Viktor Ambartsumian International Science Prize is one of the important awards in astronomy/astrophysics and related sciences. It is being awarded to outstanding scientists having significant contribution in physical-mathematical sciences from any country and nationality. The Prize is being awarded once every two years since 2010. During 2010-2016 it was established by the Armenian Government as USD 500,000. At present it is USD 300,000.
The Prize includes laureate honorary diploma, medal with certifying document, USD 200,000 equivalent cash award and USD 100,000 equivalent, which should be used for the further development of Astrophysics as well as related fields of Physics and Mathematics in the RA, for the next two years after the Prize award.
This year the International Steering Committee (ISC) consists of local and international scientists,
Acad. Radik Martirosyan (President of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Armenia), Prof. Anatol Cherepashchuk (Russia), Prof. Michel Mayor (Switzerland), Prof. Vahe Petrosian (USA), Prof. Joseph Silk (UK) among them.
The deadline for submissions is March 18, 2020. The winners will be announced in July, while the awarding ceremony is scheduled for September 2020.
The details about the submission is available on the official website of the Prize here.
Barely more than a 100 years ago, Turkey executed what is considered by historians the first major genocide of the 20th century – the murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians – perhaps as many as 1.5 million – and the driving of hundreds of thousands of other Armenians into the desert, where many perished either at the hands of Turkish zealots or by starvation.
This week, as winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Turkish Kurds have already been driven from their homes by Turkey – with the approval of the president of the United States Donald J. Trump – into some of the very same deserts that became the grave sites of so many Armenians barely a century ago.
“I am afraid, my friends, that the ugly chapters of genocides and the deep-rooted history of persecution in the Middle East will last longer if we ignore the facts,” activist Widad Akreyi has written. “If we keep silent, we will probably witness another genocide at a future date, and the price we may pay for neglecting our duty to act may prove to be too high.”
That future date is upon us.
Today, in spite of agreement on a negotiated “pause” – falsely described as a “cease-fire” by Trump and Vice President Pence, and contradicted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – attacks from Turkish and Turkish-backed militias on Syrian Kurds, American allies whom Trump has abandoned, continue.
A negotiated “pause,” which was implemented without consultation or approval from the Kurds.
It appears that Russian forces have occupied positions previously held by American forces, that desperate Kurds are so desperate they are appealing for protection from Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad, he who is responsible for the killing of more than 500,000 Syrians in an 8-year-long civil war, and that Iranian aid to the Syrian regime continues unabated.
Reports continue to appear that American forces, shamed and humiliated by their commander-in-chief’s servile capitulation to Turkish President Erdogan, have had to blow up their own ammunition depots and vital assets as they rapidly withdrew in the face of the Turkish advance against America’s staunchest allies in the Middle East – the Kurds.
Trump, through negotiations led by Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, not only agreed to let Turkey ethnically cleanse all Kurds from their own lands in Syria – Kurds who lost more than 11,000 fighters as they fought alongside Americans in our battle against ISIS – but also agreed not to sanction them for doing so.
“Erebuni-Yerevan 2801” celebrations will kick off in Armenia on October 19 under the slogan of “Yerevan in my heart”. This year the city day is going to be marked in all administrative districts. On October 19 the events start from 13:00.
The official part of “Erebuni-Yerevan 2801” celebration and the gala-concert are to be held at the National Academic theatre of Opera and ballet after A. Spendiaryan. The National Academic Choir of Armenia headed by Hovhannes Chekidjyan and the State Symphonic Orchestra of Armenia are to perform on stage.
The main events of “Erebuni-Yerevan 2801” celebration start in the evening of October 19. From 19:00 till 22:00 music of various styles and genres can be listened to in the administrative districts. At 22:00 the festive firework will light the night sky of Yerevan.
To note, The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by king Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 20th October, 2019) The Armenian embassy in France on Sunday condemned the attack on the editorial office of the French-language Nouvelles d'Arménie magazine.
"The Armenian embassy in France decisively condemns the attack on the premises of the Nouvelles d'Arménie magazine. It is a serious infringement against the freedom of speech and republican values," Armenian Ambassador in France Hasmik Tolmajian posted on Twitter.
According to the magazine itself, the intruders broke the door to the office and stole three cameras and three computers with confidential data.
