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

HISTORIC PASADENA ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED APRIL 18

13:48, 01 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Pasadena
will unveil an inspirational memorial to the first Genocide of the
20th Century, Asbarez reports.

The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial appropriately memorializes the
loss of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children at the hands of
the Ottoman Turks. The public is invited to join the solemn unveiling
that will include music, poetry and a cultural experience from the
proud and thriving Armenian American Community in Pasadena. The event
will culminate with the official unveiling of the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial in Pasadena’s Memorial Park.

The memorial is the culmination of three years of work of the
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, a non-profit set up to
raise private funds to build and maintain the Memorial. The Memorial
completes the vision of Catherine Menard, a Pasadena Art Center College
of Design graduate who won the highly competitive responsibility of
designing the Pasadena Memorial. The Memorial features a 16 foot tripod
that forever captures the image of the structures used by the Turks to
hang artists and leaders 100 years ago. It also features the strength
and hope personified by the Armenian people by a tear drop falling
into the eternity symbol prized by Armenians throughout the world.

The Memorial was unanimously approved by the Pasadena City Council
and is currently finishing construction under the supervision of
Sinanian Construction of Tarzana.

“Our ancestors can never be replaced. Beginning on April 18th their
descendants will have a powerful and solemn place to properly remember
them and to celebrate the survival and successes of Armenian American’s
in Pasadena and throughout California. I am proud and humbled to be
part of the project,” commented Robert Kalunian, Board Co-Chair.

Kalunian and former Pasadena Police Chief Melekian are the Board’s
Co-Chairs. In addition, the Pasadena Genocide Memorial Committee
is composed of retired Federal Court Judge Dikran Tevrizian, Levon
Filian, Gary Jerjerian, Avo Kechichian, Sandra Siraganian, Shoghig
Yepremian, Sgt. Greg Afsharian, David George Gevorkyan, and retired
State Assemblymember Anthony Portantino. Filian and Jerjerian are
Co-chairing the April 18 event.

From: Baghdasarian

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: SEFILYAN CHOSE WRONG DAY, MAKEYAN SAYS

11:38 01/04/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

Head of Democratic Homeland party Petros Makeyan agrees with Zhirayr
Sefilyan’s position about the necessity of change of power in the
country, but he does not agree with the date of launching the protests
– April 24.

“This could be done before or after that day. I believe they have
chosen a wrong date,” Makeyan told Haykakan Zhamanak.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: ALIYEV’S AUTHORITARIAN REGIME USES EUROPEAN GAMES TO SATISFY ITS AMBITIONS

12:47 01/04/2015 >> Region

10 weeks remain until the opening of the European Games, the
prestigious project of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan which violates
the human rights. In this regard, the criticism of the European
Olympic Committee increases, well-known German newspaper Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung writes.

It is noted in the article that 10 weeks before the opening of
the European Games in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on 12 June, the
international organization Human Rights Watch highlighted the serious
human rights violations by the President Ilham Aliyev’s regime during
a meeting with the representatives of the German Olympic Sports
Confederation (DOSB).

“The Games did not bring about changes in the policy in Azerbaijan. On
the contrary, the situation in Azerbaijan is much worse than it used
to be a year ago,” Director of the Human Rights Watch at Europe and
Central Asia, Hugh Williamson, told the newspaper. He also criticized
the attitude of the Games’ organizers – the European Olympic Committee
(EOC). The Europeans set an ill example for Baku and undermine the
reform movement of the International Olympic Committee.

Moreover, as the article has it, it is very frustrating that other
National Olympic Committees (NOC) still do not respond to the
human rights violations in Azerbaijan. According to the article,
the spokesperson for the Netherlands Olympic Committee said that
the Olympic values are the ‘inseparable part’ of the European Games,
and the hosting country carries the responsibility to observe those
values. The representative of the Olympic Committee of Norway explained
that the sportsmen’s participation in the Games “highlights the human
rights violations in Baku.”

