Category: 2023

FREMONT ANNOUNCES: Signs Agreement on Vardenis Property in Armenia …

Antranik Varosian
June 6 2023

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – June 6, 2023) –  Fremont Gold Ltd. (TSXV: FRE) (OTCQB: FRERF) (FSE: FR2) ("Fremont" or the "Company") Fremont is pleased to provide a comprehensive update of its recent activities in Armenia:

  • The Company has executed a definitive option agreement to acquire up to a 100% interest in Mendia Resources Corp. ("Mendia"), an Armenian corporation, with Mendia's sole shareholder (the "Optionor"). Mendia holds the exploration license over the Vardenis copper-gold project in central Armenia. The Optionor will also provide drilling services to the Company in upcoming drill programs.

  • The Company has entered into an agreement with Dundee Precious Metals Corp. ("DPMC") to purchase the historic exploration data that was collected by DPMC when they explored the Vardenis project from 2015 to 2018.

  • Fremont has applied for an exploration permit comprising 33.8 km2 over the Urasar mineral district in northern Armenia. The license application was submitted in late 2022 and the Armenian Ministry of Territories is in the process completing their review. The permit is expected to be granted within the next 15 working days. Historical Soviet data reveals a non-NI 43-101 compliant resource totalling 344K oz Au in the Russian C1+C2 category and 649K oz Au in the P category[1] in two separate zones.

Vardenis Definitive Agreement

The Company and the Optionor have executed a definitive option agreement which provides the Company with the right to acquire up to a 100% interest in Mendia. Mendia holds the exploration license over the Vardenis copper-gold project in central Armenia. The option agreement provides for a series of staged cash payments, share issuances and work commitments over 4.5 years to earn up to 100% of Mendia. The cash and share grants total US$350,000 and 2.2M Fremont common shares, respectively, to earn up to 90% of Mendia (see a complete description of the option terms in the news release dated May 9, 2023). Exploration work is expected to commence immediately with the initial drill program planned for September of this year.

Importantly, Fremont will be using the drilling services of the Optionor at Vardenis and is confident that both parties' economic interests are aligned to ensure a timely and cost-effective drill program.

Acquisition of Historic Vardenis Exploration Data

The Company has entered into an agreement with DPMC to acquire their Vardenis exploration data base which includes over 6,000 geochemical soil, rock and stream sediment samples as well as the data set from 1,246 meters of diamond drilling. The data defines a 7 km long gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly as well as a 3.6 km x 2 km circular copper anomaly located 1.4 km south of the gold anomaly. The Company has paid C$30,000 to DPMC and will issue C$20,000 worth of Fremont common shares by December 31, 2024, if the Company elects to continue the Mendia option agreement. The issuance of Fremont common shares is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

Figure 1. Vardenis geology, with license outline and Au soil geochemistry

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/168929_70fcd0aee4ac9a8b_002full.jpg

Urasar District: Result of Regional Reconnaissance

The area was first visited by Fremont management In September 2021, when Urasar was one of ten prospects evaluated and sampled. It was ranked the highest priority due to wide-spread surface alteration/mineralization and encouraging geochemical results that comprised eight surface rock chip and channel samples, ranging from a minimum of 0.123 g/t Au to a maximum of 12.5 g/t Au, and averaging 2.65 g/t Au. Thirty follow-up rock chip samples were collected in November 2022 from other parts of the license area and returned an average of 0.75 g/t Au, and 6,285 ppm Cu.

Based on the opportunity to obtain an exploration license over the Urasar district, the availability of other prospective mineralized zones in Armenia, and a welcoming, mining-friendly business environment, Fremont management decided to set up a small office in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, in mid-2022.

Figure 2. Project Location with geology in relation to nearby mines

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/168929_70fcd0aee4ac9a8b_003full.jpg

Historic Soviet-era Exploration at Urasar

The only significant exploration work undertaken at Urasar was carried out in the 1950's through the early 1970's by Soviet government exploration teams. The district was explored for copper, base metals and to a lesser extent gold, within a 250m wide, 7.2km long quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone along the Chibukhlu fault. The exploration comprised 16 trenches, six adits and several drillholes (the latter not currently located). Three polymetallic precious metal deposits were defined based on Soviet era, non-NI 43-101 compliant resource models, named the Black River, Chibukhlu and Hanqakutak deposits. Other similarly mineralised areas that constitute additional targets within the Urasar licence property were also identified as part of this historic work. Figure 3 shows the location of two of the deposits as well as the prospects defined by this work, while the historic non-NI 43-101 compliant resources estimates are discussed below.

