Author: Kalantarian Kevo

“NEVER AGAIN” – FILMS TELLING ABOUT GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS SCREENED AT SOFIA FILM FESTIVAL

by Karina Manukyan

Friday, March 27, 16:05

Films telling about the Genocide of Armenians were screened at the
19th Sofia Film Festival in a special program “Never Again.” The
program is implemented by the Golden Apricot International Film
Festival with the support of the Culture Ministry of Armenia and the
Committee to coordinate events commemorating the centennial of the
Armenian Genocide.

According to the Golden Apricot International Film Festival
press-office, three films were screed at the Sofia Film Festival:
“ENDLESS ESCAPE, ETERNAL RETURN” by Harutyun Khachatryan, “THE LARK
FARM” by Taviani Borthers, and “THE CUT” by Fatih Akin. The films
were screened also in Plovdiv and Varna.

HOTEL PRICES IN YEREVAN UP 15-20% AHEAD OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENARY

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. Accommodation in Yerevan’s hotels became
15-20% more expensive ahead of the centenary of Armenian Genocide,
Sona Yeghiazaryan, head of Joel Travel Agency, said on Friday.

‘MADE IN ARMENIA’ EXHIBITION TO BE OPENED IN ARMENIA SOON

YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. ‘Made in Armenia’ large exhibition will
be open in Armenia from April 26 to 28, Arman Khachatryan, acting
executive director of the Armenian Development Fund, said on Thursday.

“Almost all the companies producing goods or providing services in
Armenia will take part in the exhibition, and 1,500 foreign delegations
are expected to visit it,” he said.

The exhibition will allow companies to present their goods and services
to potential buyers and investors.

Companies producing foods, natural juices, refreshing drinks, mineral
water, wine, brandy, beer and cigarettes will display their products
here.

There will be also companies of light, woodworking, chemical,
glassware, pharmaceutical, jewelry, diamond, watch-producing,
metallurgy, IT, tourism and mining industries, which constitute more
than 90% of Armenia’s industrial capacity. –0—-

SERIOUS CONTROL OVER NGOS AND MASS MEDIA GETTING MONEY FROM ABROAD ESTABLISHED

16:30 / 23.03.2015

Months ago the Armenian Noah’s Ark Russia-based magazine conducted
an interview with the Russian ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin
who said that Russia must more actively state about its presence in
Armenia’s information field.

“It is necessary to neutralize the NGOs acting in Armenia and trying
to harm Armenian-Russian relations in other way. For instance in
Russia a law has been adopted which clearly regulates the activity of
the NGO. It is obvious that those who direct their activity against
Russian-Armenian friendship do not want anything good to Russia and
Armenia,” he said.

This interview raised a big noise in Armenia with a number of NGOs
conducting different actions.

According to Nyut.am sources corresponding services have started
carrying out serious control of the NGOs and mass media getting money
from abroad, like for instance SOROS Foundation getting money from
the West.

Supposedly, it was a ‘request’ of the Russian authorities. There is
also an opposite tendency as well with the West asking to be careful
with Griboyedov Club etc. Soon noisy developments just like the one
which happened with Vardan Oskanian. In short, soon we will hear
about the money laundering cases.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO TIGHTEN GRIP UPON MEDICAMENTS

YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. Armenia’s government gave today its approval
to amendments to the law on medicaments and other related law.

Health Minister Armen Muradyan said the current law was adopted yet
in 1998 and now it is in need of amendment to be in tune with modern
approaches.

Muradyan said.

In his words, the amendments also imply bigger administrative fines
for breaching the law.

Under the amended law, Armenian pharmaceutical industry will be
brought to conformity with international standards, and this will
allow local producers to enter international markets.

Muradyan said that mechanisms of governmental control over price-making
process are implied here as well.

In particular, he said, there are medicaments that are sold in the
Eurasian Economic Union member countries at lower prices, and a way
will be found for making them available in Armenia’s territory.

Muradyan said.

Speaking about the lack of some medicaments in Armenia, the minister
said that 5,400 varieties of medicaments are registered now in the
country, and this exceeds the basic package of medicaments 2.5 times.

–0—–

NUMBER OF RUSSIAN TOURISTS VISITING ARMENIA EXPECTED TO RISE 23% IN 2015

YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. The number of Russian tourists visiting
Armenia is expected to rise 23% in 2015, Arman Khachatyan, acting
executive director of Armenian Development Fund, said on Thursday.

According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia hosted 1,203,746
tourists in 2014 accounting for 11% year-on-year growth.

