Author: Sonya Jalatian

Russian Foreign Ministry urges launching commission to deal with Azerbaijani-Armenian border delimitation as soon as possible

Sonya Jalatian
Jan 21 2022

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia is ready to provide advisory assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the process of delimitation and demarcation of the border.

"The priority task today is to launch the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, as well as unblock transport and economic ties in the region. Achieving progress in these areas will significantly advance the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in response to media queries.

Asked about how Russia sees the future of the South Caucasus, where external players are too active, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that all those who want to join the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, ensure stability and security in the South Caucasus, did not act on the principle of zero sum game, but proceeded from the parties' interests stemming from the trilateral agreements.

"It is necessary to create and launch as soon as possible the bilateral commission that will deal with the delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border with its subsequent demarcation. We are ready to provide advisory assistance to Baku and Yerevan in this process," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The level of distrust between superpowers has reached its peak – UN Secretary General

Sonya Jalatian

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 20:00,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The world community is facing violent conflicts, and the level of distrust between the superpowers has reached its peak, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, UN Secretary General António Guterres said, addressing the General Assembly.

"We have started another year in the clutches of the world pandemic. Coronavirus continues to control life, plans and hopes. Uncertainty has increased even more. Meanwhile, inequality and inflation are growing. We face fierce political conflicts. The level of distrust between the superpowers has reached a peak," Guterres said.

The Secretary-General noted that since 1945, the world now is experiencing the largest number of violent conflicts.

"The stockpile of nuclear weapons exceeds 13,000, the highest level in a decade," Guterres said.

Armenia’s principle of normalizing relations without preconditions is acceptable for Turkey

Sonya Jalatian

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 10:57,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Special Representatives for the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey, respectively, the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Mr. Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç met on , in Moscow.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that during their first meeting, conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the Special Representatives exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalization process through dialogue between Armenia and Turkey. 

“Parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalization,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued an identical statement, saying: “During their first meeting, conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the Special Representatives exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalization process through dialogue between Türkiye and Armenia. Parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalization.”

More importantly, both statements clearly state that the principle of continuing dialogue without preconditions is the basis for the full normalization process between the two countries.

Normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions has always been the key principle of Armenia.

Armenia’s expectations in the last 30 years haven’t changed: establishment of diplomatic relations without preconditions and opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. In this context it is important that Ankara is also expressing a similar approach, and the approach of continuing negotiations without preconditions was enshrined in the statements of the foreign ministries of both countries.

Essentially, this shows that there is mutual-understanding over continuing the talks without preconditions, and this itself is a positive start for having constructive discussions in the future.

Armenian, Russian Defense Ministers discuss the situation in Kazakhstan

Sonya Jalatian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 10 2022
, 17:26

 Less than a minute

The Defense Ministers of Armenia and Russia have discussed the situation in Kazakhstan.

Suren Papikyan and Sergey Shoygy had a phone conversation today.

Issues related to the implementation of the decisions of the CSTO Collective Security Council, the Council of Defense Ministers, the activities of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the measures being taken.

Child dies from gunshot wound in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Sonya Jalatian

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 14:16, 8 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. An 11-year-old child died from a gunshot wound, another was injured during the riots in Almaty, the office of the Ombudsman for Children's Rights of Kazakhstan said, reports TASS.

“According to the Ombudsman for Children's Rights Aruzhan Sain, on January 5, a child died from a gunshot wound in Almaty”, the statement said.

It was noted that on January 7, a 15-year-old teenager was taken to one of the children's hospitals in Almaty with severe gunshot wounds.

Carpet Jam Provides Platform for Armenian Musicians

Sonya Jalatian
Outlook Newspapers
Jan 4 2022

First published in the Jan. 1 print issue of the Glendale News Press.

By Ani Duzdabanyan
Glendale News-Press

Under the dim lights surrounded by art works and antiquities dating back hundreds of years, Arpenik Hakobyan recently presented her new program — “In Love by Christmas” — at the Pasadena Antique Warehouse.
For the show, Hakobyan — an Armenian American musician well known for her work with Cirque Du Soleil — performed jazz versions of well-known Christmas songs. She and the band — composed of drums, piano, bass guitar and cello — performed via Carpet Jam, a music platform created by a Glendale-based contractor. This intersection of endeavors by Armenian Americans, which could have a global reach, might just shift the musical landscape — at least, that’s their goal.
After a successful 42-year career in planning and construction, Arthur Aghadjanians traveled to Armenia in February 2020 for a development project but had to stay there longer than he planned — the coronavirus pandemic began, and all flights out were canceled. He knew only a few people, and the 12-hour time difference made it difficult for him to communicate with his family in Glendale. In order to pass time and to entertain himself, Aghadjanians turned to his passion — music — and started to write songs, something that he said he always wanted to do but never had a chance because of the busy life stateside.

