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OSCE REPORT: ARMENIA NOT IN CONTROL OF REPOPULATION NEAR KARABAKH
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
A report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
concludes that official Yerevan does not control repopulation of
disputed territories in Nagorno Karabakh.
The report "about the illegal population of occupied Azeri lands"
was presented in Vienna March 17, based on information gathered during
an OSCE fact-finding mission to the area in February.
It focuses attention on the territories of Lachin, Kubatli, Zangelan,
Jebrahil, Fizuli, Kelbajar and Aghdam - areas in which the Azeri
government has charged are being systematically repopulated according
to orders from the Armenian government.
Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vardan Oskanian, praised the
report. "Yerevan hopes that their detailed, competent and objective
report gives a clear description to the situation on the spot and
in the region. Armenia deems that the most important achievement
of the fact-finding mission is that it put an end to Azerbaijan's
accusations," he said.
The mission was formed at the request of the Azeri government, which
raised three major complaints:
1. Territories around Nagorno Karabakh are excessively populated. At
different times the number of settlers fluctuated between 30,000
and 300,000.
2. The Republic of Armenia is immediately and deliberately involved
in the so-called process of settlement and conducts a corresponding
state policy with budget allocations.
3. An overwhelming majority of settlers are citizens of Armenia or
representatives of the Diaspora.
Population figures stated in the OSCE report are: Kelbajar region -
approximately 1,500 people; Aghdam region - from 800 to 1,000; Fizuli
region - less than 10; Jebrahil region - less than 100; Zangelan
region - from 700 to 1,000; Kubatli region - from 1,000 to 1,500;
Lachin region - less than 8,000 people."
Regarding the second accusation, the report reads: "The Mission didn't
establish that such a population is a result of the purposeful policy
on the part of the government of Armenia. The Fact-Finding Mission
did not see any evidence of the Armenian authorities' immediate
participation in anything in the territories."
On the third point it is said in the report: "The Fact-Finding
Mission concluded that the overwhelming majority of settlers are
persons displaced from different parts of Azerbaijan, in particular
from Getashen (Chaikend) of the Shahumyan (Geranboy) region, which
is currently under Azeri control, and from Sumgait and Baku."
Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and representative in the
Karabakh peace talks, Araz Azimov was not pleased with the report.
"Let's take a look where Nagorno Karabakh begins and where it ends,"
he said, "where Armenia begins and where it ends. Nagorno Karabakh is
a territory of Azerbaijan. However, Robert Kocharyan, who had led the
separatists there, is now the president of Armenia, and Serge Sargsyan,
who lived there, is Armenia's defense minister. It shows that the
separatists of Nagorno Karabakh do not act separately from Armenia."
Later, Azimov would thank the Mission for their work and state that
"on the whole Azerbaijan had achieved its goal."
"The facts established by the Mission are close to the data of the
Azeri side," he said on March 18. "Whereas according to the data of
Azerbaijan's government 20-23,000 people are settled in the occupied
territories, the Mission cites a figure of 15-16,000."
Still, Azimov said Azerbaijan intends to push for the inclusion of this
issue into the agenda of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly.
Meanwhile, officials in Yerevan have requested the OSCE to hold a
similar mission in previously Armenian-populated territories now
controlled by Azerbaijan.
SOLDIERS' STORIES: THE HARSH LIFE AND DEATHS OF YOUNG MEN IN SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY
By Zhanna Alexanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Helsinki Committee of Armenia has indicated in its annual Human
Rights Report for 2004 that there have been "no significant changes
in terms of informal relationships" in the Armenian army.
According to data from the Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia,
38 casualties were registered as of December 1, 2004. Three were
killed as a result of enemy action, three died during service, four
were brought to a suicidal condition, four were suicides, one died
as a result of violence in the ranks, eight died from breaches of
rules on the use of weapons, three suffered fatal illnesses, one was
an accidental death, and 11 died in car accidents.
But the report cast doubt on these figures. "Very often in the army
death is registered not as a murder, but as a result of illness,"
it noted. "The soldiers' labor force is used in private house
constructions, illegal cuttings of forests, in agricultural works,
as well as in the workshops of private businesses."
Injuries and deaths while working are not uncommon, and are registered
in official documentation as "accidents" or "suicide".
Three years ago, soldiers at one military unit in Armenia sent an
anonymous letter to journalists, asking for their concerns to be
raised with the higher military command and "to the ministry and
other authoritative places." The issues raised in the letter remain
unresolved today.
On November 27, 2004, the body of 20-year-old Yenok Margaryan
was brought to his parents in the village of Shahumyan in Ararat
marz. There was a bullet wound on his head and the investigator at
the Sevan military prosecutor's office told the family that Margaryan
had committed suicide.
His parents do not believe the verdict. Five months after Yenok was
conscripted into the army in April 2004 his father Norik Margaryan
visited him for three days at his border unit some 400 kilometers
from Yerevan.
"Everything seemed to be alright. I did not notice anything bad in
soldiers' relations. They worked all day long. I saw every day the
soldiers going up the mountain with saw and axe to cut trees. They
cut trees for the officers to sell the wood. They earned money by
soldiers," says the father.
Yenok had a holiday from September 20 to 28, 2004, and made his way
home on a truck used to sell the wood.
His mother recalls: "We gave him money when he was leaving, of
course, he couldn't leave without money. He told us nothing for he
knew we didn't have money, but at the last moment said 'Ma. That's
compulsory'. We borrowed $50 and gave it to him. I knew they would
keep him down if he didn't take the money. He said, 'pa, I am not
alone, there are 14 of us, all will bring'. I said I care only for
your safe return."
The Margaryans have no means to get the 110 kilometers from Artashat
to Sevan to follow the inquiry into their son's death. They met the
investigator once, who told them that Yenok had committed theft in
his unit and material worth some $1000 is missing from the store.
According to the investigator, the authorities at the unit had
called Yenok down to give an explanation, but he shot himself with
a Kalashnikov rifle in a small house 800 meters away from the unit.
