Author: Mary Lazarian

EP should have clearly criticized Turkey’s destructive role in Karabakh conflict – EAFJD

Mary Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) issued a statement on the adoption of the annual progress report on Turkey by the European Parliament on Tuesday. The full statement is provided below.

"The European Parliament (EP) adopted its annual progress report on Turkey. As in the past 6 years, the EP calls on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, referring to its resolution adopted on 15 April 2015 on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

Thus, the European Parliament:

– urges Turkey to commit to a genuine reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, including settling the dispute about the Armenian Genocide and fully comply with its obligations to protect Armenian and other cultural heritage;

– calls on the EU and its Member States to examine the possibility of banning the right-wing extremist movement “Grey Wolves” in EU countries;

– urges Turkish authorities to increase their efforts to effectively address the dire situation of Armenians and other minorities in the country;

– is concerned that Turkey’s foreign policy in recent years contradicts the common goals of the EU’s foreign and security policy, especially with regard to the Caucasus;

– considers that Turkey is persistently further from EU values and standards.

The EAFJD welcomes the EP report, in particular, the aspect concerning the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Nevertheless, the EAFJD considers that the European Parliament should have clearly criticized Turkey’s destructive role in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as it did in its last year’s report.

While evaluating the process of the ongoing dialogue between Turkey and Armenia, the EP and the EU should urge Turkey to refrain from putting any preconditions, in particular, relating the process of the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and thus serving the interest of the third party , i.e. Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, until now the Turkish intentions during a dialogue have been either an imitation and or aimed at imposing its own will – a process which has little to do with genuinely coming to terms with its own past .

We will continue keeping these issues in the focus of our attention."

Armenian opposition unveils Saturday’s action plan

Mary Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The Armenian opposition holding daily anti-government protests in Yerevan has unveiled its action plan for Saturday, June 11.

Accordingly, a march against “unprecedented political repressions” is scheduled to start from Yerevan’s central France Square at 7pm, the Hayastan alliance said.

“At 9:30pm, a cultural event-discussion will be held with Shushan Petrosyan,” it added.

Filmmaker travels back to her roots in telling Armenian story through ‘Hidden Map’

Mary Lazarian
June 1 2022

BY ADRIAN GOMEZ / JOURNAL ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1ST, 2022 AT 5:02PM
UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 2ND, 2022 AT 12:02AM

Ani Hovannisian in the hidden chapel of Hokeats Armenian Monastery, Monastery of the Spirits, outside the city of Van. (Courtesy of Steven Sim)

Ani Hovannisian is always on a journey to find the truth.

In each project, she searches for it.

With her latest, “The Hidden Map,” she journeyed to modern-day Turkey to unravel some of her family’s history.

Her family story starts with the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915. During a short time, 1.5 million Armenians were killed or expelled by Ottoman Turks.

Those that were affected include Hovannisian’s family.

Ani Hovannisian is always on a journey to find the truth.

In each project, she searches for it.

With her latest, “The Hidden Map,” she journeyed to modern-day Turkey to unravel some of her family’s history.

Her family story starts with the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915. During a short time, 1.5 million Armenians were killed or expelled by Ottoman Turks.

Those that were affected include Hovannisian’s family.

Baydzar and Sarkis, among the last full Armenians in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (Courtesy of Ani Hovannisian)

“The Hidden Map” will air at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 5 and 10:30 a.m. on June 12 on World channel 5.4. It will air on New Mexico PBS at 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, on channel 5.1.

Hovannisian wanted to tackle the story because it’s often one that is not remembered in history.

She’s also thrilled that PBS is taking a chance to give her the platform to share the story.

“It’s not a cinematic masterpiece, but it goes deep,” she says. “The Armenian story has been hidden and forgotten by Turkey intentionally. My grandparents were exiled from that land.”

Hovannisian had traveled with her father to the area.

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“I had to face the unfathomable loss and the story of my grandparents growing up,” she says. “I can’t tell you how filling that is. Before I worked on this project I was in nonfiction programming. I always knew that I would one day tell the Armenian story in a grand way. It’s not only a genocide history lesson. It’s much bigger than that.”