The number of Russian tourists in Armenia rose 28%. Khachatryan said
that his forecast is grounded on the agreements Armenia signed earlier
this month after participation in ‘Trips and Tourism’ international
exhibition in Russia, which attracted more than 2,000 companies from
over 200 countries.

In his opinion, Armenia’s participation in international tourist
exhibitions intensifies the flow of tourists to Armenia.

“Since the beginning of this year Armenia has taken part in three
large tourist exhibitions in Spain, Germany and Russia,” he said.

“Therefore, we expect that the number of tourists from Spain will rise
5-7 percent, from Germany 18 percent and from Russia about 23 percent.”

FITUR 2015 tourism exhibition was opened in late January in Madrid
and ITB Berlin in early March in Berlin.

According to the figures received from hotels in 2014, tourists from
CIS countries made up 31%, those from EU countries 30.1% and from
other countries 38.5% of the total number of the tourists Armenia
hosted in 2014. —0—-

ANTI-ARMENIAN ACTS ON THE RISE IN TURKEY

Thursday, March 26th, 2015 | Posted by Asbarez Staff

Graffiti on the wall of St. Mary’s Church in Istanbul says ‘1915,
a blessed year’

ISTANBUL–Anti-Armenian hate speech graffiti appeared on the walls
of an Armenian church, around the same time as the Mayor of Ankara
called Armenians “disgusting.” All this ahead of the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide.

The St. Mary’s (Sourp Astvadzadzin) Church in the Bakirkoy neighborhood
of Istanbul was desecrated with hate speech graffiti that read “1915,
a blessed year,” reported Today’s Zaman newspaper.

Another message on the church was read: “What does it matter if you
are all Armenian when there is already one Ogun Samast,” referring
to the convicted killer of Hrant Dink, after whose death many Turks
took to the streets with placards that read “We are all Dink. We are
all Armenian.”

Another insciption on the church wall reads: ‘What does it matter if
you are all Armenian when there is already one Ogun Samast’

Today’s Zaman wrote that its reporter visited the site on Wednesday
morning and found that the graffiti had been painted over. But an
administrator at the church said, “This type of thing happens all
the time.” The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul refused to comment
on the matter. No criminal complaint has been filed.

The incident comes hot on the heels of another racist slur against
Armenians in Turkey. It was reported on Tuesday that Ankara Mayor
Melih Gokcek had filed a criminal complaint against Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hayko Bagdat on defamation charges after Bagdat posted
lighthearted tweets on his Twitter account referring to the mayor as
an Armenian after the March 2014 local elections.

Gokcek appears to believe it an insult to be called an Armenian
as his lawyer petitioned the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office, saying,
“The statements [by Bagdat] are false and include insult and libel.”

Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek

Ankara mayor says being called an “Armenian” is an insult Ankara Mayor
Melih Gokcek has filed a criminal complaint against Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hayko Bagdat on defamation charges, after the latter
jokingly posted tweets referring to him as an Armenian after the
March 2014 local elections.

According to the Diken website and the state-run Anadolu news agency,
Gokcek’s petition to the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office stated that Bagdat,
who has more than 300,000 followers on Twitter, wrote a series of posts
in the wake of Gokcek’s victory in last year’s March elections. One
of Bagdat’s messages said: “It is official; they gave the capital
city to an Armenian. What a shame!” according to the petition.

The petition also said a Twitter hashtag “melihgokcekermeniymis”
(Melih Gokcek turns out to be Armenian) was allegedly used by Bagdat
in his tweets on the social media website.

Gokcek’s lawyer said in the petition that the mayor is “a citizen of
the Turkish Republic who loves his country and his nation” and that
Bagdat is aware of this. “The statements [by Bagdat] are false and
include insult and libel,” the petition said.

In addition, the mayor filed a lawsuit with the court claiming that
he was insulted by being called “Armenian.”

Gokcek also sued Bagdat in civil court, demanding compensation of
10,000 liras for psychological damages. Bagdat announced the lawsuit on
Twitter, saying: “Turns out Melih Gokcek sued me demanding 10,000 liras
for calling him “Armenian, dude. We are going to have so much fun.”

WHAT IS TURKEY’S FINAL ANSWER?

NEWS | MARCH 26, 2015 12:36 PM
________________________________

By Raffi Bedrosyan

Turkey has announced that the annual commemoration of the Gallipoli
Dardanelles battles of World War One, which were traditionally held on
March 18, will now be held on April 24 this year. President Erdogan
has invited over 120 world leaders, including President Sargsyan of
Armenia, to attend the Gallipoli ceremonies. The reason for the date
change is apparent to all Armenians.