"They dragged my dead child from the small house and left him there
for a whole night until the investigator came. But the case materials
lack even photos of the place of the accident," says the father.
The investigator told the parents that he had questioned 25 soldiers
and everybody had said the same thing. Three privates are charged
with intimidating him to suicide.
"He would never have shot himself," says Yenok's uncle, Hrachya
Margaryan, a Karabagh war veteran.
"I was proud of the Armenian army, but now I do not trust it. The
officers are engaged only in business."
The preliminary investigation of the criminal case is not over yet,
but Yenok Margaryan's parents do not believe the military prosecutor
general's office will disclose the committed crime.
Investigator at the Military Prosecutor's Office of Sevan Tigran
Karapetyan informed ArmeniaNow that the version of Yenok Margaryan's
suicide "may be said to be confirmed" and the investigation will soon
be over.
The Committee report says most cases go unresolved or end up with
prosecutions against people who played a minor role, while those with
most responsibility go unpunished.
Garik Khachikyan's body was delivered to his parents two months after
his conscription on July 17 2002. They had received a letter from
their son and a poem to his girlfriend only the day before.
The spring comes to our garden again,
But my heart doesn't smile once again,
Taken by the beautiful dream of missing,
My heart flies away full of love.
My heart misses you,
And longs for you with all my soul,
Where are you, come, my wonderful fairy,
Don't let my love fade away.
My beautiful flower I beg you
Come see your beloved as soon as you can,
If you don't come and if you leave,
I'll turn into unreachable dream as well.
The military men who attended the funeral said that Garik had died
during service. His mother, Sona Asatryan, says: "We became anxious,
was there a war? I wish my child was killed in the battlefield,
I would be much more proud."
According to the official version of events, "the soldiers had been
doing field engineering works for newly built entrenchments" on a
1,868-meter high mountain and threw tree branches 20-25cm in diameter
and 2-3 meters long into the abyss. On an extremely dangerous place
on the reef, Khachikyan slipped and fell from a height of nearly
45 meters."
However the trunk on a photo from the scene was much larger than
that described in the court decision. Sona says she asked the
investigator if her son died while cutting wood for officers to sell
for profit. "After that the photo and the whole page disappeared from
the case materials," she claims.
Sona's suspicions that her son had been killed were strengthened when
she saw the results of the criminal court forensics.
"All injuries were inflicted while he was alive, not long before
death by means of obtuse objects and have a direct causal connection
with his death. These kinds of injuries are classified as heavy body
injuries threatening to life," concludes judicial doctor Vigen Adamyan,
assigned to investigate the cause of death.
"I always had a suspicion deep in my mind: there was not a single
mark on my child's body. If he fell from a 45 meter height not only
his head and feet would be broken," says the mother.
Some official documents in the case materials also show that Garik
Khachikyan died during "collecting, storing and transporting of wood".
"To fortify the position the branches had to be taken up where the
unit posts were and should not have been thrown into the abyss,"
say the parents who went to the military unit after Garik's death to
find out the circumstances.
The parents say the reason for forging the facts is that in reality
soldiers are made to transport wood not for the needs of their unit,
but "for the personal needs of officers outside the unit and for
selling."
According to the parents, a specialist medical team was sent to the
military unit from Yerevan after the accident to move Garik to a
hospital to try to save his life. But the command of the unit did
not allow it.
Garik was transported to the "Omar" field hospital, where he died
without regaining consciousness. Four months after the accident,
the battalion commander Aramais Saroyan and representative of the
Military Police Manuk Harutyunyan (both relatives of the military
unit commander Seyran Saroyan) visited the Khachikyans and said:
"Don't complain, we will bring workers to make the child's tomb."
The Khachikyans continue to complain but their voice is not heard. They
went twice to the first instance court at Tchambarak in Gegharkunik
marz (some 200 km from Ashtarak) to participate in the trial, but
the court sessions were postponed.
"Aramais Saroyan supervised the soldiers so that none says a word,"
Sona says. "All the evidence given by the soldiers is written in the
investigator's handwriting and they don't give us the stenography of
the trial."
The trial was completed without the participation of the parents
and the court decision was sent a month later, depriving them of the
right to protest it within the 15-day limit.
Captain Hayk Mailyan of Khachikyan's unit was sentenced to two years in
prison for dereliction of duties, to be served in the colony-settlement
for those convicted of crimes caused by carelessness. But according to
the Ministry of Justice, no such detention facility exists in Armenia.
Khachikyan's mother says informed and reliable sources have told her
that Mailyan has remained in the unit.
OFFICIAL HOSTS: TOURISM INDUSTRY MOVES TO REGULATE GUIDING IN ARMENIA
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Tourism guides are now being licensed in Armenia. The first 18 became
"legalized" last week.
"We have entered a legal field. From now on there will be prohibitions
against people engaged in this sphere without professional abilities,"
says Sahakanush Sahakyan, who was the first to be issued a license.
She is a philologist by training, has an experience of museum work
and journalism. She says that the experience of museum work was the
basis on which she has been engaged in guiding since 2001.
"To become a guide, one should also be a balanced, patient and flexible
person who is able to orientate in certain situations, because a
guide doesn't mean only standing and telling," Sahakanush explains.
Head of the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development Artur Zakaryan says that a guide is the first person
presenting the country's tourist product.
"We received complaints that low-quality information is provided on
the tourist market. There arose a need to raise the quality of these
guides and it was decided to introduce licensing," says Zakaryan.
The guides taking exams answer test questions. If they give
correct answers to at least 84 of the 100 questions, then they are
licensed. Guides are expected to be well informed in history, culture,
geography, etc.
"First Travel" tourist agency director Karen Andreasyan says that
guides were also a big problem for tourist organizations.
"We are often asked: 'And who is your guide? Who do you work
with?' From now on we will show our customers the license. That means
that we will make less effort to convince a customer," says Andreasyan.
The "First Travel" director is convinced that it is necessary that
tourism in Armenia be regulated.
