Category: News

The Master Singers of Worcester and the Armenian Church of our Savior (in Worcester), the first Armenian Church in America, will honor the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m., with a concert featuring sacred and secular music of Armenia. The Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemorative Concert will take place at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, reports.

The program also includes the world premiere of “A New Armenia!” by Worcester composer Stephan Barnicle and the Worcester premiere of Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living,” with chamber orchestra and organist William Ness.

The Master Singers will be joined by singers and dancers from the Armenian community, and the children’s choirs of First Congregational Church and St. Mary’s Church of Shrewsbury.

The concert is funded in part by a grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and supported in part by an Alfred Patterson Grant from Choral Arts New England.

 

 

 

Expert of Arabic studies Arayik Harutyunytan considers Russia’s actions in Syria are rather successful. He believes that by engaging in the Syrian issue, Russia comes out of the isolation of the past 1.5 years. Besides, Russia shows the West that in order to solve the issue of migrants and prevent the inflow of refugees, it’s necessary to solve the very reason of it.

The term of Russia’s presence in Syria depends on several factors, he said. “First of all, it depends on the objectives Russia pursues. Russia’s statement that it’s not possible to solve the issue through air strikes only envisages possible land operations, as well.”

Director of the “Caucasus” Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan says that “what’s happening in and around Syria is more complicated than presented by the media.” According to him, Syria will never be the same it was before the war. “Syria is divided and will remain so,” he said.

Alexander Iskandaryan considers that “the settlement of today’s complex problems in Syria exceptionally in a military way is obviously impossible.”

Arayik Harutyunyan believes that Russia and the West are destined to cooperate with each other, at least when it comes to the exchange of information on air strikes against ISIS. He considers that Russia and the United States ate in secret talks on the future developments in Syria and says the results of it will be tangible obvious in 10-15 days.

Michael Aram has created a sculptural piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, reports.

In an event held on October 6, 2015, the designer unveiled Migrations. The dedication was led by Archbishop Khajg Barsamian at the plaza of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral in New York City. Many attended the unveiling, including clergy and dignitaries.

This piece holds special meaning for Aram who is of Armenian descent. “Migrations is inspired by the multiple migrations of the Armenian population. It was a migration of spirit, of soul and of place. For me, the piece is as much a tribute to the events of 1915 as it is a reflection of family histories and the immigrant experience,” he said.

The sculpture features a flock of birds in a vertical shape that references the Khatchkars, stone cross markers characteristic of medieval Christian Armenian art. In this piece, the khatchkar has a void in the shape of the former Armenian provinces. The map is turned on its side which signifies the upheaval of the country; the missing piece suggests the emptying of the Armenian people from their land.

“Justifying Genocide: Germany and the Armenians from Bismarck to Hitler,” a book by Stefan Ihrig to be released in January 2016, shows that the Armenian Genocide and the Nazi Holocaust are much more connected than previously thought.

Bismarck and then Wilhelm II staked their foreign policy on close relations with a stable Ottoman Empire. To the extent that the Armenians were restless under Ottoman rule, they were a problem for Germany too. From the 1890s onward Germany became accustomed to excusing violence against Armenians, even accepting it as a foreign policy necessity. For many Germans, the Armenians represented an explicitly racial problem and despite the Armenians’ Christianity, Germans portrayed them as the “Jews of the Orient.”

As Stefan Ihrig reveals in this first comprehensive study of the subject, many Germans before World War I sympathized with the Ottomans’ longstanding repression of the Armenians and would go on to defend vigorously the Turks’ wartime program of extermination. After the war, in what Ihrig terms the “great genocide debate,” German nationalists first denied and then justified genocide in sweeping terms. The Nazis too came to see genocide as justifiable: in their version of history, the Armenian Genocide had made possible the astonishing rise of the New Turkey.

Ihrig is careful to note that this connection does not imply the Armenian Genocide somehow caused the Holocaust, nor does it make Germans any less culpable. But no history of the twentieth century should ignore the deep, direct, and disturbing connections between these two crimes.