There is a term in Turkish, Sark kurnazligi, meaning Oriental slyness.

The term is used to define someone who resorts to cunning to deceive
someone, but both the deceiver and the deceived person know that there
is trickery involved, and more cynically, the deceiver does not care
if the deceived person is aware of the deceit.

Already a few state leaders have announced that they will attend,
including “Turkey’s little brother” Azerbaijan, some African and
Muslim states, and notably, the Queen and Prince Charles.

It is worthwhile to remind to these people, and all the
English-speaking world, another Turkish scheme involving trickery of
dates which happened eight years ago.

The Holy Cross Church and monastery complex on Akhtamar Island in Lake
Van in Eastern Turkey was in ruins since 1915, and in fact, was being
willfully destroyed by the Turkish Army in the 1950s. Only interference
by famous Kurdish author Yashar Kemal (whose hidden Armenian roots
were revealed recently) had prevented the complete destruction of
the last remaining church and the Turkish government had decided
in the 2000’s to restore the church as a museum. The restoration
was completed in early 2007 and the government announced the date
of the opening of the museum to be April 24, 2007. The Istanbul
Armenian Patriarch of the time, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan forcefully
protested that by choosing this date the government was attempting to
create political gains using the Armenians’ pain, and that he would
refuse to attend the opening ceremony if this insensitive decision
was not revised. The government appeared to appease the patriarch,
but continuing to employ tactics of Oriental slyness, announced that
the date would now be April 11, 2007. The government was fully aware
that April 11 was also equally significant and unacceptable to the
Armenians, as this is the same date as April 24 in the old calendar
in effect at 1915. In fact, in 1919, the famous Armenian journalist
and himself a survivor of the 1915 massacres, Teotig had compiled
a list and biographies of 761 Armenian intellectuals arrested and
subsequently murdered, in a booklet called Houshartsan (Memorial) to
April 11. The first April 24 commemoration had taken place in 1919,
with the opening of a memorial sculpture called “April 11 Houshartsan,”
in the Istanbul Armenian Cemetery in Taksim, since then expropriated
and converted in the 1930s to become the famous Taksim Square, the
scene of recent protests against the government. All these facts,
known to both the Armenians in Turkey and the Turkish government,
were revealed in an editorial in the Agos newspaper questioning
the wisdom of using these dated for the Akhtamar opening, using the
headline: ‘Are you sure? Is this your final answer?’. The headline was
copied after the often-repeated question heard on the then popular TV
quiz show, “Who wants to be a millionaire?'” The date of that Agos
editorial? January 19, 2007… the day Hrant Dink was shot in front
of the Agos newspaper offices.

The Akhtamar Museum was opened on March 29, 2007. Patriarch Mutafyan
reluctantly attended, and shortly thereafter, he became incapacitated
with a still unexplained debilitating mental disease and he still
lives in a vegetative state. In the meantime, eight years after Hrant
Dink’s murder, the real perpetrators and conspirators of the murder
are still not caught nor tried.

Therefore, it is now appropriate to again ask the Turkish government
who sent the Gallipoli invitations for April 24, 2015, and any state
leaders who choose to ignore the real significance of this date:
“Are you sure? Is this your final answer?”

(Raffi Bedrosyan is a civil engineer and concert pianist, living
in Toronto, Canada. He has donated concert and CD proceedings to
infrastructure projects in Armenia and Karabagh, in which he has also
participated as an engineer. He helped organize the reconstruction of
the Surp Giragos Diyarbakir/Dikranagerd Church and the first Armenian
reclaim of church properties in Anatolia after 1915. He gave the
first piano concert in the Surp Giragos Church since 1915.)

MOTION TO BE INTRODUCED IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO DECLARE APRIL AS GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE MONTH

18:39, 26 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Motion to be Introduced in House of Commons to declare April Genocide
Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) has worked closely
with Mr. Brad Butt, Member of Parliament for Mississauga – Streetsville
(Conservative) on a motion to declare April as Genocide Remembrance,
Condemnation and Prevention Month and, among other things, to mark
April 24 of each year as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Horizon
Weekly reports.

The ANCC urges all Canadians dedicated to the cause of preventing
future genocides and properly recognizing past genocides to make
their voices heard by writing or calling their Members of Parliament
and asking them to vote for this motion.

