Journalist Sona Mashuryan died seriously because of serious illness. She worked for “Pastinfo” news agency and she was covering the judiciary news for already two decades.
PanARMENIAN.Net – Community leaders and grassroots advocates from throughout the Eastern U.S. will gather to mark a year of progress and share plans for future successes at the 12th Annual Armenian National Committee of America-Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) Gala, to be held October 13 at the prestigious Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
Armenian Genocide-era epic “The Promise” Director and Executive Producer Terry George and Eric Esrailian will be ANCA Eastern Region Freedom Award recipients this year, while tireless community advocate and educator Ken Sarajian will be honored with the Vahan Cardashian Award.
“We look forward to hosting the gala in New York City and coming together to honor and recognize Terry George, Eric Esrailian, and Ken Sarajian, who have worked tirelessly not only to advance the Armenian Cause but to raise awareness about genocide and atrocities for all humanity,” said ANCA-ER Chairman Steve Mesrobian. “The gala committee is working hard to organize an incredibly memorable event.”
This year’s gala will feature an elegant cocktail hour and silent auction followed by dinner and program. Individuals interested in purchasing tickets or to obtain individual or corporate sponsorship information, please visit https://ancaef.org/gala/ or call 201-788-5425.
The ANCA-ER Freedom Award honors individuals who have succeeded in bringing the history of the Armenian people and the truth about the Armenian Genocide to the mainstream public consciousness. Terry George, recognized internationally for his groundbreaking film, “Hotel Rwanda” in 2004, and Eric Esrailian helped to fulfill the vision of the late Kirk Kerkorian, educating the public about the perseverance of the Armenian nation through the international blockbuster, “The Promise.” Though several obstacles were unleashed during production, the film went on to screen in the Vatican, the United States Capitol, various venues worldwide, and most recently, at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
“I am truly honored to be the latest recipient of the ANCA – ER Freedom Award,” explained George. “The fight for worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a central battle in the never-ending struggle for truth, justice and reconciliation. I am proud to be a small part of that struggle and excited to renew my commitment to the continuing struggle of the Armenian diaspora. Thank you to the ANCA-ER for their great work.”
Previous ANCA-ER Freedom Award recipients include: U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans; Pulitzer Prize winner author and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power; U.S. Senator Robert Menendez; the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy; U.S. Senators Robert Dole and Elizabeth Dole; Baroness Caroline Cox; best-selling author Chris Bohjalian; renowned lawyer Robert Morgenthau and the Morgenthau family; Former House Majority Whip David Bonior; lawyer, writer, and human rights activist Fethiye Çetin; President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan; U.S. Senator Mark Kirk; U.S. Senator Christopher Van Hollen, Jr.; and U.S. Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.
The Vahan Cardashian Award is given annually to an ANCA Eastern Region activist or supporter who demonstrates longstanding accomplishments on behalf of the Armenian Cause. The 2018 Cardashian Award recipient Ken Sarajian continues to work diligently within the Armenian community and in his chosen field of public education to promote civic activism and awareness. Along with building strong key Congressional relationships throughout the years, he, more recently, joined Shant Mardirossian at the New Jersey Council of Social Studies, educating teachers on the life-saving efforts of Near East Relief during the Armenian Genocide.
Past recipients of the ANCA-ER Cardashian Award include Vahe Amirian of New Jersey; Martha Aramian of Rhode Island; Bedros Bandazian of Virginia; Melanie Kerneklian of Virginia; Tatul Sonentz-Papazian of Massachusetts; Ruth Thomasian of Massachusetts; Stephen Dulgarian of Massachusetts; Professor Richard Hovannisian of California; Zohrab Tazian of Indiana; Alice Movsesian of New Jersey; Armen Topouzian of Michigan; John Jerikian of Washington, DC; Levon Palian of Washington; DC, Tom Vartabedian (in memoriam) of Massachusetts; and Carolann Najarian of Boston, MA.
The ANCA Eastern Region Endowment Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that supports the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region in outreach to Armenian American communities. All contributions to the ANCA ER Endowment Fund are tax-deductible to the full extent allowable by law.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Tuesday appointed Dr. Alina Dorian to serve as her appointee to the Los Angeles County Public Health Commission.
Dr. Dorian is the principal of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School and is the Associate Dean for Practice at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a trainer with various Public Health Departments. She has served as a professor at UCLA and a lecturer for the Loma Linda University. She received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, with an emphasis in Botanical Sciences and her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in International Health, Health Systems Management.
“The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region Board – wholeheartedly congratulates Dr. Dorian on this prestigious appointment, and we are certain that she will continue to bring pride to our community through her public service, dedication and professional expertise,” stated ANCA-WR Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq.
“We are truly grateful to Supervisor Kathryn Barger for accepting our nomination of Dr. Dorian as an honoree during April’s Armenian History Awareness Month and for identifying her through this introduction as a worthy candidate for this position. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Supervisor Barger on a host of issues which are important to our community, and we thank her for her service and friendship,” added Hovsepian.
The Public Health Commission examines the management of delivery of public health services to all cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County as well as the management and response to emerging public health issues. This provides a necessary level of accountability and oversight for DPH, the Board of Supervisors, and the residents of Los Angeles County. Commission members are active in their respective roles in their communities, lending a voice to DPH’s work that supports the Department’s mission to protect health, prevent disease and promote the health and well-being of all persons in Los Angeles County.
In Yerevan the former pro-Russian president, Robert Kocharian, is accused of "reversal of the constitutional order and usurpation of power", together with Gen. Jurij Khachaturov, pupil of Moscow. In 2008 they stifled the street demonstrations with violence. Moldova seeks to detach itself from submission to Russia, to move towards the European Union.
Moscow (AsiaNews) – In recent days, some choices of two countries bordering the Russian Federation have provoked very negative reactions in Moscow which sees its control over the "ex-Soviet" Russian world slipping.
On July 28 in Armenia the former president Robert Kocharian was arrested (right in the picture), for many years the guarantor of loyalty to Russia, together with his close collaborator, General Jurij Khachaturov. The accusation is that he used violence against the demonstrations in 2008, after the elections that brought the Moscow candidate to the presidency.
On August 2 it was the parliament of Moldova that displeased its former Soviet masters, proposing a change to the Constitution that includes the so-called "European pillar", that is the fundamental orientation of the country to foster its relationship with the European Union, which led to unrest and internal conflict in Ukraine. Moldova, always divided between attraction to the great Romanian homeland and the submission to powerful Russia, risks in turn re-proposing the geopolitical dilemma that has isolated Putin's Russia with respect to Europe and America in recent years.
Armenia's recent "velvet revolution" brought Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to government who experienced the repressions of 2008 first hand. He was then a member of the presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan's electoral staff, who was defeated by the designated successor of Kocharian, Serž Sargsyan who was overthrown by Pashinian himself. The current prime minister was arrested and sentenced to seven years, and was released in 2011.
The arrest of the historic pro-Russian ex-president was the culmination of a vast campaign to fight corruption and widespread crime in Armenia, which even led to requests for the resignation of the Katolikos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, in office since 1999 and accused by many parts of connivance with the corrupt power of the last 20 years. After the arrest of some deputies, Kocharian will now be tried for "reversal of the constitutional order and usurpation of power". He would be the first head of state remaining in command after the end of the USSR to be condemned.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been extremely critical of the Armenian leadership for the arrest of Kocharian and Khachaturov. The Moscow protégé did not manage to take refuge in the arms of his allies, as did former Ukrainian President Viktor Janukovich in 2014. Instead General Kachaturov's lawyer asked and obtained the opportunity to go to Moscow "while remaining at the disposal of the Yerevan investigation".
The alliance between Armenia and Russia is at stake, which mainly thanks to the management of Kocharian actually controls the neighbor's economy. The same stakes are affecting politics in Moldova, another former Soviet republic on the border between Western and Eastern influences. The reform approved by the Chişinău parliament is a signal launched in Brussels, and a slap in the face to Moscow, in a country deeply divided between pro-Russian and pro-European.
Moldova, like Armenia, is also preparing the parliamentary elections and expects the showdown in February 2019. The favorites would be the socialists, who try to put together the two souls of the country, but it's too early to make predictions about the winners . Democrats are currently in power, who need an alliance with the two groups of liberals and liberal democrats to confirm the approval of the reform on the "European pillar" in autumn, along with another much-discussed measure: replacement of the official language of the country, from the Moldovan (very influenced by the Slavic) to the Romanian, the Latin definitely more "European" language.
"It's not that an independent judge appeared and made such decisions," Iskandaryan said, stressing that the process around Kocharyan can be described as a selective application of the law: "That is, it is pursued within the law, but for political reasons," – explained the expert.
