Author: Garik Boshkezenian

Sports: Henrik Mkhitaryan nominated for UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award

Garik Boshkezenian
ARKA, Armenia

Aug 4 2017

YEREVAN, August 4. /ARKA/. Armenia international Henrik Mkhitaryan, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have been nominated for the UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award, after helping Manchester United to win the trophy, according to manutd.com.

The inaugural prize will be presented in Monaco later this month when the ceremony for the group stage draw of the competition – plus the Champions League – takes place on Friday 25 August.

Pogba started every Europa League game in 2016/17 and scored the opening goal during the 2-0 win over AFC Ajax in the Stockholm final last May. That helped to earn him a nomination from a panel of judges that consisted of every manager who was involved in the group stage of the Europa League, plus journalists.

Armenia international Mkhitaryan became something of a specialist in Europe throughout his debut season with United, and his clincher in the final against Ajax was his sixth goal in the tournament.

Ibrahimovic also scored half a dozen goals during the Reds' successful run to the trophy in Sweden, before the striker suffered a season-ending injury in the quarter-final win over Anderlecht at Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford was fifth in the overall poll and Ander Herrera was joint-seventh. -0-

Sports: Team named after Artsakh joins Armenian football league

Garik Boshkezenian 
Public Television of Armenia
Aug 1 2017


Team named after Artsakh joins Armenian football league

[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Armenian]


A football team named Artsakh (Armenian name for Azerbaijan's
breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region) will be playing in the Armenian
first league (second tier) from September, Armenian Public TV reported
on 1 August.

Tigran Yesayan, the coach of the Yerevan-based team, which includes
players also from Nagorno-Karabakh, said that the team is planning to
qualify for the Europa League and represent Karabakh in Europe. If the
team qualifies into Armenia's premier league in a year, it will also
open youth teams in Karabakh capital Stepanakert (Xankandi), the
channel said.

According to the Public TV, in Europe, the Artsakh team will
"counterbalance" the Baku-funded Karabakh Wien team playing in the
Austrian Regionalliga (third tier).

"There is the Karabakh [Qarabag] football club in Azerbaijan, and this
team has been created as a competitor to represent Artsakh and Armenia
in Europe," football player Armen Durunts said.

The team, which is said to be financed by renowned European companies,
will be training at the Mika Stadium in Yerevan. The white-and-red
uniform carries logos of the Renault and SteriTech companies, as shown
by the Public TV.

"The attitude towards the Artsakh team is different, it is more
targeted, as everyone understands that if one day Artsakh plays in the
Europa League, talk around this team will spread all over the world,"
the club's spokesperson Arman Arakelyan said.

BBCM note: The Qarabag FC is originally from the town of Agdam but
have to play their home matches in Baku as Agdam fell to Armenian
forces in 1993 during the Karabakh war. The team is the defending
champion of the Azerbaijani premier league and is currently playing in
the UEFA Champions League qualifying round.

Armenia among countries most effectively tackling trafficking

Garik Boshkezenian 
Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
July 28, 2017 Friday


Armenia among countries most effectively tackling trafficking


YEREVAN, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS. For the 5th consecutive year Armenia is
classified in the 1st group in the fight against human trafficking and
abuse, which means that Armenia is considered to be among those
countries which are more effectively tackling trafficking”, Ambassador
Vahram Kazhoyan, the head of the anti-trafficking and anti-abuse
commission and head of the foreign ministry’s international
organizations department told a press conference on July 28.

The US State Department released the 2017 report on human trafficking
where the situation in various countries is mentioned.

“Only 36 of 187 countries in the report are classified in the first
group. Armenia is the only country to be included in the first group
from the CIS countries”, Kazhoyan said.

The official said Armenia has joined all international and regional
legal documents regarding the fight against human trafficking and
abuse and is willing to actively cooperate with all actors involved
for improvement of the fight.

Eleonora Virabyan, chief specialist of the Family, Women and Children
affairs department of the ministry of labor and social affairs, said
in order to make the fight against trafficking more efficient,
sub-legislative acts have been designed and several issues were
regulated regarding the commission’s work, mechanisms of guiding the
victims and their protection.

“Labor abuse cases are being recorded in the past two years. If
previously the victims of trafficking were women, now they are men.
Traffickers are mainly their friends or relatives, whom the victims
trust. 24 people were victims of trafficking from November of 2015 to
2016 – 5 being women and 19 men. 3 of them were minors”, Virabyan
said.

Head of the anti-trafficking department of the police force Vache
Hovsepyan briefed on the statistics, saying 7 cases have been recorded
in 2017 in Armenia.

“4 of them are labor abuse cases, 3 sexual abuse. All labor abuse
cases were recorded in Armenia. 12 victims were involved – 5 men and 7
women. 6 of the 12 victims are minors. For comparison let me mentioned
that in 2016, 10 trafficking cases were recorded”, he said.

