21:05, 2 November 2023
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan visited the border village of Tsav as part of his visit to Syunik region.
Vahagn Khachaturyan spoke directly with residents and touched upon issues of their interest.
Afterwards, President Khachaturyan visited the village school, got acquainted with the conditions and talked with the students.
BY KHACHIG TÖLÖLYAN
My friendship with Yervant Kotchounian spans nearly 40 years. I met him in 1982, during a visit to the offices of the weekly Nor Hye, edited by Sarkis Majarian. I spent a week in Los Angeles and passed an unexpectedly large amount of that time with Yervant, his closest friend Levon Kasbarian, and the writers Boghos Kupelian and Khosrov Asoyan, a posse of companions who cared about Armenian writing and talked together about every aspect of Armenian life in LA, Beirut, and elsewhere. I had not expected to spend so much time with them, especially with Yervant and Levon, but I did.
Soon after our encounter, we met again in Middletown, CT. The university where I taught, Wesleyan, is located there. Yervant called, saying he and Levon would like to come visit. I thought he was joking; he wasn’t. He had taken an extended leave from his workplace and they had driven across the country. They stayed with me for only a day and night, then moved on to Boston and Canada.
When I asked what motivated them to drive across the country, Yervant said: “We come as immigrants from the Middle East, get off a plane at LA airport and settle down in Southern California. Most of the people we know think the western border of the US is the Pacific Ocean, the northern border runs up through San Francisco, and the eastern border through the casinos of Las Vegas.” Levon added, “and they think the southern border runs through Tijuana and its vulgar night life.” Yervant noted that they both wanted to do better, to know the US, and also the Armenian communities of North America. This curiosity about both the greater Armenian community and the nation at large remained a characteristic of both.
But in Yervant it was also supplemented by his active and disciplined reading of contemporary American literature and criticism. He would surprise me by quoting from journals like The Antioch Review, The Hudson Review and The New York Review of Books. He wasn’t showing off — he wanted to know America and its distinctive intellectual culture, and did.
During the rest of the 1980s, I was a frequent visitor to LA, and I often stayed in a spare room in Yervant’s apartment. Very often we sat up late into the night talking about our personal lives and the life of the Armenian diaspora in LA and elsewhere. It became clear to me that Yervant attributed his considerable knowledge of Armenian life and literature to the influence of Simon Simonian. As a young man he had come to know other young writers, like Vehanoush Tekian and Boghos Kupelian, who frequented Simonian’s publishing house in Beirut and read and wrote for the weekly he edited, Spurk. We shared the conviction that Armenian writing was importantly shaped by two rival weeklies, Simonian’s Spyurk and Antranig Dzarougian’s Nayiri. Much later in life, Yervant, reviewing one of Marzbed Margossian’s books, reflected again on that environment in Beirut’s golden years.
One of the things that set Yervant apart from other cerebral, book-loving diaspora Armenians was his commitment to translation. He read them thoughtfully and critically, he translated extensively, sometimes for money but also and often because he loved the linguistic and intellectual challenges of translation. Fairly recently, he astonished me by asking if I knew Rafael Sabatini’s historical novel, “Scaramouche,” published in 1921. Upon finding out that I had read the now outdated historical novelist, he told me he was translating it into Armenian. I asked if it was a paid commission, and for whom? “For no one,” he said, “I liked it and I thought translating its, by now, slightly archaic English would be interesting.” He loved the challenges of translation.
It’s difficult, in an English language account like this, to convey the pleasures of talking to him as we always did, in Western Armenian. He was witty in both languages, and memorably so in Armenian. And on rare occasions, something he had said in conversation would re-appear in emails and other writings. One of my favorites was his dismissal of a somewhat pretentious, quite prosperous Beirutahye in LA who offered pompous analyses and final-judgements on Armenian political life. Yervant said, “Կեանքի էն հետաքրքրական մասը մարդոց ականջներուն միջև պատահածն է, և իր պարագային այդ է որ չկայ, պարապ տարածք է:”) “The most interesting aspect of life happens between a person’s two ears, and that space is empty in his case.” Perhaps a year later, in one of his rare long letters, Yervant paraphrased that observation almost verbatim.