ANCC President Dr. Girair Basmajian said “This motion reaffirms
Canada’s commitment to the important cause of genocide prevention
and recognizes that the first step to prevention is to ensure that
we remember and condemn past genocides.” Dr. Basmajian further stated
“We are very grateful that this motion designates April 24 as Armenian
Genocide Memorial Day so that all Canadians can join with the Armenian
community to work to prevent future genocides, which is especially
important in light of the religiously and ethnically motivated violence
against minorities currently taking place in Iraq and Syria.”

The Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month motion
was published on the Notice Paper today, which is the first step that
must be taken before the motion can be introduced in the House of
Commons and then brought to a vote. It is expected that the motion
will be formally introduced in the House of Commons next week by
Mr. Butt. It is also expected that other Members of Parliament will
speak in favour of the motion at that time. It is not yet clear when
the motion would be approved.

The Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month motion
recalls that Canada has officially recognized four genocides (the
Holocaust, the Holodomor, the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide and the Armenian
Genocide) and that three of these genocides have a memorial day
in April, so it is appropriate to designate April of each year as
Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month. The ANCC
notes that the designation of April 24 of each year as Armenian
Genocide Memorial Day in this motion is the first time that any
Canadian federal government body has formally recognized April 24 as
Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.

ELITE MUSICIANS UNITE FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL CONCERT IN GLENDALE

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 24 2015

By Robert D. Thomas, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Three well-known local artists will make their first appearance as the
Glendale Trio on March 28 at First Baptist Church of Glendale as part
of the Glendale Philharmonic’s fifth annual Positive Motions series.

Violinist Roberto Cani, the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra concertmaster,
will join pianist Armen Guzelimian and cellist Ruslan Biryukov, the
series’ curator, in performances of Arno Babajanian’s Piano Trio in
F-sharp minor and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.

The concert is being performed in memory of Armenian genocide victims
as the 100th anniversary of the start of the genocide is April 24.

Portions of the proceeds will be donated to the Armenian General
Benevolent Union and the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church.

Guzelimian is well known for his work as a piano virtuoso, chamber
musician, vocal coach and teacher. He appears often in local piano
series, has played many times in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green
Umbrella series, and has performed around the world.

“Ruslan asked me last fall how I would like to join with Roberto and
him for a recital,” says Guzelimian, whose brother, Ira, is provost
and dean at The Juilliard School in New York City. “I, of course, had
heard Roberto’s work with the L.A. Opera Orchestra and was delighted,
particularly because of the pieces chosen and the fact that it would
be near the centennial of the start of the Armenian genocide.”

The two pieces were written eight years apart, 1944 for the
Shostakovich, 1952 for the Babajanian. “Both men were brilliant
pianists,” explains Guzelimian. “They each liked to employ folk music
in their pieces, both received the People’s Artist of the Soviet
Union award, and both were influenced by Prokofiev’s music.

“Babajanian’s piece is a masterpiece of the piano trio literature,”
continues Guzelimian. “He wrote in a grand romantic style, similar
to Rachmaninoff. On the other hand, Shostakovich employed fascinating
sound effects to create eerie moods in his trio.”

For Guzelimian and people of his generation, the Armenian genocide
resonates deeply in their psyche and that’s particularly true in
Glendale, which has a sizable population of people with Armenian
heritage.

The Armenian genocide rivals the Holocaust of World War II for its
terror. In 1915 the Ottoman government began a systematic destruction
of its Armenian community that resulted, according to most accounts,
in more than 1.5 million people having perished. Present-day Turkey
denies these allegations, in part because it claims no relationship
to the Ottoman Empire, except for geography.

“My maternal grandmother was left an orphan by the genocide,” recalls
Guzelimian. “She managed to escape and went first to Greece and then
to Egypt. She had nothing — not even a birth certificate. When she
died, we didn’t know for sure how old she was.”

Like Jews with younger generations and the Holocaust, Armenians
struggle to keep the memory of the genocide alive in everyone, not
just those with Armenian heritage.

“The feelings are different for those of us in the first and second
generation,” he acknowledges. “The genocide is taught as historical
fact now and there are, of course, plenty of pictures, chronicles and
world news reports from the periods (1915-1918 and 1920-1923). But
the failure of Turkey to acknowledge the truth of what happened is
still a wound.”

Although the concert’s dedication is significant, Guzelimian cautions,
“I don’t want people to be scared away from this concert thinking it
will be a sad, somber occasion. This is great music that would stand
on its own.”

Robert D. Thomas is a freelance music writer.