"There are many who work in this sphere without having an idea of
what tourism is. It damages the country. All too often tourists come
here and leave dissatisfied. Foreign travel agencies demand huge
guarantees from us. Why? It is because their trust towards Armenia
is not high. Many in this field work covertly, offering lower prices
and low- quality services," says Andreasyan.
Tourism Institute Rector Robert Minasyan also points out the same
problem. According to him, the state must know exactly who is engaged
in this sphere.
"I think that the people already involved in the sphere of tourism
must pass special retraining courses beginning from drivers and ending
with chefs. And guides must be licensed for two or three years and
then be reexamined to have their licenses prolonged," he says.
Nevertheless, tourist organizations will not yet be licensed.
"Licensing will entail financial problems, and we don't want to stifle
the field of tourist activities. It is free for all, especially for
the young," Zarkaryan says.
According to specialists, this sphere is still in the making in
Armenia. Zakaryan says that the only positive thing inherited from
Soviet tourism is guides, and tourism development in Armenia began
from scratch.
Andreasyan is convinced that tourism has been frozen in Armenia
since 1988.
At that time the country's hotel economy had a yearly workload of
70-75 percent on the average he says.
And Minasyan considers that the state should conduct an incentive
policy. It is necessary to ensure interest for the implementation of
investment programs.
"One tourist brings 5-14 jobs with him. It is necessary to raise the
level of services. Otherwise, they will not come to our country,"
says Minasyan.
According to the data of the Tourism Department, 263,000 tourist
visits were registered in Armenia last year. It is ethnic Armenians who
mainly visit the country and most from Western Europe, Iran, Russia.
"But we have much to do in the system of services. Hotels, restaurants,
transport, banking system. The use of credit cards is impossible
outside Yerevan, the quality of communication is bad, the roads are
worn out and dangerous. But all this notwithstanding, there is a
great interest towards Armenia," says Zakaryan.
The presence of such problems prompted the establishment last year
of the Union of "In-country Tour Operators of Armenia" embracing 12
tourist organizations.
Minasyan says: "At the Union they will bring together problems, which
are the same among all. They will come up with one joint program and
will submit it to the state."
Zakaryan says that Armenian tourist organizations began to operate
on the international market with regional packages.
"Situated in a small territory Armenia must develop regional
cooperation. Armenian and Georgian, Armenian and Turkish partners
appear on the international market with one common product," he says.
The head of the department gives assurances that today the Armenian
tourism is going the way of stable development.
However, according to him, every geopolitical change has some effect
on every tourist destination in the world.
"For example, the influence of the tsunami in South Asia will cause
a certain redistribution of the market. People preferring South Asian
destinations could visit Armenia if we work properly," he says.
FOR LOVE OF LANGUAGE: STATE AGENCY SETS OUT TO SAVE ARMENIAN IN
COMMERCIAL MARKET
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The State Agency for Language says the love of all things foreign
is endangering the Armenian-ness of Yerevan and other cities of the
republic where billboard and poster advertisements appear in foreign
languages.
In an attempt to combat a loss of language purity, this year has been
designated as the Year of Pure Native Language.
One of those measures aims at posters of shops and institutions
that should be mainly in Armenian according to the Law "On Language"
adopted in 1993.
"The posters are in English, Russian, Farsi, French, but not Armenia,
as the RA law on language requires," says Lavrenti Mirzoyan, the Head
of The RA State Agency for Language. "We must do everything to revive
the Armenian look of the cities, while doing it is not an easy matter."
Colorful, light, huge, gorgeous, fine and distasteful, sometimes
fashionable, and sometimes with odd names, the posters appear to the
passersby mainly in languages other than Armenian.
Mirzoyan says the agency is not insisting that signs only be in
Armenian "but this doesn't mean Armenian should be discarded".
Agency officials say foreign influence is so strong that shop keepers
prefer a grammatically incorrect poster in a foreign language over
one that is in Armenian.
To make Armenian language predominant, as the law requires, a
one-month term has been declared beginning March 15 during which
attention will be paid to the problem. The members of the Agency for
Language will make visits throughout the republic to make sure the
law is being enforced.
In case of infringements, the Agency photographs the offending business
and demands that corresponding posters appear in Armenian within
three days. If the offense continues charges are filed in court,
with penalties up to 300,000 drams (about $660).
"Business representatives who come to us try to convince us that the
Armenian language posters do not attract passersby and are unable to
bring them recognition," says Mirzoyan.
Mirzoyan says there is too much work to do. During three day visits
only to the Kentron and Arabkir districts of the capital some 100
infringements have been found out, some two dozen cases have been
already forwarded to the court of the first instance.
In one case owners of the shop were not aware of the law; in another
they try to get around it by using connections; and one prefers to
pay fines rather than have to buy new advertisements.
"There are many who hamper our work," Mirzoyan says, charging that
one shop took away the Agency's camera and documents. "In some cases
they try to delay everything."
Mirzoyan says the work is very difficult, because so many of the
offending shops are owned by Members of Parliament or other powerful
figures who try to use their influence to get around the law.
Mirzoyan also says that since starting the work he has even received
death threats from shop owners.
NEW YEAR, OLD TRADITION: PAGANS PRAISE THEIR GOD IN GARNI CEREMONY
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
"We congratulate all Aryans, all God fearing, all sons of Vahagn,
all those who feel their roots in Mother Ararat with the New Year,
the near approach of the Cosmic Spring and the 9,588th anniversary
of Vahagn," shouts Pagan priest Zhora, raising a dagger.
It is the Pagan new year and about 100 Armenians have gathered near
the temple in Garni March 21 to celebrate the birth of Vahagn, the
God of Power and Fire.
All together they spell.
The heaven was in torments of childbirth; the earth was in torments
of childbirth
And the crimson sea was in torments of childbirth
And from the torments of the sea,
A red reed came out,
And smoke came out from the rim of the reed,
And a flame came out from the rim of the reed
And from that flame, a red-haired youth runs out ...
And they end their poem with the exclamation "Let Vahagn be
praised!"...