We did not always agree, of course, but when the Hamazkayine, encouraged by the late Yetvart Missirlian of San Francisco, inaugurated in honor of my parents the Minas and Kohar Tololyan Prize for Armenian authors writing and translating in North America, I did not hesitate to recruit Yervant to serve on the jury that selected the winner. He served on that committee many years more than I did, and every year I anticipated his private comments to me on works submitted; they were perceptive, often wise and witty, on rare occasions harsh, but never unjust. He cared, he read closely, he shared views with discretion. I recall one of his crisp formulations about translation — Փոխադրութի՞ւն թէ փոփոխութիւն է թարգմանութիւնը: “Is translation transportation of a text from one language to another, or is it necessarily a transformation?” He always struggled with that.
At a time like this, weighed down by Yervant’s loss, I find it very difficult to convey the way his mind and heart and abilities and concerns came together to make him the exceptional person and friend he was, that made him mean so much to me. It’s customary to end remarks like this with sustained, elevated praise, rich in adjectives. I am not disposed to pile up adjectives here and now. What I most deeply admired, loved and valued about Yervant was his care and attention to our life and behavior as individuals in friendship or rivalry, and to our collective existence as a diaspora people. He cared memorably about our diasporic public sphere. So I will end with a passage from a letter he wrote in 2009, when he was explaining how much he had valued the issues of the Paris newspaper Haratch that I used to mail to him. Referring to its late Editor, Arpik Missakian, and to the assistant editor, Arpi Totoyan, for whose columns he had often expressed special praise, he said about the passing of that wonderful newspaper. «Նոր յառաջ»ի կամ համացանցային պարբերականի կարելիութիւնները խանդավառող են։ Իմ ափսոսացածս այն ինքնայատուկ դիրքորոշումն ու կեցուածքն էին որ Արփիները, իւրաքանչիւրը իր ձեւով, կը բերէին մեր հանրային մտահոգութիւններուն եւ իրադարձութիւններուն։ “(30 May 2009). “The appearance of Nor Haratch and new Armenian periodical publications on the internet make me enthusiastic. But I lament the absence of those distinctive positions and attitudes with which the two Arpis, each in her own style, turned their attention to our collective realities and concerns.”
I miss Yervant. I shall always miss his knowledgeable concern for our communal life and its realities, but above all I will miss his distinctive, sometimes idiosyncratic, always thoughtful, caring, perceptive and witty engagement in our shared lives as Armenian friends.
Khachig Tölölyan is an author and former Wesleyan University professor. He is the founder and editor of the academic journal Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan border
The United States warned late Wednesday that there would be “serious consequences” in the event that Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were violated.
The statement came after the Lemkin Institution for Genocide Prevention issued a “Red Flag Alert” for an impending attack by Azerbaijan on Armenia on Wednesday.
“Any violation of Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would lead to serious consequences,” the State Department said in response to an inquiry from Voice of America about the Lemkin Institute alert.
“The United States resolutely supports Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We’ve stressed that any violation of this sovereignty and territorial integrity would lead to serious consequences. We regularly stress our expectations, such as the call against the use of force, and we continuously follow the situation. Armenia is a close partner and friend to the United States, and we expect to work with the Armenian authorities to strengthen Armenia’s political and economic security,” the State Department added.
Last month, Politico reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had issued a similar warning during a telephone call with several Democratic Congressional leaders.
The State Department later downplayed the report, saying that such a warning was not issued by Blinken.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Armenian Authorities Report Another ‘Terror Plot’
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia -- The main entrance to the National Security Service headquarters in
Yerevan.
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said on Thursday that it has arrested
five members of an armed group that plotted to seize government buildings and
“disrupt the work of state bodies.”
The NSS did not identify the suspects and gave few details of the alleged plot.
In a statement, it said that they planned to set off an explosion and
assassinate a “civilian.” The latter was not identified either.
Nor did the NSS clarify whether it believes that overthrowing the Armenian
government was the ultimate aim of the “terrorist acts” which it said were
codenamed “Northern Leaf Fall” by the arrested persons.
