Logistics truck of Armenian Armed Forces damaged by Azerbaijani fire
18:28, 5 October, 2021
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS. A logistics truck of the Armenian Armed Forces was damaged by Azerbaijani fire at Yeraskh section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on October 4 at about 23:30.
The Defense Ministry informed ARMENRESS that there are no casualties among the personnel.
French-Armenian tenor Ruben Elbakyan received the Grand Prix Humanitaire de France 2021 Gold Medal, The solemn ceremony took place on September 25 in the Senate of France with number of high-level officials and public figures in attendance.
The Grand Prix Humanitaire, which was founded in 1892, honors those who provide help to people in distress free of charge with their unendowed awards. Among recipients of the prestigious award in different years have been Princess Diana of Orléans (1990) and Prince of Monaco Albert II (2007)
Elbakyan has received this acknowledgement for his work and charity concerts.
To note, Elbakyan has studied at Yerevan State Conservatory in the classes of Gohar Gasparyan and Tatevik Sazandaryan, then continued his education in France, performing series of charity concerts.
14:10,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian Embassy in Armenia and the National Cinema Center of Armenia are organizing the Contemporary Iranian Cinema Days in Armenia program.
Bodyguard (2015), directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia; Villa Dwellers (2016), directed by Monir Qeydi; and Night Shift (2014), directed by Niki Karimi are the three Iranian films to be screened in Cinema Moscow in Yerevan from September 23 to 25.
The film screenings are dedicated to the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Iran.
Editing by Stepan Kocharyan
Representatives of the Assyrian community of Armenia today gathered near the National Assembly and held a protest against inclusion of the Assyrian Dmitrov village in the process of enlargement of communities.
The Assyrians call on the authorities to revisit the bill and not turn the 200-year-old village into a separate community. According to the residents of the village, this may put preservation of the language and culture of the villagers at risk.
It should be mentioned that Armenia’s laws stipulate that the villages with a compact population of representatives of national minorities must not be affected by the enlargement of communities. Nevertheless, the authorities want to merge the village with Artashat community.
Head of Dimitrov village Irina Sahradova-Gasparyan says she and the residents had been promised that the village “wouldn’t be enlarged”, but in his recent speech in parliament, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan said “the Assyrians make up only 14% in the village”.
“The village school has only one Assyrian teacher. If Dimitrov becomes one of the 40 villages of Artashat community, who will think about the Assyrians?” Sahradova-Gasparyan said, adding that out of the 7 members of the village’s council of elders, only one member is Assyrian.
Independence Day in Yerevan on September 21, 1991
No one can forget the pride and elation felt by every Armenian when 30 years ago today—September 21, 1991—Armenia shed its dependence from the Soviet Union and became an independent nation. Every year on September 21 we, as a Nation, affirm our commitment to Armenia’s statehood and reflect on the fact that this independence has lasted longer and continues to prosper.
So, the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s independence is a bittersweet one. On the one hand, marking 30 years of independence is a source of pride and a reaffirmation of Armenia’s right to self-determination. On the other hand, the current realities plaguing and jeopardizing Armenia’s sovereignty makes one wonder whether our homeland’s fragile independence is threatened.
Soon after the 29th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, our enemies—Azerbaijan and Turkey—launched full throttle attack on Artsakh, as a result of which thousands of Armenian soldiers and civilians were killed and territories in Artsakh were being surrendered to Azerbaijan.
Today, a similar scenario is playing out on Armenia’s borders, where Azerbaijani forces have set up positions in the Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces, while simultaneously attacking regions in the Ararat Province border Nakhichevan.
Armenia’s authorities, on the other hand, are advancing a nebulous policy of “peace in the region,” and advancing the notion of opening borders with Azerbaijan and engaging in dangerous negotiations with Turkey to normalize relations—all forced upon Yerevan by Armenia’s “strategic ally,” Russia.
It became apparent last week that after signing the defeatist November 9 agreement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in December had relinquished a 13-mile stretch of the Goris-Kapan Highway in the Syunik Province—a provision not delineated in the agreement.
The events of the past week, and the past year, have come to solidify a nagging reality that for 30 years, Armenians around the world who rallied to protect and strengthen the Armenian homeland were unaware of lingering border demarcation issues, which were inherited from the Soviet times and not addressed by successive governments and leaders.
