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ARMENIANOW.COM
Administration Address: 26 Parpetsi St., No 9
Phone: +(374 1) 532422
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.armenianow.com
Technical Assistance: (For technical assistance please contact to
Babken Juharyan)
Cell: +(374 9) 38-24-88
Email: [email protected]
ICQ#: 97152052
Headlines
NEWS:
Resolute: Both sides determined as draft resolution on Karabakh
enters UN debate
Accident or Retribution?: Newspaper editor suspects Parliamentarian
in car explosion
Flight Fight: Armenians face extreme charges as coup d-etat trial
begins
>From Sumgait to Budapest: Slain Armenian officer remembered as a
genocide victim
Who Are You?: Law on ethnicity raises debate
OUTSIDE EYE:
Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view of life in his adopted home
FEATURES:
Heartfelt History: Keeping the memory of Berkaber alive ~V whether
anyone cares or not
A Higher Court: Seeking justice outside Armenia
No Guarantee: Even Armenia's Ombudsman cannot always control police
harassment
Dram Day: 11th anniversary of Armenian currency commemorated
ARTS:
Home Again: Theatre troupe back after successful tour in US
For complete articles, please, see www.armenianow.com
NEWS:
Resolute: Both sides determined as draft resolution on Karabakh
enters UN debate
By Aris Ghazinyan
With Azerbaijan on one side, Armenia on the other, and Nagorno
Karabakh where it has always been ~V at risk in the middle ~V the
United Nations General Assembly entered debate this week that could
have considerable impact on the 10-year old settlement process.
Responding to an appeal by Azerbaijan to introduce "the question of
occupied territories" to the UN main body, the General Assembly has
been hearing arguments on why it should adopt a resolution favoring
Azerbaijan's position in the 16-year old dispute over sovereignty of
the Armenian-populated territory.
(Azerbaijan maintains that the territory of some 13,000-square
kilometers is an illegal occupation -- some 147,000 Armenians live in
the self-declared republic. Armenia argues that the region rightfully
belongs to the nearly 100 percent Armenian population there, who have
formed a de facto republic since the break up of the Soviet Union.)
The Azeris' appeal to the General Assembly carries the support of
members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, whose votes swung
the decision for a hearing in favor of (Islamic) Azerbaijan.
The draft resolution calls for the UN to condemn Armenia for
repopulating seven territories around the disputed enclave and, the
Azeris claim, for planning to relocate 300,000 Armenians into Azeri
territories by 2010. Official Yerevan denies any such plan and says
Baku's attention to the "occupied territories" hampers discussions of
a peaceful settlement.
The General Assembly was expected to hold a vote on Tuesday, but put
it off after Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov withdrew his
request for a vote. Mamedyarov's decision apparently was influenced
by a meeting he had with all three co-chairs (US, France, Russia) of
the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe.
Susan Moore, U.S. Envoy speaking for the co-chairs, said that
interference by the GA could damage Minsk Group peace efforts.
Accident or Retribution?: Newspaper editor suspects Parliamentarian
in car explosion
By Marianna Grigoryan
"Haykakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Times) newspaper editor Nicol Pashinyan
usually leaves his office around 8:30 p.m. for a 30 minute drive
home.
On Monday evening he was delayed by unexpected work. While the editor
and his staff finished the workday in the paper's central Yerevan
office, an explosion was heard outside ~V the sound of Pashinyan's
2003 Niva apparently being blown up by an implanted bomb.
"A high-ranking fire department official tried to convince me that
the car self-ignited," Pashinyan told ArmeniaNow soon after the
explosion. "I can say for sure, however, that the car has been
deliberately blown up by an external interference."
Four days after the incident, investigators still have few clues of
what happened.
Pashinyan, however, thinks the cause of the explosion is clear. He
blames Armenia's most powerful businessman, National Assembly Deputy
Gagik ("Dodi Gago") Tsarukyan.
Flight Fight: Armenians face extreme charges as coup d-etat trial
begins
By Zhanna Alexanyan
A prosecutor in Equatorial Guinea is calling for 26-year sentences
against a six-member Armenian flight crew, whose trial on charges of
attempted coup d'etat re-convened November 18 in Malabo.
The crew of the AN-12 airplane captain Ashot Karapetyan, second pilot
Samvel Darbinyan, flight engineer Ashot Simonyan, navigator Samvel
Machkalyan, flight mechanic Razmik Khachatryan, and technical
mechanic Suren Muradyan have been taken to custody since March 9 of
this year and are held at the Malabo "Black Beach" prison.
