Category: 2022

Asbarez: AEF Awards Dr. Feliks Karapetyan Scholarship to 11 War Veterans

Andranik Taslakhchian
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Latest, News, Top Stories

Dr. Arman Karapetyan and Dr. Feliks Karapetyan Scholarship Recipients


Dr. Arman Karapetyan, a Glendale Aesthetic Physician and member of the Armenian American Medical Association, is one of many generous scholarship sponsors of the Armenian Educational Foundation. Dr. Karapetyan established a scholarship in honor of his father, Dr. Feliks Karapetyan, a former professor at the Yerevan State Medical University named after Mhitar Heratsi—a 12th-century Armenian physician.

Dr. Feliks Karapetyan was recently honored by the university with the Mkhitar Heratsi Gold Medal for his 35 years of dedicated service.

The Dr. Feliks Karapetyan Scholarship was awarded to eleven Yerevan State Medical University students. This scholarship is unique as it is designated to pay the full tuition for 11 medical students who are also 44-day Artsakh war participants, including seven who were wounded.

During his visit to Armenia, Dr. Karapetyan and his father met with the scholarship recipients for a friendly lunch. The luncheon was an opportunity for Dr. Karapetyan to share his expertise and knowledge with the students and get to know each one of them and hear their stories and experiences during the war.

“After meeting you, we recognized your sincerity and friendliness,” said Roman Ohanyan, a scholarship recipient, as he addressed Dr. Karapetyan. “I was very excited by the fact that there are still such people in society who are ready to be by our side after the war, to support us, and make the greatest contribution to the development of our country and our future. To me, it was interesting that you named a scholarship after your father, which, I think, is one of the best gifts, because by investing in the education of doctors, you will save many lives. Dr. Karapetyan, on behalf of all wounded soldiers, I thank you for your support, wishing you good health and many years of life,” he added.

After meeting with his sponsored students, Dr. Karapetyan wrote, “I’m also thankful for the opportunity to help. Those are wonderful people; I was very touched by their stories and glad that I met them. Armine [AEF’s Yerevan Office Director] is doing great job.” It is because of the generosity of individuals like Dr. Karapetyan that AEF has been able to provide scholarships to over 1,200 students in Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakhk. Of these, over 300 heroes served in the front lines during the 44-day war, including 131 wounded plus 31 students whose brother or father was a 44-day war participant.

For more information on the Armenian Educational Foundation or to become a scholarship sponsor, please visit AEF’s website or contact the AEF office at: (818) 242-4154, or via email: [email protected].




CIA Chief Discusses Yerevan’s Efforts to Normalize Ties with Ankara, Baku

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories

Director William Burns meets with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on July 15 in Yerevan


After a evasive responses from Armenian and U.S. officials on whether CIA Director William Burns had traveled to Yerevan, Armenia’s government officials reported that he met with high-level officials in Yerevan on Friday and discussed regional security issues, including Yerevan’s efforts to normalize relations with Ankara and Baku.

During a meeting with Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan, who briefed Burns about Armenia’s policy for peace in the region, as well as challenges facing Armenia in the region. Within this context, the issue of normalization of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan were broached.

Burns also met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday and discussed issues related to international and regional security.

CIA Director William Burns meets with Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan

According to Pashinyan’s press service the two also discussed the processes taking place in the South Caucasus and the continue fight against terrorism.

Earlier on Friday, RFE/RL reported that the Armenian and U.S. governments did not deny reports that Burns was making an unannounced visit to Armenia.

Citing unnamed sources, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported that Burns arrived in Yerevan in the morning for unspecified “high-level meetings.” He will spend only several hours in the country, it said without giving other details.

A spokesperson for Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that he has “no information” about the alleged trip.

Other Armenian government agencies refrained from commenting on it. The press office of the government’s Security Council did not answer phone calls throughout the day.

The U.S. Embassy said, for its part, that it has no comment on the Sputnik report. No CIA director has ever visited Armenia before.

According to Tigran Grigoryan, an independent political analyst, U.S. and Russian security officials arrived in Armenia in recent days for confidential talks focusing on the war in Ukraine.