The issue of attacks on media in France has attracted heightened attention after the terrorists attack on the editorial office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo which left 12 people, including two policemen, killed. The attack occurred after the magazine published caricatures on prophet Muhammad. Two days later the Kouachi brothers, responsible for the attack, were neutralized by the special forces.
‘Our water is our gold‘: Armenians blockade controversial mine
In the mountains of Armenia, a previously bucolic spa town is home to a goldmine locals say threatens the country‘s biggest source of freshwater, and with it, an entire ecosystem.
Jermuk in southwest Armenia has long been renowned for its hot springs, soothing mineral water treatments and impressive waterfalls. But since mining company Lydian International moved in on a gold deposit upstream from the spa town on Mount Amulsar, it has become famous for something else.
Since June 2018, protestors have gathered from across Armenia to oppose a mine they say is fouling their land and water. Manned day and night, their blockade has succeeded in completely halting construction.
A year on, Armenia‘s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan — still fresh to power following last year‘s “Velvet Revolution” — is coming under increasing pressure to pick sides.
On one side, a popular protest movement sees the mine as a symbol of the corrupt regime it has just overthrown; on the other is a company — registered in the UK tax haven of Jersey — responsible for Armenia‘s biggest foreign investment.
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Polluting lakes and pasture
Before construction of the Amulsar mine even began, Lydian relied on the notoriously corrupt government at the time to clear farmland. Locals say they were given a choice between selling the pastures they relied on for a living, and having them expropriated.
“Villagers don‘t know where to send their cows, or their sheep, so they have to stop agriculture,” Jermuk resident Aharon Arsenyan, who has been resisting the company since 2012, told DW.
Once the diggers arrived in 2017, locals say things got worse. Whenever the wind picked up, “there was dust,” Arsenyan says. “Every time. We have never seen — never! — such amounts of dust.”
The landscape around Mount Amulsar in southwest Armenia, which locals say is at risk from a polluting goldmine
As construction progressed, residents of Jermuk and the nearby village of Gndevaz say dark, muddy water ran from their faucets. A local fish farm, meanwhile, reported the unusual death of hundreds of their fish.
Others say the farmland they hadn‘t been forced to give up wasn‘t productive anymore, as cattle refused to eat the dust-covered grass or drink contaminated water.
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Contradictory assessments
The biggest controversy, though, is over what might happen if the mine actually starts operating, and whether Armenia‘s biggest source of freshwater will be safe.
Arsenyan calls his hometown “the capital of water.” Jermuk — and the mine — sit on the source of the Arpa and Vorotan rivers, which in turn feed Lake Sevan. The lake supplies much of the Armenian population with drinking water, and many with fish.
The entire country of Armenia is peppered with small fountains called pulpulaks. People rely on them for fresh, clean drinking water, and they’re especially beloved during Vardavar, the country’s water festival
“The entire ecosystem of the country depends on it,” Arpine Galfayan, a Yerevan resident and member of activist group Armenian Environmental Front (AEF), told DW.
According to , published in 2016, waste water discharge would be minimal and treated to comply with water quality standards. Other disruption — noise, dust, pollution — would also be kept to manageable levels. The company said it would offset any remaining environmental damage by helping fund a new national park.
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But when it approached Armenian-American geochemical engineer Harout Bronozian as a potential investor in the project, he had doubts — and commissioned his own environmental assessment.
Bronozian‘s consultants said Lydian had hugely underestimated the environmental impact of the project, which would almost certainly contaminate Lake Sevan and other water sources — with chemicals including arsenic and cyanide — for centuries to come, risking both aquatic life and human health.
A , meanwhile, found that the project could potentially infringe on the habitat of endangered species such as the vanishingly rare Caucasian leopard. It called Lydian‘s promised park “a very negative example of biodiversity offsetting,” and said the mine failed to comply with Armenian and European environmental regulations.
The mine could encroach on the habitat of the exceedingly rare Caucasian leopard
‘Water is our gold‘
Galfayan says although locals were concerned as soon as the company appeared more than a decade ago, few dared speak out. According to the AEF, members of government were among Lydian‘s shareholders, and since state forces shot at a crowd protesting over disputed elections in 2008, there had been an atmosphere of fear and oppression.
