Armenian Archives

France: Dazzling Gala Armenian school Tavitian Valencia under the sign of Genocide Centennial

June 24, 2015 By administrator

Sunday, June 14, the Municipal Theater of the city of Valencia was packed to the rafters. More than 350 people were present to witness the gala Tavitian school of the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Sahag of Valencia, under the direction of Reverend Father Antarnik Maldjian. The gala was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The room had been kindly made by the municipality and its mayor Nicolas Daragon, available to the Tavitian school. Among the audience of parents, friends and personalities of community life, note the presence of Marlene Mourier, Mayor of Bourg-Les-Valence accompanied by the councilor Mariam Cainan and elected officials of Valencia, Franck Daumas-Diratzonian (deputy mayor ), Georges and Nathalie Rastklan Iliozer councilors. Also note the presence of the pastor of the church Louder Nassanian of Maranatha brethren.

Taking advantage of the year-end event for the Armenian school, Father Andranik Maldjian honored madame Chaké Donoyan for its continued support to the school and Eugenie Tavitian Pilibossian, schoolteacher and very long years was rewarded with an emeritus teacher diploma. The children’s show kept all its promises, energy and spontaneity of the dozens of young Armenian tricolor students stating a very strong hand Armenianness. Reflections of Ararat were evident in the eyes of these children by claiming gestures and simple words, recognition of genocide suffered by their people.

Krikor Amirzayan

Pope Francis touches on Armenian Genocide again

June 22, 2015 By administrator

by Tatevik Shahunyan

During a Sunday service in Turin on June 21, Pope Francis cited what he called the “great tragedy of Armenia” in the last century. “So many died. I don’t know the figure, more than a million, certainly. But where were the great powers then? They were looking the other way,” Associated Press quotes the Pope as saying.

The source says that Pope Francis denounced what he calls the “great powers” of the world for failing to act when there was intelligence indicating Jews, Christians, homosexuals and others were being transported to death camps in Europe during World War II. He also decried the deaths of Christians in concentration camps in Russia under the Stalin dictatorship, which followed the war.

To recall, in April, the Pope angered Turkey when he referred to the slaughter of Armenians by Turkish Ottomans as “genocide.” Turkey condemned the Pope’s remarks and recalled its ambassador from Vatican. Following the Pope’s remarks, a number of foreign countries’ parliaments recognized the Armenian Genocide.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly members visit Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex

June 22, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex on Friday along with Koryun Nahapetyan, head of Armenian Parliamentary delegation to the NATO PA, and delegation members Elinar Vardanyan and Tevan Poghosyan.

The delegation members laid flowers at the Memorial commemorating the Armenian Genocide victims and honored the memory of the one-and-a-half million innocent Armenian victims by observing a minute of silence and bowing. They also visited the Genocide Museum.

Turkish Consul’s wife possibly drank pours beer on young Armenian protesters in Lyon

June 20, 2015 By administrator

New details have come up on the attack on the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party Nor Seroont Youth Organization in Lyon, France.

Armen Aghajanian, one of the youth organization members, told Armenian News – NEWS.am that the Turkish officials and their wives went at him and his friends when they began demanding justice in the question of Armenian Genocide acknowledgement, sitting on the grass not far from the Turkish Consulate building.

The Consul Hilmi Ege Türemen began to kick with his feet, calling us ‘dogs,’ while his wife poured beer on us,” Aghajanian said.

Immediately after the incident six Armenians were taken to hospital with injuries of different severity levels.

The law enforcement authorities are already engaged in the matter.

Earlier, Asbarez reported that the activists of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Nor Seroont Youth Organization were physically attacked by Turkish Consul, his wife and employees during a sit-in in front of the Turkish Consulate over the Armenian Genocide recognition.

Armenia Mayors of 12 German cities visit Erebuni historical-archeological museum-reserve

June 20, 2015 By administrator

Mayors of 12 German cities visited Erebuni historical-archeological museum-reserve in Yerevan, the press service of Yerevan Municipality reports.

Accompanied by a guide, they toured the halls, familiarized themselves with the history of the city of Erebuni and wrote entries to the guest book.

The mayors called their visit to Yerevan very eventful.

Armenian youth to hold action near Azerbaijani consulate in Los Angeles

June 20, 2015 By administrator

The Armenian Youth Federation will hold a demonstration on Saturday in front of the Azerbaijani consulate in Los Angeles to call attention to the Azerbaijani government’s continuous human rights violations, Asbarez reported.

“We won’t sit idly by and watch Azerbaijan attempt to present itself as a democracy on the world stage,” said Gev Iskajyan, a member of the AYF’s Central Executive board. “With the international attention surrounding Baku at this time, we feel now is a good a time as any to show the world just how corrupt the government of Azerbaijan is.”

The demonstration is held amid European Games in Baku.

Corruption And Business Oligarchs Are Major Obstacles For Armenian Companies To Enter Eurasian Economic Union Markets

June 18, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN, June 18. / ARKA /. Corruption and business oligarchs are two major obstacles for Armenian companies to enter the huge markets of the Eurasian Economic Union, the chairman of the National Union of Employers Gagik Makaryan said in an interview with the local daily Hayots Ashkhar.

