Category: 2023

Armenian Defense Minister Papikyan denied media rumors about resignation

Badalian Vardan
March 15 2023

To recall, earlier, the Armenian edition of Hraparak reported on the upcoming resignation of Papikyan. The author of the material claimed that this issue had long been resolved, and the authorities were already looking for a new defense minister.

The head of the military department of Armenia decided to personally refute these rumors, noting that he will continue to work in his post.

“I am not going to leave half-hearted the reforms I started, I am not going to resign. I will continue the initiated reforms,” Papikyan stressed.

https://www.weeklyblitz.net/news/armenian-defense-minister-papikyan-denied-media-rumors-about-resignation/


A 75-Year-Old Retired Nurse Cooks the Delightful Comforts of Soviet Armenian Food

David Nargizian
March 15 2023

Karine Hajian brings homey Eastern European dishes to a small neighborhood deli in Los Alamitos

by Judith Rontal 
Opening a deli was the last thing Karine Hajian expected to do after retiring from a 40-year nursing career at the age of 73. But boredom, a desire to meet new people, and an empty storefront next to her husband George’s Los Alamitos antique shop led her to begin a new career right after finishing up the last. Hajian was originally hoping to open Borsh Deli in early 2020, but then the pandemic hit. Over the next two years, she continued to pay rent on the space and tinker with recipes before finally opening in April 2022.


Upon entering the deli, customers are transported to Eastern Europe: The shop’s walls are lined with jams, pickles, and candies from Armenia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, while a freezer next to the register is stocked with frozen pelmeni dumplings. Hajian begins daily preparations at the restaurant as early as 6 a.m. to ensure the deli case is fully stocked with soups, salads, and cabbage rolls before the doors open at 11 a.m. “We don’t have a lot of fridge or freezer space, so almost everything gets made daily,” she says. “I’m definitely not bored anymore.”

Hajian operates the takeout restaurant primarily alone, with occasional support from her husband and son. “Coming from years spent as a nurse, I was prepared for hard work,” says Hajian. “When we opened, we had no chef, no dishwasher — I was, and mostly still am doing it all myself, with one additional hired staff member.”

Growing up in Soviet Armenia until she immigrated to the United States in 1973, Hajian learned to cook with her Azerbaijan-born grandmother. She developed the recipes that would later make up the menu for Borsh Deli during those early years, perfecting her cabbage roll wrapping and piroshki bun stuffing over another 50 years of cooking for her own family, which includes two children and two grandchildren. “The food I made for my children was the food I ate as a child,” she says. “Now, it is the same food I get to share with my community.”

Hajian describes the food at Borsh Deli as “cold country fare” — hearty, filling, and true to her Armenian upbringing. “Cooking, for me, is a story,” she says. “It’s not just the dish itself, but the entire process of making it. The ingredients, the techniques, and even the pots and pans.”

Hajian’s cabbage rolls begin with green cabbage leaves that are steamed until tender and delicately wrapped around a filling of ground beef, rice, and fresh parsley. The sizable rolls — one is considered a full serving — are then simmered in a tomato sauce for hours until cooked through; a heavy ceramic plate assures that the rolls are fully submerged during the process. Cutting into a fresh cabbage roll brings a cloud of steam, which reveals a juicy meat and rice filling that spills out of the tomato-scented cabbage leaf. “It’s very labor-intensive work, but one that brings me home,” Hajian says.

Hajian’s signature dish is her cold beet borscht, which begins with a beef bone broth that is made a day in advance. Once the stock has enough flavor, red beets, cabbage, kale, celery, carrot, onion, and handfuls of fresh dill are added in. Each order of borscht is served with a side of sour cream, which Hajian suggests putting on top of the soup to contrast the beets’ sweetness. A vegetable-based stock is available for vegan and vegetarian customers.

Aside from classic Eastern European dishes like cabbage rolls, stalichni salad (potato salad with hard-boiled eggs and dill), and beef stroganoff, Hajian also serves dishes that George, who is from Lebanon, grew up eating.

