Author: Manouk Vasilian

Elderly woman, who set self on fire at Yerevan Republic Square, in critical but stable condition

Manouk Vasilian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2018
Elderly woman, who set self on fire at Yerevan Republic Square, in critical but stable condition Elderly woman, who set self on fire at Yerevan Republic Square, in critical but stable condition

12:55, 22.12.2018
                  

YEREVAN. – The elderly woman, who on Thursday had set herself on fire at Republic Square of Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, is in critical but stable condition.

Karine Babayan, head of the Department of Burns at Yerevan Research Center of Radiation Medicine and Burns, told about the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“The burned surface in the 86-year-old woman is 15 percent; also, the respiratory tract is 10-percent burned; a total of 25-percent burned surface,” the specialist said. “[But] overall, there is no negative dynamics. It can be said her life is not at risk.”

As reported earlier, an elderly woman on Thursday attempted to commit suicide in downtown Yerevan.

https://news.am/eng/news/487552.html

Armenians seek reparation from Turkey for land seized during Genocide

Manouk Vasilian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 18 2018
 
 
Armenians seek reparation from Turkey for land seized during Genocide
2018-12-18 09:48:54
 
Attorneys for Armenians seeking reparations for land seized by Turkey during the 1915 Armenian Genocide told a Ninth Circuit panel Monday that relevant international laws condemning Turkey’s actions existed at that time and should factor in current litigation, Courthouse News Service reports.
 
The issue before the panel is whether the court can make a determination on international war crimes policy and whether or not the statute of limitations has expired for families of victims seeking reparations from the current Turkish government.
 
Descendants of Armenian Genocide victims said in their December 2010 lawsuit that the Ottoman Empire illegally seized their ancestors’ land and unlawfully profited from its sale.
 
Plaintiffs Alex Bakalian, Anais Haroutunian and Rita Mahdessian sought roughly $65 million in damages and a judgment that Turkey could be tried in U.S. courts for actions related to their genocide of 1.5 million Armenians within the former Ottoman Empire.
 
But U.S District Judge Dolly Gee dismissed the case in 2013 under the political question doctrine which says certain questions – as in this case, determining whether Turkey’s actions were genocide – should be handled by the executive branch, not the courts.
 
Plaintiffs, however, found a silver lining in Gee’s decision that U.S federal courts could hold Turkish banks accountable for seizing land from Armenians during the genocide.
 
On appeal, plaintiffs said in their Oct. 21, 2013 brief that the district court didn’t have to find that an international law violation occurred in order for Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act jurisdiction to hold in the case.
 
 
“In effect, the district court’s decision undermines the [Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s] statutory objective to remove diplomatic pressure by foreign sovereigns from the equation of sovereign immunity,” plaintiffs said in their brief, adding that the courts can make a policy determination “without expressing a lack of respect for the political branches.”
 
The Central Bank of Turkey and state-owned bank Ziraat Bankasi, named defendants in the lawsuit along with Turkey, said in their cross appeal of Gee’s decision that the case should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
 
Although the banks challenged the December 2010 complaint, the federal court entered a default against Turkey for failing to respond and found that the banks “engaged in behavior apparently designed to thwart service of process,” including denying access to plaintiffs’ process server.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The ANCA and the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center in Artsakh

Manouk Vasilian
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Therapists at the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center in Artsakh work with this young girl, teaching her how to walk on crutches, giving her hope of one day playing with friends in the neighborhood.

In an email interview last week with Asbarez, Armenian National Committee of America’s Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian discussed the work the organization is doing to promote the work of the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center in Artsakh. Below is the interview.

Asbarez: The ANCA has backed direct U.S. funding for Artsakh for over 20 years, securing aid for everything from clean water, maternal health and, currently, de-mining. What is the ANCA’s new initiative with the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center in Stepanakert all about?

Elizabeth Chouldjian: The short answer to your question is that we are seeking funding – for the 2019 federal fiscal year – from Congress for the U.S. Agency for International Development to continue de-mining efforts through HALO Trust and expand its support to the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center.

Asbarez: Why the focus on the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center?

E.C.: Without a doubt, among the most urgent humanitarian priorities in Artsakh today is the need to help children and adults with disabilities. In the face of rapidly growing local and regional demands for rehabilitation services, the Center lacks sufficient infrastructure and modern facilities to meet its pressing humanitarian mission.