“Based on the scarce information available, one can presume that Yerevan or Armenia was simply chosen as the venue for some secret negotiations with Russia,” Grigoryan said. “According to my information, Russian and American experts arrived in Yerevan for that purpose in recent days. So Burns’s visit could be put in that context.”

Burns, 66, is a former career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008.
Burns visited Armenia as well as Azerbaijan in 2011 in his capacity as U.S. deputy secretary of state. During that trip, he urged a greater “sense of urgency” for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that “the status quo is not sustainable.”

Zoryan Institute’s Animated Film Featured at Golden Apricot International Film Festival

Ani Kharatian
 by Contributor

 

 

 

in Armenia, Arts & Culture, Film, Latest, News, Top Stories
 0
“Aurora’s Sunrise” graphic

YEREVAN—The Zoryan Institute announced that “Aurora’s Sunrise,” an animated film, has been featured in the International Competition at the 19th annual Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival. The film was screened on July 14 at 12:30 and 8:00 pm, in Yerevan, Armenia.  

“Aurora’s Sunrise” is a historical animated documentary film about the life of Armenian Genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian, who shared her brave story of survival with the world, raising millions of dollars in humanitarian aid for survivors following the genocide. The Zoryan Institute’s objective with this animated film is to bring the story of an incredible survivor from its oral history collection to life on the big screen, to empower young women and girls to represent their communities in the face of great adversity and violence.

This documentary film was made possible by the financial partnership of Eurimages, along with the majority ownership and financial partnership of “Armenian Group”, composed of the Zoryan Institute Armenia, the National Cinema Center of Armenia, and Bars Media. The film is based on the audio-visual oral history testimony that Aurora gave to the Zoryan Institute in 1984, and was made possible by the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute.

The film is directed by Inna Sahakyan and produced by Bars Media, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion & Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas, with contributions made by the Lithuanian Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT.

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, Honorary Chairperson of the Festival, had this to say about Aurora in the Foreword of the 2014 edition of “Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian”: “What makes Aurora a super survivor is that she not only witnessed the elimination of her family and community, but also inspired a dramatic retelling of this experience… Aurora lived through the experience of genocide, lived through the experience of making a film about the Genocide, and then witnessed both events effectively disappear – one through the denial of the perpetrators, the other through the physical laws of the film itself.”

Nearly 40 years ago, the Zoryan Institute made an investment to conduct interviews with survivors of the Armenian Genocide with technologies that were considered ultra-modern at the time: video recording. This medium not only captured the voices of survivors, but also their presence, expressions, and their raw emotions. This was the first oral history project to do this, and it made a huge contribution to the preservation of an invaluable part of the Armenian people’s experience and history. The animated film allows audiences to visualize all of the elements that are confined to one’s imagination when watching these recordings. Viewing the experience of genocide unfold on the big screen will make Aurora’s amazing story eternally accessible. 

Theodore Bogosian

“Aurora’s Sunrise” is not the only film that was based on and used Zoryan Institute’s oral history archives. The 1988 PBS hit, “An Armenian Journey,” by award-winning documentary filmmaker, and former Chairperson of the Zoryan Institute, Theodore Bogosian, features 70-year-old Mariam Davis who returned back to Eastern Turkey for the first time since she was 10 years old. Mariam Davis was the very first Armenian Genocide survivor that the Zoryan Institute had the pleasure of interviewing for its Armenian Genocide Oral History Program in 1983.

Discussing the impacts of “An Armenian Journey,” Bogosian stated: “Millions of PBS viewers (watched the film) during its premiere week of 24 April 1988.  An Armenian Journey broke the Turkish taboos… Without Zoryan‘s oral history program the film would not have the same ring of truth and it might never have been broadcast.”

Dr. Rouben Adalian

Dr. Rouben Adalian, a Member of the Zoryan Institute’s Board of Directors, who interviewed Aurora in 1984 concluded a recent interview with the Zoryan Institute stating: “[Aurora] was clearly someone who already knew how to tell her story. She taught us, and me personally, that as a researcher you can be armed with all kinds of questions, to try to present the facts in a scientific manner, but  a survivor with the energy and personality that Aurora had could tell her story in her own way, and our obligation was to listen more than to ask questions…”

“I think it is Aurora’s spirit, energy, ability to share her story… that now [led to this film] that future generations can analyze and find inspiration in the history that previous generations may not have noticed,” said Dr. Adalian, commenting on the incredible legacy that Aurora is passing down to future generations, and now sharing with the rest of the world.