The security agency released two purported audios of their conversations
secretly recorded by NSS officers. In one of then, a man can be heard saying
that he has many “sponsors from America and Russia” and telling another to
recruit “the ones who came from Ukraine.” The two men also appeared to discuss a
drone attack on an unknown target.
The NSS claimed to have found and confiscated a quadrocopter drone along with
weapons and ammunition during searches conducted in the suspects’ homes and
other locations. It said it also seized handwritten texts detailing the foiled
conspiracy.
A purported screenshot of one such document released by the NSS calls for
attracting members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a pro-Western
fringe group increasingly critical of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The group
led by Zhirayr Sefilian, a prominent nationalist figure, did not immediately
comment on that.
The NSS statement said that the alleged plotters planned to create fake
Ukrainian and Moldovan social media accounts in a bid to drum up popular support
for that they would have called a “national salvation revolt.”
The NSS claimed to have foiled a similar plot in late September when it arrested
eight men accused of conspiring to assassinate Pashinian and seize power. The
suspects include Albert Bazeyan, a once prominent politician who had served as
mayor of Yerevan over two decades ago. Bazeyan denies the accusations.
Azeri Troops Not Massed At Border, Says Armenian Official
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Yerevan-based foreign military attaches visit a border area in Syunik
province, May 20, 2021.
A senior Armenian official on Thursday seemed to downplay the risk of an
Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia, saying that Baku has not amassed a significant
number of troops along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“According to my information, there is no military buildup around Armenia’s
borders at the moment,” deputy parliament speaker Hakob Arshakian told reporters.
“Is there a threat [of Azerbaijani attack] or not?” he went on. “There have been
positive developments lately in terms of a change in [Azerbaijani] rhetoric and
statements by international authoritative bodies, parliaments, governments and
other entities to the effect that Armenia’s territorial integrity cannot be
called into question.”
“I’m not saying that that everything is wonderful and there is no danger,”
Arshakian said, pointing to a joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercise held
in Azerbaijan late last month.
The Armenian government said in early September that Azerbaijani troops are
massing along the border and the “line of contact” in Nagorno-Karabakh in
possible preparation for a large-scale attack. About two weeks later, they
launched an offensive in Karabakh that caused a mass exodus of its population
and paved the way for the restoration of Baku’s control over the region.
The Azerbaijani takeover of Karabakh raised more fears in Yerevan that Baku will
also invade Armenia to open an exterritorial land corridor to Nakhichevan. A
senior Armenian diplomat said on October 8 that the attack could be launched in
the coming weeks.
The U.S.-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention likewise warned on
Wednesday of the “alarming potential for an invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan in
the coming days and weeks.”
“Azerbaijan has long coveted Armenia’s southern Syunik Province, which has been
discussed in the recent past as the site of an Azerbaijani-controlled ‘Zangezur
Corridor’ to Nakhichevan,” it said in a “red flag alert” posted on its website.
Commenting to that warning, the U.S. State Department reiterated that an attack
on Armenia “would bring serious consequences.”
“The United States strongly supports Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity,” it told the Voice of America.
Moscow Slams Yerevan Over Fresh ‘Anti-Russian’ Moves
Russia - Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends the Saint
Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), June 16, 2022.
Russia accused Armenia on Thursday of continuing to ruin Russian-Armenian
relations when it reacted to a senior Armenian official’s participation in
multilateral peace talks initiated by Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, also charged that
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government is behind what she described as the
“Russophobic” content of Armenian pro-government media.
Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, was among
representatives of more than 60 countries who gathered in Malta last week to
discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s plan to end the war with
Russia. Grigorian also met with Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on
the sidelines of the two-day meeting condemned by Russia as a “blatantly
anti-Russian event.”
Zakharova said Moscow views Grigorian’s trip to Malta as a “demonstrative
anti-Russian gesture of official Yerevan.” She linked it to Pashinian’s October
6 conversation with Zelenskiy, which took place during a European summit in
Spain, and his wife Anna Hakobian’s September visit to Kyiv.
