17:32, 1 June 2023
YEREVAN, 1 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 June, USD exchange rate up by 0.36 drams to 386.98 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.73 drams to 414.49 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 4.78 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 4.59 drams to 482.53 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 171.27 drams to 24440.46 drams. Silver price up by 0.27 drams to 289.33 drams.
LMH Fellow in Music Professor Gascia Ouzounian (pictured above with Seminar organisers Dr Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci, and Dr Vazken Davidian) delivered a presentation at Pembroke College, Oxford, on 25 May entitled: ‘Our Voices Reached the Sky’: Sonic Memories of the Armenian Genocide.
This seminar is part of the Silence and Visuality Seminars on Armenian Art & History – an interdisciplinary series presenting current research by emerging and established scholars, and conversations with distinguished contemporary artists. The seminar series is being hosted by the Oxford Network for Armenian Genocide Research, with support from TORCH.
Professor Ouzounian is a sonic theorist whose work examines sound in relation to space, architecture, urbanism, and violence. At Oxford, she leads the European Research Council-funded project Sonorous Cities: Towards a Sonic Urbanism (soncities.org). Professor Ouzounian contributed a chapter to the open access eBook Soundwalking, also entitled ‘Our voices reached the sky’: sonic memories of the Armenian Genocide, which is freely available to download.
In her presentation, Professor Ouzounian explored her examination of sonic memories of the Armenian Genocide, which draws on survivors’ earwitness testimonies (testimonies describing auditory and sonic experiences of the Genocide). She argued that, while visual evidence usually predominates in studies of genocide, sonic memory – as a site of historical, cultural, and affective knowledge – can deepen our understanding of the historical aspects of genocide, as well as its social, psychological, and emotional dimensions.
In relation to contested histories, paying attention to sonic memories can also be a form of what Professor Ouzounian calls ‘counterlistening’: listening against official narratives and, in the case of the Armenian Genocide, against the narrative of genocide denial that continues to be maintained by the Turkish state. Professor Ouzounian suggests that the voices of Armenian Genocide victims – concealed and denied for over a century by Turkey – can nevertheless be excavated and listened to via the sonic memories of genocide survivors. She draws on oral testimonies collected by Verjiné Svazlian, an Armenian ethnographer who walked from village to village in Soviet Armenia for a period of decades, collecting, recording, and transcribing some 700 survivors’ testimonies when it was not safe to do so.
She explained the significance of Svazlian's original acts of counterlistening, explaining how it makes possible a more shared or public form of listening today. More broadly, she asked the audience to consider how sound and listening formed a part of the injuries as well as the violent tactics of the Armenian Genocide; and questioned how listening to genocide can reshape our understanding of genocide and its effects.
19:35,
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. According to the trilateral declaration of November 9, the Lachin Corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers, no one else should exercise control over it, ARMENPRESS reports, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during the expanded-format session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
Referring to the speech of the Prime Minister of Armenia regarding the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijani President Aliyev claimed that Azerbaijan did not block any corridor. According to Aliyev, it is open.
"And on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which you recognize, there is a checkpoint in accordance with all international norms. That border checkpoint is located 20 meters from the position of Russian peacekeepers," Aliyev said.
He claimed that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are moving peacefully to Armenia through that checkpoint.
Regarding the "Zangezur Corridor" wording, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan initiated that wording, it is their right to initiate what they consider legal and correct. According to Aliyev, the Russian Federation and other countries also support it.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded, "It is very interesting to hear that Russia supports the program you talked about. I am hearing about it for the first time. I know that Russia supports the unblocking of all transport and economic routes in our region."
Then the Prime Minister addressed and corrected Aliyev's "Lachin road" formulation, reminding that according to the trilateral declaration, there is no Lachin road, there is a Lachin corridor, which according to the same statement should be under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces.
“No one else should exercise any control in that corridor. What is happening there is a direct violation of the trilateral declaration. You said that the corridor is open, we don't see it, we don't think so. That is why we consider it important that an international mission be sent to both Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh, which will assess the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh," said Pashinyan, noting that since December, unfortunately, there has been a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, as a result of the closure of Lachin Corridor, the necessary deliveries are not made.
