Remembring Armenia earthquake December 7, 1988: 25,000 dead

December 7, 2015 By administrator

On December 7, 1988, Soviet Armenia was struck in his heart by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale.

At the time of the disaster, children are still in school, mothers are at home and prepare lunch … A few minutes later, they will be buried under the ruins. The cities of Leninakan (30 000 inhabitants), Kirovakan (200,000 hab.) And Spitak (50,000 inhab.) Are almost completely destroyed. The affected areas are very large and the population density is very high. This earthquake is one of the deadliest of the century.

Armenian village: About 200 tones of crop left in vineyards at Azerbaijani gunpoint

September 26, 2015 By administrator

Residents of Aygehovit village in Armenia’s Tavush province, where it was decided to stop the crop harvesting of grapes, may receive compensation from the state. Around 150-200 tones of crop remain in those vineyards, but the villagers cannot harvest them since the vineyards are under the fire of the adversary.

Aygehovit governor Levon Grigoryan told Armenain News – NEWS.am that they will once again try harvesting the crop at the end of the month. “The people have agreements, so let’s see what happens. If we are not able to harvest the crop again, the state will have to pay compensation,” Grigoryan said.

The regional administration of Armenia’s Tavush province promised to pay compensation to the villagers for the material damages incurred as a result of the Azerbaijani shelling.

The Azerbaijani side has been intensively firing at the border villages of Armenia’s Tavush province for several days. The Azerbaijani shootings resulted in deaths among the civilian population.

Armenian Government to Unveil Plan to Reclaim Rights of Armenian People

September 25, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)—A committee formed within the Armenian state commission on the coordination of events for the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is reportedly preparing a file on the legal claims of property and other rights and interests of the Armenian people in the aftermath of the Genocide.

Gagik Harutyunyan, president of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, heads the committee, and will discuss the file and future processes during a meeting of the state commission on September 26.

Vigen Sargsyan, President Serzh Sarkisian’s chief of staff and coordinator of events dedicated to the Genocide centennial, told Armenpress that the process of restoring the rights of the Armenian people has just begun.

“You know, we already have the first legal claims filed by [the] Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia. I think that the process will continue, people will start re-evaluating documents, the heritage, the evidence they possess. The ‘Share Your Story’ project greatly contributes to the latter, which we realized on the official website of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, where young people especially [have] posted their family stories, memories, arousing demand in them,” Sargsyan said.

The provisions of the Pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, adopted on January 29, 2015, expresses the united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and the elimination of the consequences of the Genocide. To this end, the file being prepared on the Armenian people’s legal claims is a point of departure in the process of restoring individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimate interests.

Sargsyan said that the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and especially its emblematic Forget-Me-Not flower, have served their purpose. The events held on April 22-24 in Armenia were broadcast by the world media, reaching 1.3 billion people worldwide.

“Taking into account that all the international channels ensured live broadcasting, it provided the possibility for large masses to get familiarized with the events in a way we wanted them to,” Sargsyan said.

In practical terms, according to Sargsyan, the events dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide created new models of cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora.

“All of us worked together; the success of the 100th anniversary events proves the immense power of cooperation. I think that Armenia became home to the Armenians spread all over the world where they would like to return to as a place for uniting their ideas, achieving professional success, [and] implementing projects,” emphasized Sargsyan.

The most inspiring and modest result of the centennial events and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute is the daily visit of Turkish tourists to the museum. Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said during a meeting with journalists that more Turks visited the museum in the last month than during the 15 years of the museum’s existence.

“Turks’ visits to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute have become regular. The greatest and the most impressive thing for us is their silence. If earlier they used to come with certain skepticism, made inquiries, cast doubts, today they do not have reasons for questioning,” Demoyan stated, adding that to some extent they had reached the goal: to reach Turkish society so that Turks can begin understanding why a new chain of events occurred in terms of international recognition of the Genocide all over the world.

“Why are exhibitions organized on [the governmental] level in Paris and [in] over 40 cities of France? Why [did] state officials visit Tsitsernakaberd? This complex of “why’s” will lead to an important objective, so that we become able to change approaches among future generations [of Turks], so that they understand that their authorities distort the reality,” noted Demoyan.