PATANY ERKRABAN LLC based in Yerevan, Armenia, completed a mineral resource estimate for the three deposits in 2008 based on the Russian C1, C2 and P mineral resource categories using the Soviet historical data and including several duplicate drillholes. They estimated that the Black River deposit hosts 209,000 ounces Au in the C1+C2 categories and 334,000 ounces Au in the P category. The Chibukhlu deposit was reported to have good potential for Cu with up to 20,000 tonnes of Cu in the P category as well as 135,000 ounces Au in the C1+C2 categories and 315,000 ounces Au in the P category[2]. The Hanqakutak deposit, which lies mostly outside of the Urasar license boundary, is estimated to host more than 500,000 ounces Au in the C1+C2 and P categories. (Ounces and tonnes have been rounded to the nearest 1,000).

A NI 43-101 compliant report is being prepared and is expected to be posted on SEDAR within the next three to four weeks. The report will not include an update of the mineral resource estimate.

Figure 3. Urasar Geology showing mineral occurrences, prospective areas

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/168929_70fcd0aee4ac9a8b_004full.jpg

Fremont CEO Dennis Moore states, "Fremont is a 'first mover' in this new era of mineral exploration in Armenia. With the anticipated permitting of the Urasar exploration license, plus the recently signed Vardenis Project, Fremont will have two properties capable of hosting world-class mineral deposits in this favorable jurisdiction, positioning the Company for significant discovery opportunities and growth. The Urasar project is one of the few places in the world where one can encounter numerous mineralized outcrops over a strike length of seven kilometers……and with only a few shallow drill holes! I personally find this district to be very exciting given its size, at-surface mineralization and location along the same large-scale structure with a similar geological setting that hosts the world class Sotk mine."

Geochemical surveys will commence upon formal reception of the permit, with trenching later this summer and drilling next year.

Qualified person

The content of this news release was reviewed by Dennis Moore, Fremont's President and CEO, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Fremont

Fremont's mine-finding management team has assembled a portfolio of high-quality Nevada gold and lithium projects with the goal of making a new discovery. The Company has also been seeking world-class mineral opportunities within the central Tethyan belt of Armenia and Georgia. Besides gold and lithium projects in Nevada, Fremont has signed an option agreement over the Vardenis property and applied for an exploration license over the Urasar area, which are located in central and northern Armenia respectively.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Dennis Moore"

Dennis Moore
President and CEO, interim Chairman
Fremont Gold Ltd.

For further information, contact:

Corporate Information
Fremont Gold Ltd.
Dennis Moore, President and CEO, interim Chairman
Telephone: +351 9250 62196
www.fremontgold.net
https://twitter.com/GoldFremont
https://www.linkedin.com/company/fremont-gold/

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward looking statements

Certain statements and information contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are referred to collectively as "forward-looking statements". The United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements and information regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that are based upon assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. All statements and information other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "seek", "expect", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "estimate", "continue", "forecast", "intend", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target", "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", "hope", "will be", "expected" and similar words or phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements in this and other press releases include but are not limited to the potential to identify a NI 43-101 mineral resource on the Urasar property. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Fremont undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this press release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

[1] C1 and C2 are roughly equivalent to CIM's (Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum) "indicated" category, while P is roughly equivalent to CIM's "inferred" category

[2] C1 and C2 are roughly equivalent to CIM's (Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum) "indicated" category, while P is roughly equivalent to CIM's "inferred" category

Turkish Press: US gears up for more peace talks between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Yeghisabet Arthur
Daily Sabah, Turkey
June 6 2023

Representatives from archrivals Armenia and Azerbaijan will come together again in Washington for another round of normalization talks this month, the U.S. Department of State announced Monday as tensions persist on their troubled border.

An exact date was not provided, but spokesperson Vedant Patel said the parties would use the talks to "continue to pursue a peaceful future for the South Caucasus region."

"Direct dialogue is key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace," he said.

Peace talks have been ongoing in a number of different venues, including in Washington where negotiations were last held in early May. A follow-up round was held in Europe later last month that included a sit-down between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Patel said the Biden administration is "pleased that talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are proceeding in different venues."

Earlier Monday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said a peace agreement with neighboring Armenia would be "inevitable" as the two sides continue work to end a decadeslong dispute.