The Prime Minister added that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows about it very well, because they have talked about it more numerous times.
Asya Darbinyan, Ph.D
The Board of Directors of the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education (Chhange), located on the campus of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey, is pleased to announce the appointment of Asya Darbinyan, Ph.D., as executive director. “The Board is very excited to welcome Asya to our organization,” commented Howard Dorman, Chhange’s Board president. “Asya brings a wealth of experience from her education and the organizations she has worked for in the past that will be of great benefit to Chhange.”
Dr. Darbinyan earned her doctorate in history at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in 2019 and completed her dissertation while teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses as a Fellow in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University. She also taught courses on genocide and women, the history of the Holocaust, and on comparative genocides as a postdoctoral scholar at the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University and as a visiting professor at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Dr. Darbinyan served as the deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan, Armenia. As a scholar, educator and administrator, she has dedicated her career to raising awareness of and educating about genocide and refugee crises around the globe since she knows that education is key to genocide and mass atrocity prevention.
“I am honored to join this noble organization. Throughout my career, I have admired Chhange as a pioneer and leader in Holocaust and genocide education for over 40 years, standing up against injustice and hate in all its forms,” Dr. Darbinyan stated. “Continuing to build on Chhange’s incredible legacy, I am enthused by the opportunity to work with our dedicated, hardworking and creative team of professionals, educators and volunteers. Together we will reinforce and build new strategic partnerships to support Chhange’s mission and vision.”
Dr. Darbinyan may be contacted at [email protected] or at the Chhange office, 732-224-1889.
Founded in 1979, Chhange’s mission is to educate about the Holocaust, genocide and human rights; promote the elimination of racism, antisemitism and all forms of prejudice; and develop creative programs regarding these crucial human issues.
The author, Catherine Yesayan in front of Toronto’s St. Mary’s Church
Today I’d like to tell you about the Armenian diaspora in Toronto, the capital of the province of Ontario in south-east of Canada, which is the most populous and a multicultural city of Canada. Toronto is home to around 65,000 Armenians.
The modern Armenian diaspora was formed largely as a result of the Armenian Genocide, after World War I. However, in historical terms, the Armenian diaspora has existed for the last two millennia.
There’s evidence that Armenian communities were present during the Achaemenid (550-330 B.C.) and Sassanid (224–651 A.D.) Persian Empires. Also, some Armenians were relocated to less populated Byzantium areas to defend the eastern and northern borders of the Byzantine Empire (330-1453 A.D.). The Armenian settlement of Canada is more recent, but still has deep historic roots.
The first Armenian on record to settle in Canada was a man named Garabed Nergarian, who arrived at Port Hope in Ontario in 1887. Within the next 10 years, about 140 more Armenians arrived in Ontario.
After the Hamidian massacres of the mid-1890s, Armenian families from the Ottoman Empire began settling in Ontario. After the Armenian Genocide in 1915, approximately 2,000 survivors— mostly women and children — came to Canada as refugees.
From 1923 to 1924 some 100 Armenian boys, aged eight to 12-years-old, that were orphaned during the genocide, were brought to Georgetown in Ontario from Corfu, Greece. The effort of bringing the boys to Georgetown was spearheaded by the Armenian-Canadian Relief Fund and was dubbed: “The Noble Experiment.” It was Canada’s first humanitarian act on an international scale. The boys eventually came to be called “The Georgetown Boys.”
The Georgetown Boys
The Armenian orphans lived, worked, and were educated on Cedarvale Farm near Georgetown. The boys were largely trained to work at the farms.
The assistant superintendent at the school during that time was Aris Alexanian—an Armenian. He helped the boys start a newsletter called “Ararat.” The newsletter was written and published by the boys and used as a tool to improve their English language skills. By 1927, a total of 91 of the original boys were placed on farms throughout Ontario. The majority of them became Canadian citizens.
In 1929, the refugee boys’ home was renamed the Cedarvale School. In addition to the boys, about 40 girls and women were taken in by the Canadian government.
In 2010, the Georgetown Farmhouse, now the Cedarvale Community Center, was designated as a municipal historic site honoring the Armenian boys who lived there. An Ontario Heritage Trust plaque is installed at the site.
