Author: Greg Madatian

In 2022 Armenia hosted tourists mainly from Russia, Iran and Germany

Greg Madatian

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 15:50, 3 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. 590,000 tourists visited Armenia in the first half of 2022, Sisian Boghossian, the Chair of the Tourism Committee, told a press conference in Armenpress, adding that this figure has significantly increased compared to the same period of the previous year.

“Most tourists visit Armenia from our targeted markets – Russia (around 56%). Then, it is followed by Iran, Germany, Georgia and the United States. We are trying to activate both our traditional targeted markets and attract new directions with different tourism products and offers”, she said.

Sisian Boghossian said that tourism figures in Armenia have greatly declined because of COVID-19, but the activeness of this year shows that the rates are gradually restoring. She stated that they have targeted France and the United Arab Emirates as new directions in terms of attracting tourists to Armenia. Active works are expected on this direction. The procedure of obtaining visa has already been facilitated for the UAE citizens. Recently, Armenia has also facilitated visa procedures for the citizens of Egypt. Mutual cognitive visits for tour operators are expected soon.

From the perspective of attracting tourists, importance is attached to the diversification of a tourism result and the holding of major events, tournaments and concerts.

Artists’ Union of Armenia prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary, chair says

Greg Madatian
Panorama
Armenia –

The Artists' Union of Armenia is preparing to mark its 90th anniversary this year. In an interview with Panorama.am, the chairman of the union, Suren Safaryan, said that the jubilee celebrations would take place in autumn.

"We have two salons a year: the Spring Salon and the Autumn Salon. The latter will mark the 90th anniversary of the Artists' Union. The event will feature an exhibition, and surprises are also expected, but I won't go into the details," he said.

Safaryan states artists are highly enthusiastic about joining the union, and its commission is set to select new members among numerous applicants in late 2022.

According to the Artists' Union chair, artists living both in Armenia and around the world are today facing a number of problems, adding they just need to “have patience and work on solving problems one by one, by priority.”

"The problems are related to workshops, sales of artworks, seniority… We do not have a law on artists and are working on it. There are countries where such a law has been passed. We hope that we will be able to bring it in here too," Safaryan said.

The full interview in Armenian is below.

Hamazkayin Eastern Region announces new executive board

Greg Madatian
 Hamazkayin Eastern U.S. Announcements 0

On Sunday, July 17, 2022, Hamazkayin Eastern Regional Executive had its first meeting of the fiscal year. The meeting began with the official transition from the previous executive body to the newly elected members. 

Outgoing chair Arevig Caprielian expressed her appreciation to her colleagues for their hard work and cooperation in the past year. She wished the new executive members a successful year. 

Outgoing secretary Anny Aghajanian also expressed her well wishes. Both assured the new board of their preparedness to continue to work with Hamazkayin in any way they can.  

Before continuing with the agenda, the newly elected board assigned the officers for this year as follows:

Hasmig Aprahamyan, Chairlady
Kari Ghezarian, Vice-Chairlady
Maroush Paneyan-Nigon, Secretary
Hoori Samuelian, Treasurer
Vartivar Keshishian, Advisor
Nayda Voskerijian, Advisor
Khajak Arakelian, Advisor

Caprielian will still serve on the executive, representing Hamazkayin Central Executive. Temporary executive chair Ani Tchaghlasian also congratulated the board before leaving the meeting. Hamazkayin Eastern Regional Executive 2022-23 immediately began planning for the new year.

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The Eastern USA region of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society, consisting of nine chapters, constitutes one of the branches of the worldwide Hamazkayin family, founded in 1928.


Russians change Gyumri’s rhythm

Greg Madatian
 

ByArmine Avetisyan
Photo: Armine Avetisyan/OC Media.

The war in Ukraine drove tens of thousands of Russian citizens to relocate to Armenia. While most have settled in Yerevan, high rents in the capital have pushed some to seek out other options.

Since the start of the war, Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport has been as busy as ever; incoming flights, however, don’t only bring in tourists who want to relax in the picturesque mountains of Armenia, but also thousands of Russians who intend to settle in the country.

According to official numbers, around 142,000 Russians crossed the border during the first quarter of the year — a significant jump from the comparatively paltry 43,000 recorded in the same period last year.

Illustration: Armine Avetisyan/OC Media.

Some of those who come return after a while, and others use Armenia as a transit country to circumvent direct flight bans to and from Russia, but tens of thousands choose to stay.

Vitaly Sitsin, a 48-year-old programmer by profession, moved to Yerevan from the Russian city of Perm two months ago.