“This is Aurora’s legacy. This is the value of this interview. This is the unprecedented and important contribution that the Zoryan Institute made when I sat down with this survivor, as with many other survivors, but in this one case, with a woman whose name meant the very dawn that sheds light on the fact that on how important it was to talk to the survivors and save their stories,” Dr. Adalian concluded.

Asbarez: Fresno State Armenian Series Publishes Book on Author and Dancer Armen Ohanian

Emil Lazarian
 by Contributor

 

 

 

in Arts & Culture, Books, Latest, News, Top Stories
 0
“A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shamakha” book cover

The Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno announced the publication of its sixteenth volume, “A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shamakha,” by Vartan Matiossian and Artsvi Bakhchinyan. 

“A Woman of the World” is a fascinating chronicle of the life of dancer and author Armen Ohanian (1888-1976). She was a well-educated woman born in an Armenian family in the Caucasus and fluent in half a dozen languages – truly a “Woman of the World,” who lived through times and places as diverse as the Russian Caucasus, the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, the Belle Époque in France, the Roaring Twenties in the United States, the early Soviet Union, and ended her days in Mexico after living an eventful life cloaked in mystery.

Ohanian bridged multiple cultures as an actress in the Caucasus, a theater director in Persia, a writer in France, and a translator in Mexico. Above all she was an acclaimed dancer from Asia to Africa, from Europe to America with the monikers “dancer of Shamakha” and “the Persian dancer.” Mounting on a wave of Near and Far Eastern dances sweeping the West, she belonged to a category of dancers that conceived of choreographies nurtured by their culture of origin.

Ohanian became a model for painters and sculptors, and many famous contemporaries left testimony of her in their correspondence, memoirs, and reminiscences. Her life across borders, languages, and cultures—she wrote in four languages, Armenian, Russian, French, and Spanish, and her works were published in no less than fourteen countries—highlights some of the elements that are intertwined with the concept of diaspora: transnationalism, multilingualism, multiculturalism, and a multifaceted understanding of homeland.

This collaborative project has brought into fruition two decades of research, with a preliminary book in Armenian (2007) that now has doubled in scope and wealth of information. Using an enormous variety of archival and printed sources in many languages, the authors offer in this 450-page biography new insights into Oriental dance, cultural studies, gender studies, diaspora studies, and other subjects to scholars and readers in general. 

Dr. Vartan Matiossian

Vartan Matiossian is a historian and literary scholar with a broad range of interests in Armenian classical and modern culture. He has published extensively in Armenian, Spanish, and English, including eight books, almost two dozen translations, and several edited volumes. He is currently the Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Church in New York.

Artsvi Bakhchinyan is a scholar specializing in the history of the Armenian Diaspora and culture, as well as a writer and translator. He is the author, editor, and translator of some twenty books, and a frequent contributor to journals and periodicals in Armenian, Russian, and English. He is a researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (Yerevan).

Artsvi Bakhchinyan

The Armenian Series at California State University, Fresno was established through the generous support of the M. Victoria Karagozian Kazan and Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Endowment. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian is the general editor of the series.

“A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shemakha,” is available at Abril Books, at the NAASR bookstore, or at the Armenian Prelacy Bookstore.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 07/15/2022

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Friday, 


CIA Director Visits Armenia

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia - CIA Director William Burns at a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian, Yerevan, .


U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials during a surprise visit to Yerevan 
on Friday.
In a short statement, the Armenian government said Pashinian and Burns discussed 
“international and regional security,” “processes taking place in the South 
Caucasus” and “the fight against terrorism.”

The statement gave no other details of the meeting which was also attended by 
Armen Abazian, the head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS).

Burns also held separate talks with Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s 
Security Council.

The council’s press office reported that Grigorian briefed him on the Armenian 
government’s peace efforts and security challenges facing the region. It said 
the two men discussed Yerevan’s ongoing negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkey 
“in this context.”

