Author: John Hovhannisian

Iran and Armenia looking for new investor for Meghri hydropower plant construction

John Hovhannisian
ARKA, Armenia
Oct 31 2017

YEREVAN, October 31. /ARKA/. Armenia and Iran are looking for a new investor for the construction of a hydropower plant on the River of Arax near the town of Meghri in southern Armenia, Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Hayk Harutyunyan said today during a parliamentary discussion on the draft budget for 2018.

According to an agreement, signed between Armenia and Iran back in 2007, the hydroelectric power plant, which was to straddle the border river, was to have the capacity to produce 130 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Construction of the power plant was to start simultaneously in Armenia’s Meghri and Iran's Qarachilar. Each of the stations was to annually produce 793 million kW / h of electricity. 

According to Iranian authorities, the construction was to last for five years and cost $323 million. The funding was to come from an Iranian investment company. This project was designed to give an additional boost to economic development of the region and give also a fresh impetus to improving the efficiency of bilateral economic programs. 

The feasibility work was done by Iranian consulting company Sagab-Gods. The generated energy was to be shipped to Iran via a 230 KW transmission line now under construction. After the facility was to be built it was to be operated for 15 years by the Iranian Farat-Sepasat. The electricity was to be supplied to Iran to pay off the Iranian investment. After 15 years of operation, the hydropower was to become the property of Armenia. 

"Although the agreement has long been in force, the Iranian company has not made any investments to this day, so the governments of Armenia and Iran have to look for another investor," Harutyunyan said today.

The foundation laying ceremony for the Meghri hydropower plant was held on November 8, 2012. However, due to environmental problems related to the reduction of water volume in the Arax River, as well as the increase of water intakes from Turkey in the northern part of Armenia, it was necessary to revise this project towards capacity reduction to about 100 MW, according to the deputy minister. -0-

Alexander Arutunian’s ‘Sayat Nova’ Opera Premiers in London

John Hovhannisian
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5 hours ago

BY ASSADOUR GUZELIAN

LONDON, England – On Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21 at The Questors Theatre in London, The London Armenian Opera presented Alexander Arutunian’s “Sayat Nova” opera in semi-stage format.

In the program, the director, Seta White, gives basic biographical information on ashugh (minstrel) Sayat Nova, and makes certain observations about Arutunian’s opera.

“Alexander Arutunian’s opera, “Sayat Nova,” opens a window into the extraordinary world of eponymous celebrated 18th century troubadour. In this opera, facts are extracted from Sayat Nova’s life, with a healthy dose of artistic license, neatly composed to enable us to follow his journey. We move from the market place in Tbilisi, where he honed his craft, to his days as a minstrel at the court of King Heraclius II, where he fell in love with the King’s sister, Princess Anna, and to the final years of his life as a monk at Haghpat Monastery in Armenia. Arutunian rather cleverly threads in seven of Sayat Nova’s songs to support the drama as it folds.”

It has been the intention of the director to “set the opera in a more contemporary period.”

This is understandable when one considers the difficulties to overcome in staging an opera depicting 18th century events and characters. The fact that the theatre did not have the basic facilities for staging Sayat Nova or any opera in full-stage format, for that matter, is irrelevant. The important consideration is that the LAO does not have the financial resources to cover the cost of such a production.

In any case, most of the music lovers were admirers of Sayat Nova and had come to the theatre with the intention of listening to good music, particularly his songs.  They got more than they bargained for. The soloists, all of whom are acclaimed professionals, sung impeccably both individually and with the 21 member orchestra and 17 member choir, masterfully conducted by Levon Parikian. All contributed in creating a mesmerizing musical atmosphere.

The audience tremendously enjoyed outstanding performances by Berj Karazian, Sayat Nova, Honored Artist of Armenia, Anais Heghoyan, Princess Anna, Aris Nadirian, ashugh and Prince, Arshak Kuzikian, Bazarbashi and King.

Aris Nadirian and Arshak Kuzikian successfully played dual roles, Ashugh/Prince and Bazarbashi/King respectively.

Shake Major Chilingirian, an outstanding choreographer and dancer, as in the past, on this occasion also delighted the audience with her beautiful performance as the court dancer.

The Projection Designer, Natalia Sookias earned the admiration of the audience for creating impressive stage effects.