Kocharyan is being prosecuted on March 1, 2008. He is currently arrested, but does not admit his guilt, considers the case to be politically fabricated.
Հուլիսի 15-ին Բերդավանի բնակիչ Կարեն Ղազարյանի անհետացման, հետո Ադրբեջանի տարածքում հայտնվելու կապակցությամբ հայ փաստաբանները դիմել են Մարդու իրավունքների Եվրոպական դատարան, որը մասնակիորեն բավարարել է հայցադիմումը, Aysor.am-ին տեղեկացրեց փաստաբան Արա Ղազարյանը։
Նրա խոսքով, հուլիսի 16-ի ուշ երեկոյան ինքը, ինչպես նաև փաստաբաններ Արթուր Ղազարյանը և իրավապաշտպան Մերի Բաղդասարյանը ՄԻԵԴ կանոնակարգի 39-րդ կանոնի ներքո դիմում են հղել դատարան ընդդեմ Ադրբեջանի։
Դիմումը վերաբերվում է հուլիսի 15-ին Բերդավան գյուղի բնակիչ, ՀՀ քաղաքացի Կարեն Ղազարյանի անհետացման դեպքին, ում լուսանկարը նույն օրը հրապարակվել էր ադրբեջանական լրատվամիջոցների կողմից։ Ադրբեջանի պաշտպանության նախարարությունը պնդում էր, որ լուսանկարում պատկերված անձը գերեվարվել է, նա հայ հետախույզ է, որին բռնել են հայ-ադրբեջանական սահմանի Ղազախի հատվածում։
Դիմումում Կարեն Ղազարյանի ծնողների ներկայացուցիչները ՄԻԵԴ-ին խնդրել էին հրահանգել Ադրբեջանի իշխանություններին Կարեն Ղազարյանի առողջության պահպանման համար ձեռնարկել բոլոր միջոցները, ինչպես նաև ապահովել նրա վերադարձը Հայաստան:
Փաստաբան Արա Ղազարյանը տեղեկացրեց, որ հուլիսի 17-ին ՄԻԵԴ-ից ստացվել է դիմումի կապակցությամբ դատարանի որոշումը, որով դատարանը մասնակիորեն բավարարել է ուղարկված դիմումը՝ Ադրբեջանի իշխանություններին հրահանգելով Կարեն Ղազարյանի առողջության պահպանման համար ձեռնարկել բոլոր միջոցները։
Միաժամանակ, դատարանը Ադրբեջանի իշխանություններից պահանջել է ներկայացնել տեղեկատվություն Կարեն Ղազարյանի գտնվելու վայրի և պայմանների մասին, ինչպես նաև՝ արդյոք հարուցվել է քրեական գործ Կարեն Ղազարյանի նկատմամբ՝ խնդրելով տրամադրել մանրամասն փաստաթղթերը և տեղեկությունները՝ ներառյալ նրան առաջադրված մեղադրանքի մասով մանրամասն տեղեկատվություն:
Դատարանը նաև հրահանգել է դիմումատուների ներկայացուցիչներին մինչև սույն թվականի օգոստոսի 14-ը ներկայացնել ամբողջական գանգատ, ինչպես նաև որոշել է գանգատը քննել առաջնահերթության կարգով։
Just two years ago on July 17, members of the armed group “Sasna Tsrer” captured and kept the territory of the police patrol service regiment for two weeks.
There was also a civil activist Vardan Geravetyan, who has been in custody for the fifth day after paying AMD 1 million pledge. The preventive measure against him was changed. Vardan Geravetyan struggled for 11 years for his home in Teryan 23, which was recognized as a dominant public interest and subject to demolition. The activist joined “Sasna Tsrer” after all means of struggle were exhausted and problems were resolved.
“The robbery regime that existed was anti-national, and now what we see does not surprise me, there was no elementary behavior. The slander reached its peak,” Vardan Geravetyan mentioned in an interview with” A1 +”.
Three policemen were killed during the operation of “Sasna Tsrer”. Vardan Geravetyan was then ready for self-sacrifice. “From the very beginning, we have always been warned that we have no problems with you, no one will shoot you, nobody will harm you, do not resist, you are the bludgeon of this government. You do not want to live well, because you are Serzh Sargsyan’s legs and hands, many have perceived that if not it would be more bloodthirsty.
“To tell the truth, I did not think about the victims, I was ready to sacrifice my life. We were all guilty gfor the things happening in our country. “
Wireless device detects heart dysfunction in child cancer survivors
By Greg Slabodkin
Published
, 7:40am EDT
A prototype wireless device designed for detection of heart dysfunction in childhood cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy is comparable to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.