“In Yerevan, I think, they should be aware that this is a demonstrative
flirtation with those who aggressively oppose our country,” Zakharova told a
news briefing. “It is regrettable that the current leadership of the republic is
purposefully and persistently destroying our allied relations, which not so long
ago it itself called the most important factor in the stability and prosperity
of Armenia.”
Malta - Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's presidential office head, meets Armen
Grigorian, secretary of Armenia's Security Council, October 28, 2023.
Tensions between the two longtime allies rose further following Azerbaijan’s
September 19-20 military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh that forced its ethnic
Armenian population to flee to Armenia. Pashinian accused Russian peacekeepers
of failing to protect the Karabakh Armenians against the “ethnic cleansing.”
In an October 17 speech at the European Parliament, Pashinian also alleged that
Moscow is using the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to try to oust him from power. A
Russian official responded by the telling the official TASS news agency that the
Armenian premier is “following in Zelenskiy’s footsteps” and helping the West
“turn Armenia into another Ukraine.”
The Armenian Foreign Ministry handed the Russian ambassador in Yerevan a protest
note on October 24 one day after Russia’s leading state broadcaster, Channel
One, derided and lambasted Pashinian during an hour-long program. For its part,
the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Armenian charge d’affaires the
following day to condemn what it called anti-Russian propaganda spread by
Armenian Public Television and other pro-government media outlets.
Zakharova claimed that what those outlets have been disseminating is “not just
insults but undisguised Russophobia.”
“We do understand who is behind the funding of these [media] resources,” she
said. “If they think over there that we don’t know who pays for it all, we know.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
TEHRAN – The deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration met with his Armenian counterpart in Moscow, on Monday, to discuss boosting cooperation in borders, IRNA reported.
During the talks, which were held on the sidelines of the annual International Customs Forum, the two sides discussed measures to increase the acceptance of trucks importing and exporting commodities and to promote transit on the joint border crossings.
Exchanging information electronically and developing the area of customs in the borders were also among the topics agreed upon by the officials.
The two officials also exchanged views about the acceleration and facilitation of trade affairs between Tehran and Yerevan.
After the talks, the two sides also agreed to hold expert meetings continuously to pursue the implementation of agreements.
EF/
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/490792/Iran-Armenia-discuss-ways-of-expanding-customs-co-op
TEHRAN – Iran and Armenia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in the fields of labor exchange, technical and professional training, as well as, welfare and empowerment of the disabled, IRNA reported.
The MOU, signed by Iranian Labor and Social Welfare Minister Solat Mortazavi and his Armenian counterpart Narek Mkrtchyan in Tehran on Tuesday, also covers economic cooperation between the two countries in the fields of petrochemicals, road and construction materials, and medicine.
Speaking in the signing ceremony, Mortazavi said: “Iran is fully prepared to send labor to Armenia while establishing technical and vocational training centers in the country, and transferring experiences to empower the disabled and war victims.”
Pointing to the increase in the economic exchanges between the two countries, the Iranian official said: “Economic exchanges between Iran and Armenia have increased slightly and reached 700 million dollars, but we should aim for three billion dollars in trade between the two countries and plan to achieve this goal.”
“We are ready to develop trade and commerce with Armenia in order to achieve the three-billion-dollar [annual trade] goal. Our economic experts believe that in the first step, we can export strategic items and products that suit the Armenian market’s needs to the country,” he added.
Mkrtchyan for his part praised Iran’s interest in boosting trade ties with Armenia, saying: “In the few days that we have been in Iran, we established paths of cooperation more than expected, and this is a source of satisfaction.”
“I am sure that by signing this memorandum, we can move things forward and implement the MOU as soon as possible. I am sure that we will make the arrangements so that the Iranian workforce will find Armenia like their home when they enter the country,” he said.
EF/
October, 31, 2023 – 10:15 Economy news
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Officials from Iran and Armenia launched joint cooperation in the field of “Skill Diplomacy”.
In a joint meeting held between Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan and Iran’s Deputy Minister of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare Mehrdad Azimi in Karaj on Tuesday, the two sides emphasized the need for strengthening cooperation in the field of ‘skill diplomacy’.