It is obvious that without the participation of great artists like Aris Nadirian, Levon Parikian, Seta White, Berj Karazian, Anais Heghoyan, Arshak kuzikian, Shake Major Chilingirian and Natalia Sookias such an outstanding production could not be realised. However, let us not forget the contribution of many others, particularly the tireless efforts of committee members of the LAO, headed by David Stephan, the Chairman.

We wholeheartedly congratulate the LAO for presenting a very high quality production of the “Sayat Nova” opera, which won the hearts of music and poetry lovers. Let us not forget that Sayat Nova, besides being a musician, is also a great poet.

Azerbaijani press: Dual standards of European democracy with regard to Catalonia and Karabakh

John Hovhannisian
3 October 2017 16:18 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:

European separatism, a terrible phenomenon corroding Europe, has received a new momentum, after the so-called referendum on independence of the Spanish region of Catalonia. The measures that were taken by the central government to prevent this referendum were unprecedented.

In the week preceding the voting, the central government sent two huge ferries to Catalonia, on board of which there were about 10,000 employees of the Civil Guard. Their main duty was to suppress riots and fight extremism.

A few weeks before this event, arrests all those who, in the central government’s opinion, had contributed to the development of separatism ideas in general and the referendum in particular began in Catalonia.

A few days before the event, the Spanish guardsmen eliminated more than half of 2,315 polling stations, withdrawing urns and ballots from there. Polling stations access to the electronic vote counting system was denied, after which this “referendum” was named by the media as the first Internet war. The Catalonia province itself was flooded with several thousand employees of the Spanish Civil Guard.

However, the Catalans were adamant in wanting to hold a “referendum”, which resulted in mass clashes with the guardsmen. Meanwhile, it is an important fact that the Spanish Civil Guard used rubber bullets and tear gas, batons against the protesters, as well as arrested hundreds of protesters. Doctors said that only in Barcelona about 1,000 people, suffered from the guardsmen’s actions, were treated on October 1.

Now, none of the European leaders even thought to condemn rather harsh actions of the authorities against the Catalans, who are promoting separatism right in the center of Europe.

If authorities of any non-European state acted as decisively as the government of Spain in a similar case, global media outlets would have started showing indignation over what was happening, hysterically accusing the state’s leader of dictatorship and all the mortal sins. However, in this case even the ardent activists from the Human Rights Watch were very sluggish, and quite late to condemn the actions of the Spanish Civil Guard.

The reason why European leaders preferred to silently support Madrid’s actions is quite obvious: next time, similar situation may happen in Germany, Italy, the UK and several other European countries, each of which has a source of separatism, constrained by the most severe methods.

Here we again witness ugly show of double standards of European democracies and biased European media outlets, which hypocritically call, for example, Nagorno-Karabakh, as “unrecognized disputed region of the South Caucasus” or portray Baku’s inclemency in absolutely legitimate actions in the territories occupied by Armenia.

May one say now that Baku was too soft to separatists in Azerbaijan and should have urged all the forces of the region to suppress this hotbed of separatism, which today is precedent for many small European nations?

May one hope that the EU, if faced with the threat of civil war in its territory, will react more strictly to Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan?

Unfortunately, no one knows this, since the double standards of the West have perfectly been working for several decades, allowing Western countries to maneuver among their own conscience, toughness toward their own separatists and friends from the Armenian lobby.

—

Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency’s Russian news service



Sports: Armenia vs Denmark : Match forecast

John Hovhannisian
The Sherbrooke Times
Sept 3 2017


Armenia vs Denmark live streaming free
Match forecast for Armenia – Denmark

September 4, 2017 at 19:00 Moscow time, a qualifying match is scheduled for the World Championship in Yerevan at the stadium “im. Vazgen Sargsyan “, in which the national team of Armenia will play against the national team of Denmark.

Armenia vs Denmark preview
With full certainty, we can say that the national team of Armenia squandered their chances of reaching the final part of the World Cup. Losing in the last round of the national team of Romania with a score of 1: 0, for the Armenians this victory was the second consecutive and the fifth in the current selection. So far, Mkhitaryan and Co. have scored points in two matches, against the Kazakhstan national team 2: 0 and Montenegro 3: 2.

But as for the Danish national team, so in the last round they created a real sensation, beating the leaders of the group – the national team of Poland with a score of 4: 0. Moreover, but the chosen tactics of 4-3-3, the most successfully worked against the Poles, and scoring 2 goals in each half, the Danes blocked the air to the Poles, allowing to put on their goal only one blow.