‘Our company closed [in Perm] and moved to Yerevan. I am gradually adapting to life here’, Vitaly told OC Media.

Vitaly’s employer rents an apartment for him and his coworkers who have temporarily settled in the Armenian capital. He said his rent exceeds $1,000 a month, and he is happy that he is not the one paying it. Rents for some apartments in the Armenian capital have doubled since the war broke out on 24 February.

[Read more on OC Media: Evictions surge as rents skyrocket in Yerevan and Tbilisi]

‘I have many friends who moved to Armenia like me, but not all of them stayed in Yerevan’, the programmer said. ‘Many prefer to move to other cities where life is relatively affordable.’ 

One such city is Gyumri, the second-largest in the country with a population of 100,000. Developed and affordable, it has become the go-to for those who have been priced out of the country’s capital. Even Vitaly has been mulling moving there if he decides to stay in Armenia longer, he said.

Ilya and Irina, a Russian couple from Moscow, thought long and hard about where to go after the war started before settling on Gyumri. Ilya is a programmer, who could easily do his work remotely, while his wife, a carpenter, can take her craft wherever she goes.

‘You know, we have adapted to life here, we love this city’, Ilya told OC Media. ‘We are many here, there are bars in the city that are filled with Russian citizens, especially in the evening.’

The couple pays about $500 for a four-room apartment located in the centre of the city, which is a far cry from the skyrocketing rent prices of Yerevan.

[Read more on OC Media: Evictions surge as rents skyrocket in Yerevan and Tbilisi]

At first glance, everything seems to be going great for the couple; they’ve settled in, made friends, and plan on staying in the city for the next few years.

Now, their only concern is continuing the education of their 12-year-old son, Danila.

‘We need a Russian school. We are still looking’, said Irina. ‘If we don’t find a good school here, maybe we will look in Tbilisi as well, though we think we will find one: we are new, we do not know everything well yet.’

Old Gyumri. Photo: Anahit Harutyunyan/OC Media.

‘Russian citizens have changed the rhythm of our lives’, said Liza Gasparyan, a tour company operator based in Gyumri.

‘There were some problems, in the beginning, there was even artificial inflation in the real estate market’, she explained. ‘The issue was settled, although not so quickly.’

Gasparyan also noted that despite the initial inflationary shock stemming from the Russians' arrival, there has also been an economic benefit to the Russians’ arrival and their frequenting of the city’s establishments. More than before, Gyumri, she said, ‘buzzes with life almost every day.

Gasparyan thinks that due to their warm reception, some of the guests may even consider permanently residing in Gyumri.

Since the very start of the war in Ukraine, 1,600 Russian citizens have applied for Armenian citizenship. Many others have also applied for residency permits as well, with around 350 Russian nationals applying for residency between 24 February and 13 April.

There are three types of residence statuses in Armenia, explained Nelli Davtyan, a public relations officer at the Armenian Migration Service. 

‘A residence status is granted to any foreigner if they substantiate that there are circumstances justifying their stay in the territory of Armenia for a period of one or more years’, Davtyan said. ‘Such circumstances may be for education, work, business, or being a family member of an Armenian citizen.’

According to Davtyan, roughly 200 Russian citizens have also applied for refugee status in the republic so far.

A refugee application in Armenia usually takes anywhere from three to six months to be processed. Should a person be recognised as a refugee, they are afforded the right to live legally in Armenia for an indefinite period, however, they are not allowed to own land or vote.

If their application gets rejected, they are considered illegal immigrants and are forced to leave Armenia.

‘The right to asylum is a fundamental right; we are open to all foreigners who want to obtain refugee status. Everyone's claims are considered individually’, Davtyan said

By Armine Avetisyan

Armine Avetisyan is a print and broadcast journalist from Armenia who has covered social and political issues in the country since 2007. She holds a Master’s Degree from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA).

 

Azerbaijani press: European Parliament’s rhetoric doesn’t correspond to EU’s strategic direction – opinion

Greg Madatian
Politics Materials 20 July 2022 21:00


BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 20. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has reasonably criticized the anti-Azerbaijani approach of some members of the European Parliament, while receiving a delegation led by the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, political analyst Jeyhun Ahmadli told Trend.

The rhetoric of the European Parliament does not correspond to the EU's strategic direction.

He outlined the high-level relations between Azerbaijan and the EU.

"The EU stands as a strategic partner of Azerbaijan both in economic and political issues. Both sides are making considerable efforts to further deepen bilateral ties. However, the European Parliament, which is one of the EU institutions, does not support the mentioned progressive process, but is trying to sabotage it. Some MEPs influenced by the Armenian lobby are trying to achieve the EU-wide recognition of slanderous and biased anti-Azerbaijani resolutions.The relevant process has been going on for years," Ahmadli said.

