Category: News

Montenegro has temporarily annulled visa requirements for citizens of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign affairs informs in a twitter post.

The visa free regime will be in place until October 31, 2016.

Today, the California Legislature passed the 2016 – 2017 fiscal year Budget which included $1 Million to build the Armenian American Museum in Glendale, California and $500,000 to support the Lark Musical Society.

$1 Million to Build the Armenian American Museum in Glendale, California

“I am proud to have secured $1 million for the construction of the Armenian Museum,” stated Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. “The Armenian journey to California—from genocide to prosperity—is a critical thread in the fabric of our State.  An Armenian museum recognizing our past would be an excellent addition to our State’s wealth of cultural and historical centers.”

The mission of the Armenian American Museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience.   The Museum will be a cultural campus that enriches the community, educates the public on the Armenian American story, and empowers individuals to embrace cultural diversity and speak out against prejudice.

The museum is patterned after Los Angeles County museums that combine the lessons and experiences of a specific group of residents with the vision of preventing discrimination and improving collaboration between all citizens of the County.

The Armenian American Museum would:

• Serve as a bridge to foster understanding between the multitude of cultures residing in the greater Los Angeles and surrounding areas
• Engage diverse audiences, particularly youth, through enthralling exhibitions, entertaining public programs, and captivating collections
• Provide tools and resources to nurture cultural leadership and promote knowledge, sharing, and collaboration
• Provide an impactful and immersive experience, telling the history of Armenia and the story of Armenians living in America
• Preserve, share, and promote Armenian culture and collective heritage

$500,000 for the LARK Musical Society

The LARK Musical Society is a collective of Armenian musicians with a passion for great classical and folk music. Musicianship is the cornerstone of LARK’s activities, however the last twenty years the Society has expanded to become a hub for artists practicing in all mediums.

To date, LARK has organized over 300 concert events, published 30 plus scholarly treatises and musical anthologies, produced 5 compact discs, hosted numerous symposia and lectures, garnered commendations and awards on the state, national, and international level, and educated hundreds of students in a wide range of musical studies.

The funding will help the Society expand and continue to provide resources to the community.

Photo: Alexandr Demyanchuk/TASS

Marek Hamsik scored a stunning goal as Slovakia beat Russia to secure a first win at a European Championship, the BBC repots.

The Napoli midfielder’s measured pass set up Vladimir Weiss, who cut inside and side-footed Slovakia ahead.

Hamsik then spectacularly doubled the lead, receiving a short corner out wide before firing a shot in off the post.

Russia face disqualification if their fans misbehave inside stadiums and a flare was seen among their supporters when Denis Glushakov headed in late on.

Russia will now almost certainly need to beat Wales on Monday if they are to stand any chance of progress, while Slovakia know victory over England will see them through.

Photo: TASS

Russia plans to maintain strategic partnership with Armenia, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday at a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanyan, TASS reports.

“We would like to maintain our strategic partnership further,” Shoigu said.

The Russian minister said that the bilateral military and military-technical cooperation is regulated and supported by more than 50 treaties and agreements.

“The tempo and intensity of our cooperation satisfy us. We cooperate in all spheres, I’d like to separately note the education sphere,” the defense minister said.

He recalled that many Armenian military are trained in Russian military academies, and this year Armenia filed an application for the training of more than 200 officers. “We are ready to support it”, Shoigu added.

Ohanyan said for his part that he was glad to have the opportunity to meet his Russian colleague and “compare notes” on certain issues of defense cooperation with Russia. “I think our regular bilateral meetings and joint events have become a tradition and demonstrate once again that our relations are at a very high level, and our cooperation in the defense sector is developing dynamically”, the Armenian defense minister said, adding that Russia’s assistance to Yerevan is a proof off such cooperation.

The collector Leon Black is the legal victor in a dispute over the ownership of a famed Picasso sculpture and will take possession of it, the reports.

On Wednesday, the parties who had been fighting over the plaster bust of the artist’s muse (and mistress) Marie-Thérèse Walter, announced that they had agreed that Mr. Black would get to keep the work, “Bust of a Woman,” and a rival owner, representing the Qatari royal family, would receive financial compensation of an undisclosed amount.

“We are pleased that the dispute has been settled and Mr. Black will receive his sculpture,” Gagosian Gallery Spokesperson Jeffrey Schneider said in a statement sent to

“Today’s settlement shows without question that the Gagosian Gallery purchased and sold this sculpture in good faith and without any knowledge of Picasso and Pelham’s prior dealings, as we have said all along,” the statement reads.

A settlement had been announced in May, but the court did not disclose any details regarding who would keep the painting.

In a legal action filed in January 2016 in federal court in Manhattan against the Qatari family’s agent, Mr. Gagosian claimed that he bought the 1931 sculpture in May 2015 for about $106 million from Ms. Widmaier-Picasso, and then sold it to an undisclosed New York collector.