As she traveled back she met Sim, who lived in an old Armenian home.

This is where she was able to uncover more stories.

“That was the turning point,” she says of meeting Sim. “Here was this guy who spent 30 years of his life finding and discovering our Armenian past. He’s kind of a loner and he cares about the stories. To see these relics that he had was evidence of the genocide.”

Hovannisian wanted to bring attention to not only the Armenian genocide but to the many crimes against humanity that are allowed to happen without any accountability.

She wanted to tell the stories of the silenced and forgotten voices within this tragedy.

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“For me to know that there are going to be 1,000 airings of ‘The Hidden Map’ across the country makes my heart beat fast,” she says. “The story has been forgotten for 100 years. These stories have been buried beneath the soil and going to be unearthed. What’s important is that this story is a continuing story. It’s a human story. It’s the story of every people’s struggle and how critical it is for the truth to be known. Every person has a history that is complicated. This is a jumping off point for others to learn about a piece of history that is always trying to be erased.”

ON TV
“The Hidden Map” will air at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 5 and 10:30 a.m. on June 12 on World channel 5.4. It will air on New Mexico PBS at 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, on channel 5.1.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2504219/filmmaker-travels-back-to-her-roots-in-telling-armenian-story-through.html

Armenian President receives UNWTO Secretary-General

Mary Lazarian

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 11:01, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan received the delegation led by Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili, the Presidential Office said.

The delegation arrived in Armenia to attend the 67th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe.

In his remarks President Khachaturyan praised the fact that the relations between Armenia and the UNWTO are developing steadily. He said that tourism is a very important sector for Armenia and has been declared by the government as one of the priority areas for the development of economy.

The UNWTO Secretary-General highlighted the fact that after the COVID-19 pandemic the first meeting of the Organization is taking place in Yerevan and congratulated Armenia on being elected as member of the UNWTO Executive Council for 2021-2025, which will contribute to improving Armenia’s position and raising awareness on it in the European region.

The meeting also touched upon issues on further enriching the cooperation agenda, developing new guidelines for boosting tourism sector, etc.

It was stated that Armenia makes big efforts for the development of digital technologies, education, science and innovations, which will contribute to raising and strengthening the potential of the tourism sector.

CivilNet: Brussels issues new statement on Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization efforts

Mary Lazarian
CIVILNET.AM

01 Jun, 2022 10:06

  • European Council President Charles Michel issued a new statement on ongoing efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, meant to clarify previous comments.
  • Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about Armenia-Russia relations and Armenia-Azerbaijan peace efforts.
  • Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, to discuss increased cooperation in diplomacy and trade.
  • Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan sat down for an interview with CivilNet to talk about Karabakh negotiations, American biolabs in Armenia, and Armenia’s new satellite.

Credits: Ruptly

FLYONE ARMENIA receives permission to fly over Turkish airspace

Mary Lazarian

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 19:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. FLYONE ARMENIA resumes regular direct flights from Yerevan to Lyon and Paris during the whole summer flight period.

In a conversation with ARMENPRESS, the Chairman of the Board of FLYONE ARMENIA airline Aram Ananyan mentioned that a part of the flight route passes through the airspace of the Republic of Turkey and the airlines has received a permission to fly over Turkey’s territory.

"Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights are carried out in an uninterrupted manner, with a frequency of three flights a week. We are grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia for active intervention in resolving the issue," Aram Ananyan said, adding that they will do everything possible to ensure the smooth process of flights.

Earlier, FLYONE ARMENIA had announced that it will resume regular direct Yerevan-Lyon-Yerevan, Yerevan-Paris-Yerevan flights from June 17.




Armenian patriarch to represent Catholics at Middle East Council of Churches

Mary Lazarian

May 27 2022

   By CNA Staff

May 27, 2022 Catholic News Agency

London, England, May 27, 2022 / 03:00 am (CNA).

Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian is the new representative of Catholics at the Middle East Council of Churches.

The Armenian Catholic leader was elected to represent “the Catholic family” at the closing session of the council’s general assembly, held on May 16-20 in Wadi El-Natrun, northern Egypt.

He succeeds Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, the leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, reported ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

The Middle East Council of Churches was founded in 1974 to bring together the region’s Evangelical, Oriental Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox Christians. Catholics joined the body in 1990. The council has four presidents, each representing one of its four constituent communions.

Patriarch Minassian, 75, became the 21st Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics in September 2021.

He succeeded Patriarch Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, who died in May 2021 at the age of 86.

Armenia calls for investigation of Azerbaijani provocation that saw soldier killed

Mary Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 15:08

 1 minute read

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the gross violation of the ceasefire by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the south-eastern direction of the Armenian border on May 28, as a result of which private Davit Vahani Vardanyan, a serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces, was killed.

Expressing condolences to the soldier’s family and friends, the Ministry stressed that “the provocation was preceded by destructive, belligerent and superstitious statements by the President of Azerbaijan on May 27, which included claims on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

The Ministry reminded that since May 2021, units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have illegally invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in the Sotk-Khoznavar section, occupying an area of more than 45 square kilometers.

“The incident of May 28 and similar provocations, regular ceasefire violations once again justify the need for a mirror withdrawal of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and the deployment of an observation mission on the border, which has been repeatedly raised by the Armenian side,” the Ministry said in a statement.

“Taking into account that the Commission on Border Delimitation and Security between Armenia and Azerbaijan has already started its work, this incident should be investigated and assessed by the commission,” the statement reads.

At the same time, the Foreign Ministry reminds that the consequences of the previous gross violation of the ceasefire established by the November 9, 2020 statement, as a result of which the Azerbaijani Armed Forces invaded the village of Parukh in Nagorno Karabakh, which is under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, are yet to be eliminated.

“We consider it important that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the CSTO, the European Union and the entire international community give a proper and targeted assessment of Azerbaijan’s provocative actions and statements, aggressive rhetoric aimed at undermining peace efforts in the South Caucasus,” the Ministry stated.

It called on the Azerbaijani leadership to refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric, fulfill the trilateral statements, and commit to establishing stability and security in the region as a result of the Brussels meetings.

Deputy PM Matevosyan honors the memory of Gharakilisa Battle heroes

Mary Lazarian

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 15:47,

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Today, Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan visited the "Broken Church" memorial in Vanadzor together with the Governor of Lori Aram Khachatryan, MPs Arpi Davoyan, Armen Khachatryan, as well as the acting Mayor of Vanadzor Arkady Peleshyan on the occasion of the Republic Day, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Offic eof the Deputy Prime Minister.

After the requiem service delivered by Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan. Primate of the Diocese of Gougark, the Deputy Prime Minister delivered a speech, saying,

"Your Holiness,

Dear compatriots,

Dear citizens of Vanadzor,

About a century ago, during these days, when everything seemed to be lost and there was no way out, thank to the glory of the brave Armenians, despair turned into inspiration, as a result of which we had the heroic battles of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Gharakilisa.

Glory and honor to all the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the salvation of the homeland, fought for statehood.

And today, on May 28, it is a great honor for me to be present and participate in this ceremony dedicated to the heroic battle of Gharakilisa and to pray to God for the peace of the souls of our martyrs.

Much time has passed, but the challenges and the formula for facing them have not changed, that is, unity, will and faith.

I think that due to this trinity and tireless work we will have a strong and unbreakable army, a strong state.

long live the Republic of Armenia,

Long live the heroes of all time,

Congratulations to all of us on the Republic Day."

After MP Arpi Davoyan's welcoming speech, Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan laid a wreath at the memorial to the heroes of the Gharakilisa battle and paid tribute to their memory.

Mayor of Paris visits Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

Mary Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 17:27

 Less than a minute

On an official visit to Armenia, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial on May 28 accompanied by First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Levon Hovhannisyan.

The guests were greeted by Edita Gzoyan, Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, who presented the history of the memorial.

She briefed the Mayor on a memorial plaque installed at Tsitsernakaberd, dedicated to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by France.

Anne Hidalgo laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, then the guests laid flowers at the eternal flame and observed a moment of silence in memory of the consecrated martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.