The plane belongs to "Tiga Air" airlines, which was rented by German
Central Asian Logistics (CAL) Company for flights to Central Africa.
The plane had been transporting foods and metal pipes to Malabo. The
Armenian crew ~V all from Yerevan! -- left for Equatorial Guinea on a
flight in January and were arrested upon completing their first
flight.
President of "Tiga Air" airlines Boris Avagyan excludes the
connection of Armenian pilots to the coup d'etat.
"They are experienced pilots and honest people" says Avagyan. "Before
the contract work in this country they have been making flights in
Sudan since 2000 and have never had problems."
Avagyan receives daily information from the Armenian delegation
representatives in Malabo, and says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
has been very attentive.
Seven citizens of South Africa and 5 Equatorial Guinea locals have
also been arrested on charges of attempting to oust the president of
this country. (According to international human rights organizations
one of the arrested died in prison due to torture).
On November 16, Nick Du Tua was found guilty of leading an attempted
coup, and faces the death penalty. Du Tua, an officer of the South
African Republic Security Services declared the Armenians and the
other 12 imprisoned did not know anything about the prepared coup.
>From Sumgait to Budapest: Slain Armenian officer remembered as a
genocide victim
By Suren Musayelyan
"Impunity Begets New Victims: Sumgait - Hungary ", "We Remember and
Condemn", "Azerbaijan is a Threat to Peace and Stability", "No to
Terrorism," "No to Genocide".
These and other similar banners condemning Azerbaijan were carried by
participants of a peaceful march remembering the Armenian officer
brutally murdered by an Azeri in Hungary earlier this year.
Hundreds of young people marched from downtown Yerevan to the
Genocide Memorial in Tsitsernakaberd on Wednesday demanding a fair
verdict from the Budapest court and condemning the anti-Armenian
atmosphere in Baku surrounding the trial.
University and high school students expressed their position that
what happened to Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary on February 19, 2004 was
nothing less than genocide.
Who Are You?: Law on ethnicity raises debate
By Gayane Abrahamyan
An unusual proposal by Armenia's Deputy Minister of Justice has
caused debate in the National Assembly over ethnic identity and has
even engaged the help of the Apostolic Church in determining whether
the matter is of spiritual concern.
Article 23 of the draft law on Civil Status Acts includes legislation
by Deputy Minister Tigran Mukuchyan that says a person's ethnic
identity should not be included on his/her birth certificate.
". . . a person should chose for himself to which ethnicity he or she
belongs," Mukuchyan maintains. "In no developed country has ethnic
identity been mentioned and cannot be mentioned. This is a violation
of human rights."
Opposing Members of Parliament see Mukuchyan's proposal as a threat
to national identity and the very existence of Armenian statehood.
During discussions of the law the Commission on State and Legal
Issues of the National Assembly had submitted two recommendations:
That a birth certificate must include the ethnicity of the parents,
and of the child. But only the first part, obliging parental
identification, was adopted, leaving open the issue of whether the
child's ethnic identity is a matter to be enforced by law.
OUTSIDE EYE
Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view of life in his adopted home
By John Hughes
Try to picture this:
There's a seven month old, one-toothed baby on a table, surrounded by
adults, two toddlers and his yet un-toothed twin sister.
In front of the lad is an assortment of odd objects: A paintbrush
(two, actually ~V one of the house-painting sort and one for art),
scissors, a dollar bill, a book, a hammer, a spool of thread.
Young Hrant is unsteady, stationed among the stuff with his
booty-bound baby feet and his powder-blue jumper-clad little self
hardly able to remain upright. I have seen his father in this
condition (sans blue jumper), but for no reason that can be accounted
to age or lack of it.
Hrant got his first tooth a few days ago. It is a cause for
celebration. If that is what you can call this.
His mother, a bright and beautiful and artistic woman of university
education and multi-talents steadies the boy with her long fingers on
his short back. Then she puts a white table napkin on his grape-fruit
sized noggin, thick with the deep black Armenian head-scape that can
no longer be claimed by the thin-haired grandfather for whom Hrant is
named.
For an instant the baby looks as if prepared for something religious;
as if at some moment a priest might step forth with words and oils
and the waving of scepter and utter pronouncements. Instead . . .