On this day,the Sun enters the constellation of Aries, and the day
and the night equal in duration: the Cosmic Spring begins.
For 16 years "The Oath of the Sons of Aryans" non-governmental
organization celebrates in Garni the New Year on Areg 21 (in the
ancient Armenian calendar March is called Areg). The group claims
more than 1,000 members.
On this day the sons of the Aryans hold on to the Pagan ritual fixed
centuries ago. And if someone appears suddenly nearby the temple
of Garni he will think for sure the time has gone back for hundreds
of years.
The Pagan priests of the order in golden, blue and white coats, with
daggers hanging from their belts open the ceremony. Their hierarchy
is differentiated with the colors of their coats: the one in a golden
coat is the Supreme Priest; the one in blue is the President of the
Priest Class and the one in white is the Priest.
Vahagn's birth, torn from heaven and earth, is celebrated.
"He will be born to continue the tribe of his Aryan gods on Earth. And
those Aryans who will believe and wait for Vahagn will get power,"
shouts Supreme Priest Samvel. "And those, who will not believe,
will remain in their undesirable illness and will be destroyed,
for no gods are born from the ill."
Then they burn Vahagn's fire, make their daggers red-hot and plunge
them into cups of wine.
"Praising the Gods of my tribe, with their help, I consecrate this
wine...Drink it and get power," says the Supreme Priest.
Everybody tastes the consecrated wine.
They consecrate willow fronds and distribute among participants. The
young fronds symbolize life.
Similar to other Pagan festivals, lambs are also sacrificed on this
day This time the president of the "Union of Armenian Aryans" Armen
Avetisyan made the sacrifice.
(Avetisyan stirred controversy in the National Assembly last fall,
with a series of charges against various groups who were "dangerous"
to Armenian purity. The word "Aryan" itself is frequently associated
with racism in the West. The NGO, however, says for their use, it is
simply a synonymn for "pagan".)
"I myself have an ode to Vahagn and I dream of time when my soul
gets in touch with the soul of Vahagn - the Armenian god of Power. I
wish Armenian gods return to the spiritual world of our nation, only
they can return us to our roots and protect us from foreign gods,"
says Armen Avetisyan.
An apricot tree was planted in the yard of the temple, holding on to
tradition despite a heavy March snow. Pagan Armenians consider the
apricot a tree of life and believe the energy of that tree protects
Armenian families from evil.
The priests call on the gathered to decorate the apricot tree for
the fulfillment of wishes.
"I participate in all the events taking place here since 1990," says
35 year old Pagan, Edik. "Christianity has once been something like
globalization. That is why we Armenians have also adopted it. But
in truth the basics of our religion is Paganism. The Mother Temple
of Etchmiadzin also has Pagan grounds and is built on the basis of
the sanctuary of the god Mihr. We consider Paganism is a belief,
and Christianity - a religion."
Pagans and everybody else gathered were united not only by their
belief, but also by their age. They insist they are 9,588 years old,
the age they share with god Vahagn in whom the souls of all Armenian
Aryans have been living.
LOANING OPPORTUNITY: UMCOR PROGRAM HELPS WOMEN BREAK INTO BUSINESS
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Boryans live in Sevan, in a house where the walls have grown moldy.
There is a chicken coop next to the house. By comparison, the coop
is in preferred condition.
"In what condition is the house for the chicken coop to be good?" says
Karen Boryan, embarrassed by the comparison.
There are incubators in the coop, made by Boryan. And he recently
bought an electricity generator and a grinder, from a 180,000 dram
(about $390).
The loan was issued to his wife, Galya, through a program set up by
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) in which groups of women
are assisted in setting up businesses.
UMCOR's "Aregak" program issues unsecured loans, with the stipulation
that the group to whom it is issued is responsible for individual
default.
Galya applied with four acquaintances and all got the same amount. If
one of the five women cannot return the loan, all of them are
responsible and are to repay it. The motto of the three musketeers,
"One for all, all for one", acquired viability in Soviet pioneer
organizations, but it was forgotten later. Now Aregak is revitalizing
it.
"It often happened so that one member of the group could not return
the money and the others repaid the loan for her," says Aregak program
manager in Gegharkunik Levon Makhsudyan.
Aregak issues loans to economically active but low-income families. The
mission of the program is to reduce poverty.
The Boryans are refugees from Kirovabad, Azerbaijan. The couple used
to work as engineers at a plant. Now Karen works in Armenian Air
Navigation, where he makes 75,000 drams (about $163) a month. However,
it is very little for the family with three children (one daughter
is married and their son is in the army).
"Once I stayed at home for three days and made an incubator. Galya
was quarreling with me - who on earth has seen an incubator in an
apartment," Karen says.
He was already getting chickens from the incubator in his apartment,
but he quickly sold them, since it was impossible to raise chickens
in home conditions. Seven years ago they had to sell their apartment
and it was then that they bought this small tumbledown private house
to engage in poultry farming. Running their business they managed
to get up to 500 chickens a month. It was impossible to get more. To
improve their business they needed additional funds.
Had any bank worker seen the walls of the Baroyans' house, he wouldn't
have given them a loan. Karen himself went to banks several times
to ask for a loan, but every time he was turned down for different
reasons. The matter didn't go even as far as leaving a security. He
says that at one place they wanted a bribe from him, at another place
they told him that they issued loans only to registered organizations.
Two years ago Aregak opened an office in Sevan and Galya set up a
group of five women required for a loan.
"The recipient's being an organization or not is not important to us,"
says Makhsudyan. "This person can barely maintain his family. How
can I tell him to go and register with the tax inspection?"
The most important work done with the first loan was the purchase
of a $100 grinder for birdseeds. "We toiled a lot before purchasing
this grinder," says Karen. "We used to call a taxi and load 4-5 sacks
(of wheat, barley) on it. I am not a strong person. Now it saves me
a lot of effort."
The Boryans returned the loan ahead of time and now have received the
second one - this time they borrowed 250,000 drams (about $543). Every
new Aregak loan exceeds the previous one by 40%. This way the size of
the loan grows seven times and reaches $2,000 at best. Larger loans
are not issued.
