Author: Sonya Jalatian

Bob Dylan finally agrees to accept Nobel Prize for Literature

Sonya Jalatian 
Photo: Getty Images

 

Bob Dylan will finally accept his Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm this weekend, the academy has announced, the BBC reports.

The American singer was awarded the prize in October but failed to travel to pick up the award, or deliver the lecture that is required to receive the 8m kroner ($910,000) prize.

The academy said it would meet Dylan in private in the Swedish capital, where he is giving two concerts.

He will not lecture in person but is expected to send a taped version.

If he does not deliver a lecture by June, he would have to forfeit the prize money.

ANCA explores policy priorities with Administration officials and Members of Congress

Sonya Jalatian
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) national and regional leaders concluded two days of policy-level consultations with key State Department officials and Members of Congress, as part of a nationwide advocacy campaign aimed at leveraging America’s political transition to advance a broad array of Armenian American policy priorities.
ANCA National Chairman Raffi Hamparian led the delegation, which included ANCA Eastern Region Chair Steve Mesrobian, ANCA Western Region Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq. and national board member Ken Hachikian. They were joined by ANCA staff, including Government Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian.  Among the policies advanced during their meetings were expanded U.S.-Armenia relations, security and freedom for the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), justice for the Armenian Genocide, and support and safety for Middle Eastern Christian communities.  During each of these meetings, the ANCA also raised awareness about the upcoming April 21st release of the Armenian Genocide-era epic film, “The Promise.”
“During this time of national transition, it’s particularly important for our community to remain actively engaged, holding policy discussions with Administration officials, exploring legislative strategies with senior Senators and Representatives, and expanding our cooperation with our coalition partners,” noted ANCA National Board Member and ANCA-ER Chair Steve Mesrobian.
“Working, on a bipartisan basis, our local chapters, regional leaders, and Washington office are leaning in to the new realities of our nation’s capital, creatively and concretely advancing the full array of Armenian American policy priorities – a strong Armenia, a free Artsakh, and a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide,” noted ANCA WR Chair Nora Hovsepian.
At the State Department, the ANCA held policy meetings with officials responsible for a range of regional areas and issues, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bridget Brink, who is responsible for the Caucasus, among other regions, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mark Libby, who plays a lead role in handling U.S.-Turkey relations.  On Capitol Hill, the ANCA leadership met with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Chairman and Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ed Royce (D-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), respectively, House Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Brad Sherman (D-CA), and the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Human Rights Karen Bass (D-CA).  They also consulted with the bipartisan Co-Chairs of the Armenian Caucus including Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Trott (R-MI) and David Valadao (R-CA).  Meetings were also held with Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who led the unanimous passage of H.Con.Res 75 in the previous Congress, a measure, backed by the ANCA, that condemned the genocide against Christians, Yezidis and other minorities in the Middle East.
ANCA leaders held a working dinner with the senior leadership and staff of In Defense of Christians, led by President Toufic Baaklini, to discuss expanding efforts to address the ongoing violence against Christian and other minority communities in the Middle East.  The ANCA joined with IDC in co-hosting their 2016 convention, which brought together hundreds of citizen advocates from across the U.S. in support of a broad range of issues, including the protection of Christian communities in the Middle East and U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

Australian lawmaker speaks about cultural genocide of Armenians – Video

Sonya Jalatian

Tim Wilson, who has represents Goldstein in the Australian House of Representatives – has spoken about the cultural genocide of Armenians at the Parliament, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports.

“There was a deliberate attempt by some to not just remove Armenians, but also their memory by destroying the evidence of Armenian heritage and culture, such as artworks and architecture. In short, there was not just a human genocide, there was also a cultural genocide.

The official Armenian Genocide Centennial Website tells the stories of the cultural genocide to wipe the memory of Armenian people from the Ottoman Empire by quote “purposefully massacring Armenian clergymen, they destroyed churches, monasteries and other properties of church, including thousands of medieval handwritten manuscripts.”

 The Ottoman Empire’s aim was to erase the lives and memories of the Armenian people, and all members should be committed to ensuring such events never happen again. Of course, having a quarter Armenian heritage myself, this is a subject matter of which I take significant interest.”

Armenia’s PM to visit Tehran in near future

Sonya Jalatian

Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran Artashes Toumanian and the Head of Trade, Industries, and Mines Chamber of Tehran Khansari met on Tuesday to exchange views on the best results from upcoming visit of Armenian PM to Tehran, reports. 