Burns had visited Armenia as well as Azerbaijan in 2011 in his capacity as U.S. 
deputy secretary of state. He urged at the time a greater “sense of urgency” for 
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that “the status quo is 
not sustainable.”

His latest trip to Yerevan coincided with an official announcement that the 
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will meet in Tbilisi on Saturday.

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian greets CIA Director William Burns, 
Yerevan, .

The trip was first revealed by the Russian news agency Sputnik earlier in the 
day. It said the CIA chief arrived for unspecified “high-level meetings” and 
will spend only several hours in the country.

The Armenian authorities did not confirm or deny the report before issuing the 
official press releases on Burns’s meetings. An NSS spokesman told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service that he has “no information” about his visit.

The U.S. Embassy likewise declined to comment. No CIA director has ever visited 
Armenia before.

Tigran Grigorian, an independent political analyst, claimed that U.S. and 
Russian security officials arrived in Armenia in recent days for confidential 
talks focusing on the war in Ukraine.

“Based on the scarce information available, one can presume that Yerevan or 
Armenia was simply chosen as the venue for some secret negotiations with 
Russia,” Grigorian said. “According to my information, Russian and American 
experts arrived in Yerevan for that purpose in recent days. So Burns’s visit 
could be put in that context.”

Burns, 66, is a former career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia 
from 2005 to 2008.



CIA Director ‘Visiting Armenia’

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

US - CIA Director William Burns gestures as he speaks during a House 
Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats in Washington, D.C., April 
15, 2021.


The Armenian and U.S. governments on Friday did not deny reports that Central 
Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is making an unannounced visit to 
Armenia.

Citing unnamed sources, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported that Burns 
arrived in Yerevan in the morning for unspecified “high-level meetings.” He will 
spend only several hours in the country, it said without giving other details.

A spokesperson for Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service that he has “no information” about the alleged trip.

Other Armenian government agencies refrained from commenting on it. The press 
office of the government’s Security Council did not answer phone calls 
throughout the day.

The U.S. Embassy said, for its part, that it has no comment on the Sputnik 
report. No CIA director has ever visited Armenia before.

According to Tigran Grigorian, an independent political analyst, U.S. and 
Russian security officials arrived in Armenia in recent days for confidential 
talks focusing on the war in Ukraine.

“Based on the scarce information available, one can presume that Yerevan or 
Armenia was simply chosen as the venue for some secret negotiations with 
Russia,” Grigorian said. “According to my information, Russian and American 
experts arrived in Yerevan for that purpose in recent days. So Burns’s visit 
could be put in that context.”

Burns, 66, is a former career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia 
from 2005 to 2008.

Burns visited Armenia as well as Azerbaijan in 2011 in his capacity as U.S. 
deputy secretary of state. During that trip, he urged a greater “sense of 
urgency” for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that “the 
status quo is not sustainable.”



Armenian Government Critic Dies During Trial

        • Artak Khulian

Armenia - Entertainment producer and government critic Armen Grigorian.


A vocal critic of Armenia’s government arrested two months ago died during his 
trial in Yerevan on Friday, sparking outcry from the country’s human rights 
ombudswoman and opposition leaders.

Armen Grigorian, a well-known entertainment producer, collapsed in the courtroom 
as his lawyer petitioned the presiding judge to release him from custody. 
Grigorian, 56, was pronounced dead by an ambulance crew that arrived at the 
scene about 10 minutes later.

“They took resuscitation measures but to no avail,” Taguhi Stepanian, the head 
of the national ambulance service, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Stepanian said a forensic examination will ascertain the cause of Grigorian’s 
sudden death.

Grigorian, who for years harshly criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, was 
arrested and indicted on May 18 in connection with a 2021 video in which he made 
disparaging comments about residents of two Armenian regions sympathetic to the 
government. The National Security Service accused him of offending their 
“national dignity.”

Grigorian as well as opposition figures and other government critics rejected 
the accusations as politically motivated. They said the fact that he is held in 
detention pending investigation only proves that he is a political prisoner.

Human rights activists also criticized the criminal proceedings. Some of them 
linked the case to daily antigovernment protests launched by the Armenian 
opposition on May 1.