Hajian learned to cook with her Azerbaijan-born grandmother

“I wanted to put hummus on the menu, but my husband requested his mother’s tabbouleh,” she says. Having never made tabbouleh before, Hajian learned from friends and family what size bulgur to use, how much parsley to include (“more than you’d expect”), and, per George, the necessary addition of cucumber. Both George and Karine grew up eating stuffed grape leaves (dolmas), as it is a part of both Lebanese and Armenian cuisines. The dolmas at Borsh Deli include a touch of pomegranate molasses for a slight sweet-and-sour taste. Most days, George sits in the corner of the deli eating a lunch of tabbouleh and fried chicken cutlet.

The warmth emanating from Borsh Deli can be felt in more than just the cooking. Whether it’s locals stopping by to get a familiar taste of home or curious newcomers trying borscht for the first time, Karine, George, or her son Ari greets every customer with a smile, hug, and oversized plate of food. “My family has been a part of the Los Alamitos/Long Beach community for years,” says Karine. “Now I can share our food with the community, too.”

Borsh Deli is located at 10897 Los Alamitos Boulevard in Los Alamitos and is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

https://la.eater.com/2023/3/15/23631513/borsh-deli-los-alamitos-eastern-european-food-soviet-armenian-cuisine-restauarnt






Ruling team told Yerevan mayor either to resign or face arrest

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The March 16 social media post of Mesrop Arakelyan, a former member of the Arakelutyun (Mission) party and former labor minister in Nikol Pashinyan’s administration, prompted the resignation of his former teammate Hrachya Sargsyan as Yerevan mayor, a source familiar with the matter told Panorama.am.

Arakelyan called the attention of law enforcement authorities to the purchase of Chinese buses, alleging misuse of government funds worth $3,5 million.

The source told Panorama.am that the political decision on Hrachya Sargsyan’s resignation was made several weeks ago, “as despite numerous attempts, Sargsyan failed to persuade Nikol Pashinyan to nominate him as mayor of the Armenian capital instead of Tigran Avinyan”. Hrachya Sarkisyan’s team has not forgiven him for his attempts to conduct separate talks with Pashinyan.

Despite the political decision, Hrachya Sarkisian was in no hurry to announce his resignation.

On Thursday, Mesrop Arakelyan, in one way or another, was provided with data on the bus purchase deal and he disclosed it.

Crucially, Mesrop Arakelyan, Hrachya Sargsyan, as well as other influential officials of the Yerevan Municipality were friends who formally worked at VTB Bank and joined the City Council following a political agreement between the Mission and Civil Contract parties.

It turns out that the following ultimatum was issued to Hrachya Sargsyan through Mesrop Arakelyan, once a friend of the mayor, who was Pashinyan’s advisor and minister of labor and social issues: “Either you submit resignation now, or the law enforcement officers will simply take you away from the Municipality.”

Ara Sevunts

Politician: Double standards ‘killing’ international law

Khondkarian Raffi
Panorama
Armenia –

Armenian politician Suren Surenyants has criticized the EU for “double standards” on international law after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

“Nearly 20 years ago, Tony Blair and George Bush Jr. violated international law, but the International Criminal Court in The Hague did not issue an arrest warrant for them, but now the court has issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin’s arrest,” Surenyants, the leader of the Democratic Alternative Party, wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“The EU adopted 10 packages of sanctions against Russia for invading its neighbor’s territories, and not only is there no question of sanctions against Azerbaijan, but also Aliyev is encouraged in Western capitals as a “reliable partner”.

“Double standards are killing international law, which weak and defenseless Armenia counts on,” the politician said.

Scarlet fever cases rise in Armenia

George Mamian
Panorama
Armenia –

The number of scarlet fever cases has increased in Armenia, statistics show.

124 cases of scarlet fever were recorded in the country in January 2023. Most of the cases were confirmed in children, according to latest data from the Statistical Committee of Armenia seen by Panorama.am.

Only 9 cases of scarlet fever were reported in Armenia in 2022.

15 of those infected are children aged 0-2 years, 77 are 3 to 6 years old, while the rest are below the age of 18 years.

Also known as scarlatina, scarlet fever is an acute infectious disease which is more common in children between 2 and 8 years of age.

The signs and symptoms include a sore throat, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes and a characteristic rash.

Water management expert warns of major Amulsar mining risks

Frangulian Shushan
Panorama
Armenia –

The planned mining at the gold deposit in Amulsar mountain near Armenia’s southern resort town of Jermuk poses major environmental risks, Lusine Taslakyan, a mater policy and management expert and a doctoral research assistant in the Department of Soil and Water Systems at the U.S. University of Idaho, said on Saturday.