In April 2018, all that changed. Armenians took to the streets after then president Serzh Sargsyan tried to install himself for another term. Promising to bring an end to corruption, opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan won the country‘s first democratic elections and took prime ministerial office in May 2018.
Energized by this victory for public protest, residents of Jermuk and the surrounding villages began their blockade of the mine. Around the country “our water is our gold” became the slogan for the new frontline in the popular war on corruption. Each time Lydian tried a new legal mechanism to pressure government into breaking the blockade, a steady stream of vehicles arrived with reinforcements from around the country.
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A high stakes game
Pashinyan‘s government, however, failed to either revoke the license his predecessors issued Lydian, or to effectively clear the blockades, saying a fresh audit was needed to decide whether the mine should be allowed to operate.
Environmentalist Aharon Arsenyan speaks at an anti-mining rally
All this has hit Lydian where it hurts. In 2018, it of over $42 million (€37 million), and total losses of over $136 million, warning “there is a risk that the company will be in default under its agreements” to shareholders.
In March, Lydian submitted notice to the Armenian government that it planned to sue the government through corporate courts if the situation was not resolved. Rumours circulated in local media that the company could try to claim losses of $2 billion, or almost two thirds of Armenia‘s state budget.
Then in July, the government‘s own environmental impact assessment was finally published, finding that the mine was safe. In the weeks since, Pashinyan has shifted position more than once, between assuring Armenians the mine is safe and casting doubts on the government‘s own positive environmental assessment of the project.
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On September 7, the prime minister convened a meeting with both activists and Lydian‘s interim, CEO Edward Sellers, who said the company would allow independent monitoring of the site. Two days later Pashinyan took to social media to ask protestors to clear the blockade.
Galfayan said protestors would not only continue the blockade but were also planning a wider campaign of civil disobedience, including marches on the capital. “This is a matter of life and justice for us,” she said. “We are definitely fighting back.”
Meanwhile, Jean Blaylock, of campaign group Global Justice Now told DW the international corporate court process is so secretive, it‘s possible Lydian may have already launched its case.
“Corporate courts are a perfect tool for transnational corporations to bully governments,” Blaylock said, adding that, “the payouts can be huge, the arbitrators take a very narrow perspective, and altogether it is a massive pressure on governments to back down.”
Lydian did not respond to DW‘s request for comment on criticisms of its operations, or whether it was going ahead with corporate court proceedings.
Barely more than a 100 years ago, Turkey executed what is considered by historians the first major genocide of the 20th century: the murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians – perhaps as many as 1,500,000 – and the driving of hundreds of thousands of other Armenians into the desert, where many perished either at the hands of Turkish zealots or by starvation in the desert.
This week, as winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Turkish Kurds have already been driven from their homes by Turkey, with the approval of the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, into some of the very same deserts that became the grave sites of so many Armenians barely a century ago.
“I am afraid, my friends, that the ugly chapters of genocides and the deep-rooted history of persecution in the Middle East will last longer if we ignore the facts,” activist Widad Akreyi has written. “If we keep silent, we will probably witness another genocide at a future date, and the price we may pay for neglecting our duty to act may prove to be too high.”
That future date is upon us.
Today, in spite of agreement on a negotiated “pause” – falsely described as a “cease-fire” by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and contradicted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – attacks from Turkish and Turkish-backed militias on Syrian Kurds, American allies whom Trump has abandoned, continue.
A negotiated “pause,” which was implemented without consultation or approval from the Kurds.
It appears that Russian forces have occupied positions previously held by American forces, that Kurds are so desperate that they seeking protection from Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad, he who is responsible for the killing of more than 500,000 Syrians in an eight-year-long civil war, and that Iranian aid to the Syrian regime continues unabated.
Reports continue to appear that American forces, shamed and humiliated by their commander in chief’s servile capitulation to Erdogan, had to blow up their own ammunition depots and vital assets as they rapidly withdrew in the face of the Turkish advance against America’s staunchest allies in the Middle East – the Kurds.
Trump, through negotiations led by Pence and Secretary of Sate Mike Pompeo, not only agreed to let Turkey ethnically cleanse all Kurds from their own lands in Syria – Kurds who lost over 11,000 fighters as they fought alongside Americans in our battle against ISIS – but also agreed not to sanction them for doing so.
“What we have done to the Kurds will stand as a bloodstain in the annals of American history,” Sen. Mitt Romney charged.
“This is a big win for Iran and Assad,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said. “A big win for ISIS.”
A bigger win for Vladimir Putin – a green light for despots everywhere.
It didn’t have to come to this.
Servile in his capitulation to dictators, monarchs and autocrats, from Helsinki to Singapore, Riyadh to Ankara, Trump has routinely ignored the oppressed and dispossessed while embracing their oppressors.
Since Jan. 20, 2017, as I write, Donald Trump – for 1,001 days and nights – has attacked, lied, deceived, blasphemed and abused the Constitution of the United States.
Unlike Scheherazade in her One Thousand and One Nights, Trump has not “a thousand books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers … (not) … perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart … (not) studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments …(and not) pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred.” (Richard Burton translation)
Since Jan. 20, 2017, the Republican Party – together with its conservative, libertarian and evangelical cohorts – has collaborated with a ruler who knows no books, no history – a ruler not pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred.
They have collaborated and empowered an anti-democratic, ignorant, racist, narcissistic, kleptocrat to shred the shared vision of our Founding Fathers in great part to fulfill their own greed and delusions while ignoring the apparent fact that Trump lacked the character, temperament, experience and vision to lead this country.
Thus, while I am appreciative of their support of the Kurds I am not moved by the too-little, too-late sentiments of sycophants like Graham, Romney, Mitch McConnell and others decrying Trump’s support of Erdogan.
For 1,001 days, those sycophants enabled Trump and his ignorance, and the Kurds are paying the price for their greed, avarice and fear.
Successive Turkish governments, including that of Erdogan, have refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for the genocide and crimes against humanity they perpetrated against the Armenian people a century ago.
Today, as we witness the unfolding of genocide and ethnic cleansing in those very same lands, it comes as no surprise to me that Donald Trump, Turkey’s enabler, shows no awareness, no regrets, no remorse, over the forces of evil he has unleashed.
In 2015, when the lifeless body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi – a Syrian Kurdish boy who, with his father, was trying to escape al-Assad’s butchery – washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean the world reacted, rightly, in revulsion.
In 2019, when President Trump called his capitulation to President Erdogan (whom he will soon welcome in the White House) a “Great Day for Civilization,” I reacted with revulsion.
Such a “civilization” is not anything I want to be part of.
(Robert Azzi, a photographer and writer who lives in Exeter, can be reached at [email protected]. His columns are archived at .)
https://www.concordmonitor.com/Turkey-Armenians-Kurds-29483229
from HALO Trust
HALO is honoured to have welcomed three members of the United States (U.S.) House of Representatives to The HALO Trust’s programme in Nagorno Karabakh this month in a historic visit.
Representatives Frank Pallone (NJ – 6), Jackie Speier (CA – 14), and Judy Chu (CA – 27) all visited HALO’s field office in Stepanakert. During their visit, the Representatives were briefed by HALO staff about the status of the demining programme and the importance of U.S. support to making the land safe for the people of Nagorno Karabakh. National staff then provided a demonstration of how HALO clears landmines in the communities where we work.
Since 2000, HALO has been clearing landmines and explosive debris from Nagorno Karabakh, making more than 33,000 acres of land safe for communities. Over 130,000 people, 85 per cent of the territory’s population, have benefitted from HALO’s activities. The programme has been supported generously by private donors and USAID.
Their visit came after the U.S. Congress sent two letters, one from the House of Representatives and one from the Senate, to USAID in August urging the Agency to continue its support for HALO’s work in the territory.
At the conclusion of their briefing, each Representative stated that they would engage USAID to ensure funding for this programme is continued. HALO is grateful for the amazing support of its Congressional champions and thanks each Representative for supporting this life-saving programme.
“HALO’s landmine clearance program in Nagorno Karabakh is a lifeline for many communities. Over 80% of the region’s population has benefited from cleared landmines. I will continue to engage USAID to ensure the continuation of HALO’s life-saving program.”
Judy Chu, U.S. Representative for California’s 27th Congressional District
“Landmines in Nagorno Karabakh have devastated far too many families. We must finish our humanitarian work we started in eradicating this very real threat to life and limb. I will continue to fight for the necessary funding for demining so that the HALO Trust can finish this vital work. America must make good on our promise to ensure the job is completed.”