That’s the conclusion of researchers who compared the accuracy of the Vivio handheld mHealth platform with both echocardiography and CMR imaging for assessment of cardiac function—specifically, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)—in childhood cancer survivors.
Researchers found no difference in average LVEF measurement between Vivio and CMR—56.8 percent vs. 56.5 percent, respectively—in a study involving 191 patients who had been exposed to anthracycline chemotherapy. Results were published in the July issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity can cause irreversible heart failure. Consequently, after the completion of their chemotherapy, childhood cancer survivors are recommended to undergo screening for the detection of heart dysfunction.
While CMR imaging is considered the gold standard, it is expensive and is not widely accessible. However, the wireless device from Avicena collects pulse waves and phonocardiogram data from the carotid artery, which is transmitted to a smartphone or tablet, and leverages an algorithm that measures LVEF, which is commonly used to assess heart function.
According the co-authors of the study—some of whom hold equity, employment agreements and consulting agreements with Avicena—Vivio eliminates the need for result interpretation and enables real-time monitoring of heart health.
“This accessible technology has the potential to change the day-to-day practice of clinicians caring for the large number of patients diagnosed with cardiac dysfunction and heart failure each year, allowing real-time monitoring and management of their disease without the lag-time between imaging and interpretation of results,” researchers conclude.
Also See: Hybrid heart imaging can foresee major cardiac events
Saro Armenian, DO, lead author and director of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Clinic at the City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., notes that Vivio was developed by students and engineers at Caltech, who then founded Avicena.
“Vivio obviates the need for childhood cancer survivors to be physically seen at a medical center to undergo cardiac assessments, which can be done remotely,” says Armenian, who emphasizes that the device is not meant to replace echocardiography or CMR imaging, which both generate images of the heart and provide a more comprehensive assessment of cardiac health. “It’s meant to be a preliminary screening so that we can potentially identify individuals who need closer surveillance and monitoring.”
According to Armenian, although 90 percent of long-term cancer survivors—individuals surviving more than five years after their initial diagnosis—are actively engaged in regular medical care, fewer than 30 percent undergo routine recommended risk-based screening.
“We need a method to facilitate the population-based screening that is being underperformed in these cancer survivors,” he observes. “This study is the first step in thinking about new paradigms of long-term monitoring and care delivery for cancer survivors who are at risk for severe and life-threatening health conditions. It's important to think about more proactive and convenient approaches for early detection, early surveillance and early prevention to help potentially reverse heart disease before it becomes clinically apparent in this population.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (Source: Reuters)
The period of relative calm in Armenian politics that followed the May 8 election of protest leader Nikol Pashinyan as the new head of government (see EDM, May 22) may have come to an end. The new cabinet had previously announced that anti-corruption measures would be among its top priorities. And in mid-June, a sequence of dramatic events related to that anticipated campaign may bring long-lasting consequences for the landlocked South Caucasus state.
Throughout May, the National Security Service (NSS) revealed evidence of tax evasion by several Armenian companies, including a supermarket chain controlled by a member of parliament from the formerly ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Samvel Aleksanyan. Until recently, the authorities preferred to seek reimbursements of damages to the state budget rather than imposing criminal charges. However, on June 14, the NSS arrested two employees of the Yerevan city hall, still controlled by the RPA, on charges of corruption. Mayor Taron Margaryan, the son of a late former prime minister, has been refusing public demands for his resignation, voiced repeatedly after the “Velvet Revolution” in April.
More significant events followed soon, triggered by demonstrations demanding the resignation of Karen Grigoryan, the mayor of Armenia’s fourth largest city of Echmiadzin. The demonstrations were apparently organized by Arthur Asatryan (a.k.a. Don Pipo), a businessman and supposedly a “thief in law” (vor v zakone—a professional criminal in the former Soviet space, who enjoys an elite and informal authority position within organized crime). Asatryan criticized both the mayor and his father, Lieutenant General (retired) Manvel Grigoryan. A former deputy defense minister and a member of parliament, Manvel Grigoyran is also the president of the Volunteers’ Union “Yerkrapah,” an influential paramilitary organization of war veterans (Factor.am, June 14). The Grigoryans, in turn, mobilized their own supporters, and the situation in the city started to grow heated.