The two ex-Soviet Union republics gained independence in 1991 when the USSR broke up and have gone to war twice over several disputed territories, mainly Karabakh, which was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but occupied by Armenia for nearly three decades.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the two wars over the region, one lasting six years and ending in 1994 and the second in 2020, which ended in a Russia-negotiated cease-fire deal that saw Moscow deploy a peacekeeping contingent along the Lachin corridor, the only road linking Armenia to the enclave.

However, a dispute over establishing a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor in April has refueled violent tension between the rival nations, which saw another half a dozen people killed from both sides since last December.

Baku said the border checkpoint was created in response to security threats from Armenia, citing the transfer of weapons and ammunition to the Karabakh region.

Yerevan denied the charges and claimed the move violated the cease-fire. Armenia, which relies on Russia as a security guarantor, is also frustrated over what it sees as the Kremlin’s failure to fulfill its peacekeeping role in the territory.

With major regional power Russia struggling to maintain its decisive influence due to the fallout from its war on Ukraine, the conflict has since drawn more Western mediation efforts.

In addition to meetings in Washington and Brussels, Aliyev and Pashinian met face to face again later in Moscow alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin to hammer out a peace agreement.

While talks didn’t yield such a deal, Pashinian reiterated his announcement that his country would recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and would open all transport links.

Aliyev too has expressed there was a chance for normalization.

Call to step up parliamentary cooperation between Belarus, Armenia

Shushan Frangulian
June 6 2023
MINSK, 6 June (BelTA) – Inter-parliamentary relations between Belarus and Armenia need to be intensified for the benefit of the countries and peoples, Valery Mitskevich, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives, Co-Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the National Assembly of Belarus and the National Assembly of Armenia, told reporters following the meeting of the inter-parliamentary commission, BelTA has learned.

"We had quite a long break due to the pandemic. Today we held a meeting of the inter-parliamentary commission, the 13th in a row, and outlined plans for the future and approved the decisions that were prepared in advance. We are confident that we will intensify our inter-parliamentary ties for the benefit of our countries and peoples," Valery Mitskevich said.

Speaking about the specific issues that were raised during the meeting, Valery Mitskevich said that those were the domestic political and foreign political situation, economic, cultural and scientific cooperation and the possibilities of their expansion and the role of MPs in this.

"The very fact that we had a regular meeting after a hiatus already testifies to the willingness and necessity to impetus to the inter-parliamentary dimension in the cooperation between Belarus and Armenia," said Armen Gevorgyan, a member of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly of Armenia, co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the National Assembly of Armenia and the National Assembly of Belarus . “I think it was quite an interesting and productive discussion, but it was not limited to today's meeting. Yesterday we had a very packed day. We had meeting with our colleagues, discussions, trips."

The first meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the National Assembly of Belarus and the National Assembly of Armenia was held in Minsk on 29 November 2005.

https://eng.belta.by/politics/view/call-to-step-up-parliamentary-cooperation-between-belarus-armenia-159408-2023/

Armenian airline launches direct Yerevan-Tehran flight

Emil Lazarian
MEHR News Agency
Iran – June 6 2023

TEHRAN, Jun. 06 (MNA) – Flyone Armenia national airline launched Yerevan-Tehran roundtrip flights on June 6.

Yerevan-Tehran roundtrip flights between Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport and Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport will be operated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Flyone Armenia Chairman of the Board Aram Ananyan personally visited Zvartnots airport early on Tuesday for the ribbon cutting ceremony marking the first flight to Tehran.

The new flights will create a convenient transport choice between Yerevan and Tehran, enabling to promote the strong cultural, economic, and tourism ties, Ananyan said at the ceremony.

TM/IRN85131705

Azerbaijan’s Blockade Paralyses Nagorny Karabakh

Garnik Zakarian
UK – June 6 2023


Economy is in freefall, with inflation soaring and unemployment is on the rise.


Six months into the blockade that has isolated Nagorny Karabakh from the rest of the world, the large looms of the Artsakh Carpet workshop sit idle and silent.

“[It] has paralysed our business. The company's future is very unclear, and our 70 employees are left with no work to do,” said Sevak Khachatryan, director of the rug manufacturer which has operated in Stepanakert since 2013.

On December 12, 2022 a government-backed group of Azerbaijanis, who claimed to be co-activists protesting over Karabakh authorities’ illegal mining activities, blocked the Lachin corridor. This is the only road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world. 

