Category: News

Matthew Karanian’s work on behalf of Armenia earned him the annual “Service to Humanity Award” from Bucknell University this week.

Karanian is a lawyer in Pasadena, Calif., and is an alumnus of Bucknell, a liberal arts university in Lewisburg, Penn.

Bucknell grants the award each year to a member of its alumni community “whose selfless and caring work and deeds benefit society and humankind,” according to the press office of the University.

By Karanian’s recollection, he was the only member of his graduating class who was of Armenian descent. “I think I probably introduced Armenia to a lot of people” at Bucknell, he said. “This award is recognition for what I’ve done in Armenia, but it’s also a sign that I created greater awareness of Armenian culture here at home, too.”

Karanian has dedicated a significant part of his career to promoting human rights and developing the rule of law in Armenia, which is the ancestral home of his grandparents. He served for several years as an associate dean and professor of law at the American University of Armenia, and he launched the Armenian Law Review, Armenia’s first English language law review.

Shortly after Armenia had re-established its independence in 1991, he served as an advocate for the interests of the country’s newly formed non-governmental organizations. He had previously worked as a defense attorney in Hartford, Conn., with Halloran and Sage, the state’s largest trial practice.

Karanian is the author of numerous books about Armenia. His most recent publication is .

Karanian’s contributions to the development of cultural relations between the US and Armenia were recently recognized by the Republic of Armenia. He received the nation’s prestigious Arshile Gorky Medal during a ceremony at the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles on Armenian Independence Day, September 21, 2016.

Karanian graduated from Bucknell with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He also holds degrees from Georgetown University Law Center and from McGeorge School of Law. He will accept the award in June at a ceremony on Bucknell’s campus in Pennsylvania.

Today in Yerevan, the EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Świtalski announced € 1.5 million Grant Scheme aiming at reinforcing civil society in Armenia and to provide Civil Society Organisations with alternative sources of financing. At the same time the EU is looking for innovative projects that will make Armenia healthier, safer, cleaner and more sustainable.

EU Ambassador noted: “We believe that the engagement of citizens is key in achieving social and behavioural changes related to our shared values. For this reason, the EU will also support, under this call, information campaigns run by Civil Society Organisation that aim at increasing public accountability while increasing the engagement of citizens”.

The new grant scheme “Reinforcing Civil Society in Armenia”, with a budget of € 1.5 million, pursues to (1) Increase monitoring capacity of civil society, (2) Increase public accountability through public awareness campaigns aiming at behavioural changes in topics such as nutrition, road safety, energy saving, environment, recycling, etc.  and (3) Reinforce civil society through financial diversification and sustainability such fundraising, crowdfunding campaign and promotion of social enterprises.

The call for proposals has objectives to finance a number of Civil Society Organisations aimed at increasing the role of civil society, promoting cooperation between EU and Armenia, as well as to ensure reforms monitoring and public accountability growth in the areas that include EU-Armenia agreements.

The EU is looking for innovative projects to make Armenia healthier, safer, cleaner and more sustainable. The global objective of this call for proposals is to finance a number of civil society initiatives aimed at enhancing the role of civil society in promoting EU-Armenia cooperation and monitoring reforms and increasing public accountability in areas covered by the EU-Armenia agreements. The call for proposal will complement the ongoing capacity building and re-granting programmes: (i) STRONG Civil Society Organisations for Stronger Armenia, (ii) Commitment to Constructive Dialogue, (iii) CSO 2.0 and (iv) Community development through social entrepreneurship.

This call will also complement the ongoing direct support to Civil Society Organization (CSO) via 30 grants contracts.

Sub-granting, the provision of financial support to third parties, will be a core characteristic of this call.

The overall amount made available under this call for proposals is of EUR 1 500 000 in the form of grants between EUR 150 000 and EUR 400 000.

The Armenia Airline operated the maiden Yerevan-Beirut flight today, Satenik Hovhannisyan, Press Secretary of the General department of Civil Aviation of Armenia informs in a Facebook page.

