TodayPresident Serzh Sargsyan visited the family of Adam Sahakyan who lost his life during the April hostilities in 2016, President’s Press Office reports.
The President expressed condolences to the parents and relatives of the soldier on behalf of the whole Armenian nation and on his own behalf.
“Grateful generations will remember name by name and will praise the deeds of Adam and the other heroes, martyred for the sake of the Motherland,” President Sargsyan assured.
Media reports claim ex-Defense Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Samvel Babayan has been detained.
The reasons of detention are not yet known. There has been no official confirmation of the news.
Photo: Music of Armenia
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator – The Friends of Armenian Culture Society (FACS) will present a tribute concert to Ethiopian music icon Nerses Nalbandian, titled “The Emperor, the Nalbandians and the Dawn of Western Music in Ethiopia,” on Sunday, February 19, at 7 p.m. at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Theatre for the Arts in Watertown.
The concert will feature the Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra, directed by Russ Gershon. The E/O will be joined by vocalists performing songs in four languages: Bruck Tesfaye of the Debo Band (Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia), Ronald Murphy (English), Serena Tchorbajian (Armenian) and Manolo Mairena (Spanish). The program will include music Nalbandian composed and arranged during his tenure as music director of the Haile Selassie National Theater (1956-74), as well as music by Nalbandian’s favorites, ranging from Armenian composers to Xavier Cugat and Ray Charles. All of this is interpreted though the jazz lens of the 10-piece E/O, winners of five Boston Music Awards and numerous placements in the Down Beat International Critics Poll.
The event also celebrates the release of the E/O’s CD, “Ethiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopian” (Buda Musique, Paris), for which the E/O has reconstructed and interpreted Nalbandian’s music in live and studio recordings made in Ethiopia, the US and Canada. The E/O’s previous Ethiopiques release, “Live in Addis,” (2005), was called “astonishing…monumental…the best live album of the year in any genre” by Paul Olsen, AllAboutJazz.com.
Armenian scholar Dr. Boris Adjemian, the director of the AGBU Nubar Library in Paris, will deliver a short pre-concert talk.
Born in 1915 in Aintab, Ottoman Empire, Nerses Nalbandian settled in Aleppo, Syria after his family escaped the Armenian Genocide. He worked as a music teacher and choirmaster at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Syria, before moving to Ethiopia in 1938 at the invitation of his uncle, Kevork Nalbandian. The elder Nalbandian was a well-known musician in Ethiopia and the director of Arba Lijoch (Amharic for “40 children”) an imperial brass band comprised of 40 Armenian orphans. In 1924, future emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie adopted and brought the orphans to his country after he saw them performing in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter.
Over decades as a teacher and performer, Nalbandian rose to be appointed music director of the Haile Selassie Theater in 1956. His arrangements of Ethiopian music for Western instruments interpreted traditional and original Ethiopian melodies through an American style big band, laying the groundwork for the development of modern Ethiopian pop and jazz. The pioneers of this music have become internationally recognized in recent years, primarily through Ethiopiques and its curator, Francis Falceto, who considers a Nalbandian album a major missing element in the series — until now.
Nalbandian also composed the original anthem of the Organization of African States (later the African Union), which will be played in the February 19 concert. He received the very rare honor of being naturalized as an Ethiopian citizen by Haile Selassie.
In 2004, during their first visit to Ethiopia, the E/O was heard by Nalbandian’s adult children, who invited Gershon and the band to revive their father’s music for the theater orchestra. (The current theater orchestra has played some of the songs, leaving most untouched). The E/O returned in 2011 to perform full concerts of Nalbandian’s music at the National Theater and other venues. These concerts were recorded by top Ethiopian producer Abegasu Shiota, forming the core of Nalbandian the Ethiopian.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has issued a message on the International Day of Commemoration in memory օf the victims օf the Holocaust.
Today, we honour the victims of the Holocaust, an incomparable tragedy in human history.
The world has a duty to remember that the Holocaust was a systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people and so many others.
It would be a dangerous error to think of the Holocaust as simply the result of the insanity of a group of criminal Nazis. On the contrary, the Holocaust was the culmination of millennia of hatred, scapegoating and discrimination targeting the Jews, what we now call anti-Semitism.
Tragically, and contrary to our resolve, anti-Semitism continues to thrive. We are also seeing a deeply troubling rise in extremism, xenophobia, racism and anti-Muslim hatred. Irrationality and intolerance are back.
This is in complete contrast to the universal values enshrined in the United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We can never remain silent or indifferent when human beings are suffering.
We must always defend the vulnerable and bring tormentors to justice.
And as the theme of this year’s observance highlights, a better future depends on education.
After the horrors of the 20th century, there should be no room for intolerance in the 21st. I guarantee you that as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I will be in the frontline of the battle against anti-Semitism and all other forms of hatred.
Let us build a future of dignity and equality for all – and thus honour the victims of the Holocaust who we will never allow to be forgotten.
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative announces the jury of the Aurora Short Film Competition launched on December 20, 2016. The diverse panel of professionals will select the best short films featuring humanism, courage and selflessness.
The Aurora Short Film Competition Jury is comprised of 5 members chaired by Edgar Baghdasaryan, famous Armenian director and partner of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
“Every generation has an illusion that they live in a special time. We are not an exception. And we can merely convey culture to the next generations after us and nothing else. The base of culture is humanism and love in its comprehensive sense. This is why we are part of this very special competition,” said Edgar Baghdasaryan.
The members of the jury are Diana Kardumyan, film director, Aren Malakyan, film director, Marine Ales, composer, member of the Aurora Prize Creative Council and Arman Jilavian, CEO, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. The detailed bios of the jury members are presented below.
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative will award US$4000 to the director of the best film. Second and third places will receive US$2000 and US$1500 award respectively. The deadline for submissions is March 20, 2017.
 Competition Jury
Edgar Baghdasaryan (Chairperson) – Edgar Baghdasaryan is well known Armenian film director. Since 1988 he has worked for ArmenFilm studio, in 1990 he debuted with “Games” movie. Until 2009 he was the director of Armenian-American film studio “Armenia Film Studios”. He directed award-winning documentary “From Ararat to Zion”. Edgar Baghdasaryan is a laureate of a number of international film festivals.
Marine Ales – Marine Ales is a famous Armenian composer and theatre critic. She is the author of 300 songs in Armenian and Russian. Her songs were released in 5 albums: I’ll Leave You (1999), My Poplars (2001), Thoughts (2003), With and Without You (2007), Barefoot in the Sky (2010). She was jury member of the 2016 Golden Apricot International Film Festival. Marine Ales is co-founder of Gift of Life Foundation. She is the laureate of numerous awards for life-time achievements. In 2010, Marine Ales published the collection of her poetry Shards. Marine Ales is the member of the Aurora Prize Creative Council.
Arman Jilavian – Arman Jilavian leads Aurora Humanitarian Initiative as CEO. He is a member of the Board of Directors at RVVZ Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees of UWC Dilijan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MEDIACRAT. In 2011, he was named the Media Manager of Russia in the Printed Media / Magazines category. Arman Jilavian graduated from the Lomonosov Moscow State Universtiy with a PhD in philology. He has held various positions in Russia’s leading media groups (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Eurasian Media Group) and managed the Time Inc.’s business in Russia (FORTUNE and Popular Science magazines).
Diana Kardumyan – Diana Kardumyan is a film director and critic. She was a jury member for «ReAnimania» (2011) and «One Minute, One Shot» (2012, 2015), «WebApricot» (2014) festivals, also worked as the pre-selection jury at the «Golden Apricot» (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) and «ReAnimania» (2010, 2013, 2015) international festivals. She directed a number of documentaries and fictions including “Endless Melody”, “Dialogues”, “Eh Dima, Dima.”
Aren Malakyan – Aren Malakian is a young Armenian film director. He graduated Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema. Aren directed a number of fiction and documentary films including “Voldemar”, “Snow”. In 2015 he received presidential award for his “Girl on the moon” film. He is a laureate of many Armenian and international film festivals.
The stabilization of oil prices has eased the direct and indirect economic and fiscal pressures on the nine rated sovereigns in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. Still, the region’s overall credit outlook for 2017 is negative, driven by subdued economic recovery, external vulnerabilities in those countries with high foreign currency debt and the likelihood that political considerations will delay structural reforms that would bolster potential growth, said in a report.
In 2016, Moody’s took negative rating actions for five CIS sovereigns after slumping oil prices weighed on the credit profiles of major oil and gas exporters and had knock-on negative effects for the economies of many other sovereigns in the region.
“CIS governments managed the oil-price shock with increasingly orthodox policies, such as floating exchange rates and tight fiscal and monetary policies. These have mitigated the effects of the collapse in oil prices, and positioned most CIS countries for a modest economic turnaround in 2017,” said Kristin Lindow, a Moody’s Senior Vice President and co-author of the report. “However, the macroeconomic outlook remains weak, and downside credit risks still dominate.”
All CIS sovereigns should grow slightly faster in 2017 than in 2016. Moody’s forecasts median growth to rise to 2.0% in 2017 from 1.0% in 2016, and a further rise to 3.0% in 2018. Somewhat higher oil prices are likely to enable policymakers in oil-exporting countries to partially roll back fiscal and monetary policy tightening, and oil importers will benefit from a modest pickup in remittance inflows.
Moody’s projects that Russia, the largest economy by far among the nine countries, will record positive, albeit modest, real GDP growth of 1.0% in 2017 after two years of recession. This upturn will lift the broader region due to trade and financial linkages. Only Belarus is expected to shrink again in 2017.
Geopolitical conflicts also will continue to weigh on the CIS economies, mainly because of the impact of Western sanctions on Russia and the conflict in eastern Ukraine but also due to the flare-up of aggression between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Of the nine CIS sovereigns rated by Moody’s, only Belarus and Kazakhstan are not engaged in a military conflict or border dispute with a neighbor.
Longer-term, growth is expected to remain weak and a key constraint on sovereign ratings in the region. With aging populations (except in the Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic) and low productivity growth and absent the deep structural reforms that would overcome these trends, potential growth has dropped for most CIS sovereigns.
Those governments with greater fiscal resources and more flexible policies tend to be better positioned to address external vulnerabilities. Moreover, foreign currency inflows from oil and gas exports help cushion oil exporters after currencies have depreciated. Oil importers, on the other hand, remain more exposed because they also tend to have lower foreign exchange and fiscal reserves.
Asbarez –  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met on Wednesday with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia in the Syrian capital, where the pontiff congratulate Assad and the people of Syria for the liberation of Aleppo by government forces, reported Syria’s Sana news agency.
During the meeting, Assad affirmed that the war that has plagued Syria and the Syrian people for the past six years has failed to achieve one of its most dangerous goals, which was undermining the Syrian people’s unity and harmony.
“[T]his war has made Syrians more steadfast and more determined to remaining committed to their identity and civilization which is based on diversity, and plurality, something what has been a defining attribute of Syrians’ history throughout centuries,” said al-Assad, according to the report.
“His Holiness offered his sincerest hopes and prayers for the [complete] liberation of Syria from terrorism so that peace and security would prevail in Syria as soon as possible,” read a part of the Sana report.
As the Great House of Cilicia reported Tuesday, the Catholicos eve and day, as well as the upcoming weekend in Aleppo, where he will hold Christmas Mass, meet the community and tour community institutions to assess the situation there.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Manchester United only six months ago but his knowledge of the club goes back much further, accoridng to the club’s official website.Â
The Armenian who scored on Boxing Day was asked by United Review earlier this month which Reds stars he used to enjoy watching. During the following ‘Football and Me’ interview, he gave an interesting answer to that and several other questions…
Which United player from the past did you most enjoy watching?
I started watching United at the time when Eric Cantona was in the team, and I loved watching him play. Andrei Kanchelskis was another who I’d keep an eye out for – as he was a Russian player I found that very interesting. But, in terms of a United idol, that would have to be Sir Alex Ferguson.
Who was your football hero when you were growing up?
Zinedine Zidane, not just for his vision on the pitch but for the fact he was such a leader. He was always talking to his team-mates and helping them.
Do you have any pre-match superstitions?
No, I don’t. I used to do certain things before a game when I was younger but, as I got older, I realised that everything I needed to perform as a footballer was in my head.
Which goal have you celebrated most as a player?
It was a goal for the Armenian Under-21 team against Turkey in 2009. It was a very important game for us, and I scored the winner in the last minute. It was the most emotion I’ve ever felt after scoring a goal.
And the best goal you’ve ever scored?
I couldn’t answer that one, as I’ve scored a lot [laughs]. Hopefully, there are a lot more goals to come for me at United.
Since taking part in the Q&A, Mkhitaryan has netted what he now considers to be – his acrobatic finish against Sunderland on Boxing Day.
Iran’s energy minister has announced that the capacity for electricity exchange between Iran and Armenia will soon rise from 300 to 1200 megawatts, reports.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission at the presence of the Armenian Minister of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources Ashot Manukyan, Energy Minister of Iran Hamid Chitchian said primary topics of the joint session include implementation of the third power transmission line, North-South Transit Corridor as well as construction of a pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.
He pointed to the upcoming visit of Armenia’s president to Tehran in the near future asserting “arrival in Tehran of Serzh Sargsyan would offer the best opportunity for development of bilateral cooperation between Iran and Armenia in energy and economy arenas.”
Stressing that several venues exist for expansion and deepening of bilateral relations between the two states, the official estimated that the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission would pave the way for further bolstering of ties in various fields like rail, aviation, agriculture, livestock, water, electricity, mining, petroleum, petrochemicals and tourism sectors.”
Chitchian also touched upon electricity exchange between Iran and Armenia, underlining that creation of infrastructures and construction of new transmission lines would raise the volume and capacity of power exchange between the two parties.
Referring to the commencement of constructing the third electricity transmission pipeline between the two sides, Iran’s energy minister said implementation of the new project will bring about a fourfold rise in the capacity for power exchanges between Iran and Armenia.
At the end of his remarks, Hamid Chitchian pledged Iran’s readiness to step up economic cooperation with Armenia reiterating that the two neighboring countries could boost economic and energy relations more than the past.
Russian singer Dima Bilan, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, is preparing a music video about the Armenian Genocide. The singer revealed the plans in an interview with Muz TV, Yerkramas reports.
Part of the video has already been shot in the Ararat Valley, the rest will be shot it in a specially decorated pavilion at Mosfilm.
“I’m familiar with the topic not only from history,” Dima Bilan has said. “My mother’s grandmother – Shushan Kruni – escaped the massacre, when she was 13.”
“She was saved by Russian soldiers also escaping from Turkey to Russia. Unfortunately, my grand-grandmother died before I was born. But my mother says she looked for her relatives throughout her life without even knowing whether they were alive or not,” the singer said.
The video is slated for release in April next year. The singer has devoted it to the memory of his grand-grandmother and the millions of victims of the genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.