Border delimitation with Azerbaijan must be conducted exclusively with topographic maps – Deputy PM

David Nargizian

 16:11,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be done exclusively through topographic maps, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan has said.

He said that only the topographic “professional maps” should be used in the process. Furthermore, Grigoryan said that the delimitation process doesn’t simply involve working with maps. “First of all, the delimitation process is about identifying the legal basis on which any given map was drawn. Moreover, not every agency is authorized, or was authorized during the Soviet Union to draw or print a map. All these nuances are highly important and must be addressed during the work,” Grigoryan said.

He said that there’s no agreement yet on the timeframe of the next meeting on border delimitation.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 22-02-24

Karagyozian Lena

 17:29,

YEREVAN, 22 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 22 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 404.36 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.32 drams to 438.97 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 4.35 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.41 drams to 512.65 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 29.25 drams to 26348.71 drams. Silver price up by 0.21 drams to 299.99 drams.

Toivo Klaar, Jeyhun Bayramov discuss Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement process

Emil Karabekian

 18:00,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar has met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

According to the Azerbaijani media, the sides discussed the current state of Azerbaijan-European Union relations, the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the prospects for the draft peace agreement.

Asbarez: Ferrahian, Cabayan, and Pilavjian Schools Gala Blossoms with Success

Ekmekjian Janet
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Community, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

A scene from the Holy Martyrs Ferrahian, Cabayan, and Pilavjian Schools Gala held on Feb. 3


Nearly 300 community members gathered at Republic Venue in Sherman Oaks on February 3 for the annual gala of the Holy Martyrs Ferrahian, Cabayan, and Pilavjian Schools, celebrating the theme “Where Young Minds Blossom.” The evening, emceed by Gerard Kassabian, was a resounding success, raising an impressive $300,000 to support the schools’ continued growth and excellence.

The event opened with prayers and blessings from Archpriest Fr. Razmig Khatchadourian. This was followed by a stirring performance of the Armenian and American national anthems along with the Ferrahian school song by students Areni Ekmekjian, Maya Kazandjian, and Krystal Kojaoghlanian setting the stage for a night of celebration and community spirit.

School board chairman Vahe Benlian welcomed guests and highlighted the schools’ recent accomplishments. These include continued enrollment growth of more than 40 percent within the past two years from Preschool to High School, exciting expansion plans of North Hills Campus Cabayan Elementary and Pilavjian Preschool by the way of purchasing adjacent 1.7 acre property for $3.5 million and plans to start building the long awaited new elementary classrooms, administration, cafeteria, lab and gymnasium. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award to Zaven Keuroghlian and Van Der Megerdichian of Zartonk Media News Service, recognizing their outstanding contributions to the global Armenian community.

Guests generously pledged their support throughout the evening, culminating in a remarkable $300,000 raised. This included a significant $100,000 endowment established by the Cabayan family, longtime benefactors of Cabayan Elementary. To further engage the community in this exciting journey, a new “Brick Project” fundraiser was unveiled. This initiative allows individuals to purchase personalized commemorative bricks that will be laid on the footsteps of the new campus expansion in Encino, creating a lasting legacy of support.

“The success of this gala is a testament to the incredible spirit of our school community,” remarked Sossi Shanlian, principal of Ferrahian. “The funds raised will allow us to continue providing our students with the highest quality education and nurture their intellectual, emotional, and cultural growth.”

Beyond the fundraising, the evening provided a platform for community connection and celebration. Attendees enjoyed delicious food, lively entertainment, and the opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni, parents, and supporters.

The Holy Martyrs Ferrahian, Cabayan, and Pilavjian Schools’ gala was a resounding success, solidifying the schools’ commitment to nurturing young minds and fostering a vibrant community.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 02/22/2024

Jagharian Tania 
                                        Thursday, 

Major Differences Remain On Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal


Armenia- Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanian speaks to jounalists, July 28, 
2023.


Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to disagree on some key terms of a bilateral 
peace treaty discussed by them, a senior Armenian official said on Thursday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanian did not disclose them in comments to 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke last month of a “significant regression” 
in Azerbaijan’s position on the treaty. In particular, he indicated that Baku is 
reluctant to explicitly recognize Armenia’s borders through such an accord.