A forum of experts gathered today in Yerevan under the slogan, “I remember and Demand,” to discuss the results of Armenian Genocide centennial events held this year.

The number of countries which have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide has reached twenty four, deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said today.

According to Kocharyan, five counties recognized the Armenian Genocide between 2014 and 2015. Kocharyan said that another important point is that the number of countries that have criminalized the denial of the Armenian Genocide has increased from two to four.

“Extremely important are the reactions of various international organizations, the resolutions they adopted, including the European Council, which not only condemn the Armenian Genocide, but also call on Turkey to come to terms with its history,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan emphasized also the recognition by Armenia of the Greek and Assyrian genocides in the Ottoman Empire as an important step.

Fresno Armenian Evangelical Churches Raise $35,000 for Syrian-Armenians

July 31, 2015 By administrator

FRESNO — On Saturday, June 13, 2015 Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church and First Armenian Presbyterian Church joined efforts to host a relief benefit banquet for Armenians in Syria. The theme for the evening was “Hearts for Syria”.

The Co-Chair and Mistress of Ceremonies, Roseann Emerzian Saliba welcomed over 200 attendees and introduced the distinguished guests: Rev. Vahan and Yeritzgin Sossi Gosdanian; Rev. Nerses and Mrs. Sevan Balabanian, Honorary Consul to Armenia, Mr. Berj & Mrs. Arpi Apkarian; Appellate Court Justice Charles Poochigian and his wife, Fresno County Supervisor Chairwoman, Deborah Poochigian; and Fresno County Superior Court Judge, Edward and Mrs. Jacqueline Sarkissian.

The invocation was offered by Rev. Gregory Haroutunian; and the national anthems were performed by Miss Vera Darakjian in Armenian and Mrs. Jane Bedrosian in English, accompanied by Mrs. Faye DeLong. Mr. Oscar Luna provided two musical selections for the evening.

Mrs. Saliba opened the evening’s program with remarks, stating “for most of us, these past few months have been filled with a range of heart-felt emotions, beginning with the commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on the one hand; and on the other hand, the devastating news of the increasing violence against Christians in Syria, where once again Armenians fall victim to persecution.”

Saliba remarked, “We know that Armenians have had a long history in Syria .having arrived there during the Armenian Genocide; and Syria did not hesitate to open its borders and support the persecuted Armenians.” She went on to say that her parents migrated to America through Syria during the Genocide; however, many remained, where they rebuilt their lives and thrived; and their culture was embraced. Most migrated to Aleppo, while others lived in smaller communities like Qamishli, Damascus, and Kessab. The Armenians established residences, opened businesses, built churches, hospitals, schools and libraries.

Over a period of time, they went from being penniless refugees to middle and upper class citizens – involved in all sorts of trade, education, medicine and traditional Armenian professions, such as carpets and jewelry-making.

Saliba said, “It is heartbreaking that today many of the descendants of those who found sanctuary in Syria, find themselves experiencing the same trauma as their forefathers; a rich history but an uncertain future. Syria, once a symbol of peace and security for our people, has now turned into a land without peace.”

She thanked the attendees for attending the banquet, and for their love and compassion for their sisters and brothers in Syria.

Following a delicious dinner catered by the Pilgrim Church Men’s Forum, Banquet Co-Chair, Edward Saliba, shared his heartfelt comments, relating his experience during the Lebanese Civil War to the situation in Syria, which he stated appeared much more severe.

The evening’s guest speaker was Mrs. Sevan Balabanian from San Francisco. Mrs. Balabanian had just returned from Lebanon where she and her husband, Rev. Nerses Balabanian, ministered to the Syrian-Armenians who had sought refuge there. She presented video clips from the President of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in Syria, Rev. Haroutiun Selimian and the Pastor of the Kessab Armenian Evangelical Church, Rev. Jirayr Ghazarian. Mrs. Balabanian then presented a powerful slide presentation depicting Armenian life before the conflict began, and the current situation. She brought many to tears, as they learned of the trauma and pain being inflicted on the Armenians.

