Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARS ADDRESSES MIGRANT NEEDS IN ARMENIA

Thursday, April 2nd, 2015 | Posted by Contributor

The Armenian Relief Society (ARS)

YEREVAN–The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Armenia, in cooperation
with People in Need, a Czech humanitarian non-governmental
organization with an office in Armenia, is currently working on
a European Union-financed project titled, “Assistance to Seasonal
Migration and Their Integration in Armenia.”

Information and advisory centers have been established in the
southern districts of Armenia to provide guidance, special courses,
and supportive grants to potential migrants as well as those who have
newly arrived in Armenia.

A short clip, shown below, was prepared to announce the activities,
mission, and contact details of these centers, especially for the
Armenian Diaspora.

From: Baghdasarian

RESHUFFLE IN KOTAYK: TYCOON’S SON-IN-LAW APPOINTED GOVERNOR

POLITICS | 02.04.15 | 13:47

Abovyan mayor Karapet Guloyan, a son-in-law of embattled tycoon
Gagik Tsarukyan, has been appointed governor of Kotayk, it emerged
at today’s meeting of the Cabinet.

He succeeds Aram Harutyunyan, a former minister of nature protection,
who will be appointed “at another job”.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan wished productive work to the newly
appointed governor, whose appointment comes less than a month after
Tsarukyan resigned as Prosperous Armenia Party leader and announced
his decision to quit politics.

Tsarukyan, who holds sway in Abovyan and the whole of the Kotayk
province, grew particularly critical of the government at the beginning
of the year but effectively walked away from a decisive showdown with
President Serzh Sargsyan after the latter challenged his political
credentials.

From: Baghdasarian

REP. SCHIFF, SYSTEM OF A DOWN SHARE GOAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

11:26, 02 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

By Chad Garland, Glendale News-Press – While the alternative rock
band System of a Down plans to use the concert stage this month as a
platform to push for formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the United States and Turkey, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), is using
his influence as a legislator toward the same goal.

Their efforts coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the atrocities
that began under the Ottoman Empire — what is now the Republic of
Turkey — which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and others.

They are seeking to push President Barack Obama to uphold a promise
he made in 2008 to acknowledge the genocide, but also to end Turkey’s
campaign of denying the tragedy.

“This is the year,” Schiff said. “We need to make sure our president
and our Congress do the right thing.”

During a conference call with the media to discuss their efforts on
Wednesday, Schiff joined System of a Down lead vocalist Serj Tankian
and drummer John Dolmayan, as well as Taner Akcam, a Turkish academic
and professor of history at Clark University, and Aram Hamparian,
executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

The Grammy-winning band — including guitarist Daron Malakian,
a Glendale resident who attended Glendale High School — it is
launching a tour to bring awareness to the issue, seeking justice
for the victims and their families. The first show will be Monday in
Inglewood, followed by stops throughout Europe before culminating with
a free show on April 23 in Republic Square in Yerevan, the capital
of Armenia, on the eve of Armenian Genocide Recognition Day.

It’s the group’s first performance in Armenia, though all four current
members are of Armenian heritage, and will feature two of the group’s
songs about the genocide — “P.L.U.C.K.” and “Holy Mountains.”

“It is inspiring,” Dolmayan said of the tour, but he added that it is
“something that transcends the music” and the Armenian Genocide.

“This is a world issue,” he said. “We want to prevent this happening
to other people.”

Last month, Schiff introduced a bipartisan resolution calling
on President Obama to restore Armenian-Turkish relations and seek
Turkey’s full acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. It’s the latest
in a perennial effort at official recognition, which Congress has
not given in decades.

“If we fail to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide in the face of denial
and opposition by Turkey, we lose our standing to fight modern-day
genocides,” Schiff said. “We just can’t be picking and choosing which
genocides to recognize.”

Schiff also announced that he plans to read the names of a “small
fraction” of the 1.5 million victims of the massacre into the
Congressional Record on April 22 during an hourlong speech on the
floor of the House of Representatives. In the past, he’s read an open
letter to the people of Turkey and given a speech in Armenian.

He said reading all of the names would take weeks, but he hopes reading
as many as he can will remind his colleagues that “those killed were
not an abstraction, but were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters,
each one a precious life.”

