Author: nina hovnanian

ETHNIC ARMENIAN AWARDED MAIN PRIZE IN CHILDREN’S NEW WAVE CONTEST

Tert.am
24.08.11

Andranik Alexanyan, an Armenian junior singer who represented Ukraine
in the 2011 Children’s New Wave song contest, has become the winner
of the main prize.

He received the Crystal Wave from the Russian musician, singer and
composer, Igor Krutoy, who was the head of this year’s jury.

Ivaylo Filipov from Bulgaria, and another representative from Ukraine –
Nikita Luchov – won the second and third prizes, respectively.

A 12-year-old representative from Armenia, Ludushik, received a special
prize from the Italian TV channel Rauna. The award will enable her to
participate in one of the channel’s most popular children’s TV shows.

ARMENIA’S VLADIMIR HAKOBYAN NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN WORLD CHESS CUP IN KHANTY- MANSIYSK

news.am
Aug 23, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian Grandmaster Vladimir Hakobyan, unfortunately,
will not be able to participate in the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk,
Russia on August 28, 2011.

Several days ago Hakobyan stumbled unluckily and broke his leg. After
the surgery, the doctors have recommended the grandmaster not to
travel for several weeks, Arnchess.am reports.

Armenian GMs Sergei Movsesian and Arman Pashikian will take part in
the World Cup.

IRANIAN EMBASSY DENIES ‘KARABAKH GOVERNMENT’ REMARKS

news.az
Aug 23, 2011
Azerbaijan

The Iranian embassy in Russia has denied that its ambassador used
the phrase “government of Karabakh” in an interview with an Armenian
newspaper.

Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi was reported to have used the phrase in
an interview with the Russian-language Armenian newspaper, Noah’s Ark.

Reports that he used the phrase are “spread by the enemies of Iran
and Azerbaijan”, an embassy official told 1news.az.

“The ambassador gave his interview in Farsi, but during the
conversation with the reporter our ambassador did not use the phrase
‘government of Karabakh’,” the official continued.

For its part, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has said it is looking
into the reports.

Nagorno-Karabakh has declared itself an independent republic, but it
has not been recognized by any other countries and remains legally
part of Azerbaijan. Any reference to the “government of Karabakh”
would be considered tacit approval of Karabakh’s break from Azerbaijan.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IS ALWAYS ON THE AGENDA OF THE UN – ENVOY

news.az
Aug 23, 2011
Azerbaijan

Armenia’s every step on Karabakh conflict receives reaction in
Azerbaijan’s permanent mission in UN.

The Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in UN reacts to every step taken by
the Armenian side on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Permanent
Representative to the UN, Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev told reporters
in Baku on Tuesday.

“Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is always on the agenda of the UN and the
Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the organization reacts to every
step taken by the Armenian side on the issue, informs the Secretary
General and all member countries”, Mehdiyev said.

According to him, a new draft resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is ready and will be discussed if the country’s leadership
wills and corresponding works will be carried out in this direction.

The UN General Assembly has adopted four resolutions, and there is
no doubt that if the new resolution is adopted, the United Nations
will decide on its implementation, he said.

As for reforms in UN, Mehdiyev noted that Azerbaijan has always
supported this, but it was not true to think that there will be
changes in the organization within several months. It takes time,
said the envoy.

MFA INVESTIGATES IRANIAN ENVOY’S STATEMENTS ABOUT OCCUPIED AZERBAIJANI LANDS

news.az
Aug 23, 2011
Azerbaijan

Foreign Ministry investigates information about Iranian ambassador’s
statements about occupied Azerbaijani lands.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan investigates information about the
interview of Iranian ambassador extraordinary and plenipotenatiry
to Russia Seyed Mahmud Reza Sajadi to the Noyev kovcheg edition in
which separatist Nagorno Karabakh was presented as “the government
of Karabakh”.

The statement has come from the first secretary of the news service
of Azerbaijan Elman Abdullayev, 1news.az reports.

According to Abdullayev, the relevant instructions have been given
to the Azerbaijani embassy to Iran over this statement.

