Category: News

 

 

 

Armenian delegates have raised the issue of violation of the Armenian air space by Turkish helicopters on the sidelines of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s annual session held in Norway October 9-12. Member of the Armenian delegation Tevan Poghosyan has informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the incident and addressed a letter to James Appathurai, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia and hopes to receive a response early in November.

Armenian delegates Tevan Poghosyan and Koryun Nahapetyan believe the issue should be addressed, but without escalating tensions.

“If NATO really values the inviolability of borders of its member states, it would be reasonable for the Alliance to serve an example and apologize for the incident, even if it has been caused by weather conditions. The incident is really an extraordinary and one, and I think NATO, of which Turkey is a member, should react to this case. Clear explanations are needed,” Tevan Poghosyan said.

Armenia will host NATO Week from November 1 and the issue is expected to be addressed within that framework.

During the NATO PA discussions on the Syrian crisis and the issue of refugees, Armenia came forth with concrete proposals. “Armenia has hosted more than 16 thousand refugees,” Koryun Nahapetyan said. He added that it would be correct for NATO to provide assistance not only to member, but also partner countries.

 

 

 

Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan believes Russia’s activity in Syria will change the situation in the South Caucasus, as well, since Moscow, which seeks security in Syria, will pay greater attention to developments in the South Caucasus.

“It will apply all means and efforts to ensure predictability of the situation here,” the analyst said.

As for the West’s resistance to Russia’s activites, he said it’s natural. “It’s obvious that the United States and the European Union have no clear solutions for their activity at this point. They are not coming forth with new initiatives and are just reacting to Russia’s actions,” the political scientist noted.

At the same time he said the EU is trying to intensify its regional policy, reviewing the mistakes made within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and trying to demonstrate individual attitude towards the Partnership countries. As a result we have the decision to renew talks with Armenia. Hrant Melik Shahnazaryan expects interesting developments in this regard.

The political scientist, however, does not anticipate positive moves in Armenia-Turkey ties. As for the reports on the violation of the Armenian air space by Turkish helicopters, he considers that Armenia’s reaction was to be harsher, even if it was accidental. “It was necessary to raise a diplomatic scandal and bring the issue to different international structures.”

According to him, the utmost should be done to prevent the activeness of Turkey in the South Caucasus.

The team spent three days in Armenia to take photos for the world’s most famous fashion magazine.

American-Armenian photographer David Mushegian first visited Armenia a few months ago and was stunned by the beauty of his historic homeland. When he was offered to take photos of ethnic costumes for the Russian Vogue, he advised a trip to Yerevan. He was joined on the trip by Victoria’s Secret Angel Stella Maxwell.

The Vogue team was hosted by Armenian artist Lusik Aguletsi, who collects Armenian national costumes and keeps her own museum. Lusik herself is always dressed in taraz – the Armenian national costume.

The team also visited Armenia’s legendary duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, 86.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the Armenian Genocide issue at a meeting Sunday, according to a report posted on the German Government’s .

The parties talked about certain issues related to the year 1915 and the resolution pending at the German Bundestag, Davutoglu told a press conference following the meeting.

Davutolgu reiterated his long-standing view that the issue should be discussed on an ‘academic level’ by a commission of historians, which would include German scholars, inter alia.

“We are ready to provide any assistance in this regard. We want of course, to reach a historical reconciliation between Turkey and the Armenia and are ready for any cooperation,” Davutoglu said.

Chancellor Merkel, in turn, expressed gratitude for the “offer on the Armenian-Turkish issue.” “I believe we can and will continue our work intensively,” she said.

According to  reports from this Saturday’s edition of the Hamburg-based news magazine, “Der Spiegel” (17/10/2015), the German government is going out of its way to win over Turkey. The report says that the approval of the Armenian Resolution that was so hotly debated this April in parliament will be postponed, reports.

The report claims that the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) have “quietly” agreed to delay the pending final reading of the bill for as long as possible. The article does not name sources.

Other sources claim that the resolution has been delayed due to efforts by the CDU. The opposition Green party insists that the parliament, or Bundestag, must recognize the massacre of Armenians one century ago as “genocide” before the end of this year. Green party leader Cem Özdemir criticized: “The coalition is stalling, but the clock is running out, for the commemorative year is quickly coming to an end.”

Deutsche Welle reminds that in April, parliamentarians observed the 100th anniversary of the displacement and annihilation of Armenians at the hands of their Ottoman rulers. Bundestag President Norbert Lammert (CDU), and Federal President Joachim Gauck both gave speeches this year clearly defining the historical incident as genocide carried out on the Armenians by the Turks.

Both instances led to angry reactions in Turkey. “The Turkish people will not forget German President Gauck’s words, nor will they forgive him,” was the response that Ankara’s foreign office released after Gauck’s speech in the cathedral of Berlin in April.

The author concludes, however, that “One thing is clear at the moment though, the German government needs Turkey in tackling the refugee crisis.”

Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan is likely to miss Borussia Dortmund’s upcoming UEFA Europa League match against Gabala FC in Azerbaijan, reports.

The issue has long been discussed, but now it’s almost certain: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (26) will not fly Wednesday for the match against Gabala in Baku. “The risk for the Armenians is too large,” the club has said.

BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke told Bild: “Mkhitaryan will probably be denied boarding. We have the situation checked, and there because of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we have a personal duty to care for our players.”