Tankian said the band members have heard horrific stories told
by family members who were witnesses to the genocide, such as his
grandfather who saw his own brother being killed during a forced march.

“[The genocide] is still with us and the denial is a spit in the face
of that every year and it has to end for relations to improve among
nations,” he said.

,0,5340205.story

From: Baghdasarian

ISSUE OF OCCUPATION OF ARMENIAN TERRITORIES BY TURKEY’S MUST BE RAISED – RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

16:37 * 02.04.15

The Heritage party has invited a discussion on Thursday.

The topic of the discussion is condemnation of occupation of Armenian
territories by Turkey and great expatriation of Armenians.

Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian noted that the Armenian
Genocide was not only massacre of 1.5 million of Armenians, but also
bereaving them of their homeland.

“Now that the enemy is using a language of occupation is speaking
of our Artsakh homeland, raising the issue of occupation by Turkey
becomes a national and strategic task,” Mr Hovannisian said.

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Karen Andreasyan was
invited to the discussion.

He spoke of his annual report which highlights Turkey’s responsibility.

Speaking at the discussions were expert in Turkic studies Ruben
Melkonyan, ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan and founder of the Modus
Vivendi Ara Papyan.

From: Baghdasarian

#AGBUTALKS: FIRST PANEL IN ARMENIA FOCUSES ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND DIASPORA

NEWS | 02.04.15 | 12:30

By SARA KHOJOYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

RELATED NEWS

AGBU: 88th General Assembly beginning in Armenia

Increasing opportunities inside Armenia, combining the potential
of all Armenians of the world, promoting the birthrate, presenting
Armenia success stories to Armenians worldwide, etc. were the topics
discussed during a unique panel held in Armenia as part of the Armenian
General Benevolent Union’s (AGBU) 88th General Assembly.

The first of the three #AGBUTalks panels took place at Ayb School in
Yerevan on April 1.

The panelists at the first event entitled “Human Capital in Armenia
and the Diaspora” were frank during the discussion as was Armenia’s
Minister of Education Science Armen Ashotyan who joined them. This
made it possible to raise issues of efficient use of the potential
of Armenian children and young people and discuss solutions.

“People are the potential of Armenia, but using only the potential
of Armenia we can’t develop our country, the human capital of
the Diaspora should also be used and bridges need to be created,”
American University of Armenia (AUA) President Armen Der Kiureghian
said during the discussion.

Der Kiureghian and three other speakers that day who were not born
in Armenia, but at one point in their lives decided to bring their
experience to their historical homeland consider this to be the
best solution.

Meanwhile, many Armenians born in Armenia see their future outside
the country, said AGBU Vice President Sam Simonian, the founder of
the Simonian Educational Foundation and the Tumo Center for Creative
Technologies.

It was upon his initiative that a study was conducted among 6,000
schoolchildren that showed that only 29 percent of them see their
future in Armenia, while 24 percent see their future in the United
States, 23 percent in Europe, 11 percent in Russia, and 11 percent
in other countries.

“They would all leave for a better career as they think that there
are no good conditions for their careers here. The new generation is
ready to stay if they have these opportunities here,” said Simonian.

Simonian believes that Diaspora youths and children need to be brought
to Armenia to strengthening ties between the Homeland and the Diaspora.

“This cooperation should be established from early on. They should
study together and when they grow up they should be able to establish
structures together and cooperate with each other. If we start from
early on, the future will be secured,” he said.

Der Kiureghian, for his part, described the AUA as one of the
successful examples of creating and promoting these ties.

“We can bring people to Armenia for a career. We are a kind of hub
that gathers around itself specialists, experts who cooperate and
continue to stay in Armenia. In other words, such collaboration
creates intellectual bridges,” the AUA president said.

Only by creating centers of excellence, developing the technological
sector, offering quality education and good jobs will it become
possible to keep young people in Armenia and attract others to come
to the country, the panelists agreed.