The mother takes a bowl of cooked grains mixed with coated chocolate
and pours it over Hrant's head, to the delight of everyone in the
room, except the honoree.
Corn, beans, cracked wheat and knock-off M&Ms cascade over the boy,
while grandmas and aunts and cousins squeal with glee. And while one
confused godfather wonders how he'll ever explain these wacky
Armenians to the folks back home.
Now, from his seat of mixed grains and the occasional pastel-colored
chocolate drop Hrant is poised for the big moment ~V bigger, even,
than getting bathed in items usually reserved for winter soup. For
now it is time for Hrant to choose his future.
Whatever item the infant reaches for will determine his profession. A
cousin ~V himself only about 5 ~V tries to entice Hrant in the
direction of a calculator, and gets a grandfather's rebuke: Surely, a
decision so monumental in the life of a mono-toothed man should be
taken without predjudice.
Hrant chooses the book. He is applauded. I figure it means he'll
become a librarian; the parents are thinking more along the lines of
writer, scholar. (Its worth pointing out here that family research
has revealed that his mother also chose a book on her "tooth day".
She became a painter. And a seamstress. And a designer. And a woman
who pours corn and beans on a wobbling baby's head!)
The mess of spilled beans and assorti cleaned from the area, those of
considerably more (though lessening) teeth than Hrant, ate the
leftovers, followed by sweets and minimal speculation on what sister
Arpi will choose when her soon-approaching day comes.
Nobody in this room seems to know the origin of the day. I'm guessing
it has pagan roots. Like it matters.
A baby gets baptized in a mix of grains and hard chocolates, then
determines his future by falling forward onto a book. Just another
Sunday in Armenia ~V where the reason for tradition isn't nearly as
important, or as wonderfully curious, as the keeping of them.
FEATURES
Heartfelt History: Keeping the memory of Berkaber alive ~V whether
anyone cares or not
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
For almost 30 years, 70-year-old Norayr Arzumanyan has been
collecting museum exhibits. As he says, he has collected everything
he has had under his hand ~V from old newspapers, paintings to
pitchers, as high as the ceiling. Even ploughshares.
Arzumanyan was born and grew up in the Berkaber village of Tavush
province. He has his family, his children, but the greater part of
the day he is busy not with his loved ones, but with his collection.
He takes care of them like they were his children, cleaning, dusting,
arranging.
But even though he has spent such time preparing a historic record,
he doesn't easily welcome guests to see it.
"You are naïve to ask why I have started to collect these things," he
tells two strangers. "This is my life, this is what I live for. With
these things I feel the strength of my history."
For most of the time Norayr filled his home with artifacts of his
village. Then, six years ago the village council voted to give him
the office of the former kolkhoz (collective farm).
Now, from early in the morning till late in the night he does not
leave his corner. He first cleans up the rooms, sweeps the dust, and
makes sure everything is in order, then sits by the desk and makes
notes.
He prefers to pass the day with papers and books rather than people.
A Higher Court: Seeking justice outside Armenia
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
"The illusion that one can struggle against these authorities in a
peaceful way has vanished," said Grisha Virabyan, when a court of
appeal rejected his petition for the Prosecutor's Office to institute
a case against the policemen who had beaten him.
There is only one peaceful way left and it leads outside Armenia ~V
the European Court of Human Rights. On January 25, 2001, Armenia
became a member of the Council of Europe, and on April 26, 2002, the
National Assembly ratified the European Convention on Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms that opened the doors of the
Strasbourg-based European Court. There, citizens have the opportunity
to lodge complaints against the Government of Armenia.
Lavrenty Kirakosyan (tried for participating in opposition
demonstrations in 2003, and in 2004 {see related story} and Zhora
Sapeyan {tried for participating in demonstrations in 2003 and in
2004 and arrested for insulting the president during a public
rally}applied to the European Court in 2003. Ashot Zakaryan (tried on
March 28 in Gyumri on charges of participation in a fight during an
opposition rally) applied to the court of review only to exhaust the
legal or "peaceful" means and then apply to the European Court:
"I have no expectations from the court of review, I am applying in
order to apply to Europe later," he says. The court of review left
unchanged the verdict of the court of the first instance.