The Indian portal presents the story of Zabel Joshi, the last surviving Armenian of Mumbai

By Vasundara R

The famous Dalal Street, home to the Bombay Stock Exchange always looks like a place that’s in a hurry to go somewhere. Tall and old buildings mark that street and the area surrounding it. Regardless of the age, there is one thing common amongst all of them – flourishing commerce. Amidst this hustle and bustle lies a far quieter and very old edifice, which stands still, almost forgotten.

St. Peter’s Armenian Church was built three centuries ago in 1796 for a thriving community of Armenians in the Bombay of old. Today, the number of Armenians in Mumbai has dwindled to exactly one woman, and the church has no Armenian priest to conduct their services.

“There are no services for Armenians, though we use the church to do our prayers,” says Zabel Joshi, the last surviving registered Armenian in the city. Mother to model-cum-actress Tulip Joshi, Zabel once had all her three daughters baptised in this church.

The Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Government in Turkey in 1915 may seem like another world away and in a different time zone to most of us Indians, but for Zabel Haykian, it has played a big part in establishing her roots.

“Due to the genocide, our ancestors were forced to leave and settle in different parts of the world,” she narrates. “I was raised in Beirut, blessed to have had wonderful parents, along with two brothers and a sister. Beirut, which was considered the Paris of Middle East, was home for me then.”

Zabel had whirlwind romance in Beirut with Gujarati cloth merchant Kishore Joshi, who made frequent trips to the city for his business. At the age of 23, Zabel married Joshi and moved to India and the romance continued, this time also with India and with Bombay, its melting pot of languages and cultures.

“Bombay has been very kind to me,” says Zabel. “I have a wonderful family and great friends who are Indian Hindus. In fact, today I feel like one. I speak Hindi fluently, I also speak Gujarati.”

Armenians first came to India via Kerala and established solid roots in Kolkata. They then expanded to Mumbai, Chennai, Agra, Gwalior and Lucknow. Over the centuries, the community has had significant economic and cultural association with the local Indians. Today, they are as much a part of India’s melange of cultures as anybody else, speaking the local language, absorbing some customs and feeling perfectly at home.

Kolkata still has a visible Armenian community of over 150 people, but Chennai’s Armenian population is long gone and over the years, Mumbai’s Armenian population or what was left of it migrated to the US and Canada, while the older generation joined their ancestors in the cemetery at Antop Hill. Zabel now remains the sole registered Armenian in Mumbai and the trustee for the Church.

With no community to conduct services for and no priest to conduct the services either, St. Peter’s stayed shut for a long time. But the ivory coloured walls of the cathedral speak of cheerful tales, of a happy community that once got together for festivals, for Easter and for a Christmas, that was celebrated twice.
“That’s my favourite part about Christmas-having two Christmases!” gushes her daughter Tulip Joshi. “Armenian Christmas is on January 6, so we celebrate both Christmases – the regular one in December and the Armenian one. We decorate the tree and have traditional sweets and Christmas pudding (anooshabour).”

Tulip and her sisters, all of whom speak Armenian fluently, are particularly fond of Armenian food. “It’s so healthy – it’s very Mediterranean in flavour and composition. And I just love the dolmas and sarmas that my mum makes – that’s grape leaves rolled and stuffed with either vegetables or minced meat and steamed until soft.”

Zabel’s memories with the Armenians in Mumbai go beyond just festivals, though. “Every Sunday morning my family would attend Sunday mass along with many Armenians who were alive back then,” she says. “In fact we used to wait for Sundays. Easter was our favourite one. After the mass, we would go for lunch and play Easter games.”

“Things are very different now,” she continues. “I am the only Armenian living in this city. Of course, my children have Armenian blood and I am proud to say that they speak the language, which is really the first step towards preserving anything that might not be around forever.”