The police official mentioned that in most cases trafficking occurs
when the victim has financial problems and is most vulnerable, which
the traffickers take advantage of.

Armenia joins Moscow International Army Games

Garik Boshkezenian
Tert, Armenia

11:30 • 24.07.17

The second International Army Games taking place in Russia’s capital, Moscow, have attracted a 1,238 military personnel from 22 countries, including Armenia, Lenta.ru reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

This year’s annual event is set to take place from July 29 until August 12. Some 22 polygons of Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and China have been selected as training sites.

 The participant countries’ teams (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, South-African Republic) have been moved to the playgrounds for field competitions (Tank Biathlon, Reconnaissance, Military Medical Relay Race etc).

 The second International Army Games were held between June 30 and August 13, 2016.  

Ratio of children born in Armenia is 100 girls per 112 boys in 2017

Garik Boshkezenian
News.am, Armenia

Ratio of children born in Armenia is 100 girls per 112 boys in 2017
13:05, 24.07.2017

YEREVAN. – The sex ratio at birth in Armenia stands at 100 girls per 112 boys now as compared to 100 girls to 115 five years ago, head of International Center for Human Development  Vahan Asatryan told reporters on Monday.

Astaryan presented the results of the research conducted from the end of 2016 to the beginning of 2017 among women aged from 19 to 49.

According to him, this shows that the deviation of sex ratio of newborns in Armenia has decreased.

The team from Armenia won 6 medals at the International Olympiad among schoolchildren in physics and mathematics

Garik Boshkezenian
ArmInfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. The international subject Olympiad among schoolchildren continues. This time schoolchildren from Armenia at the international olympiad received 6 medals for 2  diplomas in mathematics and physics.

The Olympics in Mathematics was held from 12 to 23 July in Brazil, in  the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Armenian team was led by the  representative of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia  Smbat Goghyan and Tigran Markaryan, the teacher of the physical and  mathematical special school named after Shahinyan. 2 silver medals  were received by the pupil of the 12th class Mikael Mkrtchyan and the  pupil of the 10th grade Gagik Mahakyan. Bronze medals were given to  the pupil of the 12th grade Sergey Nersisyan and the 11th grade  student Vahan Martirosyan. The medal and the diploma was received by  the pupil of 11 classes Vahe Karagulyan.

In the Olympiad in Physics, which was held from July 16 to July 24 in  the Indonesian city of Yogokarta, our students received 1 silver  medal – 11th grade student David Gevrokian and one bronze medal -  class 12 pupil Khachatur Nazaryan, one student received a medal and a  diploma from 11th grade student Mikael Yeghiazaryan. The team was  headed by Gagik Grigoryan and Bilor Kureghyan, who teach in special  schools with a physical bias "Ayb" and the school named after  Shahinyan.  It should be noted that the team from Armenia won 2  bronze medals and one diploma at the international chemistry Olympiad  held in the Thai city of Nakhom-Pat from July 6 to 15. The biology  Olympiad will be held from July 23 to 30 in the British city of  Conventry.   

U.S. envoy, Armenia parliament deputy speaker talk bilateral ties

Garik Boshkezenian
PanArmenian, Armenia

– 17:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Deputy parliament speaker, head of the Armenia–U.S. friendship group Arpine Hovhannisyan on Friday, July 21 discussed bilateral ties with U.S. ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills.

At the meeting, Hovhannisyan cited the development of relations with the United States, the deepening of inter-parliamentary ties and strengthening of cooperation in different areas. The deputy speaker of the National Assembly hailed the continuous efforts of the U.S. aimed at strengthening Armenia’s democratic institutions, enhancing the efficiency of the fight against corruption, and contributing to the development of the civil society and implementation of reforms.

Ambassador Mills, in turn, commended Hovhannisyan’s contribution and efforts in the deepening of bilateral relations and expressed conviction that cooperation with her in the legislative body will be as efficient as it was in the executive body.

Prior to being elected to the parliament, Hovhannisyan served as Armenia’s justice minister.


Film: Armenia Film Week in 3 Cities in Iran

Garik Boshkezenian
Financial Tribune, Iran



Armenia Movie Week is slated for July 23-29 in Tehran, Mashhad and Shiraz.

The program will cover 10 feature films from the contemporary cinema of the Republic of Armenia.

It is organized under the auspices of Armenian Embassy in Tehran and Art & Experience cinematic group, affiliated to the Iranian Organization of Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs.

Art & Experience cinematic group covers 18 cinemas across Iran and provides an opportunity for public screening of worthwhile movies chosen from non-commercial films, in order to demonstrate the brilliance of their creators.