The results of previous matches of Armenia and Denmark in face-to-face meetings remain in favor of Scandinavians. In the last match, played exactly one year ago, Denmark defeated 1: 0. Armenia is certainly stronger in its field than on the road, but the brilliant form of the Danish national team does not leave any chance for the Armenians. Bet: ф2 -1

Armenia’s ‘village of friendship’ under periodic Azeri shelling: OC Media

John Hovhannisian
PanArmenian, Armenia

Aug 18 2017

– 13:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – OC Media has prepared an article about the village of Barekamavan in Armenia's Tavush province which regularly comes under fire by Azerbaijani troops.

Barekamavan means ‘the village of friendship’ in Armenian.

But there is no longer any friendship between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Barekamavan, and the village itself is on the brink of disappearing, the main reason being the periodic shelling from Azerbaijan and the bleak economic situation, it adds.

"Barekamavan is pinned to the side of the mountains; on the other side, lies the Azerbaijani village of Kamarli. The nearest Armenian villages of Koti and Dovegh are about 10 kilometres from Barekamavan. Surrounded by hills and forests to the west, to the east lies a mountain dotted with landmines, military posts, and barbed wire fences. From there, the village lies directly in sight of the Azerbaijani soldiers," the article says.

"In the village centre, a few dilapidated buildings house the village administration, post office, and school. On the surrounding hills half-destroyed houses without roofs can be seen — a reminder of the 1992–1994 war. Embedded in some buildings are the traces — either complete or partial — of shells. Some are no more than gaping holes. Residents know practically by heart which damage was caused in ‘that war’ and which in ‘this one’."

Also, the feature weighs in on some other problems facing Barekamavan, including the lack of irrigation and drinking water. The population is constantly dwindling, with the residents forced to travel to Yerevan or Moscow for seasonal jobs.

Armenian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers’ meeting to help avert armed conflict – Yerevan

John Hovhannisian 
Interfax - Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama
 Thursday 7:46 PM MSK


Armenian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers' meeting to help avert armed
conflict - Yerevan

YEREVAN. Aug 10

An upcoming meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers scheduled for September will be aimed at preventing possible
hostilities in the region, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh
Kocharyan said.

"The mediators are setting one task - averting possible hostilities
and reducing the degree of tensions. This is task number 1," he told
reporters on Thursday.

Azerbaijan's policy "remains a policy of force, and this country is
trying to blackmail the mediators, but it will not succeed," Kocharyan
said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov are expected to meet in New York in the
second half of September.

Nalbandian told reporters on Wednesday that "the meeting's agenda
includes ways to promote the negotiating process [on
Nagorno-Karabakh]. There is no alternative to negotiations."

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs proposed arranging a meeting on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents before the end of 2017.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers met previously in
Brussels on July 11.

The ceasefire between Armenia and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other side was declared in
May 1994.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group,
set up in 1992, has been mediating talks on finding a peaceful
solution to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The OSCE Minsk Group
includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland
and Turkey. It is co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.

Artsakh electricity production grows in the first semester

John Hovhannisian
Panorama, Armenia

Aug 8 2017

In the first semester of 2017, 184.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity was produced in Artsakh, growing by 9.87% to compare with the same period of 2016. Within the same period, 166.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity was consumed in the country, which shows 13.47% rise compared to the previous year, the press service of Artsakh Ministry of Economy told Panorama.am.

As the source informs, today 16 hydroelectric power plants (HPP) operate in the country, namely Sarsang Hydro Power Plant with capacity of 50 megawatts and 15 other small HPPs with a total capacity of 52 megawatts. Two small HPPs – Jermajur (6 MW) and Viking (1.8 MW) – were put into operation 2017, with the construction of 9 more HPPs underway in the republic.

Armenian students win 8 medals at International Math Olympiad

John Hovhannisian
Panorama, Armenia

Aug 8 2017

The teams of the Yerevan State University (YSU), American University of Armenia (AUA), and the Russian-Armenian University (RAU) took part in the Annual International Mathematics Competition (IMC) in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria held from July 27 – August 6, 2017.

As the ministry of science and education reported in a release, overall 331 participants from 71 universities participated in the competition, where the Armenian teams won two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.

According to the source, the Yerevan State University was represented by 4 participants, with two of them – Albert Gevorgyan and Vazgen Mikayelyan, claiming gold medals, while Avetik Karagukyan and Gevorg Mnatsakanyan won silver medals. The Olympiad was held both in the individual and team competition.