Asbarez: And what is the quick 411 on the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center?

E.C.: The Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center was first established in 1998 through a partnership of local health officials and then-Speaker of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, Baroness Caroline Cox. A nurse by training, Lady Cox is respected for her leadership on rehabilitation efforts around the world.

More than 15,000 patients have received treatment from the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation Center since it first opened. It’s currently treating over 1,000 patients in-house and offering an additional 24,000 out-patient treatments annually. Despite that, the Center only meets 20% of the needs of the local population, leaving as many as 60,000 regional patients without adequate rehabilitation services.

Asbarez: Who are the people who receive treatment at the Center?

E.C.: Among those receiving treatment include patients – from Artsakh, Armenia, Russia, and Georgia – with spinal cord injuries, elderly stroke victims, and infants and children born with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida. They are also doing cutting-edge work with children with autism and other cognitive disabilities, helping them integrate into local schools.

Asbarez: What is the ANCA doing on Capitol Hill and with the Executive Branch on this issue?

E.C.: Specifically, we are lobbying the House and Senate and speaking to officials at the U.S. Department of State to ensure that federal funds are allocated to the Baroness Cox Rehabilitation this federal fiscal year. This involves a lot of teamwork – from our ANCA office here in Washington, DC, our ANCA Regional Offices in the Eastern and Western regions, and with over 50 local ANCA chapters – all working together towards this same worthwhile goal.

Asbarez: When is Congress going to finalize their Fiscal Year 2019 budget and priorities?

E.C.: While much work has already been done on this score, including by Senator Van Hollen and other legislators committed to prioritizing Artsakh rehabilitation programs in the Senate foreign aid measure, the decisions are being made right now and in the upcoming weeks.

City gone in 30 seconds: How deadly earthquake devastated Soviet Armenia three decades ago

Manouk Vasilian
RT- Russia Today
Dec 7 2018
City gone in 30 seconds: How deadly earthquake devastated Soviet Armenia three decades ago (PHOTOS)

Published time: 7 Dec, 2018 12:47 Edited time: 7 Dec, 2018 13:00

The city of Spitak destroyed by a powerful earthquake. December 7, 1988. © Sputnik / Alexandr Graschenkov

The city of Spitak was levelled in just 30 seconds as a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake unleashed massive destruction across northeast Armenia 30 years ago. The disaster killed at least 25,000 people.

Armenia, a part of the Soviet Union at the time, was hit by a catastrophic quake on December 7, 1988. The tremors struck at 11:41am local time, and the buildings began to collapse almost instantly.

Spitak, which was at the epicenter of the earthquake, was almost entirely levelled in just 30 seconds. It was home to 18,500 residents.

© Sputnik / Alexandr Graschenkov

The violent tremors severely damaged 21 cities and 324 villages. Among them is Armenia’s second-largest city, Leninakan (presently called Gyumri), which, too, got partially demolished by the disaster.

No matter how small or tall, the buildings everywhere folded like a house of cards.

There was a loud bang. Moments later we heard several powerful quakes,” Mariam Karapetyan, who was a daycare center worker during the disaster, recalled.

“My colleague thought that a war had started.”

“We couldn’t see the sky, and felt that everything was covered in smoke,” said Agram Stepanyan. He was 15 at the time, and had to flee for his life.

“Our school turned into chaos. Everyone ran… Two or three people jumped from the second floor windows.”

At least 25,000 people died that day, and around 20,000 more were injured.

Rescuers from all over the Soviet Union came to help clearing the rubble and evacuating the bodies. Several foreign teams also joined in.

One of the rescuers, Andrey Dyachenko recalled how people started to bury the dead in Spitak.

“You could bury three cities with that amount of coffins. That’s how I felt,” he said.

More photos at

Armenian parliament speaker criticizes “divisive” remarks

Manouk Vasilian
MediaMax, Armenia
Nov 28 2018
 
 
 
Armenian parliament speaker criticizes “divisive” remarks
 
  
Yerevan /Mediamax/. President of Armenian National Assembly of 6th convocation Ara Babloyan has commented on the statements politicians have made during pre-elections campaigns, saying that "there must be no "black”, "red”, "white” or "green” parties among us in regard to the Artsakh issue”.
 