Jackie Speier, U.S. Representative for California’s 14th Congressional District
“Ridding Nagorno Karabakh of landmines breaks down barriers between communities and helps to pave the way for growth and prosperity. I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues to ensure the U.S. fulfills our commitment to demine the territory. Doing so will help ensure no parent has to live in fear of losing their child to these deadly devices.”
Frank Pallone, U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District
Tigran Hamasyan | Credit: Footprint Music
For some, music is more than a calling — it’s an innate talent mixed with a fiery passion for self-_expression_. That is what I hear when I listen to the music of pianist Tigran Hamasyan. His unique and exquisite sound, which fuses Armenian folk music and improvisational jazz, with touches of classical Baroque, heavy metal, hip-hop and electronica, seems to emerge from a very deep, sacred place. He will be performing both as a solo pianist and with vocalist Areni Agbabian, a longtime collaborator, at SFJAZZ on Saturday, Oct. 24, as part of the celebration of ECM Records’ 50th anniversary.
Two of the pianist’s 11 albums were recorded on ECM: Luys i Luso (2015), an exploration of Armenian sacred music featuring the Yerevan State Chamber Choir, and Atmosphères (2016), a collaboration with three Norwegian musicians. “I have two groundbreaking albums on ECM,” said Hamasyan by telephone from Los Angeles. “These projects were very important to me, and I spent years preparing them. I grew up listening to records on ECM, so it is an honor to be part of this label.”
His upcoming show, however, will feature material from two of his most recent solo recordings — An Ancient Observer (2017) and For Gyumri (2018). This two-record project comprises original compositions written over the last few years that are “musical observations about the world we live in now, and the weight of history we carry with us.”
Born in Gyumri, Armenia, the 32-year-old virtuoso was exposed at a very young age to rock music by his father, and jazz by his uncle. Considered a prodigy, at only three, he began playing and singing songs by groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Queen, while also being influenced by the sounds of jazz icons like Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. He credits his uncle with watching over him and making sure that he focused on practicing hard to perfect his craft, rather than succumbing to the fantasies of potential stardom.
Tigran Hamasyan | Credit: Footprint Music
When Hamasyan was around 10, the family moved to Armenia’s capital city, Yerevan, and the talented pianist got exposed to classic jazz and bebop. In 1998 he performed at the city’s first international jazz festival and began winning prestigious jazz piano competitions. He also discovered the rich music of his native country. “I was playing bebop and listening to classic rock records, and I actually didn’t like Armenian music when I was a kid,” explained Hamasyan.” But when he heard Dis, a record released in 1976 by Norwegian jazz composer and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, he discovered something completely new.
“I heard that music, and I realized that they were improvising, but it’s wasn’t necessarily bebop vocabulary that they were using,” said the pianist. Using modes and melodies more based in what he described as folk music, the record inspired him to explore the rich musical heritage of his own country, which significantly changed the shape of his own musical journey.
Hamasyan composes most of his own music, which juxtaposes complex, explosive rhythmic passages with evocative and often melancholy melodic lines that he often doubles by singing — a voice floating above, with a mystical, ethereal sound. “I love singing melodies,” said Hamasyan, adding that he believes melodies are the basis for most kinds of music. But he doesn’t like to use any lyrics. “I want people to have their own story, their own version, or their own dream about the song.”
The prolific composer also likes to have a theme for each of his albums. “Every project for me is a story, or a concept I like delving into,” he stated. “And that also shapes the format and the personnel for my albums.” Many of his recordings include collaborations with other musicians from a wide variety of genres, while others are solo piano creations. His latest release is the stunning soundtrack to the 2019 film, They Say Nothing Stays the Same.
“For me, the most important thing is to always develop, get my projects out, and write all the time,” said Hamasyan. “Then, whenever the record company wants me to release an album, I decide what is important for me to say as an artist right now, and that takes shape on the record.” He is currently working on a new album due out next spring.
When asked if he believes that music is a sacred or spiritual journey for him, he replied, “Music should be all about spirituality and an inner experience, something that is not from the material world. For me, the greatest music always spiritually elevates oneself.”