Category: 2024

Iran’s Kharrazi discusses ties with Armenia prime minister

Bedik Zaminian
MEHR News Agency
Iran – Jan 30 2024

TEHRAN, Jan. 30 (MNA) – The Head of Iran's Foreign Policy Strategic Council Kamal Kharrazi met and held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, discussing the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Armenian Prime Minister emphasized the importance of Kharrazi's visit to Armenia and expressed confidence that it will give a new impetus to the further development and strengthening of Armenia-Iran relations.

According to the Armenian prime minister's website, Nikol Pashinyan noted that they agreed with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take consistent steps in the direction of continuously increasing the volume of trade turnover. At the same time, the Prime Minister noted that he fondly remembers the meeting with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and asked Kharrazi to convey his warm greetings.

The two sides discussed various issues related to the Armenia-Iran cooperation agenda, which related to political and economic relations, cooperation in energy, infrastructure, and other fields, and implementation of joint projects.

The sides exchanged ideas on issues related to security and stability in the South Caucasus.

MP/PR

MTS Sells 100% of Shares in its Subsidiary MTS Armenia

David Nargizian
The Fast Mode
Jan 30 2024
     

  •  RAY SHARMA

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), a digital ecosystem, announces the closing of a transaction for the sale of 100% of the shares of its subsidiary in the Republic of Armenia, MTS Armenia CJSC (trademark Viva-MTS) to Fedilco Group Limited (Republic of Cyprus).

The transaction also included MobiDram CJSC, a payment system providing financial services in the Armenian market, a 100% subsidiary of MTS Armenia.

MTS received all corporate approvals necessary for the transaction, as well as permits from the regulatory authorities of the Republic of Armenia: the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition and the Public Services Regulatory Commission.Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), a digital ecosystem, announces the closing of a transaction for the sale of 100% of the shares of its subsidiary in the Republic of Armenia, MTS Armenia CJSC (trademark Viva-MTS) to Fedilco Group Limited (Republic of Cyprus).

The transaction also included MobiDram CJSC, a payment system providing financial services in the Armenian market, a 100% subsidiary of MTS Armenia.

MTS received all corporate approvals necessary for the transaction, as well as permits from the regulatory authorities of the Republic of Armenia: the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition and the Public Services Regulatory Commission.

MTS is Russia’s ecosystem providing network-native digital services and largest mobile operator. The company offers a full range of solutions for consumers and business customers across wireless and wireline connectivity; over-the-top, linear, and satellite television; digital-first banking and financial services; as well as unified communications, cloud computing and IoT.MTS is Russia’s ecosystem providing network-native digital services and largest mobile operator. The company offers a full range of solutions for consumers and business customers across wireless and wireline connectivity; over-the-top, linear, and satellite television; digital-first banking and financial services; as well as unified communications, cloud computing and IoT.

Book: The Flying African — Armenian novel now available in English-language translation

Meline Chalian
Jan 30 2024

“Azatyan has a distinct talent with a playful sensibility full of probing questions…” — Atom Egoyan, Canadian filmmaker and scriptwriter

(Isstories Editorial):- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jan 30, 2024 (Issuewire.com) – Frayed Edge Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Flying African by Areg Azatyan, translated from the Armenian by Nazareth Seferian. The book follows the journey of an unnamed traveler, a young Armenian writer who spends fifty-four adventurous days in Africa, one day in each of the continent’s countries. Fifty-four chapters provide vignettes of the visits to each country, in which the traveler experiences the beauty of the land and the complexity of the people, as well the continent’s darker side: the on-going effects of colonization, war, poverty, and disease. While it is impossible to understand the whole of Africa or even one country in a short visit, each chapter provides a snapshot of something significant about the country visited, grounded in its own history, culture, and customs. 

The traveler’s progress is episodic and surreal, and at times he becomes dissociated and unsure of even where he is or what he is observing. He experiences some of the typical aspects of travel–seeing ancient mosques and other interesting architecture, visiting markets and trying new foods, and meeting both natives and other travelers, but the real journey is a psychological and emotional one. The geographic adventure of travel takes a back seat to the psychic adventure of unmooring oneself from the familiarity of home and reaching out to the unknown. Even as the narrator struggles to make sense of the sometimes magical and fantastic stories told to him, as well as his own disorienting experiences, he is still greatly affected by witnessing the human condition and has flashes of insight illuminating the human psyche’s capacity for growth, pain, and resilience. 

Ultimately, the traveler, and the reader along with him, takes a complex journey of letting go of expectations and opening up to the profound effects of encountering what is both familiar and foreign.

Olivia Hetreed, screenwriter for the major motion picture Girl with a Pearl Earring stated “I really enjoyed the book opening and was intrigued and amused by the different chapters. I loved…the quick way I was drawn into encounters with strangers and little mysteries.” Canadian filmmaker and scriptwriter Atom Egoyan has also praised the author, saying “Azatyan has a distinct talent with a playful sensibility full of probing questions…I look forward to following his work.”