“If we cannot avoid dividing political forces by color, we should limit that division to political competition. Artsakh and Armenia have only one definition color-wise – the Armenian tricolor. This concerns all political forces equally.
 
Dear friends, the tricolor is common for us all, the same as the security and the future of Artsakh and Armenia. Therefore, I urge everyone to unite behind a single position on the Artsakh issue and remove the topic or the name of Artsakh from pre-election speeches and debate vocabulary by gentlemen’s agreement,” said Babloyan.
  
He also addressed the people of Artsakh, saying:
 
“I ask you to refrain from stirring emotions during the pre-election period and responding to certain statements that are most likely a result of poor _expression_ of thought. As I have mentioned, the security and prosperous future of Artsakh and Armenia are the common goal for all of us.”

Armenian acting PM urges Karabakh president to call his government members to order

Manouk Vasilian
Aysor, Armenia
Nov 29 2018
 
Armenian acting PM urges Karabakh president to call his government members to order
 
The recent activation of the representatives of the Nagorno Karabakh authorities is difficult to understand, Armenia’s acting PM, My Step bloc leader Nikol Pashinyan said at the campaign in Tchambarak today.
 
“I do not understand very well the recent activation of representatives of the Nagorno Karabakh authorities. I absolutely do not understand it. Why have you activated so? Why are you making different comments and try to interfere into the campaign taking place in Armenia?” Pashinyan said.
 
He said he has a number of questions in that regard and will discuss them with the NK president Bako Sahakyan after the elections in Armenia.
 
“Till that I urge Mr Sahakyan to call to order his government representatives and send them to do their work and not make any unnecessary comments,” Pashinyan said, adding that Karabakh president’s spokesperson allows himself periodically comment Pashinyan's statements.
 
“Do you imagine my spokesperson make comments on unknown or known developments in Karabakh? Do you understand the consequences?” Pashinyan said, calling on them to chill up and deal with their work.
 

In December, Armenian chess “landing operation team” to appear in London

Manouk Vasilian
  • 17:25 | November 23,2018 | Sports
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In December 2018, Armenian chess players will participate in the following international tournaments:

Levon Aronian will participate in the London Chess Classic tournament on December 11-17, according to the official website of the Armenian Chess Federation. Hrant Melkumyan, member of Armenian men’s chess team, Siranush Ghukasyan, member of women’s national chess team and FIDE master David Mirzoyan will compete in the FIDE Open tournament.

GMs Manuel Petrosyan, Vahe Baghdasaryan and IM Vahe Baghdasaryan will take part in the international tournament in Rome on December 2-9. They will then leave for Spain and participate in the tournament in the city of Sitges.

Armenian GM Gevorg Harutyunyan will take part in the regional international tournament in Chelyabinsk on December 7-17. Armenia’s champion Hayk Martirosyan will take part in Veinax Open in Zurich on December 26-30. Grandmasters Zaven Andriasyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan will take part in the international tournaments held in Montevideo, Italy, on December 27-31.

To add, only tournaments of adults are listed here. Particularly, Armenian junior team will participate in the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Turkey.

Azerbaijani Press: Why was not Azerbaijan invited to the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum?

Manouk Vasilian
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
Thursday
Why was not Azerbaijan invited to the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum?
 
 
Baku / 22.11.18 / Turan: The 10th annual meeting of the EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum program will be held in Tbilisi December 10-12. According to media reports, representatives of the government of Azerbaijan are not invited to the forum, while participation of state delegations from other Eastern Partnership partners is scheduled for it. On November 22, neither the representatives of the Azerbaijani government, nor the EU mission in Baku brought any clarity on this issue. One of the members of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum from Azerbaijan, the head of the Society for Humanitarian Research Avaz Hasanov, commenting on the situation at the request of Turan, said:
 
"Representatives (governments) of the Eastern Partnership countries of Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova have always participated in meetings of the Civil Society Forum. Representatives of the three other states – Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus – participated when their questions were discussed. They did not participate in many other meetings."
 
According to Hasanov, Azerbaijan and Belarus have not been invited to the meeting, which is scheduled for December 10-12, the other 4 states have been invited. At the same time, Armenia is going to participate for the first time at the level of the Foreign Minister.
 
"Apparently, the organizers considered that Azerbaijan had not previously participated in these events, and this time it will do the same, and did not send invitations," Hasanov said.
 