Edgar Arakelyan (see related story), Virabyan and Artak Gabrielyan
(see related story) are filing applications as well:
"I am applying to the Strasbourg court so as to make it clear ~V
these authorities are making a criminal out of an innocent person,"
says Gabrielyan. "When the investigator was fabricating a case
against me, I still had a hope that there was justice in the country,
there is a three-tier system, but it became clear that there is not.
It is impossible to prove in Armenia that a man is innocent."
A number of organizations help citizens to apply to the European
Court. Fourteen people convicted for participating in the
demonstrations have already applied through the "Forum Law Center"
organization.
No Guarantee: Even Armenia's Ombudsman cannot always control police
harassment
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
Stepan Stepanyan knew that he would be arrested if he went to
Artashat and hid from police, who were seeking to arrest him for
breaking a police cordon and going to Yerevan for a political rally
on April 9.
When the republic's Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan personally guaranteed
that he would not be arrested, Stepanyan returned without worries.
However, the guarantee didn't work, and he was arrested.
Fifty-three-year-old Stepanyan is a member of the National-Democratic
Bloc (AZhD) and a former member of the National-Democratic Union
(AZhM). He is a resident of Artashat, a violinist by training and was
headmaster of a music school.
During the 2003 presidential elections he was Stepan Demirchyan's
proxy and was taking an active part in the elections. He was not
detained at that time because his brother was a senior police officer
in Artashat police, later killed in the line of duty: "They called me
last year and told me ~V don't show any activity, your brother was
our friend, that's why we don't touch you."
In 2004, his brother's prestige didn't work.
Dram Day: 11th anniversary of Armenian currency commemorated
By Gayane Lazarian
On the occasion of the Armenian dram's 11 birthday (first issued
November 23, 1993), Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sargsyan told an
audience at the Yerevan Institute of Economy that Armenians can be
confident in their banking system.
"The Central Bank is carrying out a transparent policy, being
accountable to the public, forming stable conditions," said the
director of the state's official bank. "Not being under the influence
of political forces, we are implementing a long-term policy, which
gives the possibility to the public to approach the bank with more
confidence."
According to the chief banker, the dram's gaining value that reached
7 percent during the last nine months has contributed to the 10
percent growth of production in Armenia. Sargsyan says that today the
country's economy is in a stage where the primary task is to raise
efficiency.
Since mid-summer the value of the US dollar has decreased in Armenia
~V sometimes sharply ~V leading some to speculate that the value of
the dram is being used to launder money for a very few very rich.
Not so, says the chairman.
ARTS:
Home Again: Theatre troupe back after successful tour in US
By Gayane Abrahamyan
The Gabriel Sundukyan Academic Theatre has returned to Armenia after
nearly a two month trip to the US. This trip was planned for 2001,
but postponed after the events of September 11 that year.
"The Sundukyan theatre had been on a trip to the US 12 years ago, but
this was for the first time a theatre from Armenia was received on
the state level, and not only on the level of Armenian community",
says the creative director of the theatre Vahe Shahverdyan.
The theatre was invited by the Armenian-American Cultural
Musical-theatrical Union based in Los-Angeles for nearly 40 years.
The Sundukyan troupe have performed "The Old Gods" by Levon Shant and
the comedy "Night Feast" by Ray Coon at the "Alex" and "Academy
Polis" halls.
ABOUT US
ArmeniaNow.com is published by New Times Journalism Training Center,
a Non-Governmental Organization in Yerevan, Armenia.
The weekly website exists as a newsroom laboratory in which
journalists and editors in Armenia are taught the application of
methodology and theory of Western journalism.
Our goal is to produce real change in the approach of local
journalists by immersing them in long-term training that makes clear
how Western-style reporting works and what benefits it can bring when
applied to subjects in Armenia.
ArmeniaNow hopes to influence the style of journalism practiced by
other publications both directly through making our material
available to them free of charge, and indirectly, by taking some of
their reporters and editors on short-term attachments.
The training center grew from research and experience that shows that
media in Armenia lacks objectivity, as it is almost entirely financed
by special interest sources - primarily, political factions.
Consequently, journalists bound to the very practical need of
survival, are encouraged to produce reports that satisfy the agenda
of party politics.
The result is an atmosphere of distrust by readers, perpetuated by
journalists and editors who, having inherited a legacy of State
propaganda or opposition fanaticism, have never had a chance to
practice another method.
And, while various agencies exist to teach theory, ArmeniaNow is the
first publication in Armenia to offer hands-on application.
