Author: Sonya Jalatian

CivilNet: Stepanakert calls for dialogue, Baku insists on ‘reintegration’ agenda

Sonya Jalatian
CIVILNET.AM

28 Mar, 2023 10:03

  • An unnamed source in Russia’s Foreign Ministry told the Russian state-run news agency TASS that Moscow has warned Yerevan of “extremely severe” consequences if Armenia becomes a member of the International Criminal Court.
  • The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have responded to Azerbaijan’s proposal for “reintegration talks.”
  • U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried expressed concern over Azerbaijan’s recent military advances in Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone conversation with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

Alen Simonyan to leave for Germany n a working visit next week

Sonya Jalatian

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 17:58,

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan received the delegation headed by Vice President of Germany-South Caucasus Friendship Group of the Bundestag of Germany Tabea Rößner.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan informed that he will be on a working visit to Germany next week. He noted that Germany is the largest trade and economic partner of Armenia among the EU countries, emphasizing Germany's assistance to Armenia's democratic agenda. The implementation of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and Germany's support in this matter were also emphasized.

At the meeting, the security problems facing the region and Armenia were extensively discussed. The German partners noted that the security architecture is changing every day in the world, leading to new rearrangements.

The humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war of 2020, the consequences of the Lachin crisis were discussed.

"On February 22, 2023, the International Court of Justice made a legally binding decision against Azerbaijan, obliging it to take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor," noted Alen Simonyan, reminding that after the Court's decision, on March 5, there was an attack by an Azerbaijani subversive group on Nagorno-Karabakh police officers, killing three citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh.

He emphasized that Armenia expects German partners to take active steps to ensure Azerbaijan's immediate implementation of the Court's decision.

Alen Simonyan thanked the German government for supporting the decision to deploy a new EU long-term monitoring mission in Armenia, expressing his belief that it will play a significant role in establishing peace and security in the region.

Pashinyan holds phone call with Putin

Sonya Jalatian

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 13:58, 13 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office reported.

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan was discussed, according to a read-out issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. In this context, PM Pashinyan discussed the March 5 Azerbaijani terror attack in Nagorno Karabakh and its consequences. The Armenian Prime Minister attached importance to a targeted reaction by Russia in context of overcoming the crisis in Nagorno Karabakh.

Views were exchanged around the process of Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization of relations.

Issues concerning the implementation of the 9 November 2020, 11 January and 26 November 2021 and 31 October 2022 trilateral statements between the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan were discussed.

Aram Gabrelyanov takes Pashinyan to court

Sonya Jalatian
Panorama
Armenia – March 15 2023

Aram Gabrelyanov, a Russian journalist of Armenian descent who runs the News Media holding, has hired lawyer Aram Vardevanyan to represent his interests in court in a lawsuit against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government following a travel ban imposed on him.

Gabrelyanov, who is strongly critical of Pashinyan’s government, was barred from entering Armenia on his arrival at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport last week. He was due to deliver a lecture at a training course for Armenian journalists.

Gabrelyanov was told at Zvartnots that his name was on the list of “undesirable persons” drawn up by the Armenian authorities. He blamed Pashinyan for the entry ban and vowed to sue his government.

“The second lawsuit is against Pashinyan personally. If he fails to prove that I have ever demanded the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor” in Armenia, Efendi Nikol will have to answer,” he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

“I shall prove in court that Nikol has been and remains a liar,” the reporter added.

Music: Pianist and Alum Kariné Poghosyan Honors Armenian Composer at The Soraya

Sonya Jalatian
California –
  • on  
Kariné Poghosyan '03 plays an Alumni Concert at The Soraya with a program that featured works 
by Armenia’s best-known composer, Aram Khachaturian. Photo by Luis Luque, Luque Photography.

Armenian American pianist Kariné Poghosyan ’03 (Music Keyboard/Piano Performance) returned to her alma mater March 8, honoring her heritage with an intimate performance of works by Armenia’s best-known composer, Aram Khachaturian, and surrounded by fans seated on The Soraya stage.

Poghosyan, who made her solo Carnegie Hall debut at age 23, is known for her stylistic flair and the emotions she uncovers in the works she performs. She recently performed two sold-out recitals at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, including a CD release concert of her “Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky” recording on Centaur Records.

The first half of her sold-out show at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian for the Performing Arts featured several of Khachaturian’s compositions, including two excerpts from his ballets and a rarely performed piano sonata. Poghosyan performed her own adaptation of his piece “Oror” — which means “Lullaby” — from his ballet “Gayaneh.” She also honored Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday with the 1931 rewritten version of his beloved “Piano Sonata No. 2.”

This was the first alumni concert hosted by the Younes and Soraya Center for Performing Arts since the COVID-19 related closure of the theater. Poghosyan’s performance was underwritten by Milt Valera ’68 (Journalism) and Debbie Valera, including support for tickets for students and alumni across campus.

At a reception after the show, Poghosyan met students and faculty from CSUN’s Armenian Studies program in the College of Humanities and members of the CSUN Armenian Alumni Association. The day before the performance, she also conducted a master class for piano students in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

https://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/arts-and-culture/pianist-and-alum-karine-poghosyan-honors-armenian-composer-at-the-soraya/

Russian peacekeepers needed in Karabakh to ensure its security — Armenia’s ex-president

Sonya Jalatian
 TASS 
Russia – March 7 2023
He said that he had not been inspired by the statements by some of Russian officials, since it is inadmissible to equate a terrorist and his target and call on both for tranquility

YEREVAN, March 7. /TASS/. Nagorno-Karabakh will not be able to ensure its security without Russian peacekeepers in the current situation, Armenia’s former President Serzh Sargsyan said on Tuesday.