The state human rights defender, Kristine Grigorian (no relation to Armen), 
expressed outrage at the antigovernment activist’s death, saying that he clearly 
did not receive adequate medical care in prison. She said she has demanded 
“clarifications” from prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice, which runs 
Armenia’s prisons.

“I will be consistent in bringing the culprits to justice,” the ombudswoman 
wrote on Facebook.

Neither the ministry nor the law-enforcement authorities issued any statements 
on Armen Grigorian’s death as of Friday evening.

Grigorian’s lawyer, Ruben Melikian, said that his client, who was a medic by 
education, suffered from serious “health problems.”

“He never let us speak up about those problems in the court and other bodies,” 
Melikian said, speaking at an opposition rally in Yerevan held in the evening.

Armenia - Opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelian speaks at a rally in Yerevan, 
.

Organizers and participants of the rally observed a minute of silence in memory 
of Grigorian. Some of them also held his pictures.

Opposition leaders addressing the crowd blamed the authorities and Pashinian in 
particular for the outspoken public figure’s death.

“Armen Grigorian died at the hands of these authorities with the direct 
participation of the investigator, the judge and the prosecutor acting on their 
orders,” one of them, Ishkhan Saghatelian, charged.

The demonstrators chanted “Nikol murderer!” as they marched to the prime 
minister’s office and a Yerevan court that sanctioned Grigorian’s arrest in May. 
Many of them lit candles and laid flowers outside the court building.

Over the past year, the opposition has regularly accused Pashinian’s 
administration of weaponizing pre-trial arrests to try to neutralize its members 
and supporters fighting for regime change.

More than two dozen such individuals are currently under arrest on charges 
stemming from the continuing antigovernment protests. Most of them are accused 
of assaulting riot police. The authorities maintain that the accusations are not 
politically motivated.



West, Russia Again Welcome Turkish-Armenian Dialogue

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Austria - Turkish and Armenian officials hold a fourth round of normalization 
talks in Vienna, July 1, 2022.


The United States, the European Union and Russia have welcomed apparent progress 
made in ongoing negotiations on normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations.

The U.S. State Department reaffirmed strong support for the normalization 
process in response to the first-ever phone call between Turkish President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian that took place on 
Monday.

“The Armenian-Turkish dialogue has the potential to increase regional stability, 
curb adverse influences and lead to greater economic development that is 
beneficial to all,” the Armenian Service of the Voice of America quoted the 
department as saying on Wednesday.

Andrea Wiktorin, the head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan, on Friday described 
Pashinian’s call with Erdogan as a “very important step.”

“I hope that it will really lead to a normalization process that will benefit 
both countries,” Wiktorin told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

“We are ready to continue to accompany the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, providing 
it with all kinds of assistance,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, 
Maria Zakharova, said for her part. “We believe that this is in the interests of 
stability and economic prosperity in the region.”

Speaking at a news briefing on Thursday, Zakharova emphasized the fact that the 
first round of Turkish-Armenian normalization talks took place in Moscow on 
January 14.

Special envoys of the two neighboring states met for three more times in Vienna 
in the following months. Their last meeting held on July 1 was followed by an 
announcement that Ankara and Yerevan will open the Turkish-Armenian border to 
citizens of third countries and allow mutual cargo shipments by air “at the 
earliest date possible.”

The Armenian negotiator, Ruben Rubinian, expressed hope on Tuesday that the 
Turkish side will implement these agreements “in the coming months.”

Ankara has for decades made the opening of the border and establishment of 
diplomatic relations with Yerevan conditional on a resolution of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan.



French-Armenian Leader ‘Denied Entry To Armenia’


France - President Emmanuel Macron, Mourad Papazian (right) and other 
French-Amrenian leaders visit the Armenian genocide memorial, Paris.


A leader of France’s influential Armenian community critical of Armenia’s 
government was reportedly detained at Yerevan airport and deported back to Paris 
early on Thursday.

“As soon as I arrived in Yerevan I was arrested, placed in a small room, then in 
a transit zone, and my passport was confiscated,” Mourad Papazian said in a 
Facebook post on his return to the French capital.