We offer a journalistic approach unique to its environment with the
hope that as other institutions of the new republic emerge -
business, education, law, etc. - journalism, led by the example of
ArmeniaNow, eventually will follow the trend toward a democracy-based
society.
ArmeniaNow journalists receive a stipend for their training and
production of stories. Funding is made possible by private donations.
For more information write to [email protected].
--Boundary_(ID_aT4i0qFM0SGRMqQdwzZdsA)--
Administration Address: 26 Parpetsi St., No 9
Phone: +(374 1) 532422
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.armenianow.com
Technical Assistance: (For technical assistance please contact to
Babken Juharyan)
Cell: +(374 9) 38-24-88
Email: [email protected]
ICQ#: 97152052
Headlines
NEWS:
Resolute: Both sides determined as draft resolution on Karabakh
enters UN debate
Accident or Retribution?: Newspaper editor suspects Parliamentarian
in car explosion
Flight Fight: Armenians face extreme charges as coup d-etat trial
begins
>From Sumgait to Budapest: Slain Armenian officer remembered as a
genocide victim
Who Are You?: Law on ethnicity raises debate
OUTSIDE EYE:
Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view of life in his adopted home
FEATURES:
Heartfelt History: Keeping the memory of Berkaber alive ~V whether
anyone cares or not
A Higher Court: Seeking justice outside Armenia
No Guarantee: Even Armenia's Ombudsman cannot always control police
harassment
Dram Day: 11th anniversary of Armenian currency commemorated
ARTS:
Home Again: Theatre troupe back after successful tour in US
For complete articles, please, see www.armenianow.com
NEWS:
Resolute: Both sides determined as draft resolution on Karabakh
enters UN debate
By Aris Ghazinyan
With Azerbaijan on one side, Armenia on the other, and Nagorno
Karabakh where it has always been ~V at risk in the middle ~V the
United Nations General Assembly entered debate this week that could
have considerable impact on the 10-year old settlement process.
Responding to an appeal by Azerbaijan to introduce "the question of
occupied territories" to the UN main body, the General Assembly has
been hearing arguments on why it should adopt a resolution favoring
Azerbaijan's position in the 16-year old dispute over sovereignty of
the Armenian-populated territory.
(Azerbaijan maintains that the territory of some 13,000-square
kilometers is an illegal occupation -- some 147,000 Armenians live in
the self-declared republic. Armenia argues that the region rightfully
belongs to the nearly 100 percent Armenian population there, who have
formed a de facto republic since the break up of the Soviet Union.)
The Azeris' appeal to the General Assembly carries the support of
members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, whose votes swung
the decision for a hearing in favor of (Islamic) Azerbaijan.
The draft resolution calls for the UN to condemn Armenia for
repopulating seven territories around the disputed enclave and, the
Azeris claim, for planning to relocate 300,000 Armenians into Azeri
territories by 2010. Official Yerevan denies any such plan and says
Baku's attention to the "occupied territories" hampers discussions of
a peaceful settlement.
The General Assembly was expected to hold a vote on Tuesday, but put
it off after Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov withdrew his
request for a vote. Mamedyarov's decision apparently was influenced
by a meeting he had with all three co-chairs (US, France, Russia) of
the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe.
Susan Moore, U.S. Envoy speaking for the co-chairs, said that
interference by the GA could damage Minsk Group peace efforts.
Accident or Retribution?: Newspaper editor suspects Parliamentarian
in car explosion
By Marianna Grigoryan
"Haykakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Times) newspaper editor Nicol Pashinyan
usually leaves his office around 8:30 p.m. for a 30 minute drive
home.
On Monday evening he was delayed by unexpected work. While the editor
and his staff finished the workday in the paper's central Yerevan
office, an explosion was heard outside ~V the sound of Pashinyan's
2003 Niva apparently being blown up by an implanted bomb.
"A high-ranking fire department official tried to convince me that
the car self-ignited," Pashinyan told ArmeniaNow soon after the
explosion. "I can say for sure, however, that the car has been
deliberately blown up by an external interference."
Four days after the incident, investigators still have few clues of
what happened.
Pashinyan, however, thinks the cause of the explosion is clear. He
blames Armenia's most powerful businessman, National Assembly Deputy
Gagik ("Dodi Gago") Tsarukyan.