Among these resolutions was a biased document referring to the alleged destruction of Armenian cultural heritage by Azerbaijan after the second Karabakh war.

"President Ilham Aliyev stressed that since the war ended, there have been numerous visits by representatives of different embassies, politicians, parliament speakers of some European countries, and journalists to Azerbaijan's liberated territories. All of them witnessed the complete destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage. Not the sole foreigner did see the destruction of any Armenian cultural heritage," he noted.

According to him, the critical statements made by President Ilham Aliyev on the European Parliament's pro-Armenian activities reflect the opinion of the entire Azerbaijani people.

"Because this institution actually tries to hide the occupation policy of Armenia. In many cases, the European Parliament is more aggressive towards Azerbaijan than the Armenian parliament," Ahmadli stated.

As he noted, the relevant rhetoric is extremely harmful and incompatible with the strategic line defined by the EU. Azerbaijan wants to deepen its relations with Europe, and MEPs acting under the influence of the Armenian lobby should know that it is impossible to isolate Europe from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan from Europe.

GeoProMining blackmailing Armenian government? – Past

Greg Madatian
Panorama
Armenia –

Against the backdrop of geopolitical developments, Russian businessman Roman Trotsenko's GeoProMining Gold (CEO Roman Khudoliy), which mysteriously acquired a majority stake in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), seems to be backing out of its commitments towards the Armenian government, the Past daily reports.

“Our sources tell us that the ZCMC management has given two main reasons for its inaction: the fall in global copper prices and the shortage of funds due to restrictions on the movement of Russian and Trotsenko-owned capital,” the newspaper says.

“The sources have told Past that last month two senior Armenian officials lobbying Trotsenko tried to “test the waters” for granting ZCMC permission for “selective mining” in the competent government agencies as a preliminary condition of the possible settlement of the situation.

“The officials claimed that GeoProMining warned in case of refusal to give it permission, the current financial and economic situation will be regarded as force majeure and none of the promised projects will be implemented: there will be no copper smelter, nuclear power plant or any solution to the environmental and tailing dump-related problems.

“According to our information, despite the obvious blackmail, the government is aware of the consequences of a possible attempt to grab a "fat slice" of the mine over several years and does not want to make such a deal. Moreover, it is clear that selective mining of ore in terms of mining policy in the civilized world, including Russia, is considered a threat to national security.

“According to our interlocutor, Trotsenko's team wants to easily extract copper from rich areas and make super profits. But the authorities must realize that this will lead to the impoverishment and early closure of the mine, because the mine will thus lose its industrial value. Therefore, such a deal can only be made as a result of a highly dubious political decision,” Past says.

$1.2 million from Kachigian family trust establishes UCLA lectureship in Armenian studies

Greg Madatian
UCLA Newsroom
Armenian language scholar Hagop Kouloujian has been appointed to the position for a five-year term
Jonathan Riggs | 

Key takeaways:

  • Late siblings George and Alice Kachigian were longtime supporters of Armenian scholarship at UCLA.
  • The inaugural lectureship holder, Hagop Kouloujian, seeks to revive Western Armenian by having students compose creative works in the endangered language.

The UCLA Division of Humanities has received a $1.2 million bequest from the estate of siblings George and Alice Kachigian to support the Armenian studies program in the department of Near Eastern languages and cultures. As part of the gift, the department created the Kachigian Family Lectureship in Armenian Language and Culture.

The inaugural holder of the lectureship will be Hagop Kouloujian, a UCLA scholar and instructor who specializes in Western Armenian, a language that since the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century has been spoken almost exclusively by people in the diaspora. Kouloujian was instrumental in having it designated an endangered language by UNESCO in 2010.

“We are grateful for the kindness and visionary support of the Kachigian family,” said David Schaberg, dean of humanities and senior dean of the UCLA College. “Their generosity will contribute to the vitality of this endangered language and culture.”

Los Angeles, with the largest Armenian-speaking population outside Armenia itself, and UCLA are natural settings for such scholarship. Since the launch of the Armenian studies program in 1969, UCLA has been a destination for students interested in the field, and the creation of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute in 2019 cemented the university’s leadership role in Armenian research and public impact programs.