Senior Azerbaijani officials have said in recent months that the two sides 
should sign the treaty before agreeing on the delimitation of the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Armenian analysts and opposition figures suggested 
that Baku wants to leave the door open for territorial claims to Armenia.

The Armenian government accused Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of making 
such claims after he renewed in early January his demands for Armenia to 
withdraw from “eight Azerbaijani villages” and open an extraterritorial corridor 
to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. Aliyev also rejected Yerevan’s insistence 
on using the most recent Soviet military maps to delimit the long border between 
the two South Caucasus countries.

Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said on Wednesday 
that the “regression” remained in the latest Azerbaijani proposals received by 
Yerevan this month. It applies to key provisions of the would-be treaty, he said 
without elaborating.

Grigorian insisted at the same time that the two sides could narrow their 
differences during Mirzoyan’s upcoming talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister 
Jeyhun Bayramov.

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reached an agreement on the 
talks when they met in Munich last Saturday. No date has been set for them yet.




Azeri Man Wanted By Armenia Allowed To Leave Russia

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani fitness coach Kamil Zeinali wanted by Armenia is 
greeted at Baku airport, .,


Russia allowed an Azerbaijani man accused by Armenia of beheading a 
Nagorno-Karabakh civilian during the 2020 war to return to Azerbaijan on 
Thursday one day after briefly detaining him at a Moscow airport.

The man, Kamil Zeynalli, was apprehended at the Domodedovo international airport 
on an Armenian arrest warrant and freed a few hours later. A Russian court was 
reportedly due to start on Thursday hearings on his possible extradition to 
Armenia.

Russian authorities did not immediately explain why Zeynalli was allowed to fly 
back to Baku. Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, was reported 
to say that his mission held “intensive negotiations” with the authorities and 
managed to convince them that the accusations brought against him are baseless.

A spokesman for the Armenian Interior Ministry, Narek Sargsian, said that 
shortly after Zeynalli’s detention it was contacted by Moscow and confirmed that 
the Azerbaijani national known as a fitness coach is wanted for the war crime 
allegedly committed by him. Sargsian again gave no details of the accusation 
which stems from the beheading of an elderly resident of Karabakh’s southern 
Hadrut district captured by Azerbaijani forces during the six-week war.

Sargsian also told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that his ministry has put together 
a “package of documents” required for the suspect’s potential extradition and 
will send them to Russian law-enforcement authorities. Ara Ghazarian, an 
Armenian expert on international law, dismissed the move as overdue and useless.

“If that person is not in Russia, Russia can no longer initiate an extradition 
process,” argued Ghazarian. “It is Azerbaijan that must initiate it, but 
Azerbaijan, of course, will not do that.”

He said Moscow’s decision to let the suspect return home is politically 
motivated and reflects mounting tensions in Russian-Armenian relations.




Lawmaker Contradicts Armenian Official’s Claim On Russian Troops

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenian - Russian border guards stationed in Syunik province are inspected by 
Russian Ambassador Sergei Kopyrkin, May 24, 2022.


Russian troops are not deployed in or around a border village where four 
Armenian soldiers were killed last week, a pro-government lawmaker said on 
Thursday, contradicting a senior Armenian official’s claim about Russia’s 
responsibility for the Azerbaijani ceasefire violation.

The remote village, Nerkin Hand, is located in Armenia’s southeastern Syunik 
province bordering Azerbaijan and Iran. It is half-surrounded by Azerbaijani 
army posts.

Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, blamed the 
Russians for the deadly incident there as he defended on Wednesday the European 
Union’s monitoring mission along the Armenian-Azerbaijan regularly criticized by 
Moscow.

“The EU monitoring mission has no access [to the border village] and only Russia 
does,” he told journalists. “Russia is present there and it failed to prevent 
the incident.”

Narek Ghahramanian, a Syunik-based parliamentarian representing Armenia’s ruling 
Civil Contract party, insisted, however, that “there is no Russian presence in 
the village or in the positions” around it held by Armenian forces. He said 
Russian troops only have a checkpoint on a road leading to Nerkin Hand.