Today, as we mark the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence, protecting, buttressing and nurturing that independence has become an existential imperative, for which, more than ever, national unity and consolidation of efforts is critical if we are to hold on to our independent homeland.
The time has come for all political forces in Armenia, be they within or outside of the decision-making echelon, must advance policies that do not jeopardize Armenia’s sovereignty, and more important, ensure that those policies are not more beneficial to outside players, some of whom pretend to be our “strategic” ally.
There is not alternative to independence and after 30 years, as fragile and tenuous as it might be, we, as Armenians, have a duty and responsibility to ensure its perseverance and vitality.
The past year has been marred and marked by unimaginable losses for our nation. As difficult as it may be, given that we have not collectively grieved as a nation, let this milestone anniversary of Armenia’s independence serve as that crucial springboard that we need to gather our strength and recommit ourselves to Armenia, Artsakh and prosperity of our homeland, because our hard-won independence cannot—and must not—be compromised and it must be preserved at all costs.
Three cases of ceasefire violation were registered in Shushi region on September 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.
The Ministry quotes the Armenian side as saying that the shots were fired frim the positions of the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As a result of the shelling, two servicemen of the armed force of Artsakh were injured.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent is conducting an investigation with the participation of representatives of both sides.
Artsakh’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday that one of its servicemen was wounded as a result of shooting from the Azerbaijani side.
12:44,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. The United States doesn’t see the status of Nagorno Karabakh as having been resolved, US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy told reporters.
“We don’t see the status of Nagorno Karabakh as having been resolved. We see the need for a comprehensive settlement that requires negotiations, and that is one very important way to try to address the various tensions that we have been seeing particularly in the border areas”, the US Ambassador said.
Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan
By Joan Mas Autonell
Jerusalem, Sep 13 (EFE).- The 100-year-old stones of the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem bear witness to the ethnic Armenian community that keeps the oldest Christian traditions alive, despite its dwindling numbers.
Armenians, the first in the world to adopt Christianity in 301 AD, were able to persist and adapt to preserve their traditions and existence in a place that has seen all forms of ruling regimes, as well as the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
George Hintlian, a historian and the former secretary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, tells Efe the some of the powers under which Armenians have lived include the Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, the British Mandate, Jordan, and now modern-day Israel.
“We are sometimes aggressive when it comes to our rights.
“We have to maintain a certain political balance without being hostile, but also without being vulnerable. So it has made us very tough and very sophisticated.”
As he walks through the courtyard of the Armenian monastery, Hintlian says that the medieval building in the Armenian Quarter that covers one-sixth of the Old City is one of the oldest convents in the Holy Land.
In the convent, Armenian psalms are sung every day by members of the community dressed in black robes and pointed hoods, one of their traditional habits.
Despite the fact that Armenians in the region have always been a minority, their numbers have further shrunk in recent decades.
After the Armenian genocide by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, thousands of Armenians ended up in the Holy Land.
PASADENA, California — On November 10, 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire in a 44-day war incited by a territory dispute in Nagorny Karabakh. The history of the dispute goes back decades. Nagorny Karabakh was initially Azerbaijan’s territory in the Soviet Era until the majority-Armenian population attempted to separate from Azerbaijan in an attempt for independence. This resulted in a war from 1991-1994.
After extensive fighting and death, Russia brokered a cease-fire agreement. Turkey provided Azerbaijan direct assistance through “military trainers, drones and equipment.” While international support could be largely vacant, a U.S.-based NGO named Kooyrigs was able to step up during these times. It provided support for Armenian soldiers, civilians and mothers suffering from desolation before and after the war.
Executive Director Karine Eurdekian founded Kooyrigs, a project that stemmed from Eurdekian’s time as an ESL teacher for an Armenian Women’s Research Center. Kooyrigs formed as a safe space on Instagram for anonymous conversations between Armenian women in various regions in the diaspora. This enabled Eurdekian to develop a supportive network before the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict.
After receiving more than $150,000 in individual donations and a $25,000 grant from Family Foundation, Kooyrigs was ready to offer immediate support through grassroots action. Maro Matosian, the founder of the Women’s Support Centre in Yerevan, spoke in an Insider interview: “[Kooyrigs] also provided us almost with $14,000 of medical supplies and crutches that we sent according to the request of Stepanakert Hospital and Goris Hospital.”