“Corrupt businessmen make huge profits by selling their goods in Armenia; they use their own rules of game to settle all their problems. These businessmen simply fear external markets, where they may encounter certain risks, where one needs to be more educated, to have an understanding of management, and where their methods simply will not work,’ he said.

“Having a market is one thing, but using it is quite a different thing,” said Makaryan, adding that one should not forget that these markets were available even before Armenia’s joining the EEU, and Armenian legislation did not prevent free trade with EEU member states.

“The quality of Belarusian goods is high enough, which means that not all of our products can be competitive there. Russia is Armenia’s second largest trade partner and most of Armenian products, except for metals which are sold to Europe, are sold in Russia. They are brandy, alcoholic beverages, jewelry, some devices, canned food, etc.”, said Makaryan.

With regard to the Kazakh market, he said, trade with this country leaves much to be desired, and there are several reasons.

“First of all, Kazakhstan is geographically quite distant from Armenia. Both countries are connected mainly by charter flights which complicates the development of their trade and economic relations,» he said.

“It is not a secret that the state of the Russian economy has a direct impact on Armenia, regardless of whether our country is a member of the EEU or not. Russia is our main partner. For example, Armenia’s trade with Belarus constitutes 0.8% of the total foreign trade, with Kazakhstan its 0.2%, while trade with Russia accounts for 24%,” he said.

According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia’s trade with Russia in 2014 amounted to $1.4 billion, having increased by 3.2% from 2013; trade with Belarus was worth $40.1 million, having slashed by 19% and that with Kazakhstan declined by 6.5% to $7.5 million.

Armenia’s foreign trade turnover with EEU member countries in January-April 2015 amounted to $223.9 million.

http://arka.am/en/news/economy/corruption_and_business_oligarchs_are_major_obstacles_for_armenian_companies_to_enter_eurasian_econo/#sthash.K9HiM53r.dpuf

Golden Apricot: Armenia to host 12th edition of int’l film festival next month

June 15, 2015 By administrator

By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

This year for the 12th time Yerevan will host a Golden Apricot International Film Festival, which will take place from July 12 to 19.

The main program of the festival, besides the traditional four nominations, will be full of extra-competition nominations; two of them on the topic of the Genocide.

Films telling about the Armenian Genocide will be represented in the nomination We Exist, and works telling about genocides in the world – in the nomination Never Again, Mikayel Stambultsyan, program manager of the festival, told reporters.

“We have two big good projects: New French Film and New German Film, which are quite abundant and new names will be presented,” Stambultsyan said.

The festival this year will be special considering the cooperation with the project Film Directors Without Limits, which is held together with the Ministry of Culture; it will host Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Culture from other countries, Armenian Deputy Minister of Culture Artur Poghosyan said.

“Golden Apricot is the International Festival which has become a symbol of our culture during these years,” he said adding that the Festival is the most well-known and the most popular visit-card of the Armenian culture in the world.

The annually increasing number of application for participation in the festival is a proof to this. This year the organizers of the festival received 1,600 applications from 105 countries (in 2014 1500 applications from 95 countries were received).

“Annually the number of presented films and participating countries increases. This year we received applications from African and Latin American countries,” Syuzanna Harutyunyan, the artistic director of the festival said.

“Film artists from the whole world send applications and express desire to come and participate, recognize Armenia, get to know to Armenian film and present their films here,” she added.

Kim and Kourtney attend an Armenian Bar Association event honoring their late father Robert Kardashian

June 15, 2015 By administrator

On Sunday evening Kim and Kourtney Kardashian attended an event dedicated to their father Robert Kardashian, who passed away in 2003, following a long bout with cancer, the Daily Mail reports.

Along with their cousins, Kourtni and Kara, the two ladies pulled out all the stops to attend the Armenian Bar Association event held at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Sharing a picture of them standing in front of their father’s honour to Instagram, Kim wrote: ‘Thank you to The Armenian Bar Association for honoring my father last night!’

A second picture showed the girls cosying up to their cousins and the wife of rapper Kanye West also wrote:

‘Thank you to all of my cousins, aunts & uncle who came out to the Armenian Bar Association event last night! Kourtni, Kourtney, Kara & I!’

According to Asbarez, the Armenian Bar presented the award posthumously to the late attorney, Robert Kardashian, in recognition of the importance of those who champion the Constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law, even if in unpopular cases.

The site adds that gala banquet co-masters of ceremonies and Armenian Bar Board members Gerard V. Kassabian and Vanna Kitsinian said of the honour:

‘We are so pleased to be able to welcome the family of Robert Kardashian to accept the honor on his behalf and also to recognize their contribution to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.’

The event ran from June 12-14 in order to celebrate the Armenian Bar Association’s 25 years of unifying the colourful and distinct fabric of the Armenian nation.

Robert Kardashian, who passed away in 2003 just eight weeks after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, passed on his pride in his heritage to his family, who have been vocal about their Armenian roots.

Robert’s ancestors fled the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century, thanks to a ‘prophet’ who urged them to uproot to America.