Presently, many developed countries are seeking to acquire and present training and internship courses aimed at training skilled workers and meeting the demand for the required manpower in their market, the head of Iran Technical and Vocational Training Organization (TVTO) said.
In recent years, Iran has tried to provide efficient and competent manpower by relying on skill training, he said, adding, “In this regard, job seekers and the graduates have been hired within the framework of skill training courses”
However, implementation of the National Skill Movement has been put on the agenda of the ministry, Azimi stared.
During the meeting, the two sides emphasized the need for developing bilateral cooperation in the field of presenting skill training commensurate with the requirements of the country’s labor market.
In addition, they stressed the need to establish a specialized technical and vocational training center and use the capacity of the public sector to hold a bilateral festival to introduce the skills of trainees to the economic enterprises, etc.
Iran’s deputy labor minister further termed the visit of the Armenian labor minister to Iran as a turning point in developing and expanding relations between the two countries.
Armenia’s labor minister, for his part, said that the diversity of Iran's services and skill capacities is the main reason for his country's keenness to expand cooperation with Iran.
Armenia is seeking to launch a technical and vocational training center in Syunik province, located in southern part of Armenia, Mkrtchyan said, adding that Iran’s TVTO is equipped with the valuable experiences that can help Armenia to settle problems in the field of skill training.
Canada's ministry of foreign affairs is closely following the events in Nagorno-Karabakh, and is concerned about the dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation as a result of last year's events. Andrew Turner, the first resident ambassador of Canada to Armenia, said this in his opening remarks at the discussion on border security between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the foreign affairs and international development committee of the Canadian House of Commons.
Canada has joined the Armenian government's call for help. Canada has announced a total of $3.9 million in humanitarian aid to support refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh through humanitarian organizations, Turner said.
Canada has consistently called for non-use of force, and has called on all parties to participate in negotiations to reach a comprehensive peace agreement. Canada supports the principles of non-use of force, the territorial integrity of both countries, and the right to self-determination. The peace agreement must now also guarantee the displaced population's right to return to Nagorno-Karabakh and respect for their property and rights, the ambassador added.
MP Stephane Bergeron asked Turner a question about the possibility of imposing sanctions on Azerbaijan, to which the ambassador quoted Canadian FM Melanie Joly's words that the matter of sanctions is on the table.
If necessary, they will be imposed, but we avoid it and try to solve the problem diplomatically. Furthermore, we are making preparations for Canada to become the first non-EU country to participate in a monitoring mission to see what is happening at the border. We are also working with our allies to convey our message clearly to Baku, that territorial integrity must be respected, Turner added.
Responding to the ambassador, Bergeron noted that Canada imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and in 2021, Azerbaijan invaded and occupied a part of the sovereign territory of Armenia.
Since the conflict has been going on for more than 30 years, there is no clear information about the borders of the two countries, so we expect that such issues will be resolved through a peace agreement, including the preservation of homes and cultural treasures. Canada supports these efforts, Ambassador Turner responded.
MP Heather McPherson asked the ambassador in which case the sanctions will be considered more seriously.
According to the ambassador, negotiations on sanctions with the allies are already underway, but as long as the Armenian government has the impression that the peace process can be moved forward, Canada would not want to take any steps to hinder those efforts.
MP Sameer Zuberi asked the ambassador whether Armenia petitioned with a request to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan.
No, responded Turner, and noted that there is a dispute within Armenia at the moment regarding the application of sanctions. There have been calls for support and concrete action, but there is a clear understanding that the main focus must be on achieving an agreed peace agreement, he noted.
The ambassador added that no country has yet followed the path of sanctions, but France announced the provision of military aid to Armenia, as a result of which Azerbaijan refused to participate in international meetings that could contribute to the peace process.
Of course, we don't know if those meetings would be useful or not, but this step gave Azerbaijan a reason not to participate. Thus, such steps, including the threat of sanctions, can be a reason for some parties not to participate in peace talks concluded the first resident ambassador of Canada to Armenia.