The first passengers flew to Lebanon’s capital in a Boeing 737-500.

There is no visa regime in place between Armenia and Lebanon.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan found the net v Sunderland and spoke to after the game..

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was naturally delighted to find the net in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Sunderland, and is targeting more goals as the Reds continue to push for a top-four finish.

It took the Armenian just 47 seconds of the second half to notch his eighth goal of the season, a strike that added to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s superb opener and all but ensured victory against the home side, who had been reduced to 10 men just before the break.

Marcus Rashford added a third in the dying minutes of the match to seal the win, which Mkhitaryan believes could prove to be “very important” for the Reds.

“It was a very important game and an important win after two draws,” he told MUTV after the game. “We have done everything to win; we knew it would not be easy but it was most important that we played well and we won 3-0.

“I think it was very important to score the second goal because the game was not over and then they had a little bit of control in the second half but, thanks to my team-mates, they could help me to score. At the end we scored the third one and the game was already over.

“I am always happy to score, not only to score but also to assist; it doesn’t matter to me. I am always working and I want to score as many goals as I can. Scoring goals is always enjoyable.”

Attention now turns to Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Anderlecht in Brussels. Mkhitaryan has impressed in the competition this season, scoring crucial goals away to Zorya Luhansk, Saint-Etienne and, more recently, FC Rostov in the last round.

“It’s going to be a very important game against Anderlecht,” he added. “It will be a very tough game because it’s not going to be easy against Anderlecht. They are a very good team with very good young players and I think we have to be ready to have a very good game.”

Today marks one of the darkest, yet not widely known pages of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Twenty-five years ago Azerbaijan committed gross violation of the International Humanitarian Law.

“On April 10, 1992, the Azerbaijani “OMON” – Special Purpose Mobility Unit, destroyed and set on fire Maragha village of the self-determined Artsakh Republic, burned alive and tortured to death through inhuman cruelty its peaceful population. A part of the villagers was taken as a hostage – the fate of some of them is still unknown,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments on 25th anniversary of Maragha tragedy.

“In several hours of Azerbaijan’s control over the village its inhabitants went through the atrocities and barbarism, which fully meet all the criteria of a crime against humanity,” he said.

“The impunity for atrocities committed in Maragha encouraged the continuation of perpetration of new crimes in an atmosphere of complete permissiveness. The barbarism committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces during last April aggression against Artsakh undeniably prove that,” Shavarsh Kocharyan stated.

Holy Armenian and Georgian scrolls and manuscripts from 11th-18th centuries go on display in Hong Kong, reports. 

The Word of God has been painstakingly recorded, illustrated and passed down through the ages by monks and scribes who dedicated their lives to the undertaking.

Now, for the first time in Hong Kong, an exhibition showcases a selection of bound volumes, prayer scrolls and illuminated leaves from the eastern Mediterranean that meticulously illustrate the Christian Gospel.

“Illustrious Illuminations II: Armenian and Georgian Manuscripts from the Eleventh to the Eighteenth Century”, on show at the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, in Pok Fu Lam, features illustrated Armenian manuscripts complemented by a set of Georgian Gospel leaves depicting evangelists.

“Armenian illustrated manuscripts are some of the most lavishly decorated codices of the Christian churches from the Middle East,” says Dr Florian Knothe, director of the University Museum and Art Gallery. “The Gospels are paramount among these, primarily because of the Armenian community’s respect for the sacred texts, reverting them in the same way that Greek and Russian Christians regard holy icons.”

The manuscripts have interesting stories in their own right. Such texts were carried into war by Armenian rulers and copies of the Gospels were often given sacred names. It was even believed that they held miraculous powers. The exhibition runs until June 11.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin will participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of a football academy in Vagharshapat, Armenia, on April 12. President Serzh Sargsyan will be present at the event.

The UEFA President will later visit the Football Academy and will hold a briefing with reporters after the tour.