Author Areg Azatyan is an Armenian writer and filmmaker based in the USA. He is the author of six fiction books published by leading publishing houses in Armenia: Life Beyond the Sun, The Trial of the Human, Grasping at the Ladybug’s Leg, The Flying African, The Romanticists, and During the Lull. He has also published short fiction in Armenian and international magazines and newspapers. He was the recipient of one of the highest governmental literary awards in Armenia, the Presidential Youth Prize for Literature (2004), as well as the Best Writer of the Year (2010) Mesrop Mashtots trophy, and several other international and national literary awards. As a filmmaker, his work has been recognized with several awards and prizes, and he has participated in more than forty international film festivals, including Berlinale, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, and Gothenburg.

Translator Nazareth Seferian was born in Canada, grew up in India and moved to his homeland of Armenia in 1998, where he has been living ever since. His university education was not specific to translation studies, but his love for languages led him to this work in 2001. He began literary translations in 2011 and his published works include the English version of Yenok’s Eye by Gurgen Khanjyan, The Clouds of Mount Maruta by Mushegh Galshoyan, Ravens Before Noah by Susanna Harutyunyan, Jesus’ Cat by Grig, The Door Was Open by Karine Khodikyan, and Robinson by Aram Pachyan. He has also translated several short stories by other Armenian authors including Artavazd Yeghiazaryan, Levon Shahnur, Armen of Armenia (Ohanyan), Areg Azatyan, Avetik Mejlumyan, and Anna Davtyan. Nazareth produces several pages of translation each day, driven by his desire to promote greater availability and recognition of Armenian culture for English speakers worldwide

The Flying African officially launched on and may be purchased directly through our distribution partner at https://www.parlewdistribution.com/store/p241/Flying_African.html#/  The book is also available through major online booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble and most library book jobbers, including Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

Frayed Edge Press is a small independent press located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which specializes in publishing marginalized voices, overlooked literature in translation, and works that wrestle with important questions impacting contemporary society. For more information about the press, visit our website at: https://www.frayededgepress.com/

Title: The Flying African
Author: Areg Azatyan
Translator: Nazareth Seferian
Format: 7×10; 460 p.
ISBN: 9781642510522
Price: $40.00 pbk.
Link: https://www.frayededgepress.com/flying_african.html
Categories: Literature in Translation, Armenian Literature, Literary Fiction

Archbishop meets His Holiness Karekin II and Bishop Hovakim in Canterbury

Vardan Badalian
Jan 30 2024

29/01/2024

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, was honoured to welcome His Holiness Karekin II, with Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, to the Old Palace, next to Canterbury Cathedral, for a morning meeting on Sunday . 

The church leaders met three months ago in early October in Armenia, at the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The Archbishop’s visit took place against the backdrop of the recent invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, and the flight of almost the entirety of the region’s 120,000 Armenians to Armenia itself.

While he was in Armenia, the Archbishop spoke to many displaced refugee families housed in a church-run hostel supported by the Armenian church, hearing their stories.

At Sunday’s meeting in Canterbury, both leaders discussed once more the ongoing humanitarian crisis triggered by the invasion, including matters such as the welfare of prisoners and the protection of cultural heritage, and what assistance religious organisations and the international community might be able to offer. The Archbishop assured His Holiness of his prayers for the Armenian Church and its people.

https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/articles/archbishop-meets-his-holiness-karekin-ii-and-bishop-hovakim-canterbury

Armenian parliamentary speaker: National anthem, emblem should be replaced sooner or later

Emil Lazarian
Interfax
Jan 30 2024

YEREVAN. Jan 30 (Interfax) – Armenian parliamentary Chairman Alen Simonyan believes the country needs a new national anthem and amended coat of arms.

"It's obvious to me that the Republic of Armenia's national anthem should be changed sooner or later. It should be Armenian, it should have some relation to our state and Armenian music, and it should comply with anthem rules. I don't insist that it should be replaced by the music of the great Aram Khachaturyan [a prominent Armenian and Soviet composer and author of the Armenian Soviet Republic's anthem], which, in my view, is excellent and as Armenian as it can only be, but obviously, the anthem of foreign origin needs to be replaced," Simonyan wrote on Telegram.

The current Armenian anthem is based on a verse by Mikayel Nalbandian titled 'The Song of an Italian Girl', written in 1859.

Simonyan also called for discussing amendments to Armenia's coat of arms.

"At least Armenia can't be underwater, which was a punishment for humankind. A lion can't look like a facebook smiley, and a sword defending Armenia can't be chained," Simonyan said.

Armenia's coat of arms depicts the Deluge near the foot of Mount Ararat.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed changing the country's national anthem in June 2023.

