Author: Greg Madatian

Deputy PM Avinyan offers congratulation on Labor Day

Greg Madatian

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 15:44, 1 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 1, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, State of Emergency Commandant, Tigran Avinyan addressed a congratulatory message on the Labor Day.

The message says:

“Dear compatriots,

Work is one of the driving forces of civilization. Person is self-exercised, creates a value thanks to work, at the same time ensuring his welfare and that of his family. Work is also the base of public welfare.

I am confident that Armenia will manage to make a bold step and transition from the developing countries to the list of developed states through organized, effective and smart work. In order to implement this ambitious agenda the constant development of the human capital – the knowledge, capacities and skills of women and men, is very vital. Therefore, the progress of education and science must be our priority.

It’s also important that the rights of workers must be protected and we must have a work-entertainment harmony. Despite the major achievements in this matter we still need to pass a long path to achieve the desired. We will succeed in this only through employee-employer-public administration close cooperation and dialogue.

I congratulate all of us on the International Day of Labor and Workers. I am sure that we will build strong and successful Armenia through joint work”.

Armenian FM holds phone talk with Italian counterpart

Greg Madatian

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 15:00,

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan held on April 29 a telephone conversation with Italy’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Luigi di Maio, the Armenian MFA told Armenpress.

“On behalf of the Armenian people and government, FM Mnatsakanyan expressed support to the good people of Italy on effectively addressing the challenges caused by the pandemic and quickly overcoming it.

The Armenian FM introduced his Italian counterpart on the actions and programs taken by the Armenian government to prevent the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and mitigate its economic-social consequences.

In the context of fighting COVID-19 and eliminating its consequences the two FMs exchanged views on the new initiatives of the international cooperation.

Coming to the bilateral agenda-related issues, FM Mnatsakanyan stated that Armenia attaches special importance to the development of relations based on the common Armenian-Italian civilizational values. In this regard they praised the high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Italy, as well as outlined the future steps to further strengthen and expand the cooperation in the fields of mutual interest.

During the phone talk the ministers also touched upon broad range of international and regional security issues”, the Armenian MFA said in a statement.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenpress: Armenia Premier, First league football teams undergo testing before re-starting training

Greg Madatian

Armenia Premier, First league football teams undergo testing before re-starting training

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 11:48,

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Premier League Lori FC players have tested negative for the coronavirus, the Football Federation of Armenia said.

The coaches and other staff of the team were also tested, and all results came back negative.

Earlier Ararat FC players and staff were also tested. Results were negative.

The authorities allowed the football federation to resume trainings of Premier and First League teams starting April 23. The football federation was provided with coronavirus test kits and players and coaching staffs of all teams must undergo testing before starting the training.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Iran opposes any violent action on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: envoy

Greg Madatian
Mehr News Agency, Iran

TEHRAN, Apr. 18 (MNA) – Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh said that Iran condemns any move that would undermine the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to the UN resolutions and documents, the occupied territories must be returned to Azerbaijan, said Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh, according to Trend.

Iran has always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the ambassador said.

Jahangirzadeh added that the Islamic Republic of Iran was one of the first countries to offer assistance and mediation in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and positive steps have been taken in this direction.

The ambassador said that there is a need for stability and cooperation in the region, adding that Iran is pleased that Azerbaijan has always demonstrated its readiness for a peaceful solution to this conflict.

Commenting on the video footage of Iranian trucks allegedly transporting goods to Nagorno Karabakh, he said it is fake and unreliable.

Talking about the recently held so-called "elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh, he noted that Iran condemns any move that would undermine the negotiation process on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Such actions will not help resolve the conflict and will only complicate it. The Armenian side must prove its claim to be sincere in the discussions, but their actions prove the opposite," he said.

Recently, a video was posted on social media allegedly showing transportation of goods and fuel to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan by Iranian trucks. The Iranian side said that the footage was fake.