On April 9, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,  sent a letter to His Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark and leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; following the Palm Sunday attack on the St George’s Coptic Church in Tanta, Egypt, and the St Mark’s Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt in which many innocent people have been killed and wounded.

On behalf of the Supreme Spiritual Council and the faithful of the Armenian Church, and His Holiness expressed his condolences to the Coptic Orthodox Church and her faithful.

“At this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and with you,” said the Pontiff, condemning all acts of terrorism.

The Catholicos of All Armenians ask Almighty God to grant to the souls of the victims heavenly mansions, and prayed for comfort and consolation for their families and all the faithful of the Sister Church.

Armenia’s Ministry of Culture has announced plans to rent out four caves and one group of caves with a view of developing tourism.

The Ministry has announced a competition and is seeking contenders to rent the caves for five years with a possibility of 20-year extention.

The competition is open to all, including foreign legal entities and businessmen. Bidders can apply for renting one or all of the following five caves:

Magelan’s Cave is one of the largest caves in Armenia and is situated in Gnishik community of Vayots Dzor Province, 105 km south of Yerevan.  The cave has a unique underground eco-system, rich biodiversity, many layers of paleontological and archeological artifacts. It is a unique shelter for bat species included in the Red Book of Animals of the Republic of Armenia and the Red List of The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Trchuneri (Birds’) Cave is situated in Areni, Vayots Dzor Province, 105 km away from Yerevan. Based on the results of radiocarbon examination, samples taken from these layers are traced back to late 5th- early 4th millennia BC. A more recent excavation uncovered evidence of wine production from the Chalcolithic period, which is one of the earliest known sites for wine fermentation in the world (4th millennium BC). The earliest known footwear (6000 years old) has also been found here.

Archi or Bear’s Cave is located in Arpi, Vayots Dzor Province, 123 km south of Yerevan. It is the biggest cave in Armenia and is the main shelter for Rhinolophus Euryale, which is inscribed in the Red Book of Animals of the Republic of Armenia.

The Cave of Mozrov is located in Vayots Dzor province in Arpi community, 126 km south of Yerevan. Lots of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and crystals come out from top and bottom in its extensive chambers. From time to time the cave becomes a shelter for the Rhinolophus euryale and Myotis mystacinus.

Stone doors cave is located in Aghdzk in Aragatsotn Province, 33 km away from Yerevan.  With its unique and stable microclimate the cave was perfect for food storage.

All five caves have been granted the status of immovable monument of history and culture.

Detailed information on the terms of the competition is available on the website of the .

The deadline for submitting applications is May 12, 2017.

The Parliament in Cyprus has condemned the Armenian Genocide, calling on the international community to acknowledge the genocide, reports.

Addressing the House of Representatives at the start of the plenary session, Speaker Demetris Syllouris said that even if more than a century have gone by since the Armenian Genocide of 24th April 1915 when Turkey applied an ethnic cleansing plan against Armenians, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the murder of one and a half million Armenians.

The House, said Syllouris,was among the first parliaments in the world and the first one in Europe to acknowledge and condemn in 1975 the Armenian genocide, demanding the restoration of the historic truth.

In addition, the Cyprus Parliament approved in 1990, in a unanimous vote, to commemorate the genocide on 24th April and it also passed a resolution penalising denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, modifying existing legislation, which required prior conviction by an international court to make denial a crime.

The House of Representatives, reiterates its appeal to the international community, to recognize and condemn the Armenian genocide, Syllouris added.

On his part, the representative of the Armenian in the House, Vartkes Mahtesian said those guilty of the Armenian Genocide remain unpunished.

Addressing the House, he said “for over 100 years, we have been seeking justification, not revenge, and the complete acknowledgement of indisputable historic facts regarding this drama.”

We call on the great forces who call themselves guardians of the international law, to force Turkey to undertake its responsibilities in the modern world and to acknowledge the crimes it has committed.