DECISION OF YEREVAN MAYOR ON DISMANTLING KIOSKS TO REDUCE DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATOR – EXPERT

news.am
Aug 23, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Decision of Yerevan city mayor to dismantle kiosks and
ban street trade in Yerevan will bring to reduction of demographic
indicator of the city, said demographer Ruben Yeganyan to a press
conference on Tuesday.

Yeganyan argues that this decision will entail negative consequences
both in the context of demography and emigration.

“I would love to see our country developed and people practicing high
level of living standards, so that we would not have street trade
and kiosks on the streets of our capital. But we have to compare the
desirable with the reality. Do we have the necessary recourses to go
for this? Before making these kinds of decisions, city authorities
should have come up with corresponding offers for employment. It is
elementary that some of the people previously engaged in street trade
or running kiosks should leave the country,” said the expert. ‘~QOf
course there were people among them who were planning to get married,
to have children but it is only natural that they will not go for it,
deprived of livelihood. I do not rule out that once in grave social
conditions, certain families should come apart. I wonder did anybody
give a thought about all this before signing these documents.”

POPE LEO XIII APPEALED TO SULTAN IN VAIN TO STOP AN EARLIER MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS

Catholic Insight

Aug 23, 2011

Armenia News reported July 11, 2011 on an appeal by Pope Leo XIII
(Pope: 1878-1903) to the Turkish sultan to stop the 1894-1896 massacre
of Armenian Christians. That appeal was recently disclosed by the
Vatican Archives.

Following the release of the “Secret Archives” dealing with Armenia,
a reporter for the Turkish Vatan newspaper interviewed Archbishop
Sergio Pagano, who is in charge of the Vatican Archives.

Archbishop Pagano “stressed that back in 1896…Pope Leo XIII called
on the Sultan to show sympathy and stop the genocide.”

“Pagano said that the documents and information about the Armenian
genocide from Vatican’s secret archives will be published in a separate
book. He cited several stories from the documents.

“An eyewitness from Erzurum said, ‘I saw how numerous children were
killed. My niece ran away from home with a two-year-old child on her
shoulders, but she was shot. When she fell on the ground two soldiers
came to her and killed her. I saw the killing of our city’s spiritual
leader. They gouged out his eyes, pulled his beard. Before killing him,
the soldiers forced him to dance.”

Another story was told by a Turkish soldier named Mustafa Suleyman:
‘We entered the Armenian villages and killed them all, without regard
to gender and age. Kurds who came with us robbed Armenian houses. Many
old Armenians, disabled people, were hiding in schools located in
the centre of the city, but we had an order and killed them. Eight
hundred Armenians were killed and burnt in Geliguzan village. They
gouged out the eyes of a priest, Fr. Hovhannes; his beard, nose,
and ears were cut off. I have not killed a single child, even saved
two of them. I was hiding them in my tent but once I went in I saw
their bodies dismembered.’

“Under the orders of bloody Sultan Abdul Hamid over 300,000 Armenians
were killed in 1894-1896.” (The Wanderer, July 21, 2011)

The massacre of these years is not to be confused with the greater
Armenian Holocaust which took place during the World War I years,
when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed. Obviously, this
slaughter foreshadowed the larger one in 1915. Both crimes were ignored
by Europe whose nations were in deadly rivalry with one another.

ARMENIA, ISRAEL HOLD POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS

news.am
Aug 23, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia and Israel held a regular round of political
consultations on August 22-23.

Armenian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosyan, while Israeli delegation by Pinchas Avivi from European
and Eurasian department at Israeli MFA.

The sides discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation,
developments in the Middle East and South Caucasus, as well as
other issues of mutual interest, MFA press service informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

The Israeli delegation visited Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to meet
with head of Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos Karekin II. They also
visited Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims and Genocide Museum.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: LIST OF CHURCHES IN TURKEY
Raffi Bedrosyan

Aug 23, 2011

(Armenian Weekly)-The recently appointed Ambassador to Turkey, Francis
Ricciardone, responding to questions submitted by Senator Robert
Menendez, has made incorrect claims about churches in Turkey. We
would like to provide some facts for the Ambassador’s attention.