“Honestly, they are not present in our positions and could not have prevented or 
failed to prevent [the cross-border Azerbaijani fire,]” Ghahramanian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Armenia - A convoy of European Union monitors is seen in Syunik province, 
October 20, 2022.

The head of the EU mission, Markus Ritter, said on Wednesday that the Russian 
side has not allowed his monitors to visit Nerkin Hand and patrol that section 
of the border. Grigorian echoed the claim, saying that the Armenian authorities 
“will try to address the problem.”

Ghahramanian said in this regard that while he has heard complaints about the 
Russian checkpoint he personally has never encountered any problems during his 
visits to Nerkin Hand.

“I have gone there, guests from Yerevan have gone there, and villagers enter and 
leave [the village.] They [the Russians] don’t check anyone,” he said.

At the same time, the lawmaker questioned the effectiveness of Russian military 
presence in Syunik, saying that Russian soldiers and border guards have not used 
force to prevent or stop Azerbaijani truce violations.

“What’s the point of their staying there if [the Azerbaijanis] are going to 
continue to shoot?” said the lawmaker.

Russia deployed troops to Syunik during and shortly after the 2020 war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh to help the Armenian military defend the strategic region 
against possible Azerbaijani attacks. Russian-Armenian relations have 
significantly deteriorated since then, with Yerevan accusing Moscow of not 
honoring its security commitments to Armenia.




France Reportedly Ships More Military Equipment To Armenia

        • Astghik Bedevian

France - French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu (right) and his Armenian 
counterpart Suren Papikian sign an agreement in Paris, October 23, 2023.


France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu flew to Yerevan on Thursday as 
Armenia reportedly received French military hardware acquired by it last October.

A deal signed by the Armenian Defense Ministry and the French defense group 
Thales at the time called for the sale of three sophisticated radar systems to 
the South Caucasus nation. Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikian 
attended the signing ceremony in Paris.

The GM200 radars can simultaneously detect and track multiple warplanes, drones 
and even rockets within a 250-kilometer radius, allowing air-defense units to 
hit such targets. France supplied two such systems to Ukraine a year ago.

France’s Le Figaro daily and AFP news agency reported that the three radars as 
well as French night-vision equipment will be shipped to Armenia on Thursday. 
The Armenian Defense Ministry declined to comment on those reports.

Lecornu stressed on Wednesday the “purely defensive” character of these and 
other French arms supplies. Armenia is facing “major security challenges,” he 
told the French broadcaster RTL in a clear reference to the risk of an 
Azerbaijani attack on the country.

Lecornu headed to Armenia the day after French President Emmanuel Macron and 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met in Paris ahead of an official 
ceremony to inter Missak Manouchian, an ethnic Armenian hero of the French 
Resistance to Nazi occupation, at the national Pantheon.

“We will continue our defense cooperation with Armenia,” Macron said at the 
start of the meeting. He urged Azerbaijan to explicitly recognize Armenia’s 
borders and enable Nagorno-Karabakh’s displaced population to return to its 
homeland “freely and rapidly.”

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned Macron’s statement, saying that it 
could only create “new tensions” in the region.

UAE - A French ACMAT Bastion armoured personnel carrier at a defense exhibition 
in Abu Dhabi, February 25, 2015.

Lecornu and Papikian are scheduled to meet on Friday. Andranik Kocharian, the 
chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security, did not 
rule out that more French-Armenian agreements could be signed as a result of 
their talks.

“Armenia seeks to acquire weapons of very high quality from multiple sources,” 
Kocharian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

The two ministers signed in October a “letter of intent” on the future delivery 
of French short-range surface-to-air missiles to Armenia. It emerged afterwards 
that France will also supply a total of 50 armored personnel carriers. The first 
batch of 24 Bastion vehicles apparently bound for Armenia was spotted in the 
Georgian port of Poti in December.

Kocharian also stressed the importance of France’s pledge to train Armenian 
military personnel. According to Le Figaro and AFP, the French military will 
hold three “mountain combat training courses” for them this year.

Russia has long been Armenia’s principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. But 
with Russian-Armenian relations worsening and Russia embroiled in the 
large-scale war with Ukraine, Yerevan is increasingly looking for other arms 
suppliers. Since September 2022, it has also signed a number of defense 
contracts with India reportedly worth at least $400 million.



Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2024 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Music: Zartir, an Exquisite Album that Celebrates the Best of Armenian Culture

Chakrian Hovsep
World Music Center
Feb 20 2024
 Douglas Sanders February 19, 2024  
Gurdjieff Ensemble – Zartir (ECM Records, 2023)

The Gurdjieff Ensemble’s latest offering is Zartir. The album’s title is derived from the works of Paghtasar Dpir, a distinguished Armenian poet and musician of the 17th century.

This comprehensive set, curated by the Gurdjieff Ensemble, traverses a wide range of musical expressions, encompassing new interpretations of G.I. Gurdjieff’s compositions, sacred hymns, and prayers, alongside pivotal works from prominent figures spanning three centuries. Among these luminaries are the renowned ashughs (bards) Sayat Nova and Jivani, whose artistic legacies continue to resonate profoundly in Armenia and beyond.

Notably, Sayat Nova, immortalized in Sergei Parajanov’s seminal film “The Color of Pomegranates,” emerged as a seminal figure in 18th-century ashug tradition. His work, characterized by its secular nature, brims with romanticism and philosophical depth, exerting a lasting influence across the Caucasus region and elsewhere. Elevated to the highly-regarded position of Royal Musician and Poet by King Heracles II of Georgia, Sayat Nova’s multifaceted compositions transcended linguistic and cultural barriers, earning him widespread acclaim.

Central to the Gurdjieff Ensemble’s artistic ethos is the profound spiritual legacy of G.I. Gurdjieff, whose teachings illuminate the inherent fragmentation of human consciousness and advocate for a transformative journey towards heightened awareness. Rooted in his extensive travels across Armenia, the Middle East, and various corners of Asia and Africa, Gurdjieff’s musical repertoire reflects a diverse array of folk traditions and sacred practices, offering a window into the multifaceted world of human experience.

The ensemble’s meticulous arrangements, helmed by Levon Eskenian, breathe new life into these timeless compositions, rendered with exquisite authenticity and skillfully performed on traditional instruments. Evoking a sense of enigmatic allure, their music oscillates between rhythmic vigor and poignant introspection, weaving a captivating narrative that resonates on a profound emotional level.

In addition to their scheduled performances, the prospect of presenting Parajanov’s cinematic masterpiece alongside the ensemble’s music present a compelling opportunity. Furthermore, collaboration with the Parajanov museum to curate exhibitions showcasing the visionary artist’s works promises to enhance the immersive experience, fostering a deeper appreciation for the interplay between music, film, and visual arts within the context of Armenian cultural heritage.

Renowned globally, the Gurdjieff Ensemble includes eminent musicians from Armenia, proficient in the mastery of Armenian and Middle Eastern traditional instruments. Founded under the stewardship of Levon Eskenian, the ensemble embarked on a mission to interpret the piano compositions of G.I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann with utmost ethnographic fidelity. Over time, their repertoire has evolved expansively, encompassing a diverse array of musical traditions. This includes the timeless melodies of Komitas, evocative strains from the Middle East, as well as venerable selections from ancient and medieval Armenian folk and spiritual music. Additionally, the ensemble explores the rich tradition of troubadour songs from the Caucasus, compositions curated by Bela Bartok, and embraces contemporary works by avant-garde composers.

The ensemble’s first albums, Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Komitas, released under ECM Records, garnered widespread acclaim, earning accolades such as the prestigious Edison Award in the Netherlands. Their artistic endeavors have taken them on an extensive touring journey, captivating audiences in nearly 150 cities across 26 countries spanning Europe, Australia, Russia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Gurdjieff Ensemble members: Levon Eskenian, arranger, artistic director; Emmanuel Hovhannisyan on duduk, zurna; Avag Margaryan on blul, zurna; Armen Ayvazyan on kamancha; Aram Nikoghosyan on oud; Meri Vardanyan on kanun; Vladimir Papikyan on santur, vocals; Davit Avagyan on tar, saz; Mesrop Khalatyan on dap, dhol; Norayr Gapoyan on duduk; and Eduard Harutyunyan on tmbouk, cymbals, bell.