According to the article, Christian Klaue, the DOSB representative,
was the only one to express concern regarding the events in Azerbaijan
and promised to raise the issue in Baku.

The newspaper writes that the former Soviet Republic is ruled by the
Aliyev clan since the late 60s. Famous journalists and human rights
defenders, including Leyla and Arif Yunuses, Khadija Ismayilova,
were arrested in Azerbaijan in 2014. Amnesty International recently
published a video where the arrested human rights defenders’ daughter,
Dinara Yunus, asks the President Aliyev, “Mr President, can you explain
me why my mother was arrested after she criticized the European Games?”

It is highlighted in the article that Azerbaijan was ranked 162nd
(among 180 states) in the Press Freedom Index of the organization
Reporters Without Borders, and CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)
said on Friday that Azerbaijan is ranked 9th in the list of the
countries having most arrested journalists.

Aliyev, also being the President of the National Olympic Committee,
uses the Games to promote the sport policy ambitions of his country.

Last week Aliyev said that “a campaign against his country has been
on for many years,” and the criticism of the NGOs is its part, the
article reads.

Aliyev “is guided by hypocrisy, double standards, discrimination,
racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia, rather than by the international
law,” the newspaper cites Die Weltpolitik.

From: Baghdasarian

ERDOGAN ACCUSE L’ARMENIE D’AVOIR FAIT UNE INDEXATION SUR LA DATE TURQUE

COMMEMORATION DU 24 AVRIL

Dans une interview diffusee le 27 mars par France 24 et realisee
par le journaliste Marc Perelman, le president turc Recep Tayyip
Erdogan se defend d’avoir voulu saboter la commemoration en Armenie
et accuse au contraire l’Armenie “d’avoir fait une indexation” sur
la date turque. Pour Monsieur Erdogan,” la date de la bataille des
Dardanelles est etablie, on connait cette date”. Faut-il rappeler que
le debarquement allie a eu lieu le 25 avril, et que le jour de l’Anzac
a toujours ete celebre a cette date. Il n’y a que cette annee, que
la Turquie a decide d’avancer d’un jour cette date pour en faire un
grand evenement international, dans l’objectif evident de torpiller
les commemorations du genocide d’Erevan qui auront lieu cette annee
comme tous les ans a la date bien connue du 24 avril. Mais l’arrogance
negationniste de l’Etat turc n’a aucune limite. Une nouvelle preuve
avec cette interview :

France 24 : Il y a une controverse avec l’Armenie en ce qui concerne
la commemoration des evenements de 1915, le president armenien vous
accuse de saboter cette commemoration en accueillant une commemoration
en Turquie a la meme date le 24 avril. IL dit que vous sabotez
cyniquement la memoire armenienne, quelle est votre reaction ?

Erdogan : en ce qui concerne nos relations avec l’Armenie, jusqu’a
aujourd’hui, c’est toujours nous qui avons fait les pas positifs.

L’Armenie n’a jamais fait de pas positifs en la matière. Nous avons
toujours tendu une main de paix,mais notre main est toujours restee
en l’air. Il y a 10 ans le 23 avril j’avais envoye une lettre, je ne
sais pas si vous etes au courant, et cette lettre avait recu un grand
nombre de reponses positives. Mais nous n’avons pas recu le meme type
de reaction positive de la part de l’Armenie. Cette annee nous allons
commemorer le centième anniversaire des batailles des Dardanelles.