In the individual competition Albert Gevorgyan was placed the 15th, the YSU team took the seventh place in the team competition which is unprecedented result for the university.

Other Armenian students – Artyom Kosyan of the American University and Hrachya Kocharyan of the Slavonic University claimed bronze medals.

According to the release, the Israeli Nation team was declared the winner of the Math Olympiad, followed by teams of St. Petersburg State University and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Culture: Armenian folk troupe charms audience at Jerash festival in Jordan.

John Hovhannisian
The Jordan Times, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
July 28, 2017 Friday

By Ahmed Bani Mustafa – Jul 28,2017 

Armenian folk ensemble Sasna Tsrer performs at Jerash festival on Wednesday (Petra photo)

JERASH — Jordanian Armenians on Wednesday enjoyed songs and dances from their ancestral homeland at Jerash’s northern theatre.

Coming from Armenia, Sasna Tsrer, an Armenian folk ensemble, performed a variety of traditional songs and dances. 

“To the ancient city of Jerash for the first time to represent Armenia at the 32-year-old Jerash festival,” the group wrote on their Facebook page.

The ensemble performed “authentic” songs and dances, without the aid of modern technology, to give a clear idea of Armenian traditions, Arsen Grogoryan, adviser of the Armenian culture minister, told The Jordan Times.

“The last dance was Yarkhushta, which is a four-thousand-year-old dance that used to be performed before battles to see who is more able to survive,” said Grogoryan.

Yarkhushta belongs to a wider category of Armenian “clap dances”. The dance is performed by men who face each other in pairs. The key element of the dance is a forward movement when participants rapidly approach one another and vigorously clap onto the palms of hands of dancers in the opposite row, according to Gorgoryan.

The group also performed a number of other dances such as Kochari, Mairoku and Msho Khr.

“Participation in the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts is an important achievement for the troupe,” the adviser said.

One of the patriotic songs talked about of the persecution of the Armenian people, he added.

The participation in the Jerash festival represents a “new experience” that enhanced the group’s career, group leader Hovhannes Mkrtchyan said.

It is a chance to support cultural exchange between the two nations, he noted.

“During the four-day stay in Amman, we visited a church, a school and a club, where we met up with Jordanian Armenians and enjoyed chatting with them,” Mkrtchyan said.

“We are also scheduled to visit the Baptism Site at the Jordan River,” he added.

Belal Ajour, a local, said tjavascript:void(0);hat the group introduced him to Armenian culture, commending the festival administration for organising such a “fantastic” event.

Eva, a Jordanian Armenian, thanked organisers for bringing her authentic ancestral dances and songs to Jordan.

She said the group performed pure pieces of music and dances without “additives”.

The Jerash Festival is held in the ancient Greco-Roman town of Jerash, 48km north of Amman.

The north theatre was built during the Roman era, 2nd century AD, as the city’s local council. It was expanded in the 3rd century to be used for theatrical performances such as concerts and plays, which can still be seen today in carvings of the Muses, goddesses of the arts and culture, according to historians.

Sasna Tsrer is an ethnographic ensemble that was formed in 2011 by an initiative of its current leader Hovhannes Mkrtchyan. The band went on stage for the first time with eight people, and today their number is 50.


Armenia’s Chinari village suffers great damages amid Azerbaijani gunfire

John Hovhannisian
Panorama, Armenia

On July 20, in the period from 8:20 to 19:00, the Azerbaijani military opened gunfire at Chinari village located at Armenia’s bordering Tavush Province.

As Samvel Saghoyan, headman of Chinari community, told Panorama.am, the village has suffered significant damages as a result of the shelling.

“The Azerbaijani shooting damaged several houses, the roof of the kindergarten and a tractor. In addition to that, a barn was burnt down, with forage stored inside. One of our villagers suffered 12-13 million AMD in damages,” the village chief said.

Mr. Saghoyan also noted that the Azerbaijani snipers attempted to shoot down an Armenian young man near the village cemetery. The boy was lucky to go unharmed.

“The situation is currently calm in the village,” Mr. Saghoyan added. 

To note, on July 21, in the period from 23:00 to 01:00, the Azerbaijani side opened fire at Barekamavan village of Armenia’s bordering Tavush Province. Fortunately, the village did not suffer casualties or damages.