Buy Zartir.

Photography: Armineh Johannes : The displaced people of Artsakh (Karabakh)

Kalantarian Kevo
The Eye of Photography
Feb 20 2024

Armineh Johannes is a humanitarian/documentary photojournalist. He sends us his reportage on the displaced people of Artsakh (H. Karabakh), following the ethnic cleansing, now live in Armenia.

 

Displaced people from Artsakh (Karabakh)

I started traveling to Armenia in 1989. I am of Armenian origin (born in Iran); I continued to travel regularly to Armenia to photograph the life of Armenians. I visited Artsakh (H. Karabakh) several times starting in 1990 and covered the first conflict with Azerbaijan which ended in 1994. During my travels to Artsakh, as a documentary photojournalist, I also photographed moments of their daily life.

Between September 19 and 20, 2023, after 9 months of blockade which had deprived the population of Artsakh of food, medicine and all other essentials, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against  Artsakh (Karabakh), which constituted a violation of the ceasefire agreement signed in 2020.

The September 2023 war led to the ethnic cleansing of the population of Artsakh; Fearing for their lives, the population began to leave Artsakh (Karabakh), where Armenians had lived for 7,000 years, and in just a few days, Artsakh (Karabakh) lost its entire Armenian population. I decided to follow as many people as possible in the different regions of Armenia where they had been displaced and resettled, in order to talk to them and try to tell their story with my photos. It was a very emotional journey for them and also for me as a photographer; sometimes I cried with them while taking their photos.

All 106,000 inhabitants of Artsakh are today displaced and living in different villages and towns in Armenia, having abandoned their lands, their houses, their cars, their livestock….. to save their lives, they left hurriedly in the clothes they were wearing, and could take nothing else with them. Although most of the people I photographed were very emotional and saddened when talking about their painful departure, each of them expressed their hope and desire to return to their ancestral lands. Through my photographs, I tried to capture their emotions, their suffering and perhaps a glimmer of hope in their eyes, even if the future seemed uncertain to them…

 

Biography

I grew up in Tehran, Iran, where I developed an early interest in photography at the age of 12 when I received an instamatic camera as a gift.

After completing half of my secondary education in Tehran, I went to England in 1970 to complete and pursue higher education and obtained a journalism degree.

Back in Iran, I began my career as a translator and then as assistant reporter, collaborating with media such as UPITN, the American television channels CBS and ABC, during a crucial period in Iranian history marked by the Iranian Revolution. 1979. In 1979, I was one of the five co-founders of the daily newspaper “Tehran Times”. However, about a year after its creation, the newspaper was taken over by the state. During the summer of 1980, just before the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, I decided to settle in France. I first studied the French language in Vichy, then I continued my studies in Aix-en-Provence, where I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Aix-Marseille, and later an English degree.

It 1987 I began my career as a photographer with my first trip to Morocco and the High Atlas. In 1989, on the anniversary of the Armenia earthquake (December 7, 1988) I went to Armenia for the first time to take pictures in the cemeteries of Spitak and other towns affected by the earthquake. Since then, I have made several dozen trips to the four corners of Armenia and Artsakh, depicting the life of Armenians.

With the Nagorno-Karabakh movement and the first Karabakh war, I went to the fronts several times between 1990 and 1993 and spent several weeks with the Fedayais. I am among the rare photographers who visited the villages of Getashen, and the villages of Shahumyan province just before Operation Ring in 1991.

In February 1990 the daily newspaper “Le Monde” devoted an entire page to my work and organized an exhibition of around forty of my photographs in its premises in Paris.

In 1990 during the Rencontres Int.’l de la Photographie – Arles, I won first prize in the Photo Service prize and my photos were part of a group exhibition in Arles.

In 1992 the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, as well as personalities from the photo world such as Christian Caujole (from the Vu a Paris Agency), Richard Fournet from the Ile de France Photographic Center praised my photographic work on Armenia…….

In 1997, I spent 1 year in Armenia and continued working on my portfolio there. I consider my work on Armenia and my experiences in this country to be the most enriching of my life.