"Nagorno-Karabakh will not be able to ensure its security without help from Russian peacekeepers when Armenia has put its hands in its pockets and doesn’t consider itself a security guarantor for Karabakh any longer. That is why Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh is a necessity today. Russia is our ally and is the Armenian side behaving like an ally?" he said.

He said that he had not been inspired by the statements by some of Russian officials, since it is inadmissible to equate a terrorist and his target and call on both for tranquility.

"But on the other hand, yesterday we saw a Russian defense ministry statement. But what about statements from other countries? Everything should be tackled in comparison. So, are there any countries other than Russia that are ready to deploy peacekeepers to Karabakh?" he said.

According to the Armenian side, three police officers of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh were killed and one more was wounded on Sunday when their car came under shelling by a sabotage group of Azerbaijani servicemen.

“Kommersant” recalled the events in Nagorno-Karabakh: And the battle continues in the world

Sonya Jalatian
March 6 2023

March 6 – BLiTZ. Despite the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, shots are heard again in this land.

According to the newspaper “Kommersant”, the other day on the territory of Stepanakert (Azerbaijani name – Khankendi) there were military clashes, which resulted in the death of three representatives of law enforcement agencies from Armenia.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of sabotage, reporting losses, the number of which is not given.

Recall that the situation in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to worsen since December 12. Then Armenia and Azerbaijan did not share the only route and made claims. Negotiations on this conflict are still ongoing.

Earlier, I also reported that on Monday, March 6, the visit of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, is expected in Baku.

AW: Elyse Semerdjian appointed to Kaloosdian Mugar Professor at Clark University

Sonya Jalatian
March 6, 2023 Guest Contributor Announcements 0

Elyse Semerdjian

WORCESTER, Mass. — Clark University has announced the appointment of Elyse Semerdjian as the next Kaloosdian Mugar Professor, representing a fresh chapter in the development of Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University and the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Clark University established the first-ever endowed chair in Modern Armenian History and Armenian Genocide Studies through the generosity of the Kaloosdian and Mugar families. This innovative professorship honors Stephen and Marian Mugar, as well as Clark alumnus Robert Aram Kaloosdian ’52 and his wife Marianne. 

Semerdjian, a professor of Islamic World/Middle Eastern History and chair of the History Department at Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA), teaches a broad range of courses on gender, sexuality, social history, culture and politics of the Middle East. A specialist in the history of the Ottoman Empire and Syria, she has published on gender, law, violence and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. She published “Off the Straight Path”: Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo (Syracuse University Press) in 2008. Her next book project Remnants: Embodied Archives of the Armenian Genocide (Stanford University Press) is forthcoming in 2023.

Semerdjian currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, the Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies, and she recently finished her term as book review editor for the International Journal of Middle East Studies. A two-time Fulbright scholarship awardee, her research is primarily focused on Syria, the social history of Aleppo’s Armenian community and gender and the Armenian Genocide. In the spring of 2013, she was awarded the Dumanian Visiting Professorship in Armenian Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Cultures and Languages at the University of Chicago. Her article “Naked Anxiety: Bathhouses, Nudity, and Muslim/non-Muslim Relations in Eighteenth-Century Aleppo,” published in the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, won the Syrian Studies Association Best Article Prize in 2014. She was awarded a fellowship at Cornell University Society for the Humanities in 2016-2017 to support research on “Skin” for her forthcoming book Remnants. She recently received a German Research Grant with the “Religion and Urbanity” Research Group at University of Erfurt, Germany to write Aleppo: An Urban Biography, an inclusive pre- and post-war urban history of the city’s Muslim and non-Muslim inhabitants.

In 2002, the Kaloosdian Mugar Chair was inaugurated in the Clark University History Department with its holder serving as a constituent member of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Dr. Taner Akçam joined the university as Kaloosdian Mugar Professor in the fall 2008. The first scholar of Turkish origin to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and to conduct groundbreaking research on this topic, Dr. Akçam spent 14 years strengthening the program through his innovative research, outstanding publication record and strong commitment to training students. Semerdjian is well prepared to advance the Strassler Center’s commitment to mentoring Ph.D. students in Armenian Genocide Studies following Dr. Akçam’s departure. Under her leadership, our mandate will remain strong: to train graduate students, host conferences with leading scholars, and advance significant research on the Armenian Genocide.



Marc Mamigonian to Celebrate 25 Years with NAASR

Sonya Jalatian
by Contributor

 

 March 6, 2023

 

in Community, Latest, News, Top Stories
Marc Mamigonian


The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research will host an in-person and online program celebrating its Academic Director Marc A. Mamigonian’s 25 years at NAASR on Thursday, March 16, at 7 p.m. Mamigonian will engage in a dynamic conversation with Khatchig Mouradian on a quarter century of developments at NAASR and in Armenian Studies generally, and a multitude of other topics, followed by an open discussion with the audience.

This will be an in-person event and also presented online live via Zoom and YouTube. For those attending in person, NAASR recommends the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. A reception will follow the program.

Marc A. Mamigonian is the Director of Academic Affairs of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), where he has worked since 1998. He is the co-author of the volume “Annotations to James Joyce’s Ulysses” (Oxford University Press, 2022; with John N. Turner and Sam Slote) and is the co-author of annotated editions of James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” (Alma Classics, 2014; with John N. Turner) and “Ulysses” (Alma Classics, 2015, with John N. Turner and Sam Slote). He has served as the editor of the “Journal of Armenian Studies” and the volume “The Armenians of New England” (Armenian Heritage Press, 2004), and has published articles in “Genocide Studies International,” “James Joyce Quarterly,” “Armenian Review,” “Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies,” and elsewhere.

Dr. Khatchig Mouradian is the Armenian and Georgian Specialist at the Library of Congress, lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, and member of the NAASR Board of Directors.

For more information about this program, contact NAASR at [email protected].