The St. Gregory The Enlightener (Sourp Krikor Lousavoritch) church is
Istanbul As the Armenian Weekly readers know from a recent article,
the approximate number of Armenian churches in Ottoman Turkey prior
to 1915 stands at 2300, while the number of active Armenian churches
in Turkey today is 34–28 in Istanbul, 6 in Anatolia. The article
had further qualified that these numbers only represented Armenian
Apostolic Churches under the jurisdiction of the Istanbul Armenian
Patriarchate. When the pre-1915 number of numerous Armenian Catholic,
Protestant, Evangelical churches are to be added to the 2300 Armenian
Apostolic churches, plus the Greek churches, plus the Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox churches belonging to the various European
communities in Ottoman Turkey, the number of Christian churches easily
doubles up. It would take some research to define the exact number of
the Christian churches prior to 1915; however, it is relatively easier
to determine the number of active Christian churches in Turkey today.

The following list gives the Armenian churches still standing in
Turkey, both in Istanbul and in Anatolia:

Armenian Apostolic Churches in Turkey

In Istanbul:

Christ The King Armenian Church (Kadıköy, Istanbul)

Church of the Apparition of the Holy Cross (KuruceÅ~_me, Istanbul)

Holy Archangels Armenian Church (Balat, Istanbul)

Holy Cross Armenian Church (Kartal, Istanbul)

Holy Cross Armenian Church (Selamsız, Uskudar, Istanbul)

Holy Hripsimiants Virgins Armenian Church (Buyukdere, Istanbul)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Apostolic Church (Bakırköy, Istanbul)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_, Istanbul)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Eyup, Istanbul)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Ortaköy, Istanbul)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Yeniköy, Istanbul)

Holy Nativity of the Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Bakırköy,
Istanbul)

Holy Resurrection Armenian Church (Kumkapı, Istanbul)

Holy Resurrection Armenian Chapel (Taksim, Istanbul)

Holy Three Youths Armenian Church (Boyacıköy, Istanbul)

Holy Trinity Armenian Church (Galatasaray, Istanbul)

Narlikapi Armenian Apostolic Church (Narlıkapı, Istanbul)

St. Elijah The Prophet Armenian Church (Eyup, Istanbul)

St. John the Baptist Armenian Church (Uskudar)

St. John The Evangelist Armenian Church (GedikpaÅ~_a, Istanbul)

St. John The Evangelist Armenian Church (Narlıkapı, Istanbul)

St. John The Forerunner Armenian Church (BaglarbaÅ~_ı, Uskudar,
Istanbul)

St. George (Sourp Kevork) Armenian Church (Samatya, Istanbul)

St. Gregory The Enlightener (Sourp Krikor Lousavoritch) (Ghalatya,
Istanbul)

St. Gregory The Enlightener (Sourp Krikor Lousavoritch) Armenian Church
(Kuzguncuk, Istanbul)

St. Gregory The Enlightener (Sourp Krikor Lousavoritch) Armenian Church
(Karaköy, Istanbul)

St. Gregory The Enlightener (Sourp Krikor Lousavoritch) (Kınalıada,
Istanbul)

St. James Armenian Church (Altımermer, Istanbul)

St. Nicholas Armenian Church (Beykoz, Istanbul)

St. Nicholas Armenian Church (Topkapı, Istanbul)

St. Santoukht Armenian Church (Hisar, Istanbul)

St. Saviour (Sourp Pergitch) Armenian Chapel (Yedikule, Istanbul)

St. Sergius Armenian Chapel (Balikli, Istanbul)

St. Stephen Armenian Church (Karaköy, Istanbul)

St. Stephen Armenian Church (YeÅ~_ilköy, Istanbul)

St. Takavor Armenian Apostolic Church (Kadıköy, Istanbul)

Saints Thaddeus and Barholomew Armenian Church (Yenikapı, Istanbul)

St. Trinity (Sourp Yerrortutyoun) Church (Pera, Istanbul)

St. Vartanants Armenian Church (Feriköy, Istanbul)

The Twelve Holy Apostles Armenian Church (Kandilli, Istanbul)

Of the Armenian Apostolic Churches still standing in Istanbul, only
28 are active at present, the rest are closed due to lack of clergy
and/or lack of congregation.