"I will buy eggs with 50,000 of the loan, I will buy nets to put them
under hens and will use the rest to buy birdseeds," says Karen. "And
we need money badly, later when I get the loan I will build a new
chicken coop and a shed where I will keep my equipment to prevent it
from getting out of order. We don't yet think about income, we invest
all money that we get into the business."
The other three women of the group are engaged in trade. The fifth,
26-year-old Lilly Hakobyan is a cosmetologist. She worked in Sevan's
Milena beauty parlor. The loan enabled her to set up a separate
business: "I wanted to be totally independent from my parents,"
she says. She spent 180,000 drams to buy two tools (worth $100 each)
and a mobile phone. She has 5-7 customers a day: "The tools brought
me large income, $180 a month only due to these tools," says Leili.
She also began to keep apprentices, she teaches them for $200. Lilly
intends to use her next Aregak loan and the income she gets to buy
a house and open a beauty salon of her own. Now she doesn't have
male customers, since she receives customers in an apartment room
and people will be seeing male customers coming to her. "They will
feel ashamed from neighbors to come, but if I open a center, there
will be a queue of men," she says.
A total of 4,000 people in Gegharkunik marz and 900 in Sevan region
have already received loans. Seventy percent of loans are agricultural.
Why does Aregak loan only to women?
Aregak director Mariam Yesayan, who has worked since 1997, when
the program was launched, says that they had borrowed the model of
micro-crediting of women from international experience, since it is
effective: "Women are more active and more responsible. Besides, after
being deprived of initiative for so long, getting this opportunity
they try in every way to prove that they can earn money."
The two main principles of Aregak - to loan to women and get social
guarantees instead of security - have turned Aregak into an effectively
working program. The loan repayment rate is 98 percent. Today Aregak's
25 offices serve 18,500 customers from 400 communities. Currently,
recipients dispose of a sum of $7 million. Seven offices have been
opened at the expense of incomes (the loan is given at a monthly
interest rate of 2 percent).
UMCOR intends to register Aregak as a crediting organization in
2006. Mariam Yesayan says that even after separation Aregak will
not become a profit-seeking business and will continue its mission:
"The incomes in Armenia will be used to achieve the mission goals to
reduce poverty and we must continue to help people who cannot avail
themselves of traditional loans."
THE RIGHT TO SIGHT: NEW COMPUTERS OFFER INFORMATION ACCESS FOR
VISUALLY DISABLED
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Blind citizens of Armenia no longer need rely only on the Braille
system of reading in order to become better informed.
With the financial support of Speaker of the National Assembly Artur
Baghdasaryan and Russian-Armenian philanthropist Ara Abrahamyan, 10
specially programmed computers have been presented to the Cultural
Center of the Union of Blind People.
Academician Arman Kuchukyan initiated the acquisition and created
the software for Armenian language sound in the computers, that will
enable the blind to hear newspapers, books and other written materials.
Such a system has been operating in other countries for many years. And
for Armenia it seemed unbelievable at least for the nearest decade.
"In our country there are not even minimal modern conditions for the
education and communication of the blind. Even using literature makes
big problems for blind students. I am really very happy we will have
such an opportunity to use computers now," says Hakob Karapetyan,
22, student at the Department of Political Science, YSU (Yerevan
State University).
Hakob and other blind young people will now learn not only to use
computers but will also obtain specialty of programmers.
Baghdasaryan says computers will also go to Union affiliates in
different marzes of Armenia.
"I am confident, during the coming one to two years thousands of
blind people will have the opportunity to use the services of this
computer center for free," says Baghdasaryan. "As a citizen and the
NA speaker, I am very concerned with the social and legal security
problems of disabled people. We plan to open computer centers also
in other settlements."
According to the data of the Ministry of Social Security there are
9,300 visually disabled people in Armenia. About 5,000 are members
of the Union, which was organized in the 1920s.
During Soviet times jobs were provided for the blind as well as
special allowances for utilities and transportation. Also during
those years they were given free holidays at resorts and discounts
on airline and train tickets.
"Years ago our Union was quite wealthy. Many got the opportunity to
obtain apartments, get education, some made families," remembers
its executive director, Gagik Harutyunyan. "One can say, we were
cared for. Now people's love and care for each other has somewhat
decreased. The disabled feel it in a special way, for they need
more attention."
Today the blind have almost no advantages. Many have found themselves
in poverty. Some have sold their apartments and now, as they say,
have been left hoping for a ridiculous pension.
Rosa Harutyunyan, 76, is a member of the Union of Blind since 1949. For
nearly 40 years she has worked in a factory for making wall outlets,
switch-on and switch-off appliances. Then she was fired.
"I have sold my apartment twice since I was fired: I have moved
from the center of the city to its suburbs. Now I get 5,000 drams
(a little more than $10) monthly allowance. But I haven't received
it either for three months," she says, bitterly. "I am an ill woman
alone; there is no one by my side to help me somehow. It seems to me
if I die I will have no one to bury me either. And there were times
when I went to resorts for several times a year..."
She recalls, too, entertainment for the blind staged in the Union
Cultural Center. But now...
"Once there were many drama groups, dancing, chess groups operating
in the Cultural Center. But now there are no opportunities to run
such groups," remembers Hovhannes Grigoryan, librarian at the Braille
library. "Besides, the people's interests, values have changed. A
blind man on the edge of poverty wants neither to step on the stage
nor to attend performances."
Despite everything, the executive director of the Cultural Center is
most hopeful.
"When poet Isahakyan was asked, master, is there more good in the
world or bad, the writer answered: 'if there was more bad, the world
wouldn't exist now.' Indeed, if there are still kind people doing
good things it means not everything is lost yet. I believe, we will
see bright days as well," Harutyunyan says.
ART OF TRADITION: "AMERICANA" ART INSPIRES INTERESTS IN ITS ARMENIAN
VARIANT
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
A unique exhibition of quilts from the southern United States has
opened in the Academy gallery in Yerevan.