Artsakh Carpet continued to operate in the first month of the blockade, explained Khachatryan, but production gradually faded as the supply of yarns and dyes stopped. No transport was allowed in or out of the region, so sales also ceased.


Khachatryan and his weavers, designers and dyers are not alone: about 20 per cent of the region’s businesses stopped operating within weeks. 

The blockade has crushed the region’s economy, which had not yet recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Official data reported that as of June 2, the economy suffered a loss of about 329 million US dollars, leading to cut the predicted annual gross domestic product (GDP) of 903 million dollars by 36 per cent.


“All branches of the economy have deviated from normal activities,” Norayr Avanesyan, Karabakh’s first deputy minister of economy and finance, told IWPR via email. He added that mining work has been completely suspended and large-scale agricultural activities stopped due to severe shortages or total lack of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, fuel and spare parts. 

In the first three months of 2023, the volume of construction fell by nearly 84 per cent compared to last year: work on roads, water lines and the irrigation systems of thousands of hectares of land froze. Foreign trade turnover has been disrupted and inflation spiraled due to lack of supply.

As companies stopped operating, unemployment has ballooned: almost 11,000 people are now officially unemployed, more than half in the private sector.


"I am looking forward to going back to work again…it is difficult to make ends meet with the rising prices for essential goods,” Gita Hambardzumyan, one of the weavers Artsakh Carpets had to lay off, told IWPR.

CUT TO THE BONE

On April 23, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, which the ceasefire agreement of November 9, 2020 stipulated would remain under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Azerbaijani police officers and soldiers have now replaced eco-activists.

The traffic on the road remains below the bare minimum; private vehicles cannot travel and only Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are allowed to transit. Russians have been providing humanitarian assistance, including food supplies, and ICRC has secured vital medical aid and accompanied patients to specialised centres in Armenia. 

On June 2, the authorities’ regular update reported that in the 173 days of the blockade 5,199 tonnes of essential goods entered the region instead of the 69,200 tonnes of the pre-block period. 

Authorities have introduced a number of measures to curb inflation, contain the challenges of food shortages and mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the blockade.

It has initiated a voucher system for essential goods and introduced financial support to people who have lost their jobs as well as individuals and children from low-income groups. It also publishes regularly the permissible sales prices of essential goods; violators are fined. 

The dire shortage of some products has been feeding a black market: fresh potatoes for example can be sold between 1,500 and 2,200 drams per kilogramme (about three, 75 and 5.5 dollars) versus 300 – 500 drams (0.75 and 1.3 dollars) in Yerevan. The price of cheese imported from Goris, the Armenian city closest to Stepanakert, has increased by about 20 per cent.

The price of bread is one of the few that has remained stable because flour has thus far not been imported – but wheat supplies are running low.           

Authorities have removed limits on cash withdrawals but ATMs are often empty and frequent power outages disrupt their operations. Since January 9, gas supplies have been regularly interrupted.

Srbuhi Vanyan finds the long queues challenging, but not only for the struggle to access basic products. 

“We seem to find ourselves at the lowest level of human needs. My customers are mostly women, who need to be close to art, but today they have to think mainly about basic needs,’’ the 43-year-old radio host-turned-artist told IWPR.

Vanyan took up painting after the 2020 war crushed her dream of setting up a guesthouse: she and her husband started renovating their house in September 2020, a few days before the war broke out. Min Tagun Tegh, meaning “a hidden place” in Armenian, never opened.

“On the one hand, war hinders the opportunity to develop, but on the other, it inspires creativity and resourcefulness,”she said, displaying sketches that she turned into craftwork for sale featuring the local dialect and folklore motifs. 

That alternative has also disappeared as she now has neither the material nor the customers for her crafts.

“During your whole life, you set goals, work hard, create, and then there’s a war and now the blockade, which create monumental challenges that require doing the near-impossible to overcome them. It’s like trying to wring wood from a stone,” she said, referring to an old saying.

Vanyan has not seen her husband and her eldest daughter since December as they both happened to be in Yerevan when the blockade started. 

She is not alone: according to Karabakh’s authorities, around 3,900 people, including 550 children, have been separated from their homes as a result of the blockade, although some families managed to be reunited with the mediation of ICRC and the Russian peacekeepers.

“I just want to have the opportunity to live together with my family, to create and move freely, but also to preserve our identity in our homeland, in our hidden place,” Vanyan concluded.