“I knew that I was banned from Turkey and Azerbaijan. Today, I am banned from 
[Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinian's Armenia,” he wrote.

Papazian said immigration officers at the Zvartnots international airport gave 
no reason for his deportation. He claimed that it was ordered by Pashinian.

Armenia’s government and National Security Service (NSS), which is charge of 
border control, did not comment on what was a rare entry ban slapped on a 
prominent Armenian Diaspora figure.

Papazian is one of the two co-presidents of the CCAF, a coalition of leading 
French-Armenian organizations. He is also a member of the worldwide governing 
Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), a pan-Armenian 
party in opposition to Pashinian’s government.

Dashnaktsutyun’s organization in Armenia has been at the forefront of regular 
street protests launched this spring by the country’s main opposition groups 
trying to topple the prime minister. Papazian reportedly took part in one of 
those rallies during a recent trip to Yerevan.

In a statement, the Dashnaktsutyun Bureau condemned his expulsion, linking it to 
recent arrests and prosecution of over a dozen party activists involved in the 
antigovernment protests. It charged that Pashinian is also trying to please 
Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The entry ban was also denounced by Ara Toranian, the other CCAF co-president 
and the publisher of the Paris-based magazine Nouvelles d’Armenie.

“Should this arbitrary measure be attributed to [Papazian’s] political 
position?” Toranian wrote on its website. “If this were the case -- and one 
cannot imagine other reasons -- this expulsion would constitute a serious threat 
to the freedom of opinion of the Diaspora Armenians and an attack on democracy.”

Writing on Facebook hours before boarding the flight to Yerevan, Papazian said 
he is leaving for Armenia to make a “big announcement for September.” He did not 
elaborate.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

US House adopts amendment calling on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian POWS and civilians

Lara Chatinian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 20:03

The US. House of Representatives adopted an amendment spearheaded by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), calling on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian POWs and captured civilians, reports the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The amendment (#611) was adopted as part of “en bloc 5” – a larger grouping of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.7900).

Joining Rep. Schiff as Congressional cosponsors of the bipartisan amendment include Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Young Kim (R-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

US House demands investigation into Azerbaijani war-crimes

Hambik Zargarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 02:20

 1 minute read

U.S. House adopted amendment spearheaded by Representatives U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), calling for a report by the State Department and Defense Department that would detail the use of U.S. parts in Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh; Azerbaijan’s use of white phosphorous, cluster bombs and other prohibited munitions deployed against Artsakh; Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters during the 2020 Artsakh war, ANCA reports.

The amendment (#121) was adopted as part of “en bloc 1” – a larger grouping of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.7900).

Joining Representatives Cardenas and Sherman as Congressional cosponsors of the bipartisan amendment include Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Turkish press: Progress made on Ukraine grain deal at Istanbul talks: Russia

Emil Lazarian
Elena Teslova   |14.07.2022


MOSCOW

Quadrilateral talks in Istanbul on Ukrainian grain exports led to progress toward “possible agreements,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

There were substantive discussions on the issue between the four sides – Russia, Ukraine, the UN, and Türkiye, according to ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The parties “managed to formulate some elements of possible agreements, which are now being worked out by Russia, Ukraine, and Türkiye,” she said at a news conference in Moscow.

Negotiations are supposed to continue in the same format later, she added.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the discussions were “positive and constructive,” with all sides agreeing to establish a coordination center in Istanbul to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports.

He said the participants found common ground on technical issues, such as the safety of shipping routes for grain ships, as well as joint controls at entry and exit of ports.

Ukrainian and Russian officials will gather again in Türkiye next week to review details and sign documents to formalize the deal, Akar added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that there was progress on the matter, thanking the UN and Türkiye for their efforts.

He said details would be ironed out with UN chief Antonio Guterres “in the coming days.”

Guterres hailed the agreement to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports as a “ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world.”

He also emphasized that “more technical work will now be needed” to finalize a deal.

“But the momentum is clear … I’m encouraged. I’m optimistic, but it’s not yet fully done,” he said.

Türkiye-Armenia normalization

Russia stands ready to offer “all possible assistance” for normalization between Türkiye and Armenia, Zakharova also said at the news conference.