“The entry would be possible; however, in visa matters it’s always a problem if someone visited Nagorno Karabakh in the recent years. Azerbaijan sees this as a provocation,” Watzke said.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 150 times overnight, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reports.

The rival fired more than 3,000 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 82mm mortars, in the direction of the Armenian positions

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army confidently continue with their military duty and resort to retaliatory measure when necessary.

Over 300 people gathered at Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Church Chatswood on 13 October for a service of prayer and remembrance for the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, reports. 

Hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, Bishop Peter Comensoli welcomed His Grace Bishop Haigazoun Najarian of the Armenian Apostolic Church and dignitaries and members of the Armenian community, along with Bishop Robert Rabat of the Melkite Catholic Diocese, Bishop Bill Wright of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, representatives of the Greek Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, and Uniting Churches, and other religious, ecumenical and civic leaders.

In his homily, Bishop Najarian described the history of Armenian Christians which has been one of repeated struggle under persecution and at the same time resilience forged through faith and hope. Bishop Comensoli observed the genocidal impulses of our own time that link us to the remembered events of a century ago.  Prayers were read by representatives of various Churches, with the variety of liturgical vestments and customs mingling colourfully in a vibrant ecumenical tapestry.

An Armenian choir and a Catholic choir led the congregation in song, a remembrance wreath was laid at the Paschal candle (a symbol of hope and resurrection) and a minute of silence observed. The participation of Catholic and Armenian youth was a living symbol of hope. Parishioners of Our Lady of Dolours offered warm hospitality and supper. As Parish Priest Fr Paul Finucane noted, the evening was a truly ecumenical experience of prayer and solidarity.

Among the dignitaries attending in the service were Fr Shenouda Mansour, General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council; Sr Elizabeth Delaney, General-Secretary of the National Council of Churches Australia; Sr Giovanni Farquer, Sydney Archdiocesan Ecumenical Commission; Mr Peter Hamill, Director, Broken Bay Catholic Schools Office;  The Hon. David Clarke MLC, representing the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism; Councillor John Hooper, Willoughby City Council.

The Armenian jazz pianist’s brilliant performance with members of the Yerevan State Choir is a poignant contemporary tribute to their homeland’s history

By John Fordham

hose who remember Tigran Hamasyan’s bone-shaking, synth-squealing, pop-jazz gigs might have done a double-take as the young Armenian pianist gravely filed on to the Union Chapel’s stage accompanied only by a bowed, hooded, orange-robed choir. Some might wonder whether 2014’s swansong of ECM Records’s globally popular choral/jazz pairing of the Hilliard vocal ensemble with Jan Garbarek had anything to do with the young virtuoso’s arrival on the same label with a solemn programme of medieval and modern Armenian vocal music, embroidered only by his jazz-steeped piano playing. But Hamasyan is devoted to his homeland’s traditions, and this year’s 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman authorities gives this venture a timely poignancy.

He embraced the challenge in this performance with a typical combination of diligent study and brilliant aplomb with eight singers from the Yerevan State Choir.

The single-set gig began with a hymn by 4th-century scholar/composer Mesrop Mashtots, in which a low vocal hum was shaded by briefly flicked treble-note elisions from Hamasyan. A second Mashtots piece brought spooky microtonal vocal drifts punctuated by plucked low-note strings.

The choir began a rhythmic, short-note pulse on the animated Ov Zarmanali, and whispered behind the leader’s now groove-like chord work. Hamasyan’s streaming ingenuity erupted in an outburst of sleek arpeggios and left-hand hooks that brought a roar from the crowd, but the shift never felt like a dislocation as the choir slithered back in around him. Hamasyan jangled a drone-like chord pattern as the lean, vibrato-free voices of his partners punched out exclamatory percussive motifs. A walking bassline underpinned the sound of the male members at their most guttural (while Hamasyan’s improv almost veered into My Favourite Things), and a stamping vocal dance preceded the solemn, carol-like rumination of the encore.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 8 million to finance the first phase of improvements to the solid waste disposal system in Yerevan and four surrounding regions.   

The project concerns the construction of a sanitary landfill, closure of the existing landfill and the implementation of waste diversion measures in the capital of Armenia and surrounding regions, serving a population of 1.9 million.

EIB Vice-President László Baranyay, responsible for the Bank’s financing operations in Armenia, stated: “This is the first EIB loan supporting solid waste management in the Eastern Partnership region. It concerns key social infrastructure, highly relevant for the quality of life and health conditions of almost two million people. This project is an example of excellent cooperation between the EIB, regional players, the European Commission and partner IFIs.”

The project is co-financed by a EUR 8 million European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loan with a EUR 1.9 million technical assistance grant, and a EUR 8 million grant from the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF). The EIB is expected to provide EUR 17 million in total to support the project, the EUR 8 million loan signed today representing only the support for the first phase of the project.

H.E. Mr Piotr Antoni Switalski, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Armenia, said: “The European Union is committed to supporting initiatives that ensure improved solid waste management in Armenia and in the region. This is our third financial grant to the Armenian Government in this field. I am delighted that following regional initiatives in Kotayk and Vanadzor, we are now providing financial assistance to ensure improved living conditions for the citizens of Yerevan.”

To date, the EIB has signed 11 loans in Armenia totalling EUR 220 million. The portfolio is well diversified across transport, energy and water and waste treatment infrastructure as well as SME support.