Courtesy of Hagop Kouloujian
Hagop Kouloujian, UCLA’s inaugural Kachigian Family Lecturer in Armenian Language and Culture

Kouloujian’s ongoing Language in Action project at UCLA, funded by the Portugal-based Calouse Gulbenkian Foundation, exemplifies his “creative literacy” approach, which focuses on teaching students by encouraging their own creative output. His students have produced hundreds of pieces, ranging from creative works to nonfiction, with the goal of contributing to the vitality of Western Armenian language and culture.

In May 2022, for example, the department of Near Eastern languages and cultures held an event to celebrate the publication of “Girkov useloo, inchoo hos em?” (“To Say With Passion, Why Am I Here?”), a full-length volume of poetry written in Western Armenian by the late Tenny Arlen, a 2013 UCLA comparative literature graduate who learned the language and wrote most of the collection in Kouloujian’s courses.

Donors George and Alice Kachigian, for whom the lectureship is named, were active members and generous supporters of the Los Angeles Armenian community. Although they moved to Oregon 30 years ago following the deaths of their parents and brother Harold, they continued to support UCLA’s Armenian studies program throughout their lives, providing research funding for faculty in the divisions of social sciences and humanities.

Alice died in 2017, and after George’s death in 2019, the siblings’ estate left generous funding to the Armenian studies program and the department of neurology at UCLA.  

“The Kachigian family were friends to all, donated to many causes and counseled anyone who requested their help. They lived lives of goodness and kindness,” said Rafe Aharonian, trustee of the Kachigian Living Trust. “George, Alice and Harold wanted to help the youth learn more about Armenian heritage, and courses like Dr. Kouloujian’s encourage connections between UCLA students of Armenian heritage who might otherwise not have met.”

The Kachigians’ legacy will live on in all those at UCLA and elsewhere who, through the family’s generosity, have developed a deep connection to and appreciation for Armenian culture and language, said Kouloujian, who will hold the lectureship for five years.  

“My aspiration for this lectureship is to continue to enhance UCLA’s Armenian work with forward-looking activities and community impact projects that will help invigorate the future of this language and culture,” he said. “I want to share the enduring, evolving beauty and power of Armenian with as many people as possible.”

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/bequest-establishes-ucla-lectureship-in-armenian-studies

AW: Cindy Fitzgibbon becomes Boston’s first female broadcast chief meteorologist

Greg Madatian
 Leeza Arakelian Local Spotlight, Diaspora 0

WCVB Chief Meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon (Photo provided by WCVB Channel 5)

Cindy Fitzgibbon has made history in the Boston television news market. After 27 years in the industry, she has been promoted to chief meteorologist at WCVB Channel 5.

“It’s a big honor,” expressed Fitzgibbon. “It is something that I never thought I would see.”

Fitzgibbon, an Armenian American and native New Englander, sat down with the Weekly for a virtual interview almost a week into her new role leading the station’s StormTeam 5. Behind her was a bustling newsroom getting ready for the noon broadcast. 

Her day had started at 1:44 in the morning amid heavy downpours overnight. Fitzgibbon said she allows herself two taps of the snooze button on her iPhone before getting ready to head out the door and make her way into the newsroom in Needham. During her short commute, she’s on the phone with her EyeOpener producer, who is busy building the rundown for the live newscast that begins at 4:30 a.m. Fitzgibbon, who appears on air every five to ten minutes, creates and updates her own weather graphics throughout the fast-paced newscast, which ends at 7 a.m. Then, she does live cut-ins for ABC’s Good Morning America through nine o’clock. After a team meeting at 9:30 a.m., Fitzgibbon goes back on camera for promos and the Midday newscast. She’s off the air at 12:30 p.m. and dedicates the remainder of her day to her family.

“[My kids] have grown up with their meteorologist mom who gets up and goes to work in the middle of the night, but then I’m available. I’m around. I am present. I am involved in what they’re doing,” said the proud mom of two high school athletes, “I stay up as late as I can with them before I have to go to bed to prepare for the next day. It’s the best of both worlds. I get to do both.” 

WCVB announced Fitzgibbon’s promotion following the retirement of veteran meteorologist Harvey Leonard. Fitzgibbon is the first female chief meteorologist in the Boston market, a significant chapter in her career and a celebration of women in the field of broadcast meteorology. In 2018, the American Meteorological Society, of which Fitzgibbon is a member, studied the underrepresentation of female meteorologists in leadership roles. Researchers found that women make up 29 percent of all broadcast meteorologist positions, but only eight percent claim the title of chief. 

“Traditionally, a chief meteorologist has been male, and traditionally, the chief meteorologist works nights Monday through Friday. It’s just kind of the way it always was,” explained Fitzgibbon. “That is clearly not the standard anymore. It was just slow in coming to Boston. Finally, we have our first female chief meteorologist in this market.”