Flight Fight: Armenians face extreme charges as coup d-etat trial
begins
By Zhanna Alexanyan
A prosecutor in Equatorial Guinea is calling for 26-year sentences
against a six-member Armenian flight crew, whose trial on charges of
attempted coup d'etat re-convened November 18 in Malabo.
The crew of the AN-12 airplane captain Ashot Karapetyan, second pilot
Samvel Darbinyan, flight engineer Ashot Simonyan, navigator Samvel
Machkalyan, flight mechanic Razmik Khachatryan, and technical
mechanic Suren Muradyan have been taken to custody since March 9 of
this year and are held at the Malabo "Black Beach" prison.
The plane belongs to "Tiga Air" airlines, which was rented by German
Central Asian Logistics (CAL) Company for flights to Central Africa.
The plane had been transporting foods and metal pipes to Malabo. The
Armenian crew ~V all from Yerevan! -- left for Equatorial Guinea on a
flight in January and were arrested upon completing their first
flight.
President of "Tiga Air" airlines Boris Avagyan excludes the
connection of Armenian pilots to the coup d'etat.
"They are experienced pilots and honest people" says Avagyan. "Before
the contract work in this country they have been making flights in
Sudan since 2000 and have never had problems."
Avagyan receives daily information from the Armenian delegation
representatives in Malabo, and says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
has been very attentive.
Seven citizens of South Africa and 5 Equatorial Guinea locals have
also been arrested on charges of attempting to oust the president of
this country. (According to international human rights organizations
one of the arrested died in prison due to torture).
On November 16, Nick Du Tua was found guilty of leading an attempted
coup, and faces the death penalty. Du Tua, an officer of the South
African Republic Security Services declared the Armenians and the
other 12 imprisoned did not know anything about the prepared coup.
>From Sumgait to Budapest: Slain Armenian officer remembered as a
genocide victim
By Suren Musayelyan
"Impunity Begets New Victims: Sumgait - Hungary ", "We Remember and
Condemn", "Azerbaijan is a Threat to Peace and Stability", "No to
Terrorism," "No to Genocide".
These and other similar banners condemning Azerbaijan were carried by
participants of a peaceful march remembering the Armenian officer
brutally murdered by an Azeri in Hungary earlier this year.
Hundreds of young people marched from downtown Yerevan to the
Genocide Memorial in Tsitsernakaberd on Wednesday demanding a fair
verdict from the Budapest court and condemning the anti-Armenian
atmosphere in Baku surrounding the trial.
University and high school students expressed their position that
what happened to Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary on February 19, 2004 was
nothing less than genocide.
Who Are You?: Law on ethnicity raises debate
By Gayane Abrahamyan
An unusual proposal by Armenia's Deputy Minister of Justice has
caused debate in the National Assembly over ethnic identity and has
even engaged the help of the Apostolic Church in determining whether
the matter is of spiritual concern.
Article 23 of the draft law on Civil Status Acts includes legislation
by Deputy Minister Tigran Mukuchyan that says a person's ethnic
identity should not be included on his/her birth certificate.
". . . a person should chose for himself to which ethnicity he or she
belongs," Mukuchyan maintains. "In no developed country has ethnic
identity been mentioned and cannot be mentioned. This is a violation
of human rights."
Opposing Members of Parliament see Mukuchyan's proposal as a threat
to national identity and the very existence of Armenian statehood.
During discussions of the law the Commission on State and Legal
Issues of the National Assembly had submitted two recommendations:
That a birth certificate must include the ethnicity of the parents,
and of the child. But only the first part, obliging parental
identification, was adopted, leaving open the issue of whether the
child's ethnic identity is a matter to be enforced by law.
OUTSIDE EYE
Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view of life in his adopted home
By John Hughes
Try to picture this:
There's a seven month old, one-toothed baby on a table, surrounded by
adults, two toddlers and his yet un-toothed twin sister.
In front of the lad is an assortment of odd objects: A paintbrush
(two, actually ~V one of the house-painting sort and one for art),
scissors, a dollar bill, a book, a hammer, a spool of thread.
Young Hrant is unsteady, stationed among the stuff with his
booty-bound baby feet and his powder-blue jumper-clad little self
hardly able to remain upright. I have seen his father in this
condition (sans blue jumper), but for no reason that can be accounted
to age or lack of it.
Hrant got his first tooth a few days ago. It is a cause for
celebration. If that is what you can call this.
