitted from free school meals for breakfast and lunch, but there is still a great need for healthy groceries.

Gleaners food drives are open to anyone in need and promoted by participating school districts and senior centers.

Azerbaijan demands from Russia to restrict car traffic in Nagorno-Karabakh

Andranik Taslakhchian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Sept 13 2021

The passage of other countries’ cars across the territory controlled by Russian peacemakers contradicts the agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated demanding to stop such traffic.

The Azerbaijani MoD has sent letters to the Russian MoD and the command of the peacemaking contingent in connection with “the illegal drive of other countries’ vehicles across the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacemakers have been temporarily deployed,” the MoD’s press service has reported today.

The letters emphasize that such cases contradict the trilateral agreement signed on November 10, 2020, and contain a request to stop “such phenomena”, according to the post place on the Russian-language version of the Azerbaijani MoD’s website.

“Legal entities and individuals of other countries and their vehicles cannot enter the territory of Azerbaijan without the permit of the Republic of Azerbaijan, such cases are a violation of the legislation of our country,” the post states.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 04:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Turkish-Azerbaijani exercises are over in Karabakh, Commander of Russian peacemakers assess his work in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish-Azerbaijani exercises show vulnerability of Lachin Corridor to Armenia.

Author: The Caucasian Knot;

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Head of Armenian village accuses Azerbaijani soldiers of stealing a car

George Mamian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Sept 13 2021

Soldiers stole a car that a resident of the Syunik Region of Armenia had to leave in the territory controlled by Azerbaijan, the head of the border village of Tekh reports today.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 5, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on an Armenian shepherd, who was grazing cattle in the vicinity of the village of Kut in the Gegarkunik Region, and captured his herd of cows. Then a shootout with Armenian soldiers took place.

Nerses Shadunts, the head of the Tekh village community in the Syunik Region, stated that the Azerbaijani soldiers had stolen an UAZ car from a resident of Nagorno-Karabakh who temporarily settled in the village. According to the head of the village, the incident took place three days ago, and the car has not yet been returned. Both Armenian border guards and Russian peacekeepers were notified about the incident, the head of the community emphasized.

The car owner tried to drive his UAZ car to Nagorno-Karabakh. “On the way back, he decided to go through the fields. He got lost and drove (100-200 metres) into the territory under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces <...>. Then he realized his mistake and tried to return to our territory, but the fuel ran out,” Nerses Shadunts said. The owner left the car and went to get fuel, but when he returned, the car was gone, the “Sputnik Armenia” reports today.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 01:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Residents of Syunik Region of Armenia complain about Azerbaijani militaries, Armenian MoD report mortar shelling of its positions, Armenia announced shelling on border with Nakhichevan.

Author: The Caucasian Knot;

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

​Armenia has new ambassadors in Greece, Belarus and Qatar

Chakrian Hovsep
MediaMax, Armenia
Sept 13 2021

Armenia has new ambassadors in Greece, Belarus and Qatar

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Based on Armenian Prime Minister’s proposals President Armen Sarkissian signed decrees on appointing ambassadors.

With the president’s decree Fadey Charchoghlyan has been recalled from the post of Armenia’s ambassador to Greece and Cyprus.

Tigran Mkrtchyan has been appointed Armenia’s ambassador to Greece.

With another decree the president appointed Razmik Khumaryan Armenia’s ambassador to Belarus and Armenia’s resident representative in the CIS statutory and other bodies.

With another decree Armen Sargsyan has been appointed Armenia’s ambassador to Qatar.

U.S. call for determining Karabakh status angers Azerbaijan

Chatinian Lara
PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 13 2021
– 14:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The remarks of U.S. ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy about the necessity to determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh has drawn the ire of Baku.

In a statement on Saturday, September 11, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said the American Ambassador’s choice of words was “unacceptable”.

“The [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict is in the past, Azerbaijan has ensured its territorial integrity and by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated July 7, 2021, the East Zangezur and Karabakh economic regions were created. These territories are an integral part of Azerbaijan and there can be no question of any status,” Interfax.az cited Abdullayeva as saying.

According to her, the statement of the U.S. diplomat could escalate the situation and “create unreasonable expectations” for the Armenian side.