He noted that the upcoming meeting is of a kind of strategic importance, since it will discuss the implementation of the Eastern Partnership program by the participating countries.
 
"If Armenia participates at the level of the foreign minister, then Azerbaijan should be invited at that level, or should be represented by the head of the presidential administration," Hasanov said. -05B06-

Investigative committee releases footage from scene of Armenian’s death in Moscow

Manouk Vasilian
News.am, Armenia
Nov 21 2018
Investigative committee releases footage from scene of Armenian’s death in Moscow Investigative committee releases footage from scene of Armenian’s death in Moscow

15:43, 21.11.2018
                  

The Investigative Committee of Russia has released a footage from Moscow International airport where an Armenian man had been found dead on the runway, RBC reported.

The Investigative Committee found parts from the man's coat and a shoelace among the fragments scattered on the runway.

According to Mash TV Channel, at about 6:00 pm the Armenian citizen arrived at airport. The man has been escorted by police to the boarding gate, but then walked away instead of boarding a bus to the plane.

The Investigative Committee establishes the circumstances of the accident. A pre-investigation check is conducted; the initiation of a criminal case has not been reported yet.

As reported earlier, the Armenian embassy in Moscow confirmed reports on the death of Armenia national Yepremyan A. (born in 1993) as a result of the accident on the runway of Sheremetyevo International Airport.

“The diplomatic mission was informed by Russia’s investigative committee that the investigation into the reasons of the accident continues. The embassy is in contact with the relevant agencies of Russia. The additional information will be provided later,” the embassy said in a statement.

Azerbaijani Press: Russia is not going to fight against Azerbaijan for Armenia

Manouk Vasilian
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press:
November 16, 2018 Friday
Russia is not going to fight against Azerbaijan for Armenia
 
by Turan IA
 
 
Commenting on the statements of the Acting Defense Minister of Armenia David Tonoyan about the role of Russia in ensuring the security of Armenia, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Defense and Security of the State Duma of Russia, Yury Shvytkin, said that Russia is ready to ensure the security of Armenia in the event of military aggression. A military columnist for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Viktor Baranets, said that Russia will protect Armenia from the attack of another country. He also named Azerbaijan among the possible attackers.
 
"As you know, no one is going to attack Armenia, the Azerbaijani public could not react to these statements," political scientist Ilgar Velizade believes. If desired, this provocative sensation could be inflated so that Russia is going to render Assistance to Armenia in the event of a resumption of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, this is not the case. In April 2016, Russia limited itself to calling on the parties to cease hostilities, Russia"s unilateral actions in support of Armenia did not Moscow made it clear that it was not going to intervene and in the event of an acute phase of the Karabakh conflict get up on one side or the other.
 
On the other hand, it is clear that if Armenia will provoke Azerbaijan into military actions on its territory, and such provocations are possible, then it is not excluded that the Armenian side will actively appeal for help from the allies. But we hope that the allies of Armenia, as it was more than once, will make it clear to them that they do not intend to spoil relations with Azerbaijan and risk long-term geopolitical interests in favor of the interests of one side, provoking them to conflict with Azerbaijan. To put it frankly, there are no fools today, and if some deputies and individual political figures express their thoughts, this does not mean that they should be implemented and unconditionally in the form they want in Yerevan," the political scientist believes.
 
The Azeri blogger of the Caucasian Knot portal (Russian Federation) recalls that Russia did not start a war against Turkey and Israel, whose armed forces shot down a Russian military aircraft and provoked its destruction by Syrian air defenses. Russia is silently observing how the air forces of the NATO coalition are bombing targets in Syria, which the Kremlin has repeatedly declared to be its defended ally. These facts cast doubt on the possibility of Russia's military participation on the side of Armenia in the war against Azerbaijan. Pro-Armenian statements in Russia are explained by the desire of the Russians to return Armenia, which the acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is leading to the West, to his geopolitical camp, the blogger wrote.
 
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will not provide military support to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the event of an armed conflict involving this state, stated the head of the joint headquarters of the CSTO, Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, reports "Sputnik Armenia". Sidorov said that the organization has obligations to Armenia, therefore in case of aggression against Yerevan, other CSTO members will provide it with military support. These obligations are not applied to the Nagorno Karabakh, he said.