But the Qatari family’s agent, Pelham Holdings, run by Guy Bennett, maintained in its own court documents that it had secured an agreement with Ms. Widmaier-Picasso to buy the work in November 2014 for 38 million euros, or about $42 million.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be allowed to leave Borussia Dortmund until the end of his existing contract amid interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, the club’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed,  reports.

ESPN FC sources say that Arsenal have made Mkhitaryan their number one target, but the Armenia international — who is under contract until 2017 — will not be allowed a transfer, despite there also being a reported €24 million offer from Manchester United.

Mkhitaryan, 27, has turned down Dortmund’s contract offer and has his heart set on a move to the Premier League, but the Bundesliga have decided not to sell the midfielder and will force him to see out his contract, .

“We’ve been negotiating a new deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan for four months,” . “We now know he won’t sign an extension. There was never a promise that he can leave us prematurely.”

Watzke’s comments came after Mino Raiola, Mkhitaryan’s agent, that the club had promised the Armenian and his representative to be allowed a transfer in the summer.

“Those in charge at BVB promised Micki months ago that he can leave the club in the summer,” Raiola said. “Dortmund have an official offer, but the BVB bosses now fear their fans. All of a sudden they say that he has to leave on a free next summer. That’s very bad management.”

According to Bild, Manchester United have made a €24m offer for Mkhitaryan — who set up 32 goals and scored a further 23 in all competitions for the club last term — and the agent wants his player to link up with Jose Mourinho as soon as possible.

“Manchester United are a unique opportunity,” Raiola said. “Micki wants to join them now by any means.”

However, Dortmund, who have already sold key players Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gundogan to Bayern Munich and Manchester City, have decided to not sell the Armenian.

“We have intensely discussed the question of an early transfer in all club bodies and came to the conclusion that Mkhitaryan will stay in Dortmund next season,” Watzke said.

The Golden Apricot 13^th International Film Festival will be held in Yerevan July 10-17. This year’s event will be dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

More than 900 applications for participation have been received from 91 countries, 135 films have been included in the competition and non-competition programs.  The festival will start with the screening of Hamo Beknazaryan’s Zareh, Director of Golden Apricot IFF Harutyun Khachatryan told reporters today at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Culture.

The best feature and documentary films, produced during the 25 years of independence will be presented to spectators in a special program titled “Armenian Cinema: Our Days.”

To coordinate the program film critics have been invited, who not only will introduce the story behind every film, but will also hold a round table to rebound the history of the independent cinema, the issues and the ways of its development. The film A Story of People in War and Peace (2007) by Vardan Hovhannisyan will open the program.

How has the Golden Apricot Film Festival contributed to the development of Armenian cinematography over the 13 years of its existence? “We stepped on the path of independence without studios, programs and new films, while today we are welcoming the 25th anniversary of statehood with new names and films in Armenian cinematography,” Harutyun Khachatryan said.

Second, he said, “we showed the high level of Armenian cinematography,” and finally “Armenian filmmakers worldwide were given the chance to establish ties with the Motherland.”

Golden Apricot Film Festival in cooperation with British Council in Armenia will present a special film program, dedicated to the 400th anniversary of renowned British writer William Shakespeare’s death. The best films, based on Shakespeare’s works, will be screened in the frames of the program.

The “French New Cinema” program will be realized in cooperation with the Embassy of Francein Armenia. It includes the best three films of French production.  The program will open with Two Remis, Two, (2015) by Pierre Léon.

The “Danish New Cinema” program will be implemented in cooperation with the Danish Film Institute. The program will present the best Danish films of the last five years. The Commune (2015) by Thomas Winterberg will open the program.

The four best films by Basque directors will be presented in a separate film program titled “Basque New Cinema.” The film Autumn without Berlin (2015)by Lara Izagirre is to open the film program.

The General Partner of the festival is Armenia’s Leading Telecommunications Operator VivaCell-MTS.  The 10-year anniversary of cooperation between Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF and VivaCell-MTS will be celebrated this year.

Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Aram Atesyan will leave for Russia today, according to the website of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul.

Archbishop Atesyan will later arrive in Armenia to participate in the sitting of the Supreme Religious Council and the events organized on the occasion of the Pope’s visit.

The Acting Patriarch stirred a major controversy among Armenians worldwide, including the Armenian community of Turkey, as he sent a highly controversial letter last week to Turkish President Recep Erdogan, criticizing the German Parliament’s decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

On 15 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received Armenian minister of finance Gagik Khachatryan.

Issues related to the cooperation of the two Armenian republics in this sphere were on the agenda of the meeting attended by NKR finance minister Spartak Tevosyan.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) does not take part in work to pave the way for a three-party summit on the settlement in Nagorno Karabakh, OSCE Acting Spokesperson Natacha Rajakovic told TASS on Tuesday.

She said the European security agency was not involved in work to organize the summit in Russia’s St. Petersburg and could not comment on it.

The Tuesday that  Russian President Vladimir Putin will host talks in St Petersburg on June 20 between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armeniana in St. Petersburg.