“While the further activity of the OSCE Minsk Group is being discussed, the statement by the representative of a co-chair country undermines the future activity of the Minsk Group,” Abdullayeva added.

Tracy said on Saturday that that the United States is making efforts to return Armenia and Azerbaijan to the negotiating table to work on the Karabakh settlement within the OSCE Minsk Group. “We understand that fundamental problems remain, but we do not believe that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh has been resolved,” the ambassador said.”

Azeri police demand $130 from each Iranian truck headed to Armenia

Chakhmakhchian Vatche
PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 13 2021
– 16:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijani police officers deployed on the road connecting Armenian settlements in the province of Syunik demand $130 in cash from the drivers of Iranian trucks transporting goods and products to Armenia, a CivilNet correspondent reports from the scene.

“The Iranian drivers revealed that the Azerbaijani police stopped them halfway and informed them that they had entered the Azerbaijani territory,” reporter Gevorg Tosunyan said.

“The Azerbaijanis demanded $130 from each driver. After the drivers said they had no money, the Azeri police took registered the drivers’ passport and car details and said that they should pay the money before the return trip”.

The National Security Service of Armenia reported earlier that the Azerbaijani police are inspecting trucks with Iranian license plates, headed to Armenia. The border guards of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia and the guards of the border service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation are working together to resolve the situation.

Azerbaijan confirms levying road taxes on Armenia interstate road

Ophelia Vardapetian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 13 2021
– 18:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan has confirmed that it is collecting money from Iranian truck drivers on the Goris-Kapan interstate road in Armenia’s Syunik province, according to Haqqin.az.

The country’s State Customs Committee announced “levying road tax and other customs payments from vehicles passing through the territory of Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijani police officers deployed on the road connecting Armenian settlements in the province of Syunik demand $130 in cash from the drivers of Iranian trucks transporting goods and products to Armenia, a CivilNet correspondent reported from the scene earlier.

The National Security Service of Armenia reported earlier that the Azerbaijani police are inspecting trucks with Iranian license plates, headed to Armenia. The border guards of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia and the guards of the border service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation are working together to resolve the situation.

Mentoring schools in Armenia: helping remote and borderline villages

Arbi Tashjian
JAM News
Sept 13 2021
    Gayane Mkrtchyan, Yerevan

This academic year, a new concept has been introduced to the educational system of Armenia – mentor schools. For the first time in the country, online lessons for children living in remote or border villages where there is a shortage of subject teachers will be conducted.

Of all the schools in the country, only 18 received mentoring status. One of them is high school number 19 in Vanadzor.

“There was a lot of competition in the selection of mentoring schools. Distance teaching of individual subjects for schools where there is a shortage of specialists is a necessary and useful program. This is the future of education both in terms of rational use of time and resources and in terms of overcoming territorial remoteness”, says Anush Yedoyan, director of the Vanadzor school.

Schools included in the list of mentors will compensate for the lack of subject teachers in 101 schools.

  • Debed – Armenia’s first SMART village
  • Armenia lagging in addressing school bullying
  • During and after the war: where and how did Karabakh schoolchildren study

Nazik Gishyan, a history and history teacher of the Armenian Church of the same Vanadzor school, says that she herself grew up in a border village and she almost never had a history teacher:

“This is an opportunity to solve the problem of teacher shortage. Today in our country more than 100 schools are in need of teachers. These schools also have classrooms equipped with computers with good Internet connections. And in these informatics rooms it is possible to establish communication with the specialists of the mentoring school ”.

The list of mentor schools that will conduct electronic lessons in the schools assigned to them includes educational institutions of the capital, as well as Kotayk, Ararat, Gegharkunik, Lori and Shirak regions.

The director of a high school in the city of Martuni, Gegharkunik region, says that their mentor teachers have completed an internship in natural sciences and humanities:

“We were approached from the village of Djili in Gegharkunik. This is a border village, there is no chemistry teacher, they are trying to solve the problem with our help. There is no physics teacher at the school in the village of Metsavan in Lori region. We were also contacted from the village of Antaravan, where there is a shortage of Armenian and Russian language teachers. When scheduling lessons, we take into account the workload of teachers-mentors”, says Vardan Avetisyan.

