Music: Serj Tankian on Writing ‘Requiem Music,’ System of a Down’s Creative Stalemate

Rolling Stone Magazine
Dec 20 2018


Serj Tankian on Writing ‘Requiem Music,’ System of a Down’s Creative Stalemate

Serj Tankian discusses scoring the film 'Spitak,' knowing Anthony Bourdain and System of a Down's creative stalemate.

Carlos Tischler/Getty Images

In the 13 years since System of a Down last released an album of skittery punk-metal, frontman Serj Tankian has challenged himself creatively with orchestral compositions, jazz records and rock outings. Lately, though, he’s found the most gratification in scoring movies. In the past five years, he’s written music for six films and a video game. His latest is a delicate, otherworldly mood piece for Spitak, a disaster film about the immediate aftermath of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that crumpled northern Armenia in 1988, claiming deaths in the range of 25,000 to 50,000 people and up to 130,000 injuries.

“It was a difficult film to do, because of the heavy topic and trying not to have the music be too heavy,” Tankian says. “The director, Aleksandr Kott, said, ‘I want requiem music.’ And I said, ‘Wow, that’s heavy. You’re talking about funeral music.’ But at the same time, we wanted to have hope for a little girl in the film who survives and is trapped. Her world needed to be more magical, so there’s that ethereal quality to some of the score, then the heavy scenes of the devastation of the city needed music that was darker in tone. It was an interesting balance.”

He settled on a blend of synthesized sounds and bell-like instruments, as well as live piano, strings, woodwinds and brass. He released a score album in November, and the film got a U.S. premiere earlier in December in Glendale, California. It’s one of many projects Tankian has been working on lately — including touring with System of a Down and producing a couple of films himself — but, he tells Rolling Stone, it’s the challenge of dreaming up music for a film like this that keeps him composing.

How hard is it for you, emotionally, to write what you describe as funereal music?
I’ve cried numerous times watching the footage of people trapped, and the death and destruction and hopelessness. But then trying to come up with a cue for it, you’re already there emotionally. Whatever you create is going to be emotionally entangling. Sometimes it’s the opposite: You have to step away and go, “This is too dark for this.” My problem is not adding emotion; it’s taking emotion away.

Do you have a personal connection to the earthquake?
My wife actually lived through the earthquake. She was in school when it happened, and luckily their building didn’t collapse. They were pretty close to the epicenter.

The years after the earthquake were the darkest days that Armenia had seen for a long time, because they were without power through heavy, cold winters. She’s told me stories of how they lit fires at school just to stay warm. Right after the earthquake, there were a lot of robberies, so crime went up. She has all these horrific stories of living without water or using only one hour of water a day. People would go, “Oh, shit, we just found out we’re going to have water in 20 minutes. Everyone run home.” You had to learn how to connect batteries so you could watch something on TV, ’cause there’s no power. My wife’s generation is unique. They know how to do everything.

 

What about for you personally?
I was in the U.S., and I remember going around door-to-door trying to fund-raise to send money to Armenia. 

If you go to Armenia now and go to Spitak, the city where the epicenter of the earthquake in ’88 was, you’ll see it’s such a unique city because each block, each street has completely different architecture, because one is built by the U.S., one by the Swedes, one by the Italians and another by the Germans. It is such a beautiful scene in that way. It’s really, really very emotional seeing that because it shows you what collective, progressive beautiful things humanity can do.

You were on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown about Armenia, and you met with a family there that spoke about dealing with having electricity for only an hour or two a day.


 I remember that. That’s our friend Mariam [Movsisyan]. And the grandma was really cool too. Tony had a cold, and the grandmother was like, “No, you should shoot some of this vodka and have some tea to get over your cold.”

It was tough losing Tony. Really, really tough. I just knew him for that week and a few calls and e-mails, but fuck — I had no idea. Then Chris Cornell the same year and the same method. It threw me out of my orbit.

It was shocking. The episode you made with him, though, probably introduced a lot of people to Armenia who were unaware of its culture and history.
He was amazing. He was always trying to understand the culture, the geopolitics, the societal effects. He’s like, “What’s really happening here?” He was talking to young and old people, getting multiple opinions. He became a staunch activist for recognition of the Armenian genocide. We mentioned it to him, but it wasn’t the core of our conversation. I remember the night before the show, he sat down with Anderson Cooper on CNN, and Tony was just like, “How is this possible that we’re in this kind of country and we’re denying this genocide that the whole world knows about? I cannot believe this is happening.”

That blew me away: his hate of injustice and hypocrisy. I loved that about him. He was so fucking ballsy. That’s why I reached out to him in the first place and wanted him to go to Armenia. I knew that that’s how he was and I was not disappointed. We had a great time.

How did you come up with the sound palette for your Spitak score?
I tried keeping it in a soundscape where it’s ambient piano and pads with piano, strings and bells. There are some instruments just to create tension.

How was it working with the director on this one?
He kind of played musical chairs with a lot of my cues, and I had to end up redoing some of them. It was quite challenging, actually, but it was still amazing, and as a process, I learned a lot because it was different. There are a lot of cues on there that I love, such as when he’s walking through the streets, seeing the devastation, and he runs up to an ambulance, which takes off, and he sees an old man. I also love the cue for the girl who’s trapped in her magical world, and there are bells going on and these beautiful strings. I expanded on that in a number of ways.

Now that this is done, what are you working on?
We have a few other soundtracks we’re going to release for films that we did a while back but never put out soundtracks for, such as The Last Inhabitant and Midnight Star, which is a video game. But I am working on a number of things right now, including Kavat Coffee, and I’m executive-producing two documentaries.

One is a film, I Am Not Alone, about the Armenian revolution. I met with the prime minister now and said, “We have to make a film about this. No one is going to believe that in 40 days, a post-oligarchic, monopolistic, corrupt regime has been replaced by a modern, progressive, democratic, true society without one person dying. No one’s going to believe that.” I’m going to compose for it as well.

I also have a music documentary I’m doing that’s tentatively called Truth to Power, looking through my eyes at how message becomes reality through the arts. Instead of focusing on me as an artist, it asks, how does one’s message come to fruition? Can music change the world? We’re shopping that and looking for co-production partners. We’re hoping it will be done by next year as well.

You’re also touring with System of a Down next year. You and Daron Malakian had a bit of a back-and-forth in the press this year about why the band hasn’t made a new record. What happened after that?
We got together to rehearse, said hi and had a conversation and just carried things forward as we’ve always done. We’ve been friends and together for 25 to 30 years. That’s a long time. The difference between business and bands are people know when they’re working within a business, but when they’re in a band, it’s confusing because you’re also very close friends. There are times when you have to say, “OK, this is not working on the business end but I love you.” With bands, you rarely see that happening.

The reason I posted what I did is because I didn’t want any negative security threats against any of us, in terms of, “Fuck you. You’re the reason that no System record’s being made.” For me, it was just saying, “Look. I’ve tried. We’ve tried. We just haven’t been able to see eye to eye. It’s not because we’re lazy. We’re still friends. We still tour.” This is the truth.

Did the back-and-forth open up any more conversations about the band’s future?
No, it didn’t really. I think it released a lot of tension and negativity. Everything became more public and open, and that was that. There were no further discussions.

One thing I was curious about specifically is that you said you wanted to make a “full experience” or concept record. What do you mean by that?
I just feel like music has been commoditized. If I were to do an orchestral show, I’d also want to do an art show. So it’s using multiple senses, doing experiential events. Music is music: You’re ultimately going to release it and people are going to listen to it, but I thought it would be great if we created some type of event or set of events that stem out thematically from the music that can encapsulate whatever new record or sound we’re propagating. In other news, we’d not just release a record, but do something more grand around it.

Another thing Daron said was that you were never really a “heavy metal” or “rock” guy. What does that mean to you?
I think what he meant was the heavier elements of the band come from him and Shavo, which is true. Growing up, I did listen to heavy music, but my background was all sorts of world music, if you will. I grew up listening to a lot of Armenian, Arabic and European music — all types of music. In the Seventies, I listened to disco and funk.

My brother introduced me to a lot of heavy metal. The first time I heard Slayer, my brother played it in the house and I became a fan. I was more of a binge-and-purge music listener. I would listen to death metal for three months — the best of any death metal I could find — and then the next three months I’d listen to hip-hop. Then punk for three months. I didn’t have the same heavy rock roots as Shavo and Daron.

Incidentally, have you been working on any new rock music?
I have. I recently finished mixing a lot of the songs I was hoping we could do with System. I want them to be part of my music film, so I’m waiting for that. I have finished five rock songs. I just did a rock remix yesterday, actually, of one of the revolutionary songs for the Armenian film. It’s a rock song in Armenian, and I did a heavier mix.

But obviously I write in orchestral music, jazz and rock. One reason I like composing for films is because every director wants something different, genre-wise, sound-wise, emotion-wise. It’s fun. I get to make a different-sounding record every time.

In This Article: Serj Tankian, System of a Down


Foreign Minister’s statement on Karabakh conflict resonates in Armenia

JAM News
Dec 20 2018

What did the foreign ministers agree on?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan recently made a statement in which he said that Armenia and Azerbaijan reached an understanding in the Karabakh negotiation process. This has become the topic of wide-spread discussion in Armenia, with pundits and social media users wondering what the minister had in mind.

Elmar Mammadyarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said at a meeting with the Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, which was held in Milan on 5 December, that an understanding on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict had been reached:

“I think that at the last meeting in Milan with my Armenian counterpart, we reached an understanding for the first time in a long time.”

Elmar Mammadyarov also stated that the next meeting would take place in January 2019.

“Most of the time we are devoted to finding ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This will be the main task next year. The main goal is to achieve tangible results.”

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said a joint statement had been made by the heads of the foreign ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the heads of the delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries.

The most important aspects of the statement include:

  • All parties involved in the negotiations agree to continue to work in order to ensure long-term peace.
  • The co-chair countries welcomed the fact that after the talks of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in September at the CIS summit in Dushanbe, the number of ceasefire violations and reports of victims has decreased.
  • The co-chairs called on the parties to take concrete measures in order to prepare the population of their countries for peace.
  • The co-chair countries are hoping for the resumption in the near future of an intensive dialogue on a high-level settlement between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
  • The next meeting of the foreign ministers will be held in early 2019 under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in order to prepare the ground for future summit talks.

Some social media users suggested that Yerevan and Baku had reached an agreement on the Karabakh settlement issue itself.

One Armenian Facebook user wrote:

“We cannot possibly give away any of our territories. Not a centimetre.”

Another added:

“Perhaps Azerbaijan will recognize the independence of Karabakh and in return demand that the areas around Karabakh be given away. What will our answer be? I am sure that Pashinyan has nothing to hide from his people.”

The chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardyan, says that the aim of Mammadyarov’s statement was to put pressure on the Armenian side:

“I don’t think that Azerbaijan can expect drastic changes in the Karabakh issue from the Armenian authorities because our position is clear: we will talk about the problem when Azerbaijan is ready for it, but they are not ready yet. The only sharp change in this matter would be the resumption of military conflict. But there are no prerequisites for the solution nor are there mutual concessions.”

JAMnews’ political analyst in Baku, Shahin Rzayev, says that in Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov’s statement would not have garnered attention had it not been for the resonance it had in the Armenian media:

“This was just another meeting, another statement – there have been more than 100 of them in the last 25 years. Where is the news? The news is that, perhaps for the first time, the Azerbaijani side threw something of a curve ball by reporting first on the achieved results, even if these results are only ‘mutual understanding’. The Azerbaijani media learned the details of the talks from the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, and our foreign ministry reacted to the already published news at best the next day.

“However, our minister was the first to announce the information. This is of course very commendable, but it remains unknown what happened there. I do not think that in such a short time something serious could have happened. Societies in Azerbaijan and Armenia are not ready to make any compromises or decisions. So, let’s not exaggerate the meaning of Mammadyarov’s words.”

Music: Rouben Karakhanian aka ‘Kemanche Rouben’. Forgotten Armenian Kemanchist Player

Armenian Church of Bangladesh
Dec 2018

When ‘Kemanche Rouben’ visited Los Angeles in 1969 to play a concert, little did the young boy, Armen Arslanian realise that 50 years later he would be reminded of that childhood memory as part of the Armenian Heritage Project for Bangladesh.

Armen Arslanian

The Armenian Church Warden of Bangladesh vividly remembers Rouben visiting his family home:

“I was only around 9 or 10 years old, I remember him and that peculiar musical instrument. At that age you don’t really know or understand the meaning of such an experience but my parents ensured I listened to what he was playing. It is remarkable to think that in the 1930s he had visited the Armenian Church in Dhaka to play a concert for the local Armenian community. Now, I am Warden of that very church and through the generosity of our Heritage Project contributors, I find myself being reminded of a moment from my very early childhood time that I had no idea would connect me to my future responsibilities of the Armenian Church in Dhaka.”

Karakhanian was a native of Baku,  previously in Russia,  and learned to play the Kamanche at the age of six. His teacher was his grandfather, a Russian troubadour known as Sanan.

When Karakhanian was 10 years of age, he appeared in his first concert in Tiflis, for an audience that included a number of dignitaries.

The mayor of Tiflis praised the young musician to the last of the Russian Tzars, Nicholas II and Karakhanian appeared in St. Petersburg during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanoff reign in Russia.

Karakhanian toured throughout the Middle East during the 1920s, giving concerts and composing music.  He married Azniv Manoogian, a pianist, and the pair gave concerts in Europe and Asia as well as the Middle East during the 1930s.

Mrs Karakhanian died during World War II, when Karakhanian was detained in Romania for 10 years.  He resumed his concert career after the war ended.

The Kamanche which Karakhanian played in his concerts was made in 1810 for his grandfather.  Its gourd shaped body and long neck were ornately trimmed with mother-of-pearl. The neck finial was shaped like the famed Byzantine “onion domes” of his native land.

The instrument is played with a bow, but unlike a violin is held neck-up. The body of the instrument supported on the knee. It produces a minor-key, wailing but melodic sound indicative of its Far Eastern origin.

Karakhanian once explained that most kamanches have only three strings, but he modified his own instrument so it can be played with piano accompaniment.

In 1935 Rouben was in India visiting the Armenian community there. Travelling through to Dhaka he found a most attentive audience, and a new friend in the young 22 year old Armenian, Ruben David. Rouben gave him two signed photographs that became treasured possessions of Ruben’s family, and we are delighted that the David family are sharing their family archive with the Heritage Project.

These two precious and rare images of Rouben Karakhanian are reproduced here.


http://armenianchurchbangladesh.com/photo-gallery/roupen-karakhanian-aka-kemanche-rouben-forgotten-armenian-kemanchist-player/?fbclid=IwAR1ecIGuWIEqSXVobq-fpNSEgsVxD1aB0rE8YW6dXBldzSp0VFv8yrQwJZ8

Azerbaijani Press: Pashinyan admits catastrophic losses in Nakhchivan

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 20 2018

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Although eight months have passed since transfer of 11,000 hectares under the complete control of the Azerbaijani units on the Nakhchivan-Armenian border, the story continues to shake the Armenian society.

Official circles of Armenia cannot be determined with a single position on this issue. A part refutes everything, another part acknowledges serious losses, and the public does not know who to believe.

Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, claims the Azerbaijani army advanced before his becoming prime minister. So, Pashinyan in fact acknowledged the advancement of Azerbaijani units but does not consider himself guilty.

Indeed, the Azerbaijani army liberated the positions in the area of Nakchivan in a gradual and correct way, and the process began before the April coup. However, when Pashinyan came to power neither he nor the Armenian army could in any way counteract the changes that occurred.

At the meeting with journalists Pashinyan put an end to speculations on another topic.

As is known, after the April defeat of the Armenian army, two meetings were held with the participation of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group and the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia – in Vienna and St. Petersburg. The goal of both meetings was to persuade Baku to reject attempts to return the territories occupied by Armenia through armed means and obtain its consent to legalize and strengthen the results of the occupation by introducing certain mechanisms. Of course, it was impossible to receive agreement with Baku on these items. In the subsequent period, Yerevan stubbornly and hysterically accused Azerbaijan of violating the alleged "agreements reached".

"Gunnut operation" occurred in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic from May 20 to 27, 2018. As a result of counter-terrorism operation of the Azerbaijani army Gunnut village of Sharur region, Agbulag highway, Gyzylgaya mountain and Garagaya mountain were liberated and Arpa village of Daralayaz region fall under Azerbaijani control. As a result of the battles, the total area of 11,000 hectares was liberated. The operation allowed the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to control the Yerevan-Yekhednadzor-Gorus-Lachin-Khankendi highway.

As many as 50 km of new roads have been constructed and 50 km of useless roads have been rehabilitated. New defensive positions have been set up in the dominant heights for the tactical security of the strategically important Arpachay River.

Gunnut operation should be a signal for all Armenians. If the Armenian side does not want to suffer a defeat, which will turn into a catastrophe for it, and lose its statehood, then it should listen to the words of the President of Azerbaijan, who calls upon the world to liberate all occupied Azerbaijani lands without bloodshed and allow Azerbaijani compatriots, the true owners of their land to return home.

Pros and cons of extraordinary parliamentary elections, through eyes of political scientists and heads of extra-parliamentary parties

Arminfo, Armenia
Dec 20 2018

ArmInfo. The early parliamentary  elections in Armenia were in many ways a step forward and had a  number of advantages, but at the same time, it is impossible not to  notice the disadvantages that, of course, took place during them.  About this December 20 at a press conference, said the head of the  party "In the name of social justice" Arman Gukasyan.

He noted that this time the intrigue was not about who would take the  first place, as it was initially obvious, but about who, in addition  to the ruling block My Step, would go to parliament. "That is, the  initial question was who will be the opposition, and what goals will  it set for itself," Ghukasyan stressed.

He said that the undoubted advantage of these elections was the fact  that a dialogue was established between the political forces and the  policy of mutual accusations was not applied. In addition, as  Ghukasyan stressed, a big acquisition during the past elections was  that the political forces communicated with voters at the leadership  level. "Almost all candidates had their own pages in social networks,  on which they shared their thoughts, programs, went on the air. And  of course, another achievement during these elections was that  representatives of political forces tried to bring some creative  "They carried out agitation campaigns in public transport, went home  and even distributed tangerines to voters, trying in every way to  arouse interest in the elections," said Ghukasyan.  At the same time,  he could not overlook those minuses that, in his opinion, were  obvious. "The first and perhaps the biggest drawback, in my opinion,  is that the political forces paid minimal attention to their  programs, in particular, economic ones. As a result, voters did not  understand how, for example, the government intends to ensure  economic growth in country, and what reforms will be carried out in  the near future. That is, we have not seen a single clear-cut  economic program, and the struggle was personal rather than  ideological, "he said. The second disadvantage, according to  Ghukasyan, was that there was no intrigue in the election regarding  the favorite of the race. "During the election campaign, political  forces should not fight for 2nd place, but for the first," he said.  Finally, Gukasyan also complained that some political forces rushed  from one extreme to another: someone vehemently declared that they  needed to have close contact with the West, and someone on the  contrary, noted that cooperation with Russia was important. "As we  can see, such extremes did not bring the political forces to the good  that went to the parliament, which conducted a more sensible and  balanced policy," the head of the party In the name of social justice  concluded.

In turn, political analyst Grigor Balasanyan also noted that the  elections, although they had a number of positive aspects, were far  from ideal. "Among the advantages, I can single out the fact that for  the first time since the time of the third republic in Armenia, early  elections were held. In addition, for the first time, elections were  held without any excesses and falsifications," the political  scientist said. He considered television debates between rival  forces, especially at the level of their leaders, as another  significant advantage. As for the minuses, Balasanyan also, like  Ghukasyan, noted that the parties did not begin to present a clear  political program and were more a personal struggle. The political  scientist also noted that representatives of various political forces  were extremely tolerant of each other. This was especially clearly  manifested in relation to the former ruling Republican Party, the  expert noted. Another negative factor Balasanyan considered the fact  that the acting. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who heads the "My  Step" bloc, used incorrect statements and harsh rhetoric during the  campaign.  Among the bad sides, he pointed out the fact that the  participants in the pre-election race had spent on her very large  financial resources. "Well, it's bad that there was a sharp  polarization of the political field – that is, one force claimed by  far the first place, all the other 10 struggled to somehow overcome  the passing barrier," the expert summarized.

Armenian Assembly Honors Long-time Capital Region Council Co-Chairs Clara Andonian and Doris George

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:

Contact: Danielle Saroyan

Telephone: (202) 393-3434

Web: www.aaainc.org

 

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY HONORS LONG-TIME
CAPITAL REGION COUNCIL CO-CHAIRS CLARA ANDONIAN AND DORIS GEORGE

 

WASHINGTON,
D.C.
– The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and its Capital Region
Council hosted its Annual Holiday Reception last month at the Embassy of the
Republic of Armenia. The standing room only event honored long-time Co-Chairs
of its Capital Region Council, Mrs. Clara Andonian and Mrs. Doris George, for
their decades of hard work, “In Appreciation of Extraordinary Commitment & Unwavering
Support.”

 

“We greatly appreciate the tireless dedication and
commitment of Clara Andonian and Doris George – two wonderful individuals who
have given generously of their time and talent to help the Armenian Assembly
achieve its mission and goals. Clara and Doris are both one-of-a-kind members,
and we are grateful for their support and leadership,” stated Assembly Board
Member Annie Simonian Totah.

 

Clara Andonian has been involved with the Armenian
Assembly for over 42 years, serving in areas of advocacy for the affirmation of
the Armenian Genocide. One of her highlights with the Armenian Assembly was
being part of its 2004 Mission Trip to Armenia, led by Totah. As one of the
pillars of the Armenian community in Washington, Clara chaired the St. Mary
Armenian Apostolic Church Women’s Guild, sang in the choir, and taught Sunday
School for six years. She is a member of the Ararat Avak Senior Society, as
well as an active member of the Daughters of Vartan, where she served as Grand
Matron on occasion.

 

In 1973, Doris George and her husband Robert joined
the Armenian Assembly, and, over the years, Doris served the organization in
different capacities. Doris was a member of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), served on the Board of the Armenian
Rights Council of America, and was Chairwoman of the Daughters of Vartan. She
also serves on the Board of the Armenian American Cultural Association. 

 

After 20 years of working together, Mrs. Andonian
and Mrs. George completed their terms as Co-Chairs of the Assembly Capital
Region Council handing over the reins to the new incoming Co-Chairs Louisa
Baghdasarian and Marguerite Satian.

Also at the Reception, Yeretskin Anahid Kalayjian
was awarded the Armenian Assembly’s “Volunteer of the Year” for her efforts in supporting
and recruiting new members for the organization.

 

Armenian National Institute (ANI) Director Dr.
Rouben Adalian was the Master of Ceremonies, and introduced the guest speakers
for the evening, including the Republic of Armenia’s Embassy to the United
States Deputy Chief of Mission, Ara Margarian, and The Honorable Aram Bakshian,
Jr., who spoke about “Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora: Yesterday, Today, and
Tomorrow.”

 

The evening continued with a special musical tribute
to the late Charles Aznavour, with performances by Edita Kalayjian, who sang
“Armenian Waltz” by Den Gharibian and “Ave Maria” by Charles Aznavour; she was
accompanied by Christine Kharazian on violin and Duff Davis on acoustic guitar.
Victoria Petrosyan sang “Hayastan” by Armen Smbatyan, accompanied by Naira
Babayan. Her daughter, Karine Mikayelyan, sang Charles Anzavour’s “Pour Toi,
Armenie” in the Armenian translated version of “Qez Hamar, Hayastan.”

 

Following the musical performances, Assembly Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny briefed the audience on the Assembly's activities and
accomplishments this past year as well as the challenges ahead in the 116th
Congress.  He also highlighted the Assembly’s successful National Advocacy
Conference and the need to continue our efforts to make our voices heard on
Capitol Hill. Both Ardouny and Totah encouraged the audience to contact their
Representatives, especially the incoming freshman Members, to educate them on
the importance of strengthening U.S.-Armenia and other key issues.

 

Photos from the Annual Holiday Reception can be
found on the Armenian Assembly of America’s Facebook Page.

 

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of
America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting
public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a
non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

 

###

 

NR#
2018-059

 

Photo Caption 1: Armenian Assembly Board Member Annie Simonian
Totah awarding Clara Andonian and Doris George awards "In Appreciation of
Extraordinary Commitment & Unwavering Support"

Photo Caption 2: Yeretskin
Anahid Kalayjian awarded Armenian Assembly's "Volunteer of the Year by
Board Member Annie Simonian Totah

Photo Caption 3: Musical
Performances by Duff Davis, Christine Kharazian, Karine Mikayelyan, Naira Babayan,
Victoria Petrosyan, and Edita Kalayjian


Available online: https://armenian-assembly.org/2018/12/20/armenian-assembly-honors-long-time-capital-region-council-co-chairs-clara-andonian-and-doris-george/



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Representatives of My Step alliance elected to parliament to hold meeting

Representatives of My Step alliance elected to parliament to hold meeting

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17:01,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. My Step alliance will hold meeting today at 19:30 in Yerevan’s Armenia Marriott hotel, Yelk faction MP Alen Simonyan told Armenpres.

The lawmaker didn’t provide any detail about the issue which will be discussed.

“It’s just a meeting with the representatives of the alliance who were elected to the parliament, with quite a major staff”, he said.

Snap parliamentary elections of Armenia were held on December 9.

Based on the election results, three political forces have been elected to the parliament: My Step alliance – 70.44% of votes, Prosperous Armenia party – 8.27% and Bright Armenia party – 6.37%.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Lukashenko’s all questions received reasonable answers – Pashinyan

Lukashenko’s all questions received reasonable answers – Pashinyan

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18:48,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan assures that he has given reasonable answers to all the questions of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko , ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan said in Dilijan, commenting on the announcement of Lukashenko that Pashinyan has no courage to criticize Russian President Putin, who is the leader in selling arms to Azerbaijan.

“My spokesperson has clarified that during my interactions with the President of the Russian President that issue has been periodically raised and all the questions of Lukashenko received reasonable and concrete answers. Frankly speaking, I had the impression that Mr. Lukashenko was satisfied with the answers and in my opinion everyone who was present there had the same impression. I cannot say what happened later”, Pashinyan said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan




Pashinyan Calls On Lavrov to ‘Clarify’ Comments

In Dilijan on December 19, Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke to reporters

YEREVAN—Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday called on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to clarify comments he made on Monday regarding an agreement that is being hammered out between Moscow and Yerevan to curtail “foreign” military presence in Armenia.

“We are completing with Armenia the drafting of a document which will guarantee the absence of foreign military personnel there [in Armenia,]” Lavrov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station. “It will guarantee transparency in terms of threats and risks.”

Lavrov made the statement in response to a question about biological research laboratories which have been donated by the United States to Armenia to be used for food safety and other such uses. Russian voiced no concerns about the facilities when its officials inspected the laboratories.

Speaking to reporters in Dilijan on Wednesday, Pashinyan said that such an agreement was under discussion during the previous regime.

“A similar agreement was discussed with the Armenian authorities in the past. We have never discussed that issue with our Russian partners during the period of our government. It’s necessary for Mr. Lavrov to clarify what he meant,” said Pashinyan.

Pashinyan also responded to a high-level Russian official who claimed on Wednesday that the United States was exerting pressure on Armenia.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin accused the United States of meddling in Armenia’s affairs and alleged that during his visit to Armenia last month, President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton “ordered” Armenia to purchase weapons from the United Sates.

“Against the background of radical changes taking place in the country [Armenia] this year, Washington’s interference in its internal and external affairs is becoming increasingly unceremonious,” Karasin told the RIA Novosti news agency.

“We expect that the current leadership of Armenia, which received a necessary mandate in the [December 9] parliamentary elections, will have the courage to resist the unhidden external blackmail and pressure and will defend its sovereign right to independently make decisions based on national interests,” added Karasin, who insisted that Bolton had also pressured Yerevan to join U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“If this is the public side of U.S.-Armenian relations then one can imagine what kind of arm-twisting is taking place behind the scenes,” said Karasin.

While speaking to reporters in Dilijan, Pashinyan questioned the source of Karasin’s information that prompted him to make such a statement.

“The Republic of Armenia pursues its own policy and I think if not everyone, at least many see that. And Armenia will continue that policy,” said Pashinyan who added that currently, Armenia has not been presented with opportunities to purchase weapons from the United States.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 12/19/2018

                                        Wednesday, 

Azeri FM Encouraged By Karabakh Talks


TURKEY -- Azeri Foreigner Minister Elmar Mammadyarov attends a joint press 
conference with Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Istanbul, October 30, 2018.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has voiced satisfaction with his 
most recent meeting with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian, saying 
that it resulted in a rare “mutual understanding” between the two sides.

Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanian met in Milan on December 5 in the presence of the 
U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group. They 
described the talks as “useful.”

“I think that at the last meeting with my Armenian counterpart we achieved some 
mutual understanding for the first time in a long time,” Mammadyarov said late 
on Tuesday at a yearend reception hosted for Baku-based ambassadors of foreign 
states.

The chief Azerbaijani diplomat did not go into details of the talks. According 
to Russian and Azerbaijani news agencies, he stressed only that he will again 
meet with Mnatsakanian next month in an effort to achieve “tangible results” in 
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Commenting on understandings reported by Mammadyarov, the Armenian Foreign 
Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, pointed on Wednesday to the fresh talks 
planned by the two ministers. She also said that they signed a joint statement 
with the Minsk Group co-chairs issued after the Milan meeting.

“We had long failed to adopt statements in such a format,” added Naghdalian.


Armenia -Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalian speaks at a news 
briefing in Yerevan, 13 November 2018.

In that statement, the mediators expressed hope that “an intensive 
results-oriented high-level dialogue between the leaders of Azerbaijan and 
Armenia” will resume “in the near future.” The statement also said that 
Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanian “reaffirmed their commitment to work intensively 
to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
spoke to each other on December 6 at a summit of ex-Soviet states held in 
Russia. They also had a brief conversation during the previous CIS summit held 
in Tajikistan in September. There has been a significant decrease in ceasefire 
violations in the Karabakh conflict zone since then.

“The year 2019 will give a new impetus to the Armenia-Azerbaijan 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process,” Aliyev wrote on his Twitter page 
on December 14.

Pashinian tweeted about two hours later that a Karabakh settlement “remains a 
top priority” for Armenia.



Armenia Named The Economist's 'Country Of The Year'


ARMENIA -- A man waves an Armenian flag at the Republic Square in Yerevan, 
Tuesday, May 8, 2018.

The Economist magazine has named Armenia as its country of the year, saying the 
South Caucasus nation has a "chance of democracy and renewal" after street 
protests led to a peaceful change of government.

Nikol Pashinian, a former journalist and opposition lawmaker, "was swept into 
power, legally and properly, on a wave of revulsion against corruption and 
incompetence," the London-based weekly news magazine said on Tuesday.

He was elected to the prime minister's post in May after spearheading weeks of 
mass protests that forced his predecessor, long-entrenched leader Serzh 
Sarkisian, to resign. Pashinian’s My Step alliance won more than 70 percent of 
the vote in December 9 snap parliamentary elections.

"A Putinesque potentate was ejected, and no one was killed. Russia was given no 
excuse to interfere," The Economist said, adding that "an ancient and often 
misruled nation in a turbulent region has a chance of democracy and renewal."

However, the weekly cautioned that Armenia’s "nasty territorial dispute" with 
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh "has not been resolved and could ignite again."

The Economist has picked a "country of the year" since 2013. The title goes to 
a country that "has improved the most in the past 12 months.”


Russia Urges Armenia To Resist ‘U.S. Interference’

        • Emil Danielyan

Switzerland -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks to Vice Foreign 
Minister Grigory Karasin (L) before a meeting between representatives from 
Ukraine, the EU, and Russia in Geneva, April 17, 2014

A senior Russian official on Wednesday accused the United States of meddling in 
Armenia’s internal affairs and said Russia expects its South Caucasus ally to 
stand up to Washington.

“Against the background of radical changes taking place in the country this 
year, Washington’s interference in its internal and external affairs is 
becoming increasingly unceremonious,” charged Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory 
Karasin.

“We expect that the current leadership of Armenia, which received a necessary 
mandate in the [December 9] parliamentary elections, will have the courage to 
resist the unhidden external blackmail and pressure and will defend its 
sovereign right to independently make decisions based on national interests,” 
he told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Karasin pointed to recent statements made by U.S. National Security Adviser 
John Bolton and Richard Mills, the former U.S. ambassador in Yerevan.

Visiting Yerevan in October, Bolton said that normalizing relations with 
Azerbaijan and Turkey would enable Armenia to break “historical patterns” that 
have shaped its traditional foreign policy. He also indicated that Washington 
is ready to sell Yerevan U.S. weapons and thus reduce Russia’s “excessive 
influence” on Armenia.


Armenia - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a news 
conference in Yerevan, 25 October 2018.

Bolton further stated that the administration of President Donald Trump will 
enforce renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran “very vigorously.” The 
Armenian-Iranian border is therefore “going to be a significant issue,” he said 
after talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Karasin claimed that Trump’s national security adviser “ordered Armenia to buy 
American weapons and join the anti-Iranian sanctions as soon as possible.” “If 
this is the public side of U.S.-Armenian relations then one can imagine what 
kind of arm-twisting is taking place behind the scenes,” he said.

The Russian official went on to note the “tragic fate” of Ukraine and Georgia 
which he said have been let down by the West. “Such obvious disregard by the 
West of the interests of countries which it has been drawing into its orbit 
must serve as a warning [to Armenia,]” he said.

Armenian officials earlier played down the significance of Bolton’s public 
statements. In particular, they insisted that Yerevan has received no concrete 
offers to buy U.S. military hardware.

Also, Pashinian made clear last month that Armenia will maintain its close 
relationship with Iran despite the U.S. sanctions. Pashinian said that the U.S. 
administration “understands our situation and policy.”

Earlier in November, a team of officials from the U.S. State and Treasury 
Departments visited Yerevan to explain implications of the sanctions to 
Armenia’s government and private sector.

Pashinian has also repeatedly ruled out any major changes in Armenia’s policy 
towards Russia ever since he came to power in May. He has specifically made 
clear that his country will remain part of Russian-led military and trade blocs.


Tajikistan - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian talk during a CIS summit in Dushanbe, Septmeber 28, 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to congratulate Pashinian on 
becoming prime minister after weeks of mass protests that toppled Armenia’s 
former government. But Moscow subsequently criticized the new authorities in 
Yerevan for prosecuting Yuri Khachaturov, the secretary general of the 
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and former President Robert 
Kocharian.

Putin made a point of telephoning of Kocharian in August to congratulate him on 
his 64th birthday anniversary.

Kocharian, who denies coup charges brought against him as politically 
motivated, was again arrested on December 7 two days before the Armenian 
parliamentary elections won by Pashinian’s My Step alliance.

Putin has still not congratulated Pashinian on that landslide victory. The 
Russian ambassador in Yerevan, Sergey Kopyrkin, downplayed this fact on 
Tuesday. Citing the “inter-state protocol,” Kopyrkin hinted that Putin will 
send a congratulatory message after Pashinian is formally reappointed as prime 
minister.

Putin congratulated former President Serzh Sarkisian two days after his 
Republican Party of Armenia won the previous parliamentary elections held in 
April 2017.



Pashinian Defends Choice Of National Security Aide

        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Nagorno-Karabakh - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian walks through 
Karabakh Armenian trenches on "the line of contact" with Azerbaijan, September 
18, 2018.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended on Wednesday his decision to appoint an 
Armenian army general sacked following the 2016 war in Nagorno-Karabakh as his 
national security adviser.

The appointment of Major-General Arshak Karapetian, the former chief of 
Armenia’s military intelligence service, was announced on Monday. Pashinian’s 
office gave no reasons for it.

Karapetian and two other senior military officials were fired in April 2016 by 
then President Serzh Sarkisian more than three weeks after the outbreak of 
heavy fighting around Karabakh that nearly escalated into a full-scale 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war. About 80 Armenian soldiers and volunteers were killed 
during four-day hostilities stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Azerbaijani troops captured several heights at northern and southern sections 
of the Karabakh “line of contact” but failed to advance farther. According to 
independent sources in Baku, at least 92 Azerbaijani soldiers, many of them 
members of special forces, died in action.

Sarkisian said at the time that Armenian military intelligence failed to get 
“precise information” about the Azerbaijani offensive beforehand. “Had we had 
[such intelligence] the Azerbaijanis would have suffered much greater losses 
and failed to seize those several meters [of land,]” he told the Bloomberg news 
agency a few days before the high-profile sackings.

Pashinian’s decision to appoint one of the sacked military officials to his 
staff was therefore criticized by some commentators. The premier dismissed the 
criticism when he spoke to journalists in the town of Dilijan.

“Those who mention that Arshak Karapetian was fired by Serzh Sarkisian as a 
result of those events also say that Serzh Sarkisian is a just arbiter who made 
a just decision,” he said. “I have read dozens, if not hundreds, pages of 
secret materials about the four-day war and found nothing in those materials 
about the absence or lack of intelligence data.”

Pashinian expressed confidence that Karapetian will properly perform his new 
duties.

Pashinian’s chief of staff, Eduard Aghajanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
earlier in the day that Karapetian will advise the prime minister on national 
security issues.



Press Review



“Zhamanak” quotes Russian Ambassador Sergey Kopyrkin as saying that the 
December 2 death in Gyumri of an Armenian woman attacked by a Russian soldier 
must not be politicized. Kopyrkin also said on Tuesday that the views of 
Armenians matter to Russia. The paper says that if is really the case then 
Moscow should hand over the suspect, who is held in detention at the Russian 
military base in Gyumri, to Armenian law-enforcement authorities. Failure to do 
so, it says, would mean that the Russians “don’t give a damn” about Armenian 
public opinion.

Lragir.am comments on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s “ambiguous” 
statement on Armenia’s U.S.-funded biological labs. The publication says that 
the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, reacted to the 
statement on Tuesday, saying that the labs belong to Armenia and are used for 
solely civilian purposes. “There are some contradictions between these 
statements,” it says. “If those labs belong to Armenia, are civilian in nature 
and have no military personnel, then what is the point of ongoing 
Russian-Armenian negotiations? The situation requires a clarification.”

“Zhoghovurd” says that after holding parliamentary elections widely recognized 
as democratic the Armenian authorities should now amend the Electoral Code. The 
paper says they must first and foremost abolish electoral districts where 
candidates of parties and blocs have run on an individual basis. It says that 
apolitical individuals must no longer be able to run for parliament. “But it 
must be noted that the introduction of this system is beneficial for the 
authorities because they can have guaranteed votes [for the ruling political 
force] through such individuals,” it says.

(Lilit Harutiunian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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