Armenia’s Ministry of Economy, the Eurasian Development Bank and Lydian Armenia, a subsidiary of the U.S.-British Lydian International, on February 22 signed a memorandum for $250 million to complete construction work at the Amulsar gold mine and purchase the necessary equipment.

“The Amulsar mining project poses major risks. Specialists have repeatedly warned about it, we are not “inventing the wheel” now, but everyone should know about it,” she said in an interview to Panorama.am.

The expert particularly warned the development of the gold mine would put Armenia’s water resources at risk given a high probability of acid mine drainage. It could pollute the groundwater of Jermuk and its springs and even Lake Sevan.

“The mountain positioning makes it impossible to avoid threats to water resources, as it is close to the Arpa, Vorotan, Darb Rivers, let alone Jermuk’s mineral waters,” Taslakyan said.

“The mining operations in the area would force Jermuk residents to leave their homes as it would make life impossible there,” she stressed.

Hetq: Armenia State Revenue Committee preparing for reopening of Turkey border

Adrine Hakobian
News.am
Armenia –
23:59, 17.03.2023

The council of elders of the Metsamor community of Armenia’s Armavir Province has decided to donate one of the administrative buildings, the hotel building, and about 2 hectares of land in Margara village to the State Revenue Committee (SRC). In case of the possible re-operation of the Margara checkpoint bordering Turkey, the mentioned buildings and lands will be used for the customs control process, Hetq.am online newspaper of Armenia reports.

The council of elders of the aforesaid community made this decision on Friday, which was based on the writings of the head of the SRC, the governor of Armavir Province, and the recommendation of the head of the community, Vahram Khachatryan. After the council’s decision, a donation agreement must be signed between the parties, which is subject to notarization and state registration.

Hetq asked Edgar Hovhannisyan, the first deputy mayor of Metsamor, why the council donated the aforesaid community property to the SRC.

The deputy mayor did not have information about the purpose, and advised to check with the SRC. He only noted that the mentioned buildings and the plots of land serving them used to belong to the state, in recent years they was transferred to the community, and now the state is taking back its property again.

Edgar Hovhannisyan, as a member of the aforementioned council of elders, voted in favor of that decision, not knowing why that communal property was being transferred to the SRC. Twenty members of the council of elders voted in favor of the decision, and none—against.

Hetq tried to find out from the Armavir provincial governor’s office what the content of his letter was and why the said property was being transferred to the SRC. The news department informed Hetq that the governor’s letter referred to the allocation of land for the construction of buildings for medical organizations providing primary health care services operating in the community’s settlements.

In fact, however, these real estates were transferred to the SRC for a completely different purpose, and it has nothing to do with the construction of medical facilities, as they inform from the provincial governor’s office.

SRC General Secretary Edgar Gevorgyan, in response to the written inquiry of Hetq, said that in order to ensure the technical part of the possible re-operation of the Margara border checkpoint in Armavir Province, the SRC petitioned to the Metsamor community council with a request to transfer to the SRC the real estates and land that are considered the property of the community.

“The above-mentioned real estate is planned to be used in the event of a possible re-operation of the checkpoint to carry out the customs control process,” said the response provided by the General Secretary of the SRC.

Margara village of Armenia is about 500 meters away from Alican village in Turkey. The two countries are separated there only by the Araks River, and they are connected by a bridge built on it.

This February, humanitarian aid was sent from Armenia to the residents affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey. The trucks carrying this aid crossed the Armenian-Turkish border through the Margara-Alican section, i.e. through the Margara checkpoint.

What are the real estates transferred to SRC?

According to the information available in the Cadastre Committee of Armenia, the ownership rights of real estates and plots of land transferred to the SRC still belong to the Metsamor community. In other words, state registration of the property has not yet been carried out on the basis of a donation contract.

The administrative building has two floors. Before the closure of the Armenian-Turkish border, it was a checkpoint. It was built in the Soviet years, in 1964. The internal surface area of this building is 1,329 square meters, and the degree of its completion is 80 percent or more.

It is located near the Armenian-Turkish checkpoint, on the bank of the Araks River. It is in the neutral zone—inside the barbed wire where the entry of ordinary citizens is prohibited.