In his opinion, the mentoring program is certainly important, but he is in no hurry to assess its effectiveness:

“We need to wait. We are doing our best to maximize efficiency, but the situation will become clearer only after some time. I want to address another problem. Now we are faced with the task of making the work of a teacher in the labor market more attractive. By and large, especially in the natural sciences, there are fewer subject subjects.

Martuni is a big city, but a shortage of science teaching staff is expected in the near future. There is a generation of teachers who are now working, but it will obviously be hard to replace them with young ones. Now even graduates of the Faculty of Physics are trying to find another job instead of working in schools”, says the school director.

The deputy director of the primary school number seven of the city of Kapan says that they will work with the schools in the villages of Saravan in Vayots Dzor and Khndzoresk in Syunik:

“A Russian language teacher is needed in Saravan and a biology teacher in Khndzoresk. Previously, in schools, a Russian language teacher could also teach natural science. This is how the question was solved, but I do not think it is right.

It does not matter the level of knowledge of the students, you should enter the class as prepared as possible for the lesson. A student today can get six points, tomorrow – eight or ten. A teacher must conduct a lesson with high quality, regardless of the preparedness of the students”, Lilit Babayan believes.

She has also been working at the National Institute of Education for many years, teaching retraining courses for teachers.

“We have the appropriate methodological arsenal, the required level of training to keep pace with the times. We constantly introduce teachers to new working methods”, says Lilit Babayan.

According to her, there has always been a problem of lack of specialists in rural schools. Often teachers simply refuse to work in remote villages for various reasons. In particular, we are talking about the loss of time on the road, problems with transport, the remoteness of villages from regional centers.

“And now the security problem has increased. For example, it has become dangerous to work in the school in the village of Tsav in the Syunik region, as the road there runs directly along the border, where the posts of the Azerbaijani military are located. Not everyone is psychologically ready to travel along this route”, Lilit Babayan said.

Distance learning classes in computer science, chemistry, and biology will be conducted from the Vanadzor high school. All mentors must make every effort to make the program effective, says computer science teacher Anush Torosyan:

“It all depends on how the teacher approaches their work – be it a face-to-face or distance lesson. Now is the time to move from traditional teaching methods to modern ones, to combine these two approaches. I have a positive attitude towards e-learning”.

Distance learning in terms of quality cannot be inferior to full-time, I am sure. Nevertheless, it makes it possible not to leave students alone in a helpless situation, one of the teacher-mentors said.

“We will work on the Teams platform. By the way, the children quickly learned its principles and tools. Students are even one step ahead of teachers. Teams is tailored for learning, unlike platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Viber, which are only designed for communication. This platform makes it possible to check the tasks completed by the students, to control the educational process.

Even the ministry can keep track of how much time each teacher spent here, when and what work they did. The teachers have undergone retraining – how to teach lessons using various programs and tools, they have the skills of electronic teaching and are ready to fulfill the task assigned to them”, says Nazik Gishyan.

Armenia issues coin on 30th anniversary of Independence

Karakhanian Suren
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 13 2021
, 10:44

September 21, 1991 marks the beginning of the period of the Third Republic in the history of Armenia. The symbols of the statehood – the flag, the coat of arms and the anthem of the Republic of Armenia have been defined. State awards – titles, orders and medals have been established.

    The national currency of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian dram, was put into circulation on November 22, 1993. 

    The formation of an independent democratic state helped preserve and strengthen national self-consciousness and traditions, and the role of the Armenian apostolic church in social life increased. One of the most important achievements of the period of independence is certainly an established national army as the defender of the Armenian statehood.

    Today Armenia is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and more than 40 other international organizations.

Obverse: the coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia on the background of the sign of eternity.

Reverse: the stylized tricolor flag, an ornament and the inscription “30th anniversary”.

Designers: Haroutiun Samuelian (obverse), Vardan Vardanyan (reverse).

The coin is minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

Technical specification

Face value        5000 dram

Metal/fineness        silver 9250

Weight            168,1 g

Diameter        63,0 mm

Quality            proof

Edge            even/numbered

Quantity of issue    300 pcs

Year of issue        2021 

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.