The official recalled that Russia played a key role in starting the normalization process, with the first meeting of Turkish and Armenian envoys hosted in Moscow on Jan. 14.

“We are ready to continue to support the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and extend all possible assistance to it. We believe this is in the interest of regional stability and economic prosperity,” she said.

On NATO’s imminent expansion, Zakharova emphasized that Russia will take all necessary measures if Finland and Sweden’s entry leads to the emergence of threats in the Baltic Sea.

Armenpress: Armenia Deputy PM, ADB Country Director discuss new cooperation prospects

Hovsep Chakrian

Armenia Deputy PM, ADB Country Director discuss new cooperation prospects

Save

Share

 10:01,

YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan received on July 13 Asian Development Bank’s Country Director for Armenia Paolo Spantigati, the government’s press service said.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Kristine Ghalechyan.

During the meeting deputy PM Matevosyan highlighted the constant support provided by the Asian Development Bank to Armenia, especially in the context of the agenda of ongoing reforms in Armenia.

He also highly appreciated ADB’s engagement to funding infrastructure projects in Armenia, particularly road construction projects, as well as the North-South Road Corridor and Sustainable Urban Development investment programs.

In his turn Paolo Spantigati thanked the deputy PM for the meeting and called the cooperation with the government of Armenia effective.

Perspectives for new cooperation were also discussed during the talk.

15 American educators undergo training in Armenia for teaching Genocide in their States

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

Save

Share

 10:39,

YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS. The Genocide Education Project of the United States, in cooperation with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, has organized a ten-day intensive professional development program in Armenia for a group of American educators.

The Genocide Education Project Executive Director, American-Armenian Roxanne Makasdjian told ARMENPRESS that the organization has been founded around 20 years ago by herself and two friends. It’s an independent initiative aimed at introducing and teaching the US teachers on the history of the Armenian Genocide so that they will start teaching the Genocide to their students.

“The program is being held in the conference hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in a format of a lecture-practical training. The historical, legal, social-psychological perspectives of the Armenian Genocide will be presented to the participants, at the same time showing them the long-term impact of that crime, its impunity on Armenia’s current political and economic situation”, she said.

Roxanne Makasdjian said that there is also a separate course on the Artsakh issue, as well as the program has a special cultural part that will contribute to raising general awareness among educators on Armenians, the Armenian history and Armenia.

“15 educators from 15 US states will participate in the program this year. Most of them have more than 20 years of experience in teaching in humanitarian sector, some of them have edited or participated in the publications of collections on the Genocide, as well as in the development of education programs of different museums”, Roxanne Makasdjian said.

She said that the program participants will later organize such training programs and courses in their States with the support of GenEd.

Justin Bilton, an English teacher at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, said that before the participation in this program, he was already teaching the Genocide in a high school and a university and he understood that in order to teach the genocides of the 20th centuries a basis is needed, and that will be the Armenian Genocide.

“In fact, I didn’t have many materials about the Armenian Genocide and I started looking for primary sources by which I could teach the Armenian Genocide. Meetings started with the Armenian community, the Genocide Education Project, ties were established with program members and organizers. After that I decided to visit Armenia which is very important for my activity because after visiting Armenia I understood what the Armenian Genocide means for the identity of today’s Armenian”, he said.

He said that the visit to Armenia was very important for him.

“Walking to the Genocide Memorial, standing near the Flame for the first time was very emotional for me because it more helped to see an individual in that common crime which we usually cannot transfer it via books and films to our students”, Justin Bilton said.

Amy Perkins, a Social Studies teacher currently at Lakeshore High School in Stevensville, Michigan, said that her knowledge about the Armenian Genocide comes from the University of Michigan where she has studied, and currently as well there is a department of Armenian Studies and she keeps ties with them.

“I will use the knowledge I got on the Armenian Genocide through this program in three main directions. Firstly, as a teacher of World History, secondly, I am working with the Armenian community of Detroit on developing teaching guidelines which all schools of the State will start using, and thirdly, this year a big conference attended by history teachers will take place in Philadelphia in December where the main topic of my report will be the teaching of the Armenian Genocide”, Amy Perkins said.

She said that she will continue keeping ties with the Genocide Education Project, by using their resources and the materials provided by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.