Category: News

The documentary ‘We Are Egyptian Armenians,’ directed by Waheed Sobhi, relays the history of the Armenian community in Egypt as recounted by many of its members and supported with archival materials including photos, videos and paintings.

The film, created in cooperation with scriptwriter Eva Dadrian and researcher and executive producer Hannan Ezzat, was screened at the Cairo International Film Festival 2016.

The documentary also participated in the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam and the Karama Human Rights Film Festival in Jordan.

The film is set to be screened in Egypt, the US and Canada.

Ahram Online sat down for an interview with the filmmakers Sobhi, Dadrian, and Ezzat.

“There are many ways to make a film about the Egyptian Armenians. We chose to focus on their history in Egypt, and their contribution to Egyptian history and society. The film has many archival images and videos as well as information relayed by a narrator,” director Waheed Sobhi said in an interview with .

“We wanted to show the many different aspects of the Armenian community, their contributions to Egyptian history, and so on. It is like a panorama of the Armenian community in Egypt. This film may even invite more research and more work on the Armenian community in Egypt,” the director said.

For the full interview click .

Photo: AFP

The evacuation of Syrian civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo is continuing round the clock, as a truce was reported to be holding overnight, the BBC reports.

More than 3,000 people were bussed out on the first day of the evacuation on Thursday, but the UN says as many as 50,000 are still trapped there.

Syria’s army, backed by Russia, has taken nearly all rebel-held districts.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday hailed the liberation of Aleppo after more than four years of fighting, saying that history was being made.

“The world is facing a growing threat of proliferation and use of the weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors, which is a serious challenge to global security,” Armenia’s Permannet Representative to the UN, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said at the UN Security Council open debate on stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by non-State actors.

“The globalization has facilitated the opportunities of acquisition and use of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons by non-state actors – terrorists and criminal groups. Although the existing technical barriers still prevent the production of contemporary means of their delivery, even small-scale attacks can lead to disastrous results,” Ambassador Mnatsakanyan said.

“Today’s imperative is to work out a national control and non-proliferation mechanism accompanied by international cooperation, to prevent the proliferation and use of those weapons by non-state actors – terrorists and other criminal groups,” Zohrab Mnatsakanyan added.

According to the Ambassador, Armenia attaches great importance to issues of nuclear security on domestic and international levels by working out corresponding internal legislation, ratifying and applying international legal agreements.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reminded about the 2015 decision of the Armenian government on the reinforcement of security of the physical and nuclear facilities of Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. He added that “Armenia’s 2015-2020 program of national actions envisages concrete steps targeted at the review of current measures and elaboration of future actions.”

“We are actively involved in a number of programs aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons. The Armenian Government keeps working in bilateral and multilateral formats against the smuggling of nuclear materials,” Amb. Mnatsakanyan said.

Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Raffi Hamparian consulted on December 14 with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on the Armenian American community’s legislative priorities for the incoming 115th session of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressman McCarthy serves as the second ranking official in the U.S. House, as part of a Republican leadership team headed by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI).  In this post he controls the flow of legislation that reaches the House floor, among a broad array of other leadership responsibilities. Majority Leader McCarthy is a native of Bakersfield who has, since 2007, represented California’s 23rd District, home to thousands of Armenian American families. The ANCA Chairman has, over the past two months, met with both Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy regarding Armenian issues.

“We welcomed this opportunity to engage once again with Majority Leader McCarthy and were encouraged, as always, by his continued openness to our issues,” said Hamparian, following the meeting. “The ANCA looks forward to working with him and his colleagues in the House leadership to advance a bipartisan legislative agenda to strengthen U.S.-Armenia relations, defend Artsakh’s status and security, and bring an end to U.S. complicity in Ankara’s obstruction of justice for the Armenian Genocide.”

Congressman McCarthy, who was endorsed by the ANCA this election cycle, has a track record of support issues of concern to Americans of Armenian heritage, including as a cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Photo: Sputnik/ Ali Hassan

The Syrian government has suspended the evacuation of civilians and fighters from eastern Aleppo, accusing rebels of breaking terms of the deal, the BBC reports.

Government sources said rebels had blocked the evacuation of civilians from two pro-government towns elsewhere in Syria, agreed under the truce.

A report said militias had fired on buses leaving Aleppo.

At least 6,000 people have left the city since Thursday, but the UN says at least 50,000 are still trapped.

Syria’s army, backed by Russia, has taken nearly all rebel-held districts.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire about 30 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used weapons of different calibers as it fired over 450 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces used a 60mm mortar in the northeastern /Martakert/ direction of the frontline.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army confidently continued with their military duty all along the line of contact without resorting to response actions.

Armenia’s Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan had a meeting with EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström.

During the meeting Minister Karayan attached importance to the Armenia-EU negotiations on a new framework agreement, which is developing in three directions – politics, trade and investments and cooperation in different spheres.

“The fifth round of talks held in Brussels allows to report considerable progress in the negotiation process and inspires hopes for completion of the negotiation process in the near future,” he said.

Commissioner Malmström noted, in turn, that the negotiations on trade and investments are developing in a constructive atmosphere. The parties reached a number of agreements that will be implemented by the end of the negotiations.

The framework agreement will raise the Armenia-EU cooperation to a qualitatively new level, will reflect the volume and depth of the relations and will outline new landmarks for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Minister Suren Karayan invited the EU Commissioner to Armenia.

Asbarez – A organized by human rights group Freedom Now was held on December 14 outside a Hannakuh party hosted by Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijani regime at Trump International Hotel – to “highlight the continued repression of civil society and independent voices in Azerbaijan.”

The controversial party – which has been sharply criticized in both the Jewish American and Israeli press – was co-hosted by the Embassy of Azerbaijan, Washington, D.C. and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations to celebrate “religious freedom and diversity.”

“We strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s egregious violations of human rights,” said Freedom Now founder Jared Genser. “Hanukkah is the story of good triumphing over evil and the rededication of the Holy Temple. If Jewish leaders attend this celebration, they should take the opportunity to perform the mitzvah rabah (great deed) of pidyon shivuyim (redemption of captives) and urge Ambassador Elin Suleymanov to have his government release its political prisoners.” Earlier this week, Genser had an in The Forward entitled “A Hanukkah Freedom Party With Human Rights Violators” about this event.

“Activists who protest the government’s religion policy are often arrested and given lengthy prison terms based on false charges. Azerbaijan’s lack of respect for religious freedom has prompted the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to categorize it as a Tier 2 country, indicating serious violations,” read Freedom Now’s press statement on the protest. “Other countries in this category include Afghanistan, Cuba, Russia, and Turkey.”

After years of controversy, Austria’s parliament has passed a law allowing it to seize the house where Adolf Hitler was born in 1889, the BBC reports.

Owner Gerlinde Pommer had repeatedly refused to sell the building in Braunau am Inn or allow renovations.

Mrs Pommer will now be given compensation. But it is still not clear what the government will do with the former guesthouse.

The authorities are keen to stop it becoming a draw for neo-Nazis.

The parliament’s decision puts an end to a long-running row between the government and Mrs Pommer, who is now retired.

For many years, the government paid Mrs Pommer a generous rent in an attempt to prevent the three-storey building being used as a site for neo-Nazi tourism.

In the past it was used by a local charity as a day centre and workshop for people with special needs.

But the charity was forced to move out several years ago when Mrs Pommer blocked renovations.

The building’s future has been widely debated, with opinion torn between razing it or changing its use.