Where paintings might usually hang, instead there are 12 colorfully
patterned hand-sewn quilts made by African- American women from the
rural settlement of Gee's Bend, Alabama.
Presented by the US Embassy in Armenia, the quilts have been brought
to Armenia by the coordinator of the exhibition, professional quilt
maker Karen Musgrave.
The quilts - for decades valued in the United States for their
"Americana" art - are sewn from a collection of usually- discarded
items of clothing cut into shapes to form a motif across the surface.
Some say, too that the quilt making is an expression of Black
Americans' rebellion (though quilt making was not peculiar only to
African Americans).
"These are not samples of arts, but expressions of problems and
sufferings; I felt every small rag contains soul, suffering, history,
this is a protest call of a whole nation," says Siran Kochinyan,
a teacher from Vanadzor who visited the exhibit.
The main motives of the patterns are taken from ideas seen in the Cuba
tribes in Central Africa, Asante tribes in Ghana and the inhabitants
of the Ivory Coast.
These blankets carry also a part of the family history; being made up
of different rags of clothes of different times of different members
of family, they reflect like a unique diary the tastes of the given
family, its style of sewing and abilities.
The quilts come to Armenia after having been exhibited in the Atlanta
Museum of Fine Arts in 2002, then in the Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York and other places.
According to Musgrave, the exhibitions in the three Armenian cities
Gyumri, Vanadzor and Yerevan are unique in that every visitor thinks
they also have such "art" in their own homes.
"I saw five Armenian blankets that could be hung there and take the
place they deserve; they are works of arts as well, just a bit of
imagination is necessary," says Musgrave.
The tradition to make quilts from different rags is common in Armenia
and has old roots. According to Deputy Director of the Museum
of People's Art of Armenia Adelaida Manukyan, this has mainly be
peasant's art, especially typical to the poor class.
"There are such works preserved with us, that have had different names
- darn works, rag works, etc. Among us Armenians those have mainly been
used as thin covers, blanket or pillow upper sides," says Manukyan.
Such thin covers were sewed to spread under the woolen mattresses
so that the metal wire netting of the beds didn't harm the most
valuable thick mattresses. They have had various names, depending on
the location and the dialect, mostly known as "mindar" or "palas".
"I can remember my grandma sewed such covers from our old cloths she
would use it mainly to spread on the grass in the field; you can
still find such soft bats made for chair pillows their upper side
made in this very way by joining rags," says pedagogue Irina Galstyan.
Musgrave says this exhibition is important in that the Armenians have
thrown a fresh glance on the works that have lost their value in the
everyday usage.
Gor Vardanyan, Director of the Academy gallery is intended to collect
samples of this kind of arts from different villages and those kept
in museums and organize a separate exhibition this time presenting
the ideas and the expertise of only Armenian women.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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OSCE REPORT: ARMENIA NOT IN CONTROL OF REPOPULATION NEAR KARABAKH
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
A report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
concludes that official Yerevan does not control repopulation of
disputed territories in Nagorno Karabakh.
The report "about the illegal population of occupied Azeri lands"
was presented in Vienna March 17, based on information gathered during
an OSCE fact-finding mission to the area in February.
It focuses attention on the territories of Lachin, Kubatli, Zangelan,
Jebrahil, Fizuli, Kelbajar and Aghdam - areas in which the Azeri
government has charged are being systematically repopulated according
to orders from the Armenian government.
Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vardan Oskanian, praised the
report. "Yerevan hopes that their detailed, competent and objective
report gives a clear description to the situation on the spot and
in the region. Armenia deems that the most important achievement
of the fact-finding mission is that it put an end to Azerbaijan's
accusations," he said.
The mission was formed at the request of the Azeri government, which
raised three major complaints:
1. Territories around Nagorno Karabakh are excessively populated. At
different times the number of settlers fluctuated between 30,000
and 300,000.
2. The Republic of Armenia is immediately and deliberately involved
in the so-called process of settlement and conducts a corresponding
state policy with budget allocations.
3. An overwhelming majority of settlers are citizens of Armenia or
representatives of the Diaspora.
Population figures stated in the OSCE report are: Kelbajar region -
approximately 1,500 people; Aghdam region - from 800 to 1,000; Fizuli
region - less than 10; Jebrahil region - less than 100; Zangelan
region - from 700 to 1,000; Kubatli region - from 1,000 to 1,500;
Lachin region - less than 8,000 people."
Regarding the second accusation, the report reads: "The Mission didn't
establish that such a population is a result of the purposeful policy
on the part of the government of Armenia. The Fact-Finding Mission
did not see any evidence of the Armenian authorities' immediate
participation in anything in the territories."
On the third point it is said in the report: "The Fact-Finding
Mission concluded that the overwhelming majority of settlers are
persons displaced from different parts of Azerbaijan, in particular
from Getashen (Chaikend) of the Shahumyan (Geranboy) region, which
is currently under Azeri control, and from Sumgait and Baku."
Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and representative in the
Karabakh peace talks, Araz Azimov was not pleased with the report.
"Let's take a look where Nagorno Karabakh begins and where it ends,"
he said, "where Armenia begins and where it ends. Nagorno Karabakh is
a territory of Azerbaijan. However, Robert Kocharyan, who had led the
separatists there, is now the president of Armenia, and Serge Sargsyan,
who lived there, is Armenia's defense minister. It shows that the
separatists of Nagorno Karabakh do not act separately from Armenia."
Later, Azimov would thank the Mission for their work and state that
"on the whole Azerbaijan had achieved its goal."
"The facts established by the Mission are close to the data of the
Azeri side," he said on March 18. "Whereas according to the data of
Azerbaijan's government 20-23,000 people are settled in the occupied
territories, the Mission cites a figure of 15-16,000."
Still, Azimov said Azerbaijan intends to push for the inclusion of this
issue into the agenda of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly.
Meanwhile, officials in Yerevan have requested the OSCE to hold a
similar mission in previously Armenian-populated territories now
controlled by Azerbaijan.