His mother, a bright and beautiful and artistic woman of university
education and multi-talents steadies the boy with her long fingers on
his short back. Then she puts a white table napkin on his grape-fruit
sized noggin, thick with the deep black Armenian head-scape that can
no longer be claimed by the thin-haired grandfather for whom Hrant is
named.
For an instant the baby looks as if prepared for something religious;
as if at some moment a priest might step forth with words and oils
and the waving of scepter and utter pronouncements. Instead . . .
The mother takes a bowl of cooked grains mixed with coated chocolate
and pours it over Hrant's head, to the delight of everyone in the
room, except the honoree.
Corn, beans, cracked wheat and knock-off M&Ms cascade over the boy,
while grandmas and aunts and cousins squeal with glee. And while one
confused godfather wonders how he'll ever explain these wacky
Armenians to the folks back home.
Now, from his seat of mixed grains and the occasional pastel-colored
chocolate drop Hrant is poised for the big moment ~V bigger, even,
than getting bathed in items usually reserved for winter soup. For
now it is time for Hrant to choose his future.
Whatever item the infant reaches for will determine his profession. A
cousin ~V himself only about 5 ~V tries to entice Hrant in the
direction of a calculator, and gets a grandfather's rebuke: Surely, a
decision so monumental in the life of a mono-toothed man should be
taken without predjudice.
Hrant chooses the book. He is applauded. I figure it means he'll
become a librarian; the parents are thinking more along the lines of
writer, scholar. (Its worth pointing out here that family research
has revealed that his mother also chose a book on her "tooth day".
She became a painter. And a seamstress. And a designer. And a woman
who pours corn and beans on a wobbling baby's head!)
The mess of spilled beans and assorti cleaned from the area, those of
considerably more (though lessening) teeth than Hrant, ate the
leftovers, followed by sweets and minimal speculation on what sister
Arpi will choose when her soon-approaching day comes.
Nobody in this room seems to know the origin of the day. I'm guessing
it has pagan roots. Like it matters.
A baby gets baptized in a mix of grains and hard chocolates, then
determines his future by falling forward onto a book. Just another
Sunday in Armenia ~V where the reason for tradition isn't nearly as
important, or as wonderfully curious, as the keeping of them.
FEATURES
Heartfelt History: Keeping the memory of Berkaber alive ~V whether
anyone cares or not
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
For almost 30 years, 70-year-old Norayr Arzumanyan has been
collecting museum exhibits. As he says, he has collected everything
he has had under his hand ~V from old newspapers, paintings to
pitchers, as high as the ceiling. Even ploughshares.
Arzumanyan was born and grew up in the Berkaber village of Tavush
province. He has his family, his children, but the greater part of
the day he is busy not with his loved ones, but with his collection.
He takes care of them like they were his children, cleaning, dusting,
arranging.
But even though he has spent such time preparing a historic record,
he doesn't easily welcome guests to see it.
"You are naïve to ask why I have started to collect these things," he
tells two strangers. "This is my life, this is what I live for. With
these things I feel the strength of my history."
For most of the time Norayr filled his home with artifacts of his
village. Then, six years ago the village council voted to give him
the office of the former kolkhoz (collective farm).
Now, from early in the morning till late in the night he does not
leave his corner. He first cleans up the rooms, sweeps the dust, and
makes sure everything is in order, then sits by the desk and makes
notes.
He prefers to pass the day with papers and books rather than people.
A Higher Court: Seeking justice outside Armenia
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
"The illusion that one can struggle against these authorities in a
peaceful way has vanished," said Grisha Virabyan, when a court of
appeal rejected his petition for the Prosecutor's Office to institute
a case against the policemen who had beaten him.
There is only one peaceful way left and it leads outside Armenia ~V
the European Court of Human Rights. On January 25, 2001, Armenia
became a member of the Council of Europe, and on April 26, 2002, the
National Assembly ratified the European Convention on Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms that opened the doors of the
Strasbourg-based European Court. There, citizens have the opportunity
to lodge complaints against the Government of Armenia.
Lavrenty Kirakosyan (tried for participating in opposition
demonstrations in 2003, and in 2004 {see related story} and Zhora
Sapeyan {tried for participating in demonstrations in 2003 and in
2004 and arrested for insulting the president during a public
rally}applied to the European Court in 2003. Ashot Zakaryan (tried on
March 28 in Gyumri on charges of participation in a fight during an
opposition rally) applied to the court of review only to exhaust the
legal or "peaceful" means and then apply to the European Court:
"I have no expectations from the court of review, I am applying in
order to apply to Europe later," he says. The court of review left
unchanged the verdict of the court of the first instance.