Over the past few years, I have continued to document the lives of Armenians both in Armenia and in other countries in the Middle East as well as in the USA. I continue my work on Armenia until today.

I have had several exhibitions in France, Portugal and the United States.

My humanitarian photography work mainly focuses on the Middle East and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Alongside my in-depth work on Armenia which I continue to this day, during my career, my passion for humanitarian photography has taken me to countries like Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and my home country, Iran.

My work has been published in: the Los Angeles Times (USA), Washington Post, Newsweek, Le Monde, Peuples du Monde, Libération, L’Express, Révolution (France), Photo Reporter, France- URSS, UN Multimedia, Foto Pratica ( Italy), l’Autre Journal, Marie Claire (Italy), Pop Eye (Japan), Asahi Graph (Japan), Asahi Magazine (Japan), AIM (USA), La Vie, Femme Actuelle, France-URSS (France), Christian family, Photography (England), Quantara (France), ENA (Greece), Refugees (France), Nouvelles d’Armée Magazine (France), …

 

https://plus.wikimonde.com/wiki/Armineh_Johannes

Film: Vidiots, Armenian Film Society to Screen Egoyan’s ‘Exotica’

Torgomian Varazdat
Glendale News Press
Feb 19 2024
Vidiots, Armenian Film Society to Screen Egoyan’s ‘Exotica’

Vidiots and Armenian Film Society are inviting the public to a special 30th anniversary screening of Atom Egoyan’s “Exotica” on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m.
A steamy and sensual thriller of erotic obsession and a meditative treatise on loss and trauma, “Exotica” simmers with passion and pathos. Lives, loves and desires intermingle in the upscale Toronto strip club Exotica from the dancers, to the patrons, to the management.

“Exotica” won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, as well as eight Genie Awards, Canada’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Vidiots is a nonprofit video store that’s been around since 1985, and recently relaunched with a cinema at the historic Eagle Theatre in the Eagle Rock district of Los Angeles. It is a one-of-a-kind hub that inspires human interaction around film through theatrical presentations and preserving, growing and providing access to its diverse DVD, Blu-ray and rare VHS collection. The Armenian Film Society is proud to be a community programming partner for Vidiots.

Vidiots is located at 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. To purchase tickets, visit vidiotsfoundation.org/movies/exotica.

First published in the February 16 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.

Sports: Sofia 2024 Day 7: Armenia wins gold and silver in non-Olympic categories

Alex Jidarian
Inside the Games
Feb 19 2024
  • By Rafael Khalatyan

    •  

  •  Monday, 19 February 2024

Armenia's weightlifters won their third gold and fifth medal at the 2024 European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. So far, however, all their medals have come in non-Olympic weight categories.

Hakob Mkrtchyan and Davit Hovhannisyan topped the podium in the men's 96 kg category. Hovhannisyan, the returning champion, was at his best in the snatch. He finished with 169 kg, 3 kg better than Mkrtchyan. Pavel Khadasevich (AIN) was third with 165 kg. But Mkrtchyan, former world champion, was more successful in the clean and jerk. 

He lifted 209 kg in his third attempt, while Hovhannisyan missed the 210 kg, and became double European champion with a total of 375 kg. Hovhannisyan was 1 kg behind. Yulian Kurlovich (AIN) was slightly better than Khadasevich in the clean and jerk, but it was Khadasevich who went home with the bronze medal in the total. 

Without Iryna Dekha there was no clear favourite in the women's 81 kg. Three lifters managed 103 kg in the snatch, but Weronika Zelinska (Poland) was the first to lift the weight and took the gold medal. Elena Erighina (AIN) was second and Ilke Lagrou of Belgium third. 

Zelinska and Erighina battled for the gold medal in the clean and jerk, with the Polish athlete finishing first with 132 kg, 1 kg ahead of Erighina. Lagrou failed in all three attempts, leaving Turkey's Dilara Narin in third place.

Katherine Vibert had come to the European Championships with the aim of improving her total and breaking into the top 10 of the Olympic rankings, but she failed all three attempts in the snatch at 110 kg and two attempts in the clean and jerk at 140 kg.