MNA/FNA 13990130000827

All staffers of Yerevan City Hall donate part of salaries for bonuses to public health workers

Greg Madatian

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 15:42, 8 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan has signed an order to award 1800 city health workers who are on the frontlines in the battle against the coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, City Hall staffers and employees of all administrative districts of Yerevan have donated a total of more than 130,000,000 drams from their monthly salaries for this purpose.

So far, 10 health workers in Yerevan have contracted the novel coronavirus on the line of duty. Another 41 are quarantined. But the call of duty is above and beyond the danger of contracting the potentially fatal virus, and dozens of volunteers have joined the city’s health workers in combating the outbreak.

All public hospitals and clinics of Yerevan are working in an emergency mode amid the coronavirus crisis.

“Ambulance crews, all geared-up and ready, are on the frontlines,” the Director of the city’s ambulance service Taguhi Stepanyan said. “The ambulance service is always on an emergency mode, but moreover during these days,” she said.

The city’s outpatient clinics – the polyclinics – are also carrying out monitoring of self-quarantined citizens.

Yerevan City Hall has provided all healthcare clinics with protective gears.

Yerevan City Hall’s Healthcare Department Director Kamsar Babinyan said they have deployed dedicated buses for transporting health workers only.

“Each of us can join the battle by staying home and preventing the spread of the virus”, the City Hall said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




Two more coronavirus cases registered in Artsakh

Greg Madatian
Panorama, Armenia
April 9 2020

The Artsakh Republic health ministry reported that two new cases of coronavirus was confirmed in the country on Thursday after three performed tests. One of the infected citizens is the daughter-in-law of the previously confirmed patient who had been placed on self-isolation on April 7. The second patient visited the republic from Armenia and turned out to have come from a at-risk area. Before testing , the latter had been on self-isolation. He will be transported to Armenia soon, the Information Center on Coronavirus updates reported.
To remind, the first case of the novel coronavirus in Artsakh was confirmed in the village Mirik of Kashatagh region. The citizen was transported to Kashatagh’s hospital on April 2 via an ambulance and had been put into isolation.

Taking into account the small population of Mirik, it was decided to isolate the whole village and establish control over the movement. 17 citizens who directly contacted him, have been self-isolated in advance. 

Black Easter: On this day Ottoman Turks Begins Genocide on Thracian Greeks

Greg Madatian
Greek City Times
April 6 2020

 *Fleeing Eastern Thrace by rail (c. 1922). Courtesy: D. Mavridis.

 


April 6 is a painful day for every Greek as it marks the beginning of the Thracian Greek genocide by the Ottoman Empire. It was Monday after Easter in 1914, now known as “Black Easter,” when the systematic extermination of the Greeks and their expulsion from the region of Eastern Thrace, that is now a part of Turkey, began.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Greeks in Eastern Thrace accounted for approximately 250,000 people. However, when the Ottoman Turks unleashed their genocide, many Greeks from Eastern Thrace were exiled to Greece and 100,000 transferred to Anatolia. About only half of those transferred to the interior of the Ottoman Empire were eventually transported to Greece, and the rest either killed or Turkified.

*Montpelier Examiner (Idaho), 1 Aug 1913

As recorded by the Greek Genocide Resource Center, Aspasia Constantinides an eye-witness to the deportation, recounted:

After a two hour march, we reached a deep and narrow ravine where we found Corporal Ismail with a number of immigrants, apparently waiting for us. As soon as he saw us, he ordered our drivers to stop, and dragging the women out of the carts and beat them savagely. They snatched the earrings the women wore and in so doing cut their ears; they forced them to undress in order to get at the necklaces they wore, and often tore them off their necks with such violence that in one instance a woman’s throat was cut, causing the blood to flow in torrents.

A report by the Consular Agent in Kirklareli on April 23, 1914, stated that the hodjas (Muslim schoolmasters) in local mosques were inciting hatred of Christians and Greeks, and officials were arming local Turks with army rifles to commit crimes.

*Port Pirie Recorder and Western Mail (South Australia), 19 May 1914, page 2.