From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIAN MIG-29 FIGHTER PILOTS BEGIN MILITARY DRILLS IN ARMENIA

(c) Sputnik/ Vladimir Rodionov
Politics
11:18 02.04.2015(updated 11:33 02.04.2015) Get short URL
1500
More than 100 Air Force pilots and service personnel took part in the
exercises with more than 30 pieces of military and aviation hardware.

(c) Sputnik/ Vladislav Belogrud Drones to Live-Stream Large-Scale
Drills With S-300 in Russia’s Buryatia MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian
MiG-29 (Fulcrum) jet fighter pilots have begun military exercises from
a Russian base in Armenia, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Southern
Military District’s press service said Thursday.

“More than 100 Air Force pilots and service personnel are participating
[in the military exercises] with more than 30 pieces of specialized
military and aviation hardware,” the press service said.

During the three-day exercises, the fighter pilots will cover ground
forces from the air and destroy “enemy” bombers, as well as cruise
and ballistic missiles.

Read more:

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA PLANS TO SEND PEACEKEEPERS TO AFRICA

Interfax, Russia
April 1 2015

YEREVAN. April 1

Armenia is considering the possibility of joining UN peacekeeping
missions in Africa, Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said at a meeting
with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assemlby of La Francophonie.

“The president of Armenia pointed to the important role of the
International Organization of the Francophonie in benefitting peace
and democracy and protecting human rights. He noted that Armenia is
making its modest contribution to the cause of preserving international
stability and peace and considering its possible involvement in UN
peacekeeping missions in Africa as part of the French force,” Interfax
was told at the Armenian presidential press service on Tuesday.

Armenian servicemen have been involved in international peacekeeping
since 2004. Presently servicemen from the peacekeeping brigade of
the Armenian Armed Forces are taking part in missions in Afghanistan,
Kosovo and Lebanon.

From: Baghdasarian

THE RESULTS OF THE WEBAPRICOT 4TH PAN-ARMENIAN ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCED

01-04-2015 16:48:49 | Armenia | Culture

The results of the WebApricot 4th Pan-Armenian Online Film Festival
were summed up. The organizers of the festival were the Golden Apricot
Yerevan International Film Festival and the webtv.am Armenian online
cultural TV channel. VivaCell-MTS was the general partner of the
project.

The fourth edition of the WebApricot had launched on February 26th.

The board of jury – Mihran Stepanyan (director), Yulya Grigoryants
(film producer) and Raffi Movsisyan (film critic) – presented the
results of the festival on March 26th , having watched for a whole
month the 42 films submitted at the official “YouTube” channel of
the webtv.am online cultural TV channel.

The films participating at the Web Apricot 4th Pan-Armenian Online
Film Festival have gathered 23,000 views from Armenia, Russia, the
USA, France, Germany (the top five countries as per number of views)
and other destinations within a month.

“WebApricot Pan-Armenian Online Film Festival is a unique opportunity
for the bidding filmmakers from all over the world to unfold
their talent, become famous and attract public attention, as well
as film-producers’ interest to their works, and this – having the
possibilities of the Internet as their main tool. VivaCell-MTS wishes
a lot of success to our young Armenian filmmakers in realization of
their projects,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian commented.

Upon the decision of the jury, the 1st prize was awarded to Aren
Malakyan for “The Girl on the Moon” (camera man – Martin Hovhannisyan,
producer – Edgar Baghdasaryan). The 1st prize winner received a
monetary award in AMD 400 000.

The festival also had two incentive awards and a special “Audience”
award designed for the movie which would gather the largest number
of views. The first incentive prize was granted to the film “Echo”
by Nahapet Sargsyan (camera man – Vahe Terteryan). The runner-up
award was given to the “Carpets” by Andranik Harutyunyan (camera
man-Gabriel Mirakyan). The special audience award was granted to Ani
Hakobyan for the film “Message” that had gathered 3 366 views.

The main as well as incentive prize winners will have an opportunity
to use professional movie making equipment free of charge for 10 days.

The WebApricot 4th Pan-Armenian Film Festival also presented films
dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In this
context, a special diploma was awarded to “My Granny” by Sasnuhi
Manukyan.

One of the missions of the WebApricot Online Film Festival is
developing multimedia systems and encouraging the use of modern
technologies in the film industry. In this context, the film “I am”,
the diploma work of Nareh Galstyan, captured with a mobile phone,
received a special diploma of the festival.

VivaCell-MTS… You are connected!

Welcome to VivaCell-MTS network with your phone number!

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom CJSC) is Armenia’s leading telecommunications
operator, having the widest 2G/3.75G/4G network reach and spreading
a wide range of Voice and Data services all across Armenia. Having
the best of the Armenian people interest at heart since its launch on
1st July 2005 and in a short period of time VivaCell-MTS has managed
to build a nationwide network and a considerable customer base.

VivaCell-MTS drives innovation and aims at always being at
the forefront of any development serving the Armenian mobile
communications market. The company follows the guidance provided
by ISO 26000 (International Standard of Social Responsibility) and
ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (Information Security Management System). For
more information, visit * * * Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
(“MTS”) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS,
offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content
and entertainment services in one of the world’s fastest growing
regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 100
million mobile subscribers. The Group has been awarded GSM licenses
in Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that
boasts a total population of more than 200 million. Since June 2000,
MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange
(ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about the MTS Group can
be found at

– Culture News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan

From: Baghdasarian

MITYA ALESHKOVSKIY READS THE TESTIMONY OF DILBAR MKRTCHIAN

April 2, 2015 09:03
EXCLUSIVE

Mitya Aleshkovskiy

Mediamax presents 100 Seconds project devoted to Armenian Genocide
Centennial. The project is based on testimonies of Genocide survivors
published by the National Archive of Armenia.

Mitya Aleshkovskiy is a photographer and civic activist, he heads
Nuzhnapomosh.ru Charitable Foundation.

For 100 seconds project Mitya Aleshkovskiy reads an extract from
Armenian Genocide survivor Dilbar Mkrtchian’s testimony.

National Archives of Armenia Collection of Documents

Testimony of survivor Dilbar Mkrtchian on the Massacre at the village
of Kortsot in Berkri district of Van Province

[1916] Baku

Shapuh’s son, a young 20-year-old boy, was hiding in the village
oil-mill. They surrounded the oil-mill and told him to come out and
surrender but he wouldn’t. They started shooting. He was fighting
against the Kurds and killed 10 of them. When he ran out of cartridges,
he came out of the oil-mill and tried to escape.

They caught him near the spring, brought him near us and gouged out
his eyes in front of us, then cut off his arms, then his legs and
only at the end his head .

They brought the other men, stripped them all, then called the women,
made them stand in front of their husbands, ordered the men to dance
in front of their wives and started shooting at them.

No one was spared; they massacred everybody. Only one managed to escape
but in order not to get into hands of the Turks, he threw himself
into a well and drowned there. All the corpses were thrown into the
wells. We had hidden the priest among the women, dressed in women’s
clothes. They found him and holding him by his beard cut his throat.

Producers: Ara Tadevosyan Filming: Anna Aleshkovskaya Post Production:
Tumo LLC

The source of Dilbar Mkrtchian’s testimony: National Archives of
Armenia, Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turkey, 1915, Testimony of
survivors, Collection of documents, Yerevan-2013.

VivaCell-MTS is the general partner of 100 seconds project.

From: Baghdasarian

US AMBASSADOR STATES INTEREST TO EXPAND TRADE, BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA

14:03 * 02.04.15

The United States’ ambassador in Yerevan on Thursday expressed his
country’s interest to develop trade and business relations with
Armenia.

Speaking at the HSBC Bank’s 14th trade financial academy in Yerevan,
Richard Morningstar said that the US, as Armenia’s fifth major partner,
can increase its share by way of attracting foreign investments.

The ambassador said he hopes that the US can increase its investments
even further, developing trade relations especially in sectors where
his country has technical experience and strong brands.

Mr Mills expressed the United States’ interest to explore possibilities
of partnership in areas such as energy, IT, healthcare, agribusiness
and mining industries. Considering human capital a major resource,
the ambassador said he is very much inspired by the Armenian business
community’s entrepreneurial talent. He said that he expects the mutual
capacities to develop the two countries’ economies.

The diplomat added that the US Embassy’s team is always open and
ready offer support to all people wishing to engage in entrepreneurial
activities.

From: Baghdasarian