Photos courtesy Lilit Mansuryan
Carpet Jam, created by Glendale-based contractor Arthur Aghadjanians, aims to bring Armenian musicians’ performances to a global audience.

Little did he know that it was going to be a life-changing opportunity for him.
Eventually, Aghadjanians was able to engage with musicians and singers who started to perform his songs and their own original works on a platform that Aghadjanians ultimately called “Carpet Jam.”
“Carpet is something that everybody has,” he explained, referencing Armenia’s famous rugs, “and jam simply indicates that musicians are gathering together and having fun.”
Aghadjanians said he took many music classes when he was young, but he never had the opportunity to play professionally. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in building science and dedicated his whole career to construction. It turned out that his training in planning and building was crucial in his new career.
“The song writing starts with a plain piece of paper. You put on the words, chords and suddenly you create something,” he said, adding emphatically, “You construct a song!”
With Carpet Jam, Aghadjanians said he aims to create a bridge between the diaspora and homeland, where all the musicians and artists can unite and create art together. He said he is convinced that no matter how big the platform becomes in Armenia — with a population around 3 million — it can’t be as effective without the involvement of the worldwide diaspora, which numbers 5 million. Aghadjanians is returning to Armenia at the end of January, from where he will take the platform to Russia and its Armenian population of at least 2 million.
“There has to be an internationally recognized platform that is Armenian and connects everyone to Armenia. Everybody knows what [NPR’s] Tiny Desk is, and it’s a U.S. thing,” Hakobyan said, during a break from her performance. “This is my way of bringing awareness to my country and involving the diaspora. Culture is just as important as everything that we are trying to do.”

Photos courtesy Lilit Mansuryan
Arpenik Hakobyan, known for her work with Cirque du Soleil, performs jazz versions of popular Christmas songs at a recent show.

Her vision of Carpet Jam, Hakobyan added, is a music festival that can take place in Glendale, Fresno, Montreal, Yerevan and many other places.
“It’s a platform that can go everywhere,” she said.
This concert is one of the many that Pasadena Project has organized throughout 10 years of developing a creative laboratory for artists, producing events and promoting cultural exchange. Started around 20 years ago as a dream project in the back yard of founder Karmen Kameiyan (also called Karmen Yerevanci), Pasadena Project now collaborates with Chris Agazaryan, owner of the Pasadena Antique Warehouse.
With a rustic interior decorated with constantly changing exhibitions, a bar assembled with parts of an old red Chevrolet and backed by an antique mirror conveniently located in the corner, the shop/concert venue has proved an effective space to host 80-100 guests who can reconnect with culture over a glass of wine. As if illustrating that, Aghadjanians surveyed the room with visible excitement, concluding that everything seemed just right for his new adventure.
“Music speaks to you,” he said. “It takes emotions out of you that you never knew you had.”

Armenia embassy in Greece taking all possible steps to resolve Sevan Nisanyan’s issue

Sonya Jalatian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 3 2022
11:36, 03.01.2022

The embassy of Armenia in Greece is aware of the process surrounding Sevan Nisanyan, an Armenian intellectual from Istanbul and an Armenian citizen, and is taking all possible steps to resolve the issue, the embassy reported.

To note, the Greek government did not extend Nisanyan's residence permit—on the basis of his marriage to a Greek citizen—which expired on December 29. According to the disseminated information, Nisanyan was detained on December 30—and due to the expiration of his residence status. It is noted that a decision will be made to deport Nisanyan from Greece.

Istanbul Armenian intellectual and linguist Sevan Nisanyan, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Turkey, had escaped from prison on July 14, 2017. And on July 25 of the same year, Nisanyan announced that he had petitioned to the Greek authorities for asylum.

Prime Minister hands awards to Armenia’s 10 best athletes of the year

Sonya Jalatian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 30 2021
, 22:40

 3 minutes read

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the solemn awarding ceremony of the 10 best athletes of 2021. The event was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Karen Giloyan, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia Hrachya Rostomyan, numerous representatives of Armenian sports.