Edgar Arakelyan (see related story), Virabyan and Artak Gabrielyan
(see related story) are filing applications as well:
"I am applying to the Strasbourg court so as to make it clear ~V
these authorities are making a criminal out of an innocent person,"
says Gabrielyan. "When the investigator was fabricating a case
against me, I still had a hope that there was justice in the country,
there is a three-tier system, but it became clear that there is not.
It is impossible to prove in Armenia that a man is innocent."
A number of organizations help citizens to apply to the European
Court. Fourteen people convicted for participating in the
demonstrations have already applied through the "Forum Law Center"
organization.
No Guarantee: Even Armenia's Ombudsman cannot always control police
harassment
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
Stepan Stepanyan knew that he would be arrested if he went to
Artashat and hid from police, who were seeking to arrest him for
breaking a police cordon and going to Yerevan for a political rally
on April 9.
When the republic's Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan personally guaranteed
that he would not be arrested, Stepanyan returned without worries.
However, the guarantee didn't work, and he was arrested.
Fifty-three-year-old Stepanyan is a member of the National-Democratic
Bloc (AZhD) and a former member of the National-Democratic Union
(AZhM). He is a resident of Artashat, a violinist by training and was
headmaster of a music school.
During the 2003 presidential elections he was Stepan Demirchyan's
proxy and was taking an active part in the elections. He was not
detained at that time because his brother was a senior police officer
in Artashat police, later killed in the line of duty: "They called me
last year and told me ~V don't show any activity, your brother was
our friend, that's why we don't touch you."
In 2004, his brother's prestige didn't work.
Dram Day: 11th anniversary of Armenian currency commemorated
By Gayane Lazarian
On the occasion of the Armenian dram's 11 birthday (first issued
November 23, 1993), Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sargsyan told an
audience at the Yerevan Institute of Economy that Armenians can be
confident in their banking system.
"The Central Bank is carrying out a transparent policy, being
accountable to the public, forming stable conditions," said the
director of the state's official bank. "Not being under the influence
of political forces, we are implementing a long-term policy, which
gives the possibility to the public to approach the bank with more
confidence."
According to the chief banker, the dram's gaining value that reached
7 percent during the last nine months has contributed to the 10
percent growth of production in Armenia. Sargsyan says that today the
country's economy is in a stage where the primary task is to raise
efficiency.
Since mid-summer the value of the US dollar has decreased in Armenia
~V sometimes sharply ~V leading some to speculate that the value of
the dram is being used to launder money for a very few very rich.
Not so, says the chairman.
ARTS:
Home Again: Theatre troupe back after successful tour in US
By Gayane Abrahamyan
The Gabriel Sundukyan Academic Theatre has returned to Armenia after
nearly a two month trip to the US. This trip was planned for 2001,
but postponed after the events of September 11 that year.
"The Sundukyan theatre had been on a trip to the US 12 years ago, but
this was for the first time a theatre from Armenia was received on
the state level, and not only on the level of Armenian community",
says the creative director of the theatre Vahe Shahverdyan.
The theatre was invited by the Armenian-American Cultural
Musical-theatrical Union based in Los-Angeles for nearly 40 years.
The Sundukyan troupe have performed "The Old Gods" by Levon Shant and
the comedy "Night Feast" by Ray Coon at the "Alex" and "Academy
Polis" halls.
ABOUT US
ArmeniaNow.com is published by New Times Journalism Training Center,
a Non-Governmental Organization in Yerevan, Armenia.
The weekly website exists as a newsroom laboratory in which
journalists and editors in Armenia are taught the application of
methodology and theory of Western journalism.
Our goal is to produce real change in the approach of local
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ArmeniaNow hopes to influence the style of journalism practiced by
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The training center grew from research and experience that shows that
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by special interest sources - primarily, political factions.
Consequently, journalists bound to the very practical need of
survival, are encouraged to produce reports that satisfy the agenda
of party politics.
The result is an atmosphere of distrust by readers, perpetuated by
journalists and editors who, having inherited a legacy of State
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And, while various agencies exist to teach theory, ArmeniaNow is the
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