A comprehensive book on the life of the Armenian Georgetown Boys was written by Jack Apramian in 1976. “The Georgetown Boys” is written in the first person, since Apramian himself was a Georgetown Boy who arrived with the first group in 1923. The boys retained some of their Armenian heritage while facing pressure to assimilate. Apramian’s original self-published book was revised by Lorne Shirinian and was republished by the Zoryan Institute in 2009.
Coming to the present day, what better time to share my observations of today’s Armenian community in Toronto? On Monday, September 12, I flew from Quebec City to Toronto. Anahit, my high school friend from Tehran, with whom I still keep in touch, picked me up from the airport and drove me to my Airbnb room where I had made prior reservations.
We arrived at the room around 9 p.m. I was tired and hungry. Fortunately, Anahit had the foresight to pack a dinner and some snacks for me. Thanks, Anahit, for your generous food package.
Once I ate my delicious dinner, I unpacked my luggage and crashed in my bed. For the following day, I had made reservations to visit Niagara Falls. I woke up early, had breakfast that Anahit had packed, then called an Uber and arrived in downtown Toronto to take the tour of Niagara Falls.
Visiting Niagara Falls had been on my bucket list for many, many years. It definitely didn’t disappoint—a truly spectacular and epic experience. The tour included a short boat trip to get close to the Falls and experience the powerful mist. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The following day, my cousin Edith, who lives in Toronto, had arranged to show me some interesting sites. She and her husband picked me up around noon and drove me to Lake Ontario to enjoy the Scarborough Bluffs. They showed me how, over millions of years, the water had eroded parts of the bluffs and had created very interesting standing columns.
After spending an hour or more in nature and enjoying the breathtaking views of Lake Ontario, and wondering how the the columns were formed, we went to a casual eatery to have a late lunch. Then they dropped me at my room.
As we were driving back, my eyes caught the sight of numerous high-rises along the two sides of the freeway. I was truly stunned to see the multitude of skyscrapers. With my amateur opinion, I may say that Toronto must be among the cities with the most high-rises.
On the second part of the day, my friend Anahit had arranged to meet me with another old friend and go out for an early dinner to an Armenian restaurant called Lavash, which was in the proximity of where I was staying. They picked me up and we drove to the restaurant.
The other friend, whose name is Anik, was also a high school classmate, however I had not kept in touch with her since we had separated more than fifty years ago. We reminisced about the past and also talked about the present.
Anik was one of the smartest girls in our class and she had ended up becoming an airline pilot. I hope that one day, in a future column, I will write about her interesting life. I remember that she had a knack for fixing our hair just as they do at salons. She also had the best spelling skills of all the other girls I knew at school.
The Lebanese-Mediterranean food of Lavash restaurant, like our conversation, was superb. Although there were only a few occupied tables, I noticed that several customers came to pick up take-out.
Lavash is situated in Toronto’s North York Borough, where many Armenians have made their homes. However, Scarborough, which is next door to North York, has the highest concentration of Armenians.
On the third and the last day of my stay in Toronto, my cousin had made a prior arrangement to meet with the Very Reverend Vartan Tachjian at St. Mary’s Armenian Church in North York. The church is under the auspices of the Holy See of Cilicia of Lebanon.
Around noon Edith and her husband picked me up and took me to the church to meet with the Reverend Tachjian and to get some information about the Armenian community.
First let me give you a little background on the Very Reverend Tachjian, and then let’s get right into the Armenian community and the two churches I visited that day.
Vartan Tachjian was born in Syria. He graduated from the Theological Seminary in Antelias in Lebanon. In 2014, he arrived to Montreal from Lebanon to serve there. Five years later, in 2019, he moved to Toronto, where he began to preside over the St. Mary’s church.
In 1979, the Armenian Relief Society had opened an Armenian school, for students from kindergarten to high school. However, the Holy See of the Catholicosate of Cilicia had no Armenian Church yet.
Four years later, in 1983, a petition by the Armenian community was passed to build a church. The prelacy put an open call to all Armenian architects around the world to submit plans. Harout Mardirossian, who is my cousin’s husband, won the design competition.