PM Pashinyan delivered remarks, where he particularly said,

“Dear representatives of the sports community,

Dear athletes and dear coaches,

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for the competions you participated in in 2021, especially for the victories ones.

You know that particularly in 2021 all of us, our society had twice greater need for victories. And in the socio-psychological situation that has been established in the Republic of Armenia after the 44-day war, sports performances are gaining more importance and significance at the state and national levels. In this respect, especially the competitions of 2021, the participation in those competitions, the successes registered in those competitions deserve double appreciation.

In general, I must say that our strategic perception is that sport is the most important driving force for the normal development of the country, it is not only about the development of sports in itself, but the development of the country in general, because the success recorded in the field of sports leads to economic success, the awareness of the country increases. Thus, the economic attractiveness, the tourist attractiveness of the country rise, resulting in economic effects. Sporting success also expands the country’s, let me say, diplomatic capabilities, because it enhances the country’s international reputation by making it more recognizable, more flexible in international relations, and creating greater opportunities.

Success in the field of professional sports stimulates more and more people to go in for sports, which in turn results in several effects inside the country, starting from the general public health, because we should record that in our country more than 100 billion AMD is spent from the state budget on healthcare. But I want to emphasize that most of that money is spent on treating people, not preventing disease. And sport is one of the factors that will help us overcome this problem.

Today we have a serious problem in terms of maintaining the health of our youngsters, and the achievements in professional sports, our famous athletes, I think, should encourage youngsters to do sports. This is also behind the political course we have adopted, we have promised that those who will conquer the title of an Olympic champion, we will build sports schools in their name in the settlements they want. At the same time, we do this not only to pay tribute to our athletes, but we are convinced that such sport centers will be more attractive for young people to go there and do sports and physical culture.

I only briefly listed the parallel effects that sport brings, but I want to go back to the beginning. Our success in professional sports is very important for our state and national pride, for restoring, increasing and developing our trust in our state and national power.

Once again, I want to thank all the coaches, all the athletes, to assure once again that sport is really a strategic direction for our development. In the recent years, I think the Government’s expenditures in this area are very noticeable, although we understand that there is still a lot to do, I am confident that, depending on the situation, we will continue the program of capital investments for the development of sports. We hope that it will help all of you to represent Armenia in international arenas with more and more tangible success, and the Armenian flag will be raised more and more often in different parts of the world, the anthem of Armenia will be heard more and more often, more and more rejoicing people will meet you at Zvartnots airport.

I thank you, I congratulate the top 10 athletes of 2021.”

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented awards to the 10 best athletes of the year: Greco-Roman wrestlers Arthur Aleksanyan, Malkhas Amoyan, weightlifters Simon Martirosyan, Gor Minasyan, Varazdat Lalayan, gymnast Arthur Davtyan, boxers Hovhannes Bachkov, Davit Chaloyan, freestyle wrestler Arsen Harutyunyan, woman chess player GM Elina Danielian. European Individual Chess Championship champion Elina Danielian was not present at the event due to her participation in the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship being held in Warsaw these days. The head coach of the Armenian women’s team Zaven Andriasyan took part in the award ceremony instead of her.

The prize fund of the “Top 10 athletes of the year” contest is 50 million AMD. Each athlete included in the top ten will receive 4 million AMD, and 1 million AMD will be allocated to the members of their coaching staff.

Life returning to normal in Artsakh’s Shahmasur community after war

Sonya Jalatian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 23 2021

The Shahmasur community of Artsakh’s Martakert region has 158 residents. They all are busy restoring normal life in the village after the war, its head Slava Baghdasaryan told Artsakhpress on Thursday.

"Two displaced families have settled in the village. We can accept five more displaced families. The school has 27 students, 2 of them are children of displaced families; classrooms are few. We do not have a kindergarten. There is a community center, an aid station, a club, a ceremony hall in the village that need renovation,” he said.

“We have a water supply problem. We get water for a few hours a day. The village is provided with electricity and gas. We have applied to the Government of the Republic of Artsakh, it is possible that the inter-community roads will be asphalted in 2022," the village head noted.

Speaking about the employment of the villagers, Baghdasaryan mentioned that they are mainly engaged in agriculture, cultivation of their land, and some of them work in the Kashen mine.