"People regularly address me on that, I also feel that way […] I have no definitive conclusion. The official lyrics of our current anthem end in death. The ideology is right, I have no problems with the text, but the anthem concludes with a line about death, a picture of death," he said.

As for Armenia's coat of arms, it has nothing to do with contemporary Armenia, he said.

"What is depicted there? Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, and the coats of arms of four Armenian dynasties. Looking at the coat of arms, I wonder: What relation does it have to us? After all, we adopted it in 1991. How is it related to the state founded in 1991? What is it about? Looking at its center, you can see Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat and the current territory of the Republic of Armenia, which is underwater," Pashinyan said.

The Armenian coat of arms also has a picture of a lion, "which hasn't been part of Armenia's natural habitat for ages," Pashinyan said.

Armenia develops 2023-2033 Diaspora Partnership Strategy ahead of 2nd global summit

Vanyan Gary

 10:25,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs has developed the 2023-2033 Armenia-Diaspora Partnership Strategy, High Commissioner Zareh Sinanyan told Armenpress.

He said the strategy is based on a vision of a “state-centered, pro-state” Diaspora. The document has been put into circulation.

“We expect to work with the Diaspora based on principles of respect, based on the objective of further deepening the ideology of statehood-building and state-centeredness. Today, this is very weak in the Diaspora. Understandably, the Diaspora was formed in conditions of absence of statehood,” Sinanyan explained, adding that while Armenians living in Armenia have the sense of nationhood and statehood-building, Diaspora Armenians don’t necessarily have that notion. “The work we want to do with the Diaspora must be exclusively centered on the state. Not because we are egoists or focused on ourselves, but because we see the state as the guarantee of perpetuity of not only the Armenians of Armenia, but of the Armenian nation and the Diaspora. Without a strong state there can be nothing. If the Diaspora was able to exist in the Middle East for many years, then the Diaspora that was formed in the past fifty years cannot exist for long without an anchor, and that anchor is the state,” Sinanyan said.

The High Commissioner said they have already received numerous recommendations and offers regarding the strategy and they are amending the document. Sinanyan’s office is working with the Diaspora regarding the strategy. He said that the strategy’s inception was in 2022 during the First Global Diaspora Summit in Armenia. “We are trying to realistically involve many representatives from the Diaspora,” Sinanyan said.

The 2nd Global Diaspora Summit is planned for mid-September 2024 in Armenia.

The 2023-2033 Armenia-Diaspora Partnership Strategy will be forwarded to the Cabinet for discussions in the coming months.

The agenda of the 2nd summit is currently under development, but it will feature security, economic and cultural issues.

Defense Minister lauds 25-day training model for reservists

Manouk Vasilian

 12:07,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan has praised the 25-day training model for military reservists.

Speaking at the January 28 Army Day event, Papikyan said the government decided to initiate training musters for military reservists given the security situation around the country, and with the purpose of increasing the level of combat readiness of the reserve. “Despite the existing problems, we can say that the 25-day training model is a success,” he said.




Armenian Defense Ministry aims at professional army

Karapet Navasardian

 11:24,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has said that the government’s goal is to transform the conscription-based army into a ‘professional’ one.

He made the remarks during the January 28 Army Day celebration.

In his speech, Papikyan attached importance to the need for professional, developed, skilled and educated military personnel in the armed forces in line with the technological achievements. In this context, he highlighted the launch of the certification process in the military.

“With the launch of the certification system, which we will further improve, we made one step further towards a professional army, which is one of the priority goals of our government,” Papikyan said.

‘Armenia must be able to defend its sovereignty and people,’ French Ambassador at Army Day

Janet Ekmekjian

 12:31,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies on January 28 attended the Army Day celebration in Armenia.

“I was honored to attend the celebration dedicated to Army Day together with the defense attache. Armenia must be able to defend its sovereignty and its people,” the French Ambassador said in a post on X.  He added that France is enhancing its defense relations with Armenia and forming strategic ties.


Defense Minister announces ‘tangible results’ in new arms acquisitions

Meline Chalian

 12:47,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan has praised the “tangible results” in arms acquisitions last year.

“Experience showed that without modern armaments it’s impossible to have a strong and combat-ready army, no matter how high the spirit of troops to serve their country selflessly,” Papikyan said at the January 28 Army Day celebration.

He said that the efforts to re-equip the Armenian Armed Forces on a proper level befitting leading militaries of the 21st century have “given tangible results.”

“We’ve been able to enhance military-technical cooperation by finding new partners and making tangible steps in the direction of armament diversification. This is one more step strengthening the diversification of our security architecture, which will help us develop a stronger and more reliable security environment around Armenia,” Papikyan said.

The defense minister also spoke about the defense industry. “In simple words, we shouldn’t import what we can produce ourselves here in our country, with a lower cost and good quality. This is a goal that we are working on.”