Nous n’allions pas demander la permission a l’Armenie. La date est
etablie, on connait la date, c’est le centième anniversaire de cette
bataille des Dardanelles, et il n’y a aucun rapport de près ou de
loin avec les ceremonies qui vont etre organisees en Armenie. Au
contraire je pense que ce sont eux qui ont fait une indexation sur
notre date a nous. Nous n’avons aucun problème en la matière. Le 24
avril nous allons apporter une contribution a la paix mondiale. Le
18 mars et le 24 avril nous allons organiser ces ceremonies. Le 23
avril, il va y avoir un sommet de la paix, le 24 avril il va y avoir
des messages que nous allons envoye directement des Dardanelles,
et le 25 avril nos invites vont participer aux ceremonies de l’Aurore.

mercredi 1er avril 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

D´autres informations disponibles : FRANCE 24

From: Baghdasarian

VERMONT LEGISLATURE UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL RESOLUTION

12:04, 01 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Vermont legislature strengthened the standing of the Green Mountain
State as a leader in the genocide prevention movement by unanimously
adopting a concurrent resolution (H.C.R. 86) commemorating the Armenian
Genocide Centennial and hosting a day-long series of events honoring
the victims of this crime against humanity, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America – Eastern Region (ANCA-ER).

The legislation was spearheaded on the House side by Representative
Joan G. Lenes, who is a descendant of an Assyrian Genocide survivor,
and Representative Adam Greshin. Lead Senate supporters of the
resolution included Senators Dick Sears, Philip Baruth and Diane
Snelling with 14 of 30 Senators cosponsoring the measure.

“It was a wonderful day of people sharing a common past – not
forgetting that, yet still learning and looking forward so that we are
a better people,” noted Rep. Lenes following passage of the resolution.

Prior to its reading in the General Assembly, Vermont’s own Lokum
Band – Jeff Davis, Peter Bingham, and Charlie Jones – played several
Armenian musical pieces as part of the devotional exercises, garnering
a standing ovation from legislators. Later, Rep. Lenes introduced
the Armenian community members in attendance and invited one and all
to a noon presentation about the Armenian Genocide by authors Chris
Bohjalian and Dana Walrath.

“I was so proud to be a Vermonter today — and I was so proud of the
Vermont legislature,” said Bohjalian, whose internationally acclaimed
novel on the Armenian Genocide – “The Sandcastle Girls” – was a
New York Times best seller. “By recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
legislators gave voice to those voices that were forever stilled
in Der-el-Zor and Ras-el-Ain and the Dudan Crevasse. Today Vermont
helped spread the truth of what occurred a century ago on the Anatolian
plains and the Syrian desert, and helped quiet the voice of denial.”

“Today Vermont legislators chose social justice over political
exigency,” said Walrath, who recently published “Like Water on Stone,”
a verse novel about the genocide that is based on her grandmother’s
history. “Shame, pride, and oil are not good enough reasons to deny
the Armenian genocide. Their detailed resolution honors those who
suffered and those who have worked tirelessly to erase genocide from
this earth. This resolution can serve as a model for other states. I
am proud to be a citizen of Vermont, a small state with a big heart.”

Following the presentation, ANC Vermont activist Nareg Aghjayan joined
with local community leaders in hosting a reception with Armenian
delicacies for the over 100 legislators and supporters in attendance
at the commemoration.

“The few yet mighty members of the Armenian American community in the
Green Mountain State, collectively thank the Vermont General Assembly
in unanimously passing Resolution H.C.R. 86 commemorating the Armenian
Genocide Centennial,” said Aghjayan. “On behalf of ANC-Vermont and
its entire grassroots family, we warmly welcome the continued support
of Vermonters on this crucial human rights issue.”

ANCA Eastern Region Chairman Steve Mesrobian concurred. “We applaud
the leadership of Representatives Lenes and Greshin and Senators Sears
Baruth and Snelling in ensuring the unanimous passage of this historic
resolution by the Vermont Legislature. We would particularly like
to thank Chris Bohjalian and Dana Walrath for educating generations
about the Armenian Genocide through their presentations today and
their literary works read across the U.S. and the world. The people of
Vermont have spoken on this important topic through their Legislative
body and we call on the United States government to follow suit in
recognizing the Armenian Genocide, particularly at this important
juncture of our nation’s history,” explained Mesrobian.