SOLDIERS' STORIES: THE HARSH LIFE AND DEATHS OF YOUNG MEN IN SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY
By Zhanna Alexanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Helsinki Committee of Armenia has indicated in its annual Human
Rights Report for 2004 that there have been "no significant changes
in terms of informal relationships" in the Armenian army.
According to data from the Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia,
38 casualties were registered as of December 1, 2004. Three were
killed as a result of enemy action, three died during service, four
were brought to a suicidal condition, four were suicides, one died
as a result of violence in the ranks, eight died from breaches of
rules on the use of weapons, three suffered fatal illnesses, one was
an accidental death, and 11 died in car accidents.
But the report cast doubt on these figures. "Very often in the army
death is registered not as a murder, but as a result of illness,"
it noted. "The soldiers' labor force is used in private house
constructions, illegal cuttings of forests, in agricultural works,
as well as in the workshops of private businesses."
Injuries and deaths while working are not uncommon, and are registered
in official documentation as "accidents" or "suicide".
Three years ago, soldiers at one military unit in Armenia sent an
anonymous letter to journalists, asking for their concerns to be
raised with the higher military command and "to the ministry and
other authoritative places." The issues raised in the letter remain
unresolved today.
On November 27, 2004, the body of 20-year-old Yenok Margaryan
was brought to his parents in the village of Shahumyan in Ararat
marz. There was a bullet wound on his head and the investigator at
the Sevan military prosecutor's office told the family that Margaryan
had committed suicide.
His parents do not believe the verdict. Five months after Yenok was
conscripted into the army in April 2004 his father Norik Margaryan
visited him for three days at his border unit some 400 kilometers
from Yerevan.
"Everything seemed to be alright. I did not notice anything bad in
soldiers' relations. They worked all day long. I saw every day the
soldiers going up the mountain with saw and axe to cut trees. They
cut trees for the officers to sell the wood. They earned money by
soldiers," says the father.
Yenok had a holiday from September 20 to 28, 2004, and made his way
home on a truck used to sell the wood.
His mother recalls: "We gave him money when he was leaving, of
course, he couldn't leave without money. He told us nothing for he
knew we didn't have money, but at the last moment said 'Ma. That's
compulsory'. We borrowed $50 and gave it to him. I knew they would
keep him down if he didn't take the money. He said, 'pa, I am not
alone, there are 14 of us, all will bring'. I said I care only for
your safe return."
The Margaryans have no means to get the 110 kilometers from Artashat
to Sevan to follow the inquiry into their son's death. They met the
investigator once, who told them that Yenok had committed theft in
his unit and material worth some $1000 is missing from the store.
According to the investigator, the authorities at the unit had
called Yenok down to give an explanation, but he shot himself with
a Kalashnikov rifle in a small house 800 meters away from the unit.
"They dragged my dead child from the small house and left him there
for a whole night until the investigator came. But the case materials
lack even photos of the place of the accident," says the father.
The investigator told the parents that he had questioned 25 soldiers
and everybody had said the same thing. Three privates are charged
with intimidating him to suicide.
"He would never have shot himself," says Yenok's uncle, Hrachya
Margaryan, a Karabagh war veteran.
"I was proud of the Armenian army, but now I do not trust it. The
officers are engaged only in business."
The preliminary investigation of the criminal case is not over yet,
but Yenok Margaryan's parents do not believe the military prosecutor
general's office will disclose the committed crime.
Investigator at the Military Prosecutor's Office of Sevan Tigran
Karapetyan informed ArmeniaNow that the version of Yenok Margaryan's
suicide "may be said to be confirmed" and the investigation will soon
be over.
The Committee report says most cases go unresolved or end up with
prosecutions against people who played a minor role, while those with
most responsibility go unpunished.
Garik Khachikyan's body was delivered to his parents two months after
his conscription on July 17 2002. They had received a letter from
their son and a poem to his girlfriend only the day before.
The spring comes to our garden again,
But my heart doesn't smile once again,
Taken by the beautiful dream of missing,
My heart flies away full of love.
My heart misses you,
And longs for you with all my soul,
Where are you, come, my wonderful fairy,
Don't let my love fade away.
My beautiful flower I beg you
Come see your beloved as soon as you can,
If you don't come and if you leave,
I'll turn into unreachable dream as well.
The military men who attended the funeral said that Garik had died
during service. His mother, Sona Asatryan, says: "We became anxious,
was there a war? I wish my child was killed in the battlefield,
I would be much more proud."
According to the official version of events, "the soldiers had been
doing field engineering works for newly built entrenchments" on a
1,868-meter high mountain and threw tree branches 20-25cm in diameter
and 2-3 meters long into the abyss. On an extremely dangerous place
on the reef, Khachikyan slipped and fell from a height of nearly
45 meters."
However the trunk on a photo from the scene was much larger than
that described in the court decision. Sona says she asked the
investigator if her son died while cutting wood for officers to sell
for profit. "After that the photo and the whole page disappeared from
the case materials," she claims.
Sona's suspicions that her son had been killed were strengthened when
she saw the results of the criminal court forensics.
"All injuries were inflicted while he was alive, not long before
death by means of obtuse objects and have a direct causal connection
with his death. These kinds of injuries are classified as heavy body
injuries threatening to life," concludes judicial doctor Vigen Adamyan,
assigned to investigate the cause of death.
"I always had a suspicion deep in my mind: there was not a single
mark on my child's body. If he fell from a 45 meter height not only
his head and feet would be broken," says the mother.
Some official documents in the case materials also show that Garik
Khachikyan died during "collecting, storing and transporting of wood".
"To fortify the position the branches had to be taken up where the
unit posts were and should not have been thrown into the abyss,"
say the parents who went to the military unit after Garik's death to
find out the circumstances.
The parents say the reason for forging the facts is that in reality
soldiers are made to transport wood not for the needs of their unit,
but "for the personal needs of officers outside the unit and for
selling."