Rev. Ara Guekguezian, Senior Pastor of the Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church ended the evening with an inspiring plea for prayer and support, and concluded the evening with the benediction.

Italy: San Lazzaro degli Armeni: A slice of Armenia in Venice

July 31, 2015 By administrator

By Teresa Levonian Cole,

Teresa Levonian Cole explores a monastery dedicated to Armenian culture

It’s not your usual complement of gondola- hailing tourists that board Vaporetto No 20 from San Zaccaria, at 3.10pm. Most are Italian, with a smattering of American art historians and visitors of a more Levantine countenance. All exude an air of gravitas. Some disembark at the university island of San Servolo, leaving a small phalanx to continue to journey’s end: the Armenian monastery island of San Lazzaro. report independent.co.uk

In the year of the centenary of the mass killing of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, the tiny island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni assumes particular significance. Formerly a leper colony, it was the gift of Doge Alviso Mocenigo to Mekhitar, an Armenian monk fleeing persecution in Constantinople. He arrived in 1717, with 20 followers, to found a monastery dedicated to the cultural and spiritual renaissance of the Armenian people.

Even Napoleon, no friend to monasteries, was impressed, and in 1797 he designated San Lazzaro an Academic Institution, saving it from the axe. Today, just 12 vardapets (learned monks) and five novices remain as custodians of 200,000 books, 4,500 rare manuscripts, and a disparate collection of esoteric treasures. This Mother Church of the Mekhitarist order has become a symbol of survival, and an important centre of Armenian scholarship.

We follow a trail of incense through cloisters lined with Greek, Roman and Phoenician antiquities, past the headless statue of a princess from Aquilea, and enter the barrel-vaulted church. Beyond the walls, closed to the public, lies a secret garden of great repute. Our guide, Eleanora, tries to unravel the complex theology behind this monastery. “Mekhitar,” she concludes, “wanted to heal the rift between the Eastern and Western churches.” But amid the splendid marble and mosaic, three low blind arches from the original church of 1348 remind us of the island’s insalubrious past. “They were windows through which the lepers could follow Mass,” explains Eleanora.

At the top of the ornate wrought iron “Staircase of Mekhitar”, the work of home-grown artists hangs along one of the corridors leading to monks’ cells; the aquiline features of Armenian dignitaries in Ottoman dress stare soulfully from the walls. The largest canvases are housed in the museum dedicated to Armenian treasures, which also has Bronze Age metalwork, gold coins from the first century BC, stamps from the short-lived First Republic of Armenia, and the sword, forged in 1366, of Leon VI of Lusignan, King of the Armenian House of Cilicia.

Among the names of distinguished visitors to the monastery’s Libro d’Oro, is that of George Gordon Byron, who spent six months here in 1816, studying Armenian – “the language to speak with God”. Lord Byron’s erstwhile classroom is now occupied by a perfectly preserved 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy, called Nemenkhet, who grins, humourlessly from beneath an intricate mantle of coloured beads. Surrounded by bookcases bearing the 23 gigantic volumes of Description de L’Egypte – an exhaustive archaeological survey commissioned by Napoleon following his Egyptian campaign – Nemenkhet no doubt feels at home.

For all its curiosities, the soul of the monastery resides in its three libraries: from the magnificent Monumental Library, whose pear-wood bookcases contain rare European tomes spanning every subject, through Byron’s Room, and on to the circular Manuscript Room, which houses one of the world’s most important collections of Armenian manuscripts, including Gospels created in 862 for Queen Melket.

Most importantly, the library also holds early Armenian translations of ancient texts – such as works by Philo, Hesiod and St John Chrysostom – whose originals had been lost but were translated by the monks into Latin and thus revived.

“If the Scriptures are rightly understood,” wrote Lord Byron back in 1817, “it was in Armenia that Paradise was placed.” Indeed, if you visit San Lazzaro in summer, you can sample the monks’ rose-petal jam, which is made from the flowers in the monks’ own private Eden.

Getting there

Teresa Levonian Cole travelled with Kirker Holidays (020 7593 2283; kirkerholidays.com), which offers three nights’ B&B at the Gritti Palace, Venice, from £998pp, including flights and water-taxi transfers.

More information

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