Today marks Aram Khachaturian’s 120th anniversary

Ani Kharatian
Panorama
Armenia – June 6 2023

Today, June 6, marks the 120th birth anniversary of world-renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.

Тhe 19th Khachaturian International Competition is launching on 6 June to commemorate the anniversary of the great composer. The celebrated classical music event will host young pianists from around the world in Yerevan, Armenia.

Aram Khachaturian was one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century classical music whose renown was recognized worldwide and works performed by a great number of celebrated orchestras. Not only was Khachaturian’s music nourished by his Armenian origins but his identity always remained infused with the native spirit of Armenian musical and cultural heritage, even though he lived most of his life away from Armenia.

Born and raised in Tbilisi, the multicultural capital of Georgia, Khachaturian moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Without prior music training, he enrolled in the Gnessin Musical Institute, subsequently studying at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. His first major work, the Piano Concerto (1936), popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the Violin Concerto (1940) and the Cello Concerto (1946). His other significant compositions include the Masquerade Suite (1941), the Anthem of the Armenian SSR (1944), three symphonies (1935, 1943, 1947), and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music—Gayane (1942) and Spartacus (1954). His most popular piece, the "Sabre Dance" from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and has been covered by a number of musicians worldwide. His style is "characterized by colorful harmonies, captivating rhythms, virtuosity, improvisations, and sensuous melodies".

During most of his career, Khachaturian was approved by the Soviet government and held several high posts in the Union of Soviet Composers from the late 1930s, although he joined the Communist Party only in 1943. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a "formalist" and his music dubbed "anti-people" in 1948 but was restored later that year. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and turned to conducting. He traveled to Europe, Latin America and the United States with concerts of his own works. In 1957 Khachaturian became the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a position he held until his death.

Khachaturian composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. He is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century. While following the established musical traditions of Russia, he broadly used Armenian and, to lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern and Central European, and Middle Eastern peoples' folk music in his works. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a "national treasure".

Khachaturian went on to serve again as Secretary of the Composers Union, starting in 1957 until his death. He was also a deputy in the fifth Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1958–62). In the last two decades of his life, Khachaturian wrote three concert rhapsodies—for violin (1961–62), cello (1963) and piano (1965)—and solo sonatas for unaccompanied cello, violin, and viola (1970s), which are considered to be his second and third instrumental trilogies.

Khachaturian died in Moscow on 1 May 1978, after a long illness, just short of his 75th birthday. He was buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan on 6 May, next to other distinguished Armenians. He was survived by his son, Karen, and daughter, Nune, and his nephew, Karen Khachaturian, who was also a composer.

Sotk gold mine halted partially, governor says

Garik Boshkezenian
Panorama
Armenia – June 6 2023

Operations at the Sotk gold mine in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province have been halted partially because of cross-border fire from nearby Azerbaijani army positions, Gegharkunik Governor Karen Sargsyan said on Tuesday.

“The Sotk open-pit operations have recently been stopped due to safety concerns, but the underground mining continues there. The Sotk mine is working partially,” he told reporters.

The governor could not specify the number of the mine employees put on unpaid leave, but said some of them were expected to retire soon.

“Discussions regarding the other workers continue. There are two-three options for their re-employment. We are due to meet soon to discuss them,” he said.

Ex-Armenian PM warns against handover of ‘enclaves’ to Azerbaijan

Bedik Zaminian
Panorama
Armenia – June 6 2023

There is no legal ground for the handover of “enclaves” to Azerbaijan, Armenia’s former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan claims, warning it would clear the way for renewed war within Armenia’s territory.

"The existence of the enclaves was not stipulated by any Soviet law. They were once handed over to Azerbaijan by the consent of the local leadership. Accordingly, it has no legal force. They are de-jure Armenian territories," the politician said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The handover of enclaves to the enemy will create more favorable conditions and temptation for them to continue the war on Armenia’s territory. As a result, the peace treaty will become a war treaty,” Manukyan warned.

Separately, he rejected the “absurd” claims that surrendering Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Azerbaijan would open up an era of peace in the region.

"The mere fact that Armenia, regardless of the principle of territorial integrity, does not defend and promote the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination and independence humiliates us before the whole world. How can we live like this?" the politician wrote.

Manukyan urged the military and law enforcement authorities to protect the state.

"You did not take an oath to protect Nikol Pashinyan, but to protect the homeland, state, Constitution and laws. Nikol Pashinya’s activities and plans, first of all, run counter to the Armenian Constitution and laws, thus his rule is already illegitimate," the former PM said, accusing Pashinyan of treason.