The State of Vermont first recognized the Armenian Genocide when
Governor James Douglas proclaimed April 24, 2004, as “Armenian
Martyrs Day” in Vermont. Forty-three U.S. states have recognized the
Armenian Genocide, with additional states considering legislation in
the upcoming months.

The full text of H.C.R. 86 follows:

Montpelier, Vermont

Concurrent House Resolution

H.C.R. 86

House concurrent resolution commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the start of the Armenian Genocide

Offered by: Representatives Lenes of Shelburne and Greshin of Warren

Offered by: Senators Sears, Baruth, Balint, Benning, Campion,
Collamore, Cummings, Flory, McCormack, Mullin, Pollina, Snelling,
White, and Zuckerman

Whereas, from 1915 to 1923, the government of the Ottoman Empire
persecuted and executed systematically an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians, and

Whereas, this brutal mistreatment became known as the Armenian
Genocide and, by 1923, it had resulted in the elimination of the
Armenian population in Asia Minor and historic West Armenia, and

Whereas, the Armenian Genocide began on the night of April 24, 1915,
when the Turkish government arrested more than 200 Armenian community
leaders in Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire’s capital city, and

Whereas, most of the prominent public figures of the Armenian community
were summarily executed, and

Whereas, large numbers of Armenian civilians were forcibly deported
to the Syrian desert, and many died either en route, at the hands of
government-aligned gangs, or from dehydration and starvation in the
desert, and

Whereas, in May 1915, the Allied Powers of France, Great Britain,
and Russia issued a joint statement charging the government
in Constantinople with committing crimes “against humanity and
civilization,” the first time a government-to-government charge of
this type was issued, and

Whereas, it is estimated that, by 1918, the Ottoman Empire’s brutal
treatment of Armenians had resulted in the deaths of one million
persons and made hundreds of thousands of others homeless and stateless
refugees, and

Whereas, Raphael Lemkin, the initial drafter of the United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
and the originator of the term “genocide,” recognized the Armenian
Genocide as the type of crime the United Nations should prevent
through the establishment of international standards, and

Whereas, historians cite the Armenian Genocide as a forerunner of
later human massacres, including the Holocaust, the Cambodian Killing
Fields, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur, and

Whereas, on April 24, 2004, Governor James Douglas issued a
proclamation recognizing the Armenian Genocide on the 89th anniversary
of its initiation, now therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:

That the General Assembly commemorates the 100th anniversary of the
start of the Armenian Genocide, and be it further

Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of
this resolution to the Armenian National Committee of Vermont.

From: Baghdasarian

SINGLE EEU CURRENCY TO HELP AVOID ADDITIONAL RISKS – EXPERT SAYS

YEREVAN, April 1. /ARKA/. A single Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
currency will help avoid additional risks, head of economy department
of CIS Countries Institute Aza Mihranyan said on Sputnik-Armenia
radio station, as cited by Novosti-Armenia.

At a meeting with the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan Aleksander
Lukashenko and Nursultan Nazarbaev in Astana on March 20, Russia’s
Putin said it was time for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to start
talks on a monetary union. According to Russia’s first deputy minister
of economic development Aleksey Likhachev, the monetary union can
be created stage by stage, and not all member states need to join it
from the beginning.

Mihranyan said the monetary union will introduce common currency
movement rules, which, in turn, will speed up the trade turnover. The
ideal option is to have the same rule throughout the EEU, she said.

Putin instructed to seek a direct exchange mechanism to avoid currency
risks tied to exchanging through dollars, she said. This will make the
country’s goods cheaper and more competitive in a neighbor’s market,
she added.

The expert stressed the united economic potential is reflected in
the single currency; the better is the potential, the stronger is
the currency.

One country’s advantages can compensate for the shortcomings of
the other, which will make the single currency more interesting for
third countries.

But for this, the economies should strengthen, and there should be
harmonized regulations; any decision will be impossible, if one of
the countries oppose it, she said. -0–

From: Baghdasarian

HISTORIAN: AS MANY AS 27,000 ARMENIAN CULTURE MONUMENTS DEMOLISHED IN NAKHIJEVAN IN 1998-2006

by David Stepanyan

Wednesday, April 1, 13:49

As many as 27,000 Armenian culture monuments were demolished in
Nakhijevan in 1998-2006, Argam Ayvazyan, Armenian historian and expert
in cultural studies, has told ArmInfo.

“It is noteworthy that before 1998 the process of demolition of
Armenian churches, chapels, khachkars and other cultural and historical
monuments was going on relatively slowly. Nearly 30 monuments were
destroyed in the Nakhijevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
during the Soviet years,” he says.

Ayvazyan points out that during the years of the Karabakh war, not
a single monument of culture was demolished in Nakhijevan up to the
year 1998. The process intensified starting from 1998. “The latest
act of that barbaric policy was the demolition of the khachkars
(cross-stones) in the Old Jugha cemetery in 2005- 2006”, he says.

An honored man of culture of Armenia, Argam A. Ayvazyan is author of
200 works. He has studied the historical monuments of Nakhijevan for
45 years.

From: Baghdasarian

GAZPROM ARMENIA EXPECTS 9000 NEW SUBSCRIBERS TO GET CONNECTED TO ITS NETWORK IN 2015

YEREVAN, April 1, /ARKA/. Armenia’s Russian-owned national gas
distribution company Gazprom Armenia expects 9,000 new households
and enterprises to get connected to its network this year.

Today the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) has approved
the company’s investment program for this year in the amount of 11
billion drams.

A senior official of the company, Ashot Hakobyan, said today at a
meeting of the Public Services Regulatory Commission that out of
6.67 billion drams envisioned for upgrading the gas distribution
system, 391.4 million are earmarked for connecting new households
and enterprises to the network.

“The money will be spent on connecting new potential subscribers,
installation of necessary equipment, including gas meters and gas
leak detectors,’ said Hakobyan.

He said all this will greatly enhance the security of the system and
upgrade the accounting system. According to official data, the company
had 649,000 private and corporate subscribers at the end of 2013.

Their number was expected to grow further to 658,000 by the end
of 2014.

In December 2013, Gazprom signed a contract with Gazprom Armenia on
natural gas supplies in 2014-2018. According to it, Gazprom will
deliver up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas every year. The gas
price will be determined by a formula linked to the Russian gas
pricing scheme. -0- ($1 – 471.13 drams -0-

From: Baghdasarian

YAIR AURON READS THE TESTIMONY OF DAVIT MELKONIAN

April 1, 2015 09:39
EXCLUSIVE

Yair Auron

Photo: Mediamax

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.

Yair Auron is an Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing
on Holocaust and Genocide studies. Since 2005, he serves as the Head
of the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication
of The Open University of Israel and an Associate Professor.

For 100 seconds project Yair Auron reads an extract from Armenian
Genocide survivors Davit Melkonian’s and Hmayak Matevosian’s testimony.

National Archives of Armenia Collection of Documents

Testimony of survivors Davit Melkonian and Hmayak Matevosian on the
massacre of the village of Khasgyugh in Mush district of Mush province

On Sunday morning, the village was suddenly besieged and strong
shooting started. Then they gathered all the men and announced that
they would be given releasing papers so that nobody would persecute
them anymore.

But the next day in the morning, they tied everybody to one other –
more than 700 men, murdered them one by one and threw them into the
large pit near the village.

Our women and little children were gathered on Thursday and taken to
the village of Yershter where they were told that they would be sent
to Germany as captives.

However, many of the women had a presentiment about the imminent
disaster and left their children on the streets of the village not
to see their death.

All those who were taken to the village were burnt alive. They also
made the Armenians gather the children from the streets and throw
them into pits.

Producers: Ara Tadevosyan Filming: Lena Gevorgyan, Mariam Loretsyan
Post Production: Tumo LLC

The source of Davit Melkonian’s and Hmayak Matevosian’ 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