In 1986, the construction of the church began and it took four years to finish. On May 27, 1990, the new building was consecrated and its first Holy Mass was celebrated. The Church was officially named St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Church has a ladies auxiliary group, who serve coffee and sweets every Sunday after the church mass. They also prepare food for Հոգեճաշ or “Soul-lunch” after interment.
Adjacent to the church is the school, built by ARS. which today has a nursery, a kindergarten, and primary grades up to 4th grade. The upper grades are housed at another building, close by, which also serves as an Armenian Youth Center and sports complex. It offers a theater with a 500-seat capacity. It also has a full-sized gymnasium.
The Armenian youth center and high school in Toronto
In proximity to the church, there’s also an Armenian Community Center with a magnificent banquet hall. The center offers a vast array of amenities, including a conference hall, meeting and seminar rooms, as well as a café and restaurant.
After visiting the St. Mary’s church, and the close-by sites, we drove to the Holy Trinity Church.
Since 1928, the Holy Trinity Church of Toronto has served the Armenian community. Over the years, the church has moved a number of times until, by the generosity and determination of the community members and its leaders, the current building was built in 1987 in Scarborough.
The church has numerous Armenian Family Support Services under a center called “Barev Centre,” which works with issues relating to the elderly, women’s shelter, and Newcomer’s Volunteer Programs.
Other activities of Barev Centre includes: St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Saturday School, from kindergarten to 8th grade; Sassoun Folk Dance Ensemble; Youth; Lousapem; a Theatre Group; as well as junior and senior choir. Barev Centre also has committees which organizes Open Golf, Walk-a-Thons, and many more events.
Next to the church, there’s an Armenian General Benevolent Union property which was an Armenian cultural and educational center. In October 2018, the AGBU Toronto Chapter issued a statement announcing that it could no longer afford to pay its Center’s operational costs. Fortunately, the church was able to raise the large sum of 8.5 million Canadian dollars to save the building from selling to other entities.
I’d like to add that there are three memorial monuments dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in Toronto. Two of them are next to the Holy Trinity Church and the other one is situated in front of the St. Mary’s church.
In Toronto there are four more Armenian churches: Armenian Catholic Church Of Toronto, the Evangelical Brotherhood, Armenian Brotherhood Bible Church, and Armenian Evangelical Church.
As I am sure, you may know that the month of May has a special significance for us Armenians. May 28 is widely celebrated by Armenians as a day that, in 1918, after 600 years of colonization, we regained sovereignty over our historical lands.
In March of 2022, the Ontario Legislative Assembly proclaimed the month of May as “Armenian Heritage Month.” Armenian Heritage Month is an opportunity to educate Canadians about the Armenian struggles and the achievements they have made.
Even before the dedication of the month of May as Armenian “Heritage Month,” Armenians of Toronto had created a Heritage Day called “Dohmig-Or.”
Usually the ARS has been in charge of the Heritage Day by organizing activities during the day and a black-tie gala, where a community in the Diaspora is chosen to be presented. Last year the theme was the “Armenian Quarter” in Jerusalem.
At the gala there were presentations, including informative lectures, speeches and slide shows. At the banquet, attendees had the opportunity to buy items from the Holy Land, such as religious artifacts and ceramics made in Jerusalem. The “Dohmig-Or” has been celebrated for almost three decades in Toronto.
To finish my report, I should mention that the Armenian Community of Toronto had a great impact on the Syrian refugee crisis. In 2015 and 2016, the community privately sponsored about 2,800 refugees at almost no cost to the city and the Canadian Government, saving in excess of $30 million in relocation costs.
This concludes my report of the Armenian community of Toronto, which I found to be very vibrant and close-knit.
Activists are likely to continue protests in central Yerevan through mid-May to call for the release of Gayane Hakobyan. Hakobyan is suspected of attempting to kidnap the son of the prime minister of Armenia. Several hundred protesters blocked Arshakunyats Avenue, and then gathered in front of the Shengavit District Court of General Jurisdiction, May 19-20.
Heightened security and localized transport disruptions are likely near protest sites. While the gatherings will probably pass peacefully, minor skirmishes between police and participants remain possible.
Avoid the protests as a safety precaution. Allow additional time to reach destinations in central Yerevan. Heed instructions of authorities.
