Category: 2018

Sports: Arsenal confirm Henrikh Mkhitaryan signing

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 22 2018
22:18, 22 Jan 2018

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Armenia captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

“Henrikh Mkhitaryan has signed for us on a long-term contract in a deal which sees Alexis Sanchez join Manchester United,” Arsenal FC said on its website.

On his move, Henrikh said: “I’m very happy that we could finish this deal and I’m very happy to be here. It’s a dream come true because I’ve always dreamed of playing for Arsenal. Now that I’m here, I’ll do my best for this club to create history.”

Arsène Wenger added: “Henrikh is a very complete player. He creates chances, he defends well, he can absorb distances and he’s very committed as well. I must say he’s a player who has all the attributes.”

“Mkhitaryan can play on the wing or in midfield, so I believe he can play very well in many positions. That can help us as well because he can play together with Ozil as well as playmaker, so overall it’s a good move,” Wenger said.

“I’m very excited to get a player in who will be committed and focused. It is vital as well to have players who have experience, because we have a very good bunch of young players but we know that it’s not sufficient in the Premier League today to put them all in together. You also need a good weight of experience in your team and he will contribute to that.”

The deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes and Henrikh’s squad number will be confirmed soon.

Chess: Levon Aronian to take part in Tradewise Chess Festival

Jhanna Virabian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 22 2018

The traditional Tradewise Chess Festival will be held in Gibraltar from 23 January to 1 February in participation of Armenian GM Levon Aronian, the National Olympic Committee reported.

Among the top chess players of the tournament are Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Hikaru Nakamura (US), David Navara (Czech Republic), Pentala Harikrishna (India), Nikita Vitiugov (Russia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and the others.

The chess tour will be played in 10 rounds, Swiss system.

Music: Today marks Armenian composer Arno Babajanyan’s 97th birth anniversary

Talar Tumanian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 22 2018
Culture 18:55 22/01/2018 Armenia

January 22 marks the 97th birth anniversary of Arno Babajanyan, a renowned Armenian composer and pianist of the Soviet era.

Babajanyan was born on January 22, 1921, in Yerevan, Armenia. By age 5, his extraordinary musical talent was clearly apparent, and the composer Aram Khachaturian suggested that the boy be given proper music training. Two years later, in 1928 at the age of 7, Babajanyan entered the Yerevan State Musical Conservatory, the Music of Armenia reported.

In 1938, he continued his studies in Moscow with Vissarion Shebalin. He later returned to Yerevan, where from 1950–1956 he taught at the Yerevan State conservatory. It was during this period that he wrote the Piano Trio in f# sharp minor. It received immediate acclaim and was regarded as a masterpiece from the time of its premiere.

Subsequently, he undertook concert tours throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. In 1971, he was named a People’s Artist of the Soviet Union. As a composer, Babajanyan was active in most genres and even wrote many popular songs in collaboration with the leading poets such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Robert Rozhdestvensky among others.

Much of Babajanyan’s music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore. But generally, the way in which he uses Armenian folk music is in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev and Bartok. Praised by Dmitri Shostakovich as a "brilliant piano teacher", Babajanyan was also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts.

He received the Stalin Prize of 1950 for his Heroic Ballade for piano with orchestra and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. He was People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1956) and Soviet Union (1971). He was a laureate of two Stalin State Prizes of the USSR (1951, 1953) and two Armenian SSR State Prizes (1967, 1983).

Arno Babajanyan died on November 11, 1983, in Moscow.

Azerbaijani Press: Armenian provocation prevented at international exhibition

Parkev Tvankchian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Jan 22 2018
14:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Another Armenian provocation on the international arena was prevented in the Spanish capital Madrid, where FITUR-2018 international tourist exhibition has been held.

Apparently, two agencies illegally operating in the Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, were registered from the Armenian side in the list of participating companies, Azertac reported.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Spain immediately undertook a number of urgent measures. As a result of the practical measures taken, the provocative actions of the occupier country were suppressed, and the "agencies" were excluded from the list of exhibitors.

During the exhibition, the activity of Armenian participants was also closely monitored, and additional measures were taken to ensure that provocative information was not included in campaign materials offered to the exhibition participants.

Armenian Diaspora and lobbies often use international exhibitions to distort the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and present this region of Azerbaijan as Armenian. However, Azerbaijan timely prevents such provocative attempts.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

As for Azerbaijan’s participation at FITUR-2018, the country was successfully represented at the event with the organizational support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Spain. The pavilion of Azerbaijan caused great interest of the exhibition participants. Along with the tourist potential of the country, the pavilion promoted national wine brands and samples of confectionery.