The roof with an area of 462.2 square meters, the warehouse of 186.1 square meters, and the land area of 0.83 hectares were also transferred to SRC.

The pumping station with an area of 238.4 square meters and the land area of 0.083 hectares were also donated.

As for the hotel building, it has three floors. It is located in front of the administrative building transferred to the SRC—and again inside the aforesaid barbed wire.

The building has an area of 1,056 square meters. The 23.5-square-meter pumping station and the 25-square-meter water pumping tower serving the hotel building were also transferred to the SRC. This building was also built in 1964. More than 80 percent of it is completed, and only its water tower is unfinished.

Also, this hotel building has 1 hectare of land, which was also transferred to the SRC.

Newspaper: Armenia gets harsh opinion from Venice Commission

Karapet Navasardian
News.am
Armenia –
10:14, 18.03.2023

Past daily of Armenia writes: According to our information, new developments are taking place in connection with the package of constitutional amendments circulated by [PM] Nikol Pashinyan on various occasions.
According to the source of the newspaper, after two years, the Committee on Amendments to the Constitution has actually completed the work and sent the draft to Venice two years later. Moreover, according to our source, the Venice Commission has presented its preliminary opinion (for now, on an unofficial level).
In a conversation with us, one of the people with a quite high reputation in the legal community noted that the [Venice Commission’s] conclusion was much harsher than expected. It became known to the newspaper that the commission mainly emphasized the fact that the new Constitution contains elements of obvious authoritarianism, serious violations (especially in connection with the prime minister’s powers in security matters) of the standards adopted in the parliamentary government system were highlighted.
Also, they insinuated indirectly that going to a referendum with a Constitutional package of such quality is an open anti-democratic process.

Sociopolitical movement proposes Edgar Ghazaryan’s candidacy for Armenia ombudsman position

Emil Lazarian
News.am
Armenia –
Sociopolitical movement proposes Edgar Ghazaryan’s candidacy for Armenia ombudsman position
13:52, 18.03.2023

The Miasin (Together) sociopolitical movement has petitioned—with a letter—Saturday to the opposition “Armenia” and “With Honor” factions of the National Assembly of Armenia, reports Aravot.am.

The representatives of this movement have proposed to these parliamentary opposition factions to nominate Edgar Ghazaryan—a public figure, former head of the staff of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, extraordinary envoy and ambassador plenipotentiary, economist, and associate professor—for the position of the new Human Rights Defender Armenia.

“If other candidates are being discussed, please consider our proposal as well,” the aforesaid letter added.

Azerbaijan president continues threatening Armenia, Armenians

Manouk Vasilian
News.am
Armenia –
17:48, 18.03.2023

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev continues to issue threats, present ultimatums, and make insults against Armenia and Armenians.

“Today we [Azerbaijanis] are on the land of native Karabakh, on the land of native Zangazur [(Zangezur)], and we will be here forever. The Azerbaijani people rightfully live with a sense of pride,” Aliyev said, addressing the Azerbaijani people from Talish village on Saturday, on the occasion of Nowruz.

Also, Aliyev did not forget to present ultimatums and make insults against Armenians, frequently repeating expressions about the “masters” and “backers” of Armenians.

“Today, Armenia, which had declared that ‘Karabakh is Armenia and that’s it,’ which was threatening us with a new war, is in search of a new master. There will be no benefit from that,” he said.

Continuing the topic of the unknown “backers” of Armenians, Aliyev spoke about the countries that “support Armenia’s invasive policy and have declared an information war against us,” but did not specify which countries he means.

“For Armenia to live peacefully on the territory of [its] 29,000 square kilometers, there is one condition: they need to accept our conditions, officially recognize Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan, carry out delimitation work based on our conditions,” said Aliyev.

“Realities related to occupation, war, post-Soviet realities should and will find their reflection in peace negotiations. Otherwise, there will be no peace treaty,” continued the president of Azerbaijan.

“Some conferences, symposiums related to the internal affairs of Azerbaijan are being organized in some countries,” Aliyev said.

“Some pro-Armenian countries recognize the ‘independence of Nagorno-Karabakh,’ which does not exist on the world map, does not exist in the territory of Azerbaijan. What does this mean. This means that during the occupation, the only goal of all those forces was to make the occupation eternal, not to resolve that conflict, but to freeze it,” he added.