Recently, St.Peter’s Church, after lying forlorn and silent for years, has opened its doors to the Syrian Christians of its sister church – the Malankara Orthodox Syrian church for use during Sunday services. Feet once again troop through the doors of the church, the pews now sigh under the weight of the faithful, but they are not the people the church was built for.

On Wednesday in Yerevan Kiriyenko gave the leading Armenian nuclear specialists medals linked to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian nuclear industry, Sputnik News reports.

“It is our common anniversary – not only Russian, but anniversary of the nuclear industry of the whole Soviet Union,” Kirienko said at the ceremony.

Kirienko noted that the strategic partnership between Russia and Armenia consists of joint work on the extension of the exploitation times of the second unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant’ (Metsamor NPP), supply of nuclear fuel, nuclear and radiation safety issues.

In March 2014, the Armenian government extended the service life of its second power plant. Russia’s nuclear energy corporation Rosatom agreed to work jointly with Armenia on the project to extend the power unit’s service life until 2026.

Russia and Armenia signed a deal in 2014 to extend the service life of the second reactor.

President Serzh Sargsyan today held a phone call with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation (RF) congratulating and sending him best wishes on the occasion of his birthday. The RA President also sent a congratulatory message to the RF President, President’s Press Office reported.

“President Serzh Sargsyan today sent a congratulatory message to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation on the occasion of his birthday.

Honorable Vladimir Vladimirovich,

Accept my warmest and most sincere congratulations on your birthday!

Your long-standing statesmanship, rich political experience and consistency targeted at ensuring the prosperity of Russia and well-being of its citizens have earned you deep respect from your compatriots and a high reputation in the international arena.

Armenians highly value your personal contribution to the promotion of allied collaboration between Armenia and Russia which is rooted in the friendship, brotherhood and mutual support between the peoples of our countries. I am confident that we will continue our joint efforts to further broaden our interstate political dialogue, continuously fill the Armenian-Russian cooperation with strategic initiatives and promising projects in the trade and economic, humanitarian, as well as in other spheres, which is driven by the fundamental interests of our peoples.

I strongly believe that the strengthening of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership within the frames of integration processes and in multilateral format will help to achieve our common goals aimed at ensuring regional stability and security.

Honorable Vladimir Vladimirovich, I heartily wish you good health, happiness, well-being and further success in all of your undertakings,” reads the congratulatory message of the RA President.

Iraq may request Russian air strikes against Islamic State on its soil soon and wants Moscow to have a bigger role than the United States in the war against the militant group, the head of parliament’s defence and security committee said on Wednesday, Reurers reports.

“We might be forced to ask Russia to launch air strikes in Iraq soon. I think the upcoming few days or weeks Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch air strikes and that depends on their success in Syria,” Hakim al-Zamili told Reuters.

Iraq’s government and powerful Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias question the United States’ resolve in fighting Islamic State militants, who control a third of the country, saying U.S.-led coalition air strikes are ineffective.

Russian air strikes against the government’s opponents in Syria have raised hopes in Baghdad that Russia could become an effective partner against the ultra-hardline group.

“We are seeking to see Russia have a bigger role in Iraq. … Yes, definitely a bigger role than the Americans,” Zamili said.

 

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, today informed the Committee of Ministers of his decision to withdraw the Council’s participation in the .

Since October 2014, a Council of Europe representative had been attending meetings in Baku intended to revive the dialogue between civil society and Azerbaijani authorities. Despite this initiative, the overall situation of human rights defenders in the country has deteriorated dramatically. An increasing number of human right defenders has recently been imprisoned, and the Council of Europe has received worrying reports about unacceptable detention conditions.

Prior to his intervention at the Committee of Ministers, the Secretary General had informed Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev of his decision.

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for discoveries in DNA repair, the BBC reports.

Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were named as the winners on Wednesday morning at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Their work uncovered the mechanisms used by cells to repair damaged DNA – a fundamental process in living cells.

The prize money of eight million Swedish kronor ($970,000) will be shared among the winners.