PRESS RELEASE German-Armenian Society Contact: Dr. Raffi Kantian E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.deutscharmenischegesellschaft.de__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!oAtCmNpAoZ-TbXg_1VPG5WRzzJ02UbSQMDyP5C6oJ7Pj96IsOuTl4EvUTyfbuWV719jq1oNcP2xIXqeMYi1a$
ZOOM talk on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. CET.
With DR. EWA ERNST-DZIEDZIC, Spokeswoman for Human Rights, Foreign
Policy, Migration and LGBTIQ of the Green Club in the Austrian National
Council (one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament), Vienna
on
"The Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh: A View from
Austria"
For participation registration is necessary. Interested parties are
kindly asked to send an e-mail with their first name, last name, and
affiliation by May 22 to [email protected].
The language of the event is German. Additional information: Two quotes that illustrate the speaker's stance on Nagorno-Karabakh:
1. Motion for a resolution on the conflict hotspot Nagorno-Karabakh
adopted - harsh criticism of Turkey (14.10.2020).
A motion for a resolution on the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh tabled
by MEPs Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic (Greens) and Pamela
Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ) was adopted unanimously. In this statement, the
Federal Government, in particular the Federal Minister for European and
International Affairs, is requested to continue to advocate an immediate
cessation of hostilities and compliance with international law on a
bilateral and multilateral level. The focus should be on the obligations
under international law to protect the civilian population and civilian
infrastructure. In this sense, MEPs advocate that the EU provide
humanitarian aid to the affected civilian population and use its
influence on all actors involved in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
to ensure access to humanitarian aid for the care of the civilian
population. In addition, bilateral humanitarian assistance should also
be provided. Furthermore, MEPs advocate that the EU use its influence on
all actors involved, in particular Turkey, to stop external interference
in the conflict, such as arms deliveries to the parties to the conflict,
and to work towards a rapid de-escalation.
2 Ernst-Dziedzic/Stögmüller on Nagorno-Karabakh: EU must show clear
stance in conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan (22.01.2023)
Greens: Double standards in the South Caucasus undermine EU credibility
and endanger stability in the region
Vienna (OTS) - "The international community and the EU must now take an
unequivocal position and make it absolutely clear: Breaches of the
ceasefire and international law will not be tolerated under any
circumstances," says Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, foreign policy spokeswoman of
the Greens, and emphasizes: "The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is not
new. It has already - with strong interference of third powers,
especially Turkey and Russia, and previously the Soviet Union -
significantly led to the destabilization of the first independent
republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the beginning of the 20th
century. It is this constellation - against the backdrop of Russia's war
of aggression on Ukraine - that continues to cause instability."
The foreign policy spokeswoman demands, "In the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, everything must now be done to unblock the Lachin
Corridor and thus ensure access to humanitarian aid before the situation
escalates further." Azerbaijan has already been blockading the Lachin
Corridor, the lifeline of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, since December
last year. As a result, some 120,000 Armenians are cut off from supplies
of food, medicine and fuel.
Text Data
09:27,
YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. No significant ceasefire violations were recorded overnight on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Ministry of Defense said on May 12.
The situation was relatively stable as of 08:30, it added.
The four Armenian troops who were wounded in the May 11 Azerbaijani attack in the direction of Sotk are in non-life-threatening condition under medical supervision.
11:32, 9 May 2023
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. The chief of Armenia’s top law enforcement agency has said that the criminal probes into the ‘fifth columnists’ who operated within the Armenian military will eventually reveal those responsible for the defeat in the 2020 Second Nagorno Karabakh War.
“The fifth column existed and still exists, and numerous [criminal] cases are being investigated in this regard,’ Chairman of the Investigative Committee Argishti Kyaramyan told reporters on May 9. “Some of the cases have already been concluded, some were made public, but some remain undisclosed due to the interests of the investigation, but the time will come when our society will get the answers to all questions of concern, it will clearly know who those fifth columnists are, because of whom and why we lost, and how the circumstances of this defeat began and ended. I promise you this,” Kyaramyan said.
Asked on the alleged desertions in the military during the war, Kyaramyan confirmed that there are multiple criminal investigations into alleged desertion and other cases but refused to disclose numbers.