Known at the time as the Kardaschoffs, in Russian style, the family made their way from their home village of Karakale in the late 19th Century to German ports. From there, they travelled to a new life in America on the passenger vessels SS Brandenberg and SS Koln.

By doing so, they escaped the triple horror of the First World War from 1914-18, the Armenian Genocide’ starting in 1915 – exactly a century ago this year – and the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Among those fleeing Erzurum – then in Armenia, and ruled by last Russian Tsar Nicholas II was family patriarch Hovhannes Miroyan and Kim’s great great grandfather, born in 1844. He married Luciag Chorbajian, born in 1853.

The couple wed in Erzurum, which is now in Turkey, in 1867 but escaped along with their daughter Vartanoosh Mironyan, born in 1886, in the early 20th century.

Vartanoosh’s daughter Haigoohi Arakelian – known as Helen, born in America in 1917, was Kim’s grandmother, who later married into the Kardashian clan.

The glamorous and ‘dynamic’ Helen wed Arthur who ran the largest meat-packing business in southern California.

Helen’s son Robert married Kris Houghton and fathered the 21st Century’s biggest reality TV stars Kourtney, Khloe, Robert Jr and most famous of all – Kim.

Their mother Kris eventually married Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner and together they raised two more TV personalities, Kendall and Kylie.

Become A Citizen Co-Sponsor Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Bob Dold U.S. Congressman

June 13, 2015 By administrator

Become A Citizen Co-Sponsor

Visit Bob Dold U.S. Congressman for The 10th District of Illinois web Site

In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire launched the first genocide of the 20th century – the Armenian Genocide. By the time the atrocities ended in 1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children had been killed. Since then, despite overwhelming historical evidence, the Ottoman Empire’s successor – Turkey – has maintained a decades-long policy of refusing to accept responsibility for the acts of its predecessor government, and actively obstructing any attempt by the American government or other nations to recognize what happened to the Armenian people for what it was: genocide. Turkey’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide exacerbates underlying tensions in that region, and undermines foundations for durable peace and security.

For the 100th anniversary of this horrific event, I joined with colleagues from both parties to introduce H. Res. 154, which called on the President of the United States to work toward the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgement of the facts and consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity. 42 states and 11 of our NATO allies have already stood together in recognizing the Armenian genocide and standing against genocide denial. This bipartisan resolution would ensure that the U.S. government stands with them and with the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
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HRES 154 IH
Whereas the Obama Administration has, since early 2009, sought to improve Armenian-Turkish relations through diplomatic efforts to lift the Republic of Turkey’s block-ade of Armenia and facilitate an end to Ankara’s refusal to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan; Whereas at the start of this process, President Barack Obama had, on April 6, 2009, voiced the United States Government’s expectation that Armenia-Turkey dialogue would ‘‘bear fruit very quickly’’, but that, since then, the Obama Administration has commended Armenia’s par-ticipation in this dialogue while holding Turkey largely responsible for the lack of results from this process, with the Secretary of State noting, on June 4, 2012, that, on this matter, ‘‘the ball remains in Turkey’s court.’’; Whereas on April 24, 2013, President Barack Obama stated, ‘‘A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowl-edging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and toler-ant future.’’; Whereas the Republic of Turkey, rather than acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, has es-calated its international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial, maintained its blockade of Armenia, and increased its pressure on the small but growing Turkish civil soci-ety movement acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and seeking justice for this systematic campaign of destruc-tion of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Pontians, Syriacs, and other Christians upon their bib-lical-era homelands; Whereas the United States is on record as having officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, in the United States
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HRES 154 IH
Government’s May 28, 1951, written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Geno-cide, through President Ronald Reagan’s April 22, 1981, Proclamation No. 4838, and by Congressional legislation, including House Joint Resolution 148 adopted on April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247 adopted on September 10, 1984; Whereas even prior to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the United States has a record of having sought to justly and constructively address the consequences of the Ottoman Empire’s inten-tional destruction of the Armenian people, including through Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, Senate Resolution 359 adopted on May 11, 1920, and President Woodrow Wilson’s Decision of the President of the United States of America Re-specting the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Ac-cess for Armenia to the Sea, and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory Adjacent to the Armenian Frontier, dated November 22, 1920; Whereas President Barack Obama entered office having stat-ed his ‘‘firmly held conviction that the Armenian Geno-cide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence’’, affirmed his record of ‘‘calling for Turkey’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide’’, and pledged that ‘‘as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide’’; and Whereas the United States national interests in the establish-ment of equitable, constructive, stable, and durable rela-tions between Armenians and Turks cannot be meaning-
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HRES 154 IH
fully advanced by circumventing or otherwise seeking to avoid materially addressing the central political, legal, se-curity, and moral issue between these two nations, Tur-key’s denial of truth and justice for the Armenian Geno-cide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
That the House of Representatives calls on
1
the President to work toward equitable, constructive, sta-
2
ble, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon
3
the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgment of the facts
4
and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and
5
a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of
6
this crime against humanity.
Source: http://dold.house.gov/genocide