According to the parents, a specialist medical team was sent to the
military unit from Yerevan after the accident to move Garik to a
hospital to try to save his life. But the command of the unit did
not allow it.
Garik was transported to the "Omar" field hospital, where he died
without regaining consciousness. Four months after the accident,
the battalion commander Aramais Saroyan and representative of the
Military Police Manuk Harutyunyan (both relatives of the military
unit commander Seyran Saroyan) visited the Khachikyans and said:
"Don't complain, we will bring workers to make the child's tomb."
The Khachikyans continue to complain but their voice is not heard. They
went twice to the first instance court at Tchambarak in Gegharkunik
marz (some 200 km from Ashtarak) to participate in the trial, but
the court sessions were postponed.
"Aramais Saroyan supervised the soldiers so that none says a word,"
Sona says. "All the evidence given by the soldiers is written in the
investigator's handwriting and they don't give us the stenography of
the trial."
The trial was completed without the participation of the parents
and the court decision was sent a month later, depriving them of the
right to protest it within the 15-day limit.
Captain Hayk Mailyan of Khachikyan's unit was sentenced to two years in
prison for dereliction of duties, to be served in the colony-settlement
for those convicted of crimes caused by carelessness. But according to
the Ministry of Justice, no such detention facility exists in Armenia.
Khachikyan's mother says informed and reliable sources have told her
that Mailyan has remained in the unit.
OFFICIAL HOSTS: TOURISM INDUSTRY MOVES TO REGULATE GUIDING IN ARMENIA
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Tourism guides are now being licensed in Armenia. The first 18 became
"legalized" last week.
"We have entered a legal field. From now on there will be prohibitions
against people engaged in this sphere without professional abilities,"
says Sahakanush Sahakyan, who was the first to be issued a license.
She is a philologist by training, has an experience of museum work
and journalism. She says that the experience of museum work was the
basis on which she has been engaged in guiding since 2001.
"To become a guide, one should also be a balanced, patient and flexible
person who is able to orientate in certain situations, because a
guide doesn't mean only standing and telling," Sahakanush explains.
Head of the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development Artur Zakaryan says that a guide is the first person
presenting the country's tourist product.
"We received complaints that low-quality information is provided on
the tourist market. There arose a need to raise the quality of these
guides and it was decided to introduce licensing," says Zakaryan.
The guides taking exams answer test questions. If they give
correct answers to at least 84 of the 100 questions, then they are
licensed. Guides are expected to be well informed in history, culture,
geography, etc.
"First Travel" tourist agency director Karen Andreasyan says that
guides were also a big problem for tourist organizations.
"We are often asked: 'And who is your guide? Who do you work
with?' From now on we will show our customers the license. That means
that we will make less effort to convince a customer," says Andreasyan.
The "First Travel" director is convinced that it is necessary that
tourism in Armenia be regulated.
"There are many who work in this sphere without having an idea of
what tourism is. It damages the country. All too often tourists come
here and leave dissatisfied. Foreign travel agencies demand huge
guarantees from us. Why? It is because their trust towards Armenia
is not high. Many in this field work covertly, offering lower prices
and low- quality services," says Andreasyan.
Tourism Institute Rector Robert Minasyan also points out the same
problem. According to him, the state must know exactly who is engaged
in this sphere.
"I think that the people already involved in the sphere of tourism
must pass special retraining courses beginning from drivers and ending
with chefs. And guides must be licensed for two or three years and
then be reexamined to have their licenses prolonged," he says.
Nevertheless, tourist organizations will not yet be licensed.
"Licensing will entail financial problems, and we don't want to stifle
the field of tourist activities. It is free for all, especially for
the young," Zarkaryan says.
According to specialists, this sphere is still in the making in
Armenia. Zakaryan says that the only positive thing inherited from
Soviet tourism is guides, and tourism development in Armenia began
from scratch.
Andreasyan is convinced that tourism has been frozen in Armenia
since 1988.
At that time the country's hotel economy had a yearly workload of
70-75 percent on the average he says.
And Minasyan considers that the state should conduct an incentive
policy. It is necessary to ensure interest for the implementation of
investment programs.
"One tourist brings 5-14 jobs with him. It is necessary to raise the
level of services. Otherwise, they will not come to our country,"
says Minasyan.
According to the data of the Tourism Department, 263,000 tourist
visits were registered in Armenia last year. It is ethnic Armenians who
mainly visit the country and most from Western Europe, Iran, Russia.
"But we have much to do in the system of services. Hotels, restaurants,
transport, banking system. The use of credit cards is impossible
outside Yerevan, the quality of communication is bad, the roads are
worn out and dangerous. But all this notwithstanding, there is a
great interest towards Armenia," says Zakaryan.
The presence of such problems prompted the establishment last year
of the Union of "In-country Tour Operators of Armenia" embracing 12
tourist organizations.
Minasyan says: "At the Union they will bring together problems, which
are the same among all. They will come up with one joint program and
will submit it to the state."
Zakaryan says that Armenian tourist organizations began to operate
on the international market with regional packages.
"Situated in a small territory Armenia must develop regional
cooperation. Armenian and Georgian, Armenian and Turkish partners
appear on the international market with one common product," he says.
The head of the department gives assurances that today the Armenian
tourism is going the way of stable development.
However, according to him, every geopolitical change has some effect
on every tourist destination in the world.
"For example, the influence of the tsunami in South Asia will cause
a certain redistribution of the market. People preferring South Asian
destinations could visit Armenia if we work properly," he says.
FOR LOVE OF LANGUAGE: STATE AGENCY SETS OUT TO SAVE ARMENIAN IN
COMMERCIAL MARKET
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The State Agency for Language says the love of all things foreign
is endangering the Armenian-ness of Yerevan and other cities of the
republic where billboard and poster advertisements appear in foreign
languages.
In an attempt to combat a loss of language purity, this year has been
designated as the Year of Pure Native Language.
One of those measures aims at posters of shops and institutions
that should be mainly in Armenian according to the Law "On Language"
adopted in 1993.
"The