“All the preparations are checked to host the trade delegation accompanying Armenian Prime Minister who intends to visit Tehran by mid-March,” said Masoud Khansari, the Head of Trade, Industries, and Mines Chamber of Tehran on Tuesday during his meeting with Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran Artashes Toumanian and the Armenian trade activists residing in Tehran, according to the public relations of the Chamber.

“As soon is the PM’s visit to Tehran is finalized, the Trade, Industries, and Mines Chamber of Tehran will arrange for the bilateral meetings between Iranian and Armenian businesspeople,” reassured the Iranian man of business and trade.

Saying that the Chamber has had good interaction with giants of ICT in Tehran, the head of the Chamber recounted that the Iranian companies of the field have achieved breakthrough accomplishments in the technology and the Armenian counterpart will have great chances to establish ties with Iranian companies of the field.

During the same meeting, the Armenian diplomat referred to the visit of President Rouhani to Armenian capital city of Yerevan in two months ago and recounted that it was part of the agreements between Iran and Armenian Presidents to have the Armenian PM visit Tehran and continue the efforts for having constructive dialogues aimed at expansion of bilateral ties.

“The visit will be in near future, and even the situation ripe, it can be made before New Year holidays in Iran which starts on March 21,” said the Armenia envoy to Tehran.

Azerbaijan unhappy with Francois Hollande’s statement on self-determination for Karabakh

Sonya Jalatian

An Azerbaijani lawmaker blames France for pro-Armenian position and urges to send a note to Paris over President Francois Hollande’s recent statement on Nagorno Karabakh.

MP Azay Guliyev on Tuesday criticized French President Hollande’s latest comments on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling on Baku to send a note of protest to Paris.  He believes “France supports Armenia in violation of the norms of international law.”

Addressing the Parliament’s plenary sitting, the MP described Hollande’s recent statement on self-determination for Karabakh as a “non-constructive” step.

He said “France is a country which has the closest relationship with Armenia” and noted that French citizens constitute the majority of those visiting Nagorno Karabakh.

The comments come after French President Francois Hollande’s remarks at the .  Addressing the meeting Francois Hollande announced plans to discuss the Karabakh issue with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan during the latter’s visit to France in March. He emphasized the urgency of finding a way out of the conflict “because the murderous clashes that occurred during those terrible days of April 2 to 5 remind us that deaths are reported in Nagorno-Karabakh almost every day.”

“So we have to act. We must act, first of all, to stop hostilities when they happen – this is what we did with our Russian and American partners: there was a halt to the fighting, the opening of a dialogue , a truce. But we cannot be satisfied with a truce, because the ceasefire is not the solution. We must open real negotiations for the resolution of the conflict. It would be a serious mistake, once again, to consider that the situation has stabilized. We need to find elements of conflict resolution. We know them; they have been fixed; these are the Madrid principles – I will not state them here – but we know that they will lead, if they are applied, to the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Hollande stated, in part.

“This was the first time a President of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing country declares that if applied, the Madrid Principles will lead to the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Kayts Minasyan,  analyst at the Center of Strategic Studies of France, said in an interview with . Accoridng to him, no President had done it before.

“President Hollande spoke about the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, without even referring to the other ones. Surely, other principles are also included in the Madrid Principles, but he didn’t speak about territorial integrity,” said Minasyan, who was present at the dinner.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s anger over the statement, the expert said: “Azerbaijan has recently suffered three defeats on the diplomatic fields.  First, France’s current Interior Minster is on Azerbaijan’s black list for having visited Nagorno Karabakh two years ago. The second defeat was President Hollande’s statement. The third defeat was the refusal of the French Court to accept a complaint from Azerbaijan against MP Francois Rochebloine, a friend of Armenians.”

Documentary about Dersim Armenians to premiere in Istanbul on February 9

Sonya Jalatian

Armenian Genocide documentary “The Children of Vank” will premiere at Istanbul’s Beyoglu Cinema on February 9, Ermenihaber.am reports.

The documentary is a story about Armenian family that survived the Dersim Massacre in 1938. All members of the family were driven away and lived in different cultures and beliefs.