Armenian troops suffered under Azerbaijani artillery, and frontline soldiers were in need of immediate support. Kooyrigs initiated the Looys campaign, a program where team members deliver “food, water, medication, clothing, diapers, formula, sanitary products and household essentials” to some of those most affected by the war.
In an interview with The Borgen Project, Eurdekian said that Kooyrigs was the most immediate source of distribution during the conflict, with team members being the first response to distribute medicines to hospitals. She stated that they risk their lives by transporting supplies to warzones surrounded by Azerbaijanian military drones.
Eurdekian explained how the Kooyrigs Armenia team quickly recognized that “[w]hile the government was providing food for the soldiers that were registered in the system, they didn’t [missing verb] a lot of the time provide food for the volunteer soldiers.” Armenians connected through the Kooyrigs forum revealed that their volunteering relatives hadn’t eaten in weeks. The team members responded by delivering food from rural Armenian farmers in every municipality. Soldiers received familiar, regional food grown in local farms, delivered regularly and transported in trucks with temperature-controlled storage units.
The destruction of homes, cities and families has left Armenia in a societal depression. Children were among those who suffered the most. Separated from their homes and thrust into fractured environments, Armenian children and families experience notable mental challenges. Armenian therapists cite young experiences with war bombings and displacement from homes to local hotels as triggers for anxiety and more. Indeed, the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief reports that “[w]hile the loss of our fallen Armenian soldiers is itself a tragedy, the war has had the secondary effect of leaving children fatherless and mothers and families without their primary breadwinner.”
Eurdekian currently runs project Mayreeg as well, which is set to provide care packages for pregnant mothers in Armenia. The packages contain a month’s worth of baby products as well as connections to classes meant to help mothers find community. Furthermore, Kooryigs will find doctors, help coordinate birth plans and help pregnant mothers through the birthing process step by step. Eurdekian and her team have seen how stress and trauma have caused a boom in miscarriages in Armenia.
The team uses resources from Yerevan to supply rural areas and spotlights mothers and their children to motivate further donations. The Kooryigs Instagram recently highlighted Tamara, a mother of two who was displaced from Stepenarket and unable to afford education for her oldest child. Tamara suffered through a stress-induced, premature birth. Kooyrigs raised $4,000 the day after posting her profile, which provides her son with a kindergarten education and has helped relocate the family to Yerevan, dramatically changing Tamara’s life.
The war effort enlisted many DJs and artists who had been spreading music throughout the streets of Yerevan. This stunted the spread of music even more so after the COVID restrictions prevented clubs and venues from opening. Kooyrigs collaborated with Zach Asdourian, the Chief A&R of the creative label “Critique,” on an album called YERAZ [Past, Present and Future Armenian Sounds From Los Angeles to Yerevan]. All of the “net profits” from the YERAZ (meaning Dream) album will go toward Kooyrigs’ educational projects. Currently, the album contains “electronic beats with neo-soul tunes, instrumental sounds and folk melodies.” Additionally, it added to the large electronic scene within Armenia.
Eurdekian describes the electronic scene coming together during the war and reinforces how underground clubs in Yerevan became a safe space for young Armenians. One of Yerevan’s popular underground clubs “Poligraf,” where young Armenians enjoyed themselves despite the external situation, hosted the album’s release. It also supported the Kooyrigs cause by buying merchandise or prints. Eurdekian says that the YERAZ album is a “pocket of joy” for people getting through the war. She told The Borgen Project that the album “is just one of those things that we can invest in that is for the culture, for preservation and is proactive as opposed to what’s reactive in the war immediately.”
Kooyrigs serves as a symbol of homecoming for young Armenians in diasporas who are negatively impacted by the older generation’s view of war, tragedy and genocide within their country. These old tragedies repeat in different ways. However, people like Eurdedian have taken the opportunity to focus on an approach that centers a focus on care, direct aid and those in need. Historical moments like the Armenia-Azerbaijan war create new generations of leaders who pick up lessons from elders to pave the way into a brighter future.
– Matthew Martinez
Hansi Flick’s starters dominated the first half. After an hour, the youngsters who came on for Germany maintained the pressure.