“I urge the law enforcement agencies to keep a close eye on the developments in the country and to stop the state crime in time to be ready to join the larger part of the people who are resisting the national and state crime and are trying to prevent a national disaster and disgrace,” reads the statement.

Kariné Poghosyan to Honor Aram Khachaturian’s 120th Anniversary on Wednesday

Emil Lazarian
June 3 2023
Kariné Poghosyan to Honor Aram Khachaturian's 120th Anniversary on Wednesday

(NEW YORK, NY) —  There such a sense of joy, even ecstasy as she plays." This is how NY1's Stephanie Simon describes the Armenian-American concert pianist Kariné Poghosyan's performances.

Praised for her "Bewitching Detail and Thunderous Power" (New York Music Daily), the award-winning powerhouse pianist will present a one-night-only tribute to her beloved compatriot Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978), in honor of the composer's 120th Anniversary this year.

The concert will take place at the beautiful Cary Hall at the DiMenna Center on 450 West 37th Street, on Wednesday, June 7, at 9:00pm. The concert is presented by the Permanent Mission of Republic of Armenia to the UN.

The concise 45-minute program is comprised of two solo works – the vivacious Toccata and the Ms. Poghosyan's own solo transcription of the delicate Lullaby from the ballet Gayaneh. The grand event of the evening will be the performance Khachaturian's iconic Piano Concerto in D-flat Major, for which Ms. Poghosyan will be joined by her long-time colleague, Maestro Jason Tramm and the MidAtlantic Philharmonic Orchestra.

Please Note:

* The concert will be filmed, so the audience will be on camera.

* Seating Extremely Limited so Advance Ticket purchase recommended.

* No Ticket sales at the Entrance.

* Doors will open at 8:45pm, and there shall be No Late Seating, after 9:00pm

Award-winning Armenian-American pianist, Kariné Poghosyan, has been praised on the world stage for her "ability to get to the heart of the works she performs." Since her orchestral debut at the age of fourteen, Kariné has been enchanting concert audiences around the globe, with her masterful artistry and exceptional performances that leave them forever transformed.

Kariné's most recent concerts include 3 sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, one of which was a CD Release concert of her "Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky" recording on Centaur Records. This recording garnered rave reviews, with Gramophone Magazine praising its "masterly textural layering and resounding climaxes," and the American Record Guide stating that "a more heroic program would be hard to find, and few could play as well as the Armenian-American Poghosyan." She was also featured in WQXR's "Chopin Marathon" concert and live webcast, and was interviewed by David Osenberg on his award-winning program on WWFM, Cadenza.

The renown pianist and WWFM radio host Jed Distler described her performance in the following way, "This is big piano playing, but big in the sense of being in the moment, being present, and totally owning her vitality and imagination." Oscar-winning screenwriter Alex Dinelaris said, "Listening to and watching Kariné Poghosyan play fills one with life and energy. The combination of her formidable skill and her unchecked passion is an experience I recommend for anyone who needs to be reminded of the artist and art within themselves."

In February 2023, Ms. Poghosyan released her third album Folk Themes on Parma Recordings' classical label Navona Records, available now on Amazon, AppleMusic, Spotify, and other platforms. 

https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle2.php?titlelink=karine-poghosyan-to-honor-aram-khachaturians-120th-anniversary-on-wednesday&utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork&fbclid=IwAR2cQbSiPDd3VVRkZttSRBuRPLVw4ChByBW7a-jdEYEszCd__Xa0OfgmVw4

Residents will be armed if necessary, says provincial governor of Armenia’s Syunik

Emil Lazarian
NEWS.am
Armenia – June 6 2023

The residents will be armed if necessary. Robert Ghukasyan, Governor of Syunik Province, told this to reporters Tuesday at the National Assembly of Armenia.

Asked whether there were all the conditions for arming, the Syunik governor responded: "The MoD should be asked if everything is there. Naturally, I can't have all that information."

When asked how many residents of Tegh village cannot go to their arable lands, he answered: "We are talking about two things. One that the MoD tells the resident it’s not desirable; that is, it is a dangerous area. About 50 business owners, families have a problem there. On the one hand there is their [i.e. the Azerbaijanis’] advance, on the other hand there are deployments related to our army. Between the two there is a fallen area. On the other hand, how close they can stand, there are defensive things there."