Zeynep is a schoolteacher who lives in Izmir. In 2000s, she accidentally learns that her mother is an Armenian woman born in Dersim (Tunceli). Following the 1938 Massacre, she was given out for adoption and her name was changed to Fatma Kiremitci from AslihanKiremitciyan, her ethnic identity and belief changed to Turkish and Sunni.

She organizes a reunion with some of her mother’s relatives in the village that her mother lived. She traces the stories of her mother and tries to feel and appreciate what she lived in her childhood. Zeynep learns more about the village named Vank and its monastery.

The documentary was screened in Yerevan as part of the Golden Apricot Film Festival in 2016.

President Sargsyan attends Supreme Eurasian Economic Council session in St. Petersburg

Sonya Jalatian

President Serzh Sargsyan is taking part at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held in Saint Petersburg.

Among the leaders of other EAEU member states at the session, which is taking place at the B. Yeltsin Presidential Library, there are the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, the President of the Republic Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev, and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Present at the session was also the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sarkissian.

The President of the host country Vladimir Putin before taking up the agenda items welcomed the participants in the northern capital of Russia, spoke briefly about the works carried out in the framework of the Union on a number of directions, most significant decisions, as well as about the prospective programs of development. The President of the Russian Federation expressed hope that the results of today’s meeting will enhance the economic cooperation of the member states in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

At the beginning of the session, the leaders of the states expressed condolences to the President of the Russian Federation on the crash of the Tu-154 aircraft, which took yesterday in Sochi, and a large number of victims.

In accordance with the Charter, the session is chaired by the leader of the country which is currently presiding at the Organization – the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev. In the framework of the agenda items, the leaders of the member states will discuss the draft of the EAEU Tax Code, issues related to the main areas of integration in the framework of the EAEU, and common market of services of the Union. At the meeting, the parties will also discuss issues related to the development of cooperation in the framework of the EAEU with Iran, India, Egypt, and Singapore, as well as issues related to the international activities of the Union in 2017.

President Serzh Sargsyan made a statement at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

The Sun: Mkhitaryan impressed Mourinho with his commitment

Sonya Jalatian

Henrikh Mkhitaryan packed on 6lbs of muscle in his extended lay-off – to prove to Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho he is ready for the Premier League, according to

The 27-year-old was exiled by the United chief for two-and-half-months because he “wasn’t ready” to play in key fixtures.

But the Armenia international has been coming in on his days off for extra gym and weight sessions.

He impressed Mourinho with his attitude – giving up his weekends to prove the United backroom staff wrong.

And the Armenian star has now been recalled, starring in the Red Devils 4-0 win against Feyenoord last week.

He also played in United’s heartbreaking 1-1 Premier League draw with Everton on Sunday.

An Old Trafford insider revealed: “United have kept close tabs and the feeling is his extra strength will be a huge bonus to him.

“He impressed with his commitment and surprised them by coming in to pump some iron and get more running into his legs.”

Gustav Mahler £4.5m manuscript breaks record at Sotheby’s

Sonya Jalatian

A piece of music handwritten by Gustav Mahler has broken the record for the highest price for a musical manuscript sold at auction, the BBC reports.

The composer’s Second Symphony, which spans 232 pages, fetched ÂŁ4.5m at Sotheby’s on Tuesday morning.

But a controversial manuscript which the auction house said was handwritten by Beethoven failed to sell.

The authenticity of the manuscript for the composer’s 1817 piece, Allegretto in B minor, had been questioned.

Sotheby’s had stood by the manuscript’s authenticity and expected it to fetch up to ÂŁ200,000.

But ahead of the auction, Prof Barry Cooper, a musicologist and Beethoven scholar, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there were inconsistencies within the piece.

Implementation of Vienna agreements on Karabakh important: Bridget Brink

Sonya Jalatian

There has been a long-standing support from the US to the region and supported for the Minsk Group process to try to find a resolution to the Karabakh conflict, Bridget Brink, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told reporters in Yerevan.

She said the support has been consistent and voiced hope it would continue after Donald Trump’s election as US President.

Bridget Brink said the US supports the agreements on two confidence-building measures on expansion of Andrzej Kasprzyk’s monitoring mission and implementation of an investigation mechanism reached in Vienna.

Bridget Brink said the status quo has been unstable for a long time, and the April events came to prove that. “We would like to see those confidence-building measures implemented. The resolution of the Karabakh conflict would be very positive for the region,” the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State said.