According to the website of Art and Experience (aecinema.org), a lineup of movies by contemporary filmmakers from the Caucasus state will be screened during the film week at Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in  Tehran; Hoveizeh Cineplex in Mashhad, center of Khorasan Razavi Province; and at Golestan Cineplex in Shiraz, capital of Fars Province.

The screening program is from 7-9 pm. Two prominent Armenian artists will attend the week-long event: director and producer Aram Shahbazyan, 46, a graduate of Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema; and actor and director Aren Vatyan, 40.

Shahbazyan has two films for Armenia Movie Week: ‘Moskvitch, My Love’ and ‘Map of Salvation.’

‘Moscvitch, My Love’ is about Soviet nostalgia. Having fled Azerbaijan during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Hamo and his wife Aroos live a meager existence in rural Armenia, surviving on the little money their son is able to send from Moscow.

It has long been Hamo’s dream to own a bright red Moskvitch, a car symbolizing Soviet technological prowess and modernity. Every morning in a dream-like ritual, Hamo polishes a toy Moskvitch he has cherished ever since leaving Azerbaijan. When local villager Sako puts his real Moskvitch on sale, Hamo seizes the opportunity.

Shahbazyan’s other movie, ‘Map of Salvation’ is a feature-length docudrama made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, starting on April 24, 1915.

The film goes back to late 19th century and early 20th, telling about five European women who were witness to the Armenian Genocide and later helped found shelter for Armenian children and women.

From Aren Vatyan, the event will screen ‘The Clay Man.’ The short film is about a lonely elderly potter living in an abandoned village, who has reconciled with the inevitability of death before he realizes the truth: life ends only when one has nothing and nobody to live for.

MEP urges Azerbaijan to agree to install OSCE investigative mechanism

Garik Boshkezenian
news.am, Armenia


MEP urges Azerbaijan to agree to install OSCE investigative mechanism
15:52, 12.07.2017

Recent tensions along the line of control in Nagorno-Karabakh are deeply concerning, member of the European Parliament Charles Tannock said in a statement.

“The death of two Azerbaijani civilians on July 4th is deeply regrettable and I extend my condolences to the friends and family of Zahra Guliyeva and her grandmother, Sahiba. Reports that Azerbaijani military equipment was positioned in civilian areas for the purposes of human shielding are of grave concern and such actions would constitute a contravention of the Geneva Convention,” said the lawmaker.

“A full investigation into this incident is clearly necessary and a return to the Minsk Process as a means of deescalating the current tension along the line of control is clearly in order. Armenia has agreed to the installation of the OSCE independent investigative mechanism and I call on Azerbaijan to do the same.”

International Association of Genocide Scholars elects first Armenian president

Garik Boshkezenian
Tert, Armenia

09:49 • 12.07.17

Professor Henry C Theriault was elected President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) on Tuesday during the organization’s annual conference becoming the first Armenian to assume the position.

The conference also elected the Dr. Suren Manukyan, Deputy Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum &
Institute in Yerevan as a member of IAGS’s Advisory Board, Asbarez reports.

In his nomination statement, Theriault warned of the threats facing human rights advances due to the dire political climate in the United States and Europe.

“Genocide studies has been at the forefront of recent human rights advances. Dire political climates in the US, Europe, and other areas threaten this progress. Racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc. pervade public discourse and drive repressive legal and political regressions the world over. Genocide’s prevalence even threatens increase,” said Theriault.

“Against this, a vibrant IAGS is essential. Demagogues attack the sensibilities genocide studies engenders. Our work is a crucial challenge to their propaganda. IAGS must strive against this marginalization while innovatively expanding the field, especially creating space for emerging scholars particularly vulnerable to this backlash,” he added.

Theriault is a board member of the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights and serves as the the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group (AGRSG), which was assembled in 2007 by four experts in different areas of reparations theory and practice. In September 2014, the group completed its final report, “Resolution with Justice—Reparations for the Armenian Genocide,” a wide-ranging analysis of the legal, historical, political, and ethical dimensions of the question of reparations for the genocide. It also includes specific recommendations for the components of a complete reparations package.

Theriault was most recently Professor in and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Worcester State University, where he has taught since 1998 focusing on courses on genocide, mass violence against women, and related topics. He has published and lectured widely on his research which focuses on the relationship of genocide and sexual violence, victim- perpetrator relations in the long-term aftermath of genocide, genocide prevention, genocide denial, and reparations. From 1999 to 2007, he coordinated the University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights.

He earned his BA in English from Princeton University and his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, with specializations in social and political as well as continental philosophy.

He is co-editor of Genocide Studies International, a peer-reviewed journal from the University of Toronto Press and the Zoryan Institutes’ International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies and of Transaction Publishers’ Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review book series.

In 2013, Theriault served as a panelist at the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region’s Grassroots Conference, speaking on challenges facing the Western Armenia, especially with regards to Kurdish and Armenian relations.