*Fleeing Eastern Thrace by rail (c. 1922). Courtesy: D. Mavridis.

he slaughter ended on October 11, 1922 when the Greeks of Eastern Thrace who refused to be Turkified were given 15 days to leave their ancestral homes of thousands of years following the signing of the armistice at Mudanya at the end of the Greco-Turkish War.

In speaking with Greek City Times, historian Marios Mathios-Josefidis, explained how Eastern Thrace came into Turkish hands.

“One of the less known facts about Eastern Thrace is that Turkey annexed it without even one shot fired. The Greek government and Eleftherios Venizelos following the Asia Minor Catastrophe had to repel claims from Turkey that demanded Greece to pay war reparations,” Mathios-Josefidis explained.

“Facing a big financial problem because of the arrival of the Greek refugees from Minor Asia and a society that was tired after 10 years of conflict – The Balkan Wars, First World War and the Asia Minor Campaign – Greece stepped back and decided to offer Eastern Thrace to the Turks as war reparation,” he continued.

The historian then explains that the mass slaughter of Greeks in Eastern Thrace could have taken a very different course of events.

“Was it a necessary move?” he questions. “As a historian, I do not have the right to make conclusions of ‘what if,’ but having knowledge of the situations during this period, sure I can tell that it was a hurried decision. The Greek Army in Thrace Army was very strong and capable of repelling any attack from the Turks. But the most important factor was that the Turks had to travel by sea [to reach Thrace] as Constantinople was under British control. The problem for the Turks was that they did not have a Navy to do this,” Mathios-Josefidis said.

“On the other hand, the Greek Royal Navy was strong and experienced. Somebody can claim that the Great Powers forced us to give this historical province to the Turks. History has proven to us many times that nations that want to be pressed, finally press because of other powers, and I mean this especially for leaderships. Unfortunately, our leadership at this time was not as decided as it had to be,” concluded the historian.

228 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Russia in one day: TASS

Greg Madatian

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 13:52,

YEREVAN, MARCH 28, ARMENPRESS. 228 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed in Russia in one day, bringing the total number of infected people to 1264, TASS reported citing the anti-coronavirus task force.

The cases were registered in 62 regions of Russia, 114 are in Moscow.

So far, 49 patients have recovered.

A new death case has been reported. The total number of deaths in Russia from COVID-19 is 4.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Deputy Chief of Police told who can visit Artsakh these days and presented number of violators of self-isolation regime

Greg Madatian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.As at 12:00 on March 28, 1889 citizens were brought to administrative responsibility for violation of the regime of self-isolation. Deputy Chief of the RA  Police Hayk Mhryan at a press conference announced this on March 28.  

At the same time, he also informed that 1843 cases of violation of  the rules for the transportation of persons in vehicles (more than  two persons) were also recorded, passengers have been disembarked.   "48 drivers were subjected to administrative penalties for  transporting persons more than the norm," the Deputy Chief  of Police  emphasized.  

Speaking about travel restrictions in Artsakh, Mhryan informed that  according to the restrictions introduced, since March 26, the border  between Armenia and Artsakh has been closed in 4 directions.  

"At present, people with a residence permit, as well as vehicles  carrying out cargo transportation, trucks, regardless of congestion,  and cars can only drive in Artsakh if there is cargo.  Observers and  journalists can also go to Artsakh, if they have the appropriate  documents. Organizations making supplies for the Artsakh Defense Army  have the opportunity to cross the border freely, "concluded the  deputy chief of the RA police. 

39 new cases bring COVID-19 total number in Armenia to 329

Greg Madatian

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 10:18,

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. 39 people have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total cumulative number of cases in Armenia to 329, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said as of March 27, 10:00 GMT+4.

Out of the 329, 18 people recovered and 1 patient with underlying health conditions died. The remaining 310 are active cases and are hospitalized.

Overall, 1625 of implemented tests have come back negative.

More than 100 quarantined people have been released.

 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan