Category: News

Armenians have not undergone serious genetic changes and have preserved their anthropological type at least in the course of the past three thousand years, the research by the Copenhagen University has revealed, said Professor Levon Yepiskoposyan, Head of the Ethnogenetics Laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

The Copenhagen University has studied 101 ancient genetic samples from different Eurasian regions.  The genetic data from different ancient sites of the bronze and iron ages of Armenia have been included in the research for the first time. The study was aimed at revealing the genetic characteristics of the European population.

Armenia was the only country in the region included in the study. “Why? Because we have no problems and no complexes,” Prof. Yepiskoposyan said. According to him, Azerbaijan turned down the proposal.

The first “Guide to Armenian Winemaking and Armenian Wines” has been published with the support of the “Antares” publishing house and the Armenian Association of Winemakers.

The author of the book Anik Petrosyan says it will provide thorough information about Armenian wines to tourists.

The publication consists of two parts. The first one presents the history of Armenian winemaking, the second is dedicated to Armenian wines.

Head of the “Antares” Media Holding Armen Martirosyan says the guide is a considerable achievement for presenting Armenia to tourists.

Five hundred copies of the guide have been published. They will be available in bookstores and will cost 6-7 AMD.

The recent reports suggesting there are only 3,000 Armenians remaining in Syria do not correspond to reality, says Aleppo Armenian Vazgen Mesropyan, Vice-President of the Social-Democratic Hunchagian Party of Armenia. According to him, even under today’s conditions Syrian Armenians are not willing to leave the country.

“We – Aleppo Armenians are against migration. We don’t want to move, we don’t want to follow Turkey’s policy. The displacements are the result of Turkish policy. We don’t want a second dislocation. All our property, our estates and archives are there,” Mesropyan told a press conference today.

The main archives of Syrian Armenians were kept in the Forty Martyrs Church destroyed by the Islamic State a few months ago. There is no exact data, but part of the archives documents are believed to have been preserved.

“The terrorists had digged tunnels to reach the church and blast it. Part of the archive materials has been saved. There are rumors that they will be brought to Armenia, but that’s not 100 percent certain,” he said.

Besides the archives, Armenians in Syria are trying to preserve their national identity. Children continue to attend Armenian schools even under shelling.

Tamar Kaprelian — one-sixth of Armenia’s Genealogy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 — has won Wiwibloggs’ search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model 2015.

After collecting more than 140,000 votes in the semi finals and final, Wiwibloggs has announced the winner.

In a video Tamar thanks her fans for their support, and reminds  that her new EP “Yours to Keep” is available on iTunes now.

The Lost Origin Sounds Series has released “Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chants from Aleppo at the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the bloody Ottoman campaign that drove many Armenians to the centuries-old community in Aleppo,  reports.

The  video Forty Martyrs: Armenian Chanting from Aleppo presents a unique new recording of sacred Armenian music.

In one of Aleppo’s oldest neighborhoods rests a church, once a focal point and a haven. The head priest there, The Very Reverend Yeznig Zegchanian, agreed to chant, but he was going to do it now and he was only going to do it once. Jason Hamacher, a drummer from Washington DC who had developed a serious fascination with Syria’s endangered spiritual traditions, dashed back to his hotel to get his equipment.

The result, recorded in the resonant Forty Martyrs Armenian Orthodox Church, captures a time, place, and endangered language. The city is entrapped in Syria’s agonizing civil war. The church’s congregants, descendants of several waves of Armenian refugees, have been scattered throughout the region and beyond. The language of the chants, West Armenian, once spoken in what is now Turkey, seems destined to die out in a generation.

EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan says that EU six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, Sputnik News reports. 

The European Union’s (EU) six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan told Sputnik.

“In none of these cases do we expect alignment on European Union foreign policy, that is expected of [EU]candidate countries,” O’Sullivan said on Thursday.

O’Sullivan noted that only EU candidate countries are expected to come in line with the sanctions policy, “which is not yet the case for any of the Eastern Partnership countries.”

In a Thursday speech to the Atlantic Council, EU Commissioner for European Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said relations with the six Eastern Partners were “not black and white.”

Hahn cited Armenia as an example “to demonstrate that it is possible to be a member of the Eurasian [Economic] Union, but also to explore… the scope of cooperation with the European Union.”

Princess Charlotte, the baby daughter of Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate, will be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury next month, her father’s office announced on Friday, REuters reports.

The ceremony for Charlotte, who was born last month, will take place on July 5 at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham where William and Kate, known officially as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have a country home on Queen Elizabeth’s estate in eastern England.

It will be conducted by Archbishop Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, who also oversaw the christening of her elder brother Prince George, who will celebrate his second birthday next month.

The newest member of the British royal family, whose full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, in a nod to her late grandmother Princess Diana and her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth, has not been seen in public since she left hospital with her parents on May 2.

The plaque reading “1915-2015: 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide” was solemnly unveiled on the front of “Maison Blanche” – the administrative building of the 9-10th district of Marseille on June 4.

The event was attended by Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland Charles Aznavour, President of the Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole Guy Teissier, Head of the 9-10th district of Marseille, MP Valerie Boyer, Armenian Consul in Marseille Samvel Laylayan, Deputy Mayors, representatives of the local self-government, heads of Armenian and French organizations, journalists, representatives of the Armenian community.

The speakers at the event attached importance to the importance of commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide for Armenians and the international community and hailed Charles Aznavour’s participation and contribution to the process of international recognition of the Genocide.

Mayor Lionel Royer-Perreaut decorated Charles Aznavour with a memorial medal of the honorary citizen of the 9-10^th district. Later on a plaque reading “Centennial Olive Tree from Charles Aznavour” was unveiled in the park of Maison Blanche.

The event was widely covered in French media. The events dedicated to Armenia will continue at the Marseille City Hall for 10 days.

A plaque honoring the late William Saroyan has been stolen from his last residence,  reports.

The new owners say they noticed the plaque was taken along with tools in the garage this week.

The plaque has been on the front of the house for 25 years and details some of the work the Pulitzer Prize winning author did the last 17 years of his life in the house.

Neighbor Ernie Baca lives next door and knew Saroyan as a kid.

“He gave me my first book when I was five years old and he signed it to read to my little sister,” Garza said.

Few neighbors on West Griffith Way have such fond memories of the home. They know it for going into foreclosure, attracting squatters and falling into disrepair.

“We’ve been broken into. Everyone has been broken into. It’s the times. Everyone is down on their luck,” Deborah Robles said.

The new owners say they just want the plaque returned. They are in the process of selling the house to a nonprofit which plans to restore the house and make it a historical place.

“That would be nice if they could do something with that house and raise the property values that would be wonderful. That is the worst house in the neighborhood,” Robles said.

Many have speculated it was stolen for the metal. But Baca says it is a piece of Armenian Heritage and Fresno History.

“If the person is watching who took this it should mean nothing to them. You can bring it to my house and put it on the porch,” he said.