Decades before breaking barriers in Boston, Fitzgibbon was just a young girl growing up near Portland, Maine with an eye to the sky. “I was always very curious about the weather, and I was obsessed with snow,” she said. Fitzgibbon even maintained a journal of snow measurements that she would share with her disinterested friends. “Had there been such a thing as social media and Twitter, I’m sure I would have been sending those amounts in to the local meteorologist,” she said.

One week after graduating from Lyndon State College in Vermont in 1995, Fitzgibbon packed her bags for her first on-air job in Bismarck, North Dakota. “I was as green as green can be,” recalled Fitzgibbon, who, at the age of 21, became that market’s first accredited meteorologist. She would soon move on in 1996 to WPTZ (Burlington, Vermont-Plattsburgh, New York market), where they were starting a brand new morning show. Four years later, she traveled to the Sunshine State and became the first female degreed meteorologist at WBBH in Fort Myers, Florida.

Fitzgibbon would eventually make her way back up the east coast to New England, where she would begin her decades-long career in the Boston market, delivering her morning forecasts at WFXT (Boston 25) and now at WCVB Channel 5.

“The weather is tough here in New England. It’s a craft that I have been trying to perfect for 20 years in this market,” she said. “You’re always learning as a forecaster, but the longer you spend forecasting in an area, the better you get.”

In addition to meteorology and motherhood, Fitzgibbon is also passionate about her Armenian heritage. A descendant of Genocide survivors, Fitzgibbon has fond memories of growing up around her Armenian aunts and cousins. She remembers her maternal grandmother speaking Armenian with her and teaching her the language. “It’s important for me that my kids recognize their heritage and know what that means,” said Fitzgibbon.

During the 2020 Artsakh War, Fitzgibbon helped raise awareness on social media about the atrocities taking place in her homeland. “I felt compelled to put it out there to a broader audience that might not be aware,” she explained. “There was a part of me that was impacted, and I wanted to share my Armenian heritage and share what was happening to draw more attention to it to an audience that might not know about it.”

Fitzgibbon is a frequent headliner of events hosted by Armenian Heritage Park, and she is also a member of the advisory council for the Armenian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA).

Viewers in Boston can continue to count on Fitzgibbon as WCVB’s chief meteorologist to deliver accurate and informative forecasts to start their day. Fitzgibbon says she is also excited to spearhead a Hearst Television initiative called “Forecasting our Future” with special coverage focused on the impacts of climate change on local communities.

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Assistant Editor
Leeza Arakelian is the assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly. She is a graduate of UCLA and Emerson College. Leeza has written and produced for local and network television news including Boston 25 and Al Jazeera America.


Armenia: Audition Process to Select Junior Eurovision 2022 Entrant

Greg Madatian
EuroVoix News
July 13 2022

AMPTV, the Armenian national broadcaster, has confirmed that they will use an audition process to select their Junior Eurovision 2022 entrant.

The Armenian selection for Junior Eurovision 2022 will consist of two audition rounds. In the first round, applicants need to submit a live cover of two different songs. In the second round, a jury will select a winner from those artists who passed the first round. After the winner is selected, the entry with which they will represent Armenia on home ground in Yerevan will be composed for them.

Anyone who wishes to participate in the selection can submit their application between now and August 1. Applicants must be aged between 9 and 14 years old on December 11 2022 and must be Armenian citizens/residents or of Armenian descent. For duos and groups, only one application needs to be filled in per act.

Maléna represented Armenia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with “Qami Qami”. She won the contest with 224 points, giving Armenia their second Junior Eurovision victory. As a result, the 2022 contest will take place in Yerevan.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will take place in Armenia, following the country’s victory at the 2021 contest in Paris. This is the second time Armenia has won the contest, the first being in 2010. To date, the following countries have confirmed participation or expressed their interest:

  • Armenia
  • Bulgaria
  • France
  • Georgia – Mariam Bigvava
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • North Macedonia – Lara Trpčeska and Irina Davidovska
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Spain

Image source: EBU / Andres Putting | Source: AMPTV

Armenia debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, and have had 14 entries to date. The country is one of the most successful in the history of the contest, placing in the top 3 on 7 occasions, and winning twice in 2010 and 2021. Their first victory came from Vladimir Arzumanyan with his song “Mama”, which received 120 points. They won again in 2021 with “Qami Qami” by Maléna. Armenia went on to host the contest on home soil in Yerevan in 2011 and will host again in 2022. Their debut was almost as successful, as Arevik and their song “Erazanq” was just 1 point off the winning score.