On June 16, the NSS charged Asatryan with attempted kidnapping of several men who were allegedly plotting his assassination; the security service arrested him and his four associates—Russian citizens. At the same time, the NSS charged Manvel Grigoryan with illegal possession of weapons and arrested him as well (Azatutyun.am, June 16). Both men’s houses, as well as the Yerkrapah offices, were searched, and a number of weapons were found.
The RPA protested Grigoryan’s arrest, calling it “yet another instance of political oppression” (Azatutyun.am, June 16). The Republican Party’s statement, as well as a declaration by the RPA’s vice chair, Armen Ashotyan, suggested that the party would vote against revoking Grigoryan’s parliamentary immunity (Hayastan24.com, June 16), meaning he would have to be released within 72 hours. However, another dramatic turn subsequently occurred: Prime Minister Pashinyan, announced via one of his regular live-streamed messages that Grigoryan’s arrest had been justified not just by the illegal possession of weapons but also by the general’s apparent embezzlement of canned food and other goods meant for rank-and-file military personnel—including some donations collected during the “four-day war” in April 2016 (see EDM, April 14, 2016). Pashinyan declared that such corruption would no longer be tolerated (Facebook.com, June 17).
After Pashinyan’s live stream, the NSS issued a more detailed statement and also showed videos made during the searches of Grigoryan’s house and other premises. Among the seized weapons there were 79 rifles and 39 handguns, more than 33,000 ammunition cartridges, 18 bazookas, as well as hand grenades and explosives. In addition, large amounts of cash and goods were found, including tons of canned food marked “not for sale,” hygiene products and toiletries, first-aid kits, etc., along with boxes of handwritten letters from schoolchildren to soldiers. Part of the stored canned food appeared to have been used to feed a tiger and bears in Grigoryan’s private zoo (Sns.am, June 17). Concerned with potential damage to the party’s reputation, the RPA issued a statement, calling the misappropriation of provisions allocated for the army “unacceptable and repulsive” (Hhk.am, June 18). Ultimately, only 3 of 82 members of the Armenian National Assembly present at the extraordinary session voted against the motion to revoke Manvel Grigoyran’s parliamentary immunity (Lragir.am, June 19). Grigoryan’s son also announced he would resign from the post of mayor (Azatutyun.am, June 18).
Whether or not Manvel Grigoryan was chosen as the first high-ranked official to make an example out of because there were already rumors about goods for the army being stored at his home, clearly the eventual detailed disclosure of the findings had a strong psychological effect. The videos showing embezzled donations for the army together with children’s letters sparked mass outrage and helped to break the RPA’s resistance, undermining speculation that the attacks against Grigoryan were politically motivated.
Additional steps to tackle corruption and organized crime have already followed. In recent weeks, the police have apprehended a dozen “thieves in law” and a number of their associates (Aravot.am, June 20). Former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan, who had occupied the post in 2016, has been interrogated as a witness regarding the misappropriation of funds (News.am, June 20). Even more significantly, law enforcement has conducted searches of premises de facto belonging to Vachagan Kazaryan, the head of former president Serzh Sargsyan’s security detail; reams of documents and large amounts of cash have reportedly been seized (Factor.am, June 21).
The Pashinyan government’s high approval rating is quite secure at the moment, and practical steps to tackle corruption further contribute to its popularity. The cabinet is highly dependent on such popular support, particularly considering the prospect of snap elections that may take place in a few months. Delaying high-level corruption cases, particularly those involving former top officials, would damage its reputation. So in the next few weeks, several new criminal cases involving retired and still acting high-level officials may be opened, and tensions with the formerly ruling factions are likely to grow. Mass support, with a large number of people still ready to take to the streets to protect the results of the revolution, remains crucial both to Pashinyan as well as to prevent a possible violent reaction by cornered representatives of the old regime.
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Azerbaijani army initiated an attempted subversive attack on the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh on June 17, Karabakh Defense Army spokesman Senor Hasratyan said on a Facebook post.
The Karabakh troops took the necessary measures to thwart the attack and threw the saboteurs back to their positions.
According to Hasratyan, the situation along the contact line changed in the period between June 17 and 23. In particular, he said, an RPG-7 grenade launcher has been used by Azerbaijan in some sections of the frontline.
“Besides, the rival forces continued with the maneuvers of manpower and military equipment in areas close to the contact line,” Hasratyan said.
“The Karabakh frontline units continue controlling the situation on the contact line and retaliating in the event of necessity.”