In Anatolia

Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastea Armenian Church (Iskenderun, Hatay)

Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Vakıflıköy, Samandag, Hatay)

St. George (Sourp Kevork) Armenian Church (Derik, Mardin)

St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Kayseri)

St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Kırıkhan)

St. Giragos Armenian Church (Diyarbakır) UNDER RECONSTRUCTION

Armenian Catholic Churches in Turkey

St. Mary Armenian Catholic Church (Beyoglu, Istanbul).

St. Jean Chrisostomus Armenian Catholic Church (Taksim, Istanbul)

St. Leon Armenian Catholic Church (Kadıkoy, Istanbul)

Assumption Armenian Catholic Church (Buyukada, Istanbul)

Armenian Catholic Church of Immaculate Conception (Koca Mustafa
PaÅ~_a, Istanbul)

St. Saviour Armenian Catholic Church (Karaköy, Istanbul)

St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church (Ortaköy,
Istanbul)

St. Paul Armenian Catholic Church (Buyukdere, Istanbul)

St. John the Baptist Armenian Catholic Church (Yeniköy, Istanbul)

Of the Armenian Catholic Churches in Istanbul, only the first four
are active.

Armenian Evangelical/Protestant Churches in Turkey

Armenian Evangelical Church (Pera, Istanbul)

Armenian Evangelical Church (Gedik PaÅ~_a, Istanbul)

Until recently, the Armenian Church Foundations and the Istanbul
Armenian Patriarchate had great difficulty to preserve or to protect
the church buildings and schools under their jurisdiction; there would
be no permission from the government to carry out minor repairs or even
paint the deteriorating church and school buildings. But there has been
an improvement with the present government, which has restored the Holy
Cross Church on Akhtamar Island on Van Lake, albeit as a state museum,
and has given permission to the repair and reconstruction of a few
historic churches, most notably the Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir.

To provide a complete picture of churches in Turkey today, we present
below a lists of non-Armenian churches:

Greek Orthodox Churches

Fener Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, Fener

Panagia Mugliotissa, H.Georgios Poteras, Fener

Aya Irini, Topkapı

Aya Yorgi, Buyukada

Hagios Poliektus, Topkapı

Havariyyun, Fatih

Kanli, Fatih

Nikolaos, Ayakapı

Kyriaaki, Kumkapı

Panagia Elpida, Kumkapı

Theodoros, Yenikapı

Panagiea, Altımermer

Menas,

Georgios,

Khristos Analepsisi,

Nikolaos,

Konstantinos,

Helene, Samatya

Panagia, Belgradkapı

Nikolaos, Topkapı

Demetrios, SarmaÅ~_ık

Georgios, Edirnekapı

Panagia, Salmatomruk

Panagia Hanceriotissa, Tekfursarayı

Panagia Suda, Egrikapı

Panagia Blakherna, Demetios Kananou, Ayvansaray

Panagia Balinu, Taksiartes, Balat

Hpasaskave, Hasköy

Konstantinos ve Helene, Beyoglu

Panagia, Galatasaray

Trias, Taksim

Panagia Evangelistria, Dolapdere

Demetrios, Athanisios, KurtuluÅ~_

Dodeka Apostoloi, Feriköy

Hristos Metamorphosisi, Å~^iÅ~_li

Panagia, BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_

Phokos, Ortaköy

Demetrios, Ä°oannes Prodromos, KuruceÅ~_me

Taksiarkhes, Propethes Elias, Arnavutköy

Khralamsok, Bebek

Panagia Evangelistira, Boyacıköy

Taksiarkhes, Ä°stinye

Nikolaos, Panagia, Yeniköy

Panagia Pege, Silivrikapı

Nikolaos, Georgios, Khristos, Buyukada

Trias, Hsypridon, Khristos, Heybeliada

Georgios, Khristos, Burgazada

Khrasitos, Kınalıada

Heuphemia, Trias (Aya Triada), Kadıköy

Hioannes Khrysostomos, KalamıÅ~_

Georgios, Yeldegirmeni

Prophetes Elias, Uskudar

Pantelemion, Georgios, Kuzguncuk

Georgios, Cengelköy

Hristos Metamorphosis, Kandilli

Konstantinos ve Helene, PaÅ~_abahce

Paraskeve, Beykoz

Paraskeve, Konstantinos, Tarabya

Paraskeve, Buyukdere

Ä°oannes Prodromos, Yenimahalle

Georgios, Khristos Analepsis, Bakırköy

Stephanos, YeÅ~_ilköy

Demetrios, Panagia, Prophetes Elias, Buyukada

Nikolaos, Prophetes Elias, Heybeliada

Ä°oannes Prodromos, Burgazada

Panagia, Kınalıada

Georgios Metokhi, Fener

Georgios Metokhi, Yeniköy

Georgios Metokhi, Heybeliada

Ä°oannes Prodromos Methokhi, Balat

Panagia Kaphatiane, Hnikolaos, Ä°oannes Prodromos, Galata

Balıklı Hagia Kharalampos, Silivrikapı

Haigoi Anargiroi, Silivrikapı

Hristos Genesis, Arnavutköy

Although these Greek churches are still standing, very few are still
active as there are virtually no Greeks left in Turkey. Last census
numbers indicate a population of less than 2000, which means there
are about twenty Greeks left for each Greek church in Turkey.

European Catholic Churches

Saint Benoit (French), Galata

Saint Esprit (French), Beyoglu

Saint Antoine(French), Beyoglu

Santa Maria (Ä°talian), Tunel

Sankt Georg (Austria), Karaköy

Saint Pierre et Saint Paul (French), Galata

Notre Dame de l’Assumption (French), Moda

St Augustine (French), Fenerbahce

Czestochova Meryem Ana (Polish), Polonezköy Anglican Churches

English Consulate Anglican Chapel, Galatasaray

Kirim Anglican Church, Beyoglu

Pera Resurrection Church- AynalıceÅ~_me Beyoglu

All Saints Anglican-Presbyterien, Moda Protestant Churches

German Protestant Church, TarlabaÅ~_ı, Beyoglu

Netherlands Consulate Dutch Chapel, Beyoglu

Swedish Lutheran, Tunel

Istanbul Nehir Pentecostal, Harbiye

İstanbul Altıntepe Protestant, Altıntepe Other Orthodox Churches

Russian Orthodox, Galata

Sveti Stefan Bulgarian Orthodox, Balat

In recent years, a few Christian churches have been created in resort
areas such as Antalya and Bodrum, frequented by European retirees,
but these are not recorded.

When responding to Senator Menendez’s questions, perhaps the Ambassador
only relied on information provided by Turkish government sources,
which could sometimes be unreliable on issues related to “past history”
or to present concerns such as Christian missionary activities. One
remarkable example of this is a January 2007 dated Turkish Security
General Directorate circular, which indicated that while there
were 77,777 mosques in Turkey at the end of 2006, the number of
non-Moslem religious institutions had climbed to 373. The circular
expressed concern that this number had increased greatly from 273
in 2005, mostly due to illegal missionary activities of Protestant
Christians. Of the 373 recorded religious institutions, 321 were
Christian churches, including 90 Greek Orthodox (75 in Istanbul),
55 Armenian (48 in Istanbul), 60 Assyrian, 3 Chaldean, 4 Bulgarian,
1 Arabic Orthodox, 53 Christian churches for foreigners and 52 illegal
Protestant Missionary churches. In addition, 36 Jewish Synagogues,
9 Jehovahs Witness temples were recorded. Interestingly, there were
more than 900 “gathering centres” (cemevi) recorded for Alewites as
cultural centres, since they are not recognized as belonging to an
official religion.

NEW HEAD OF THE STEPANAKERT OFFICE OF THE ICRC TO BE PRESENTED TO THE MFA OF NKR

Lragir.am

23/08/2011

On August 23, acting NKR Foreign Minister Vasily Atajanyan received
Pamela Statakis due to expiration of her term as Head of the
Stepanakert Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and the newly appointed Head of Office Roman Paramonov.

Vasily Atajanyan thanked Pamela Statakis for productive work
and expressed hope that the new management of the ICRC Office in
Stepanakert would be able to implement all of the envisaged programs.

They exchanged views on matters of mutual interest. Roman Paramonov
outlined plans of the Office for the near future, noting that the
ICRC will continue to implement humanitarian programs in the NKR.

Vasily Atajanyan expressed willingness on behalf of the republic’s
authorities to assist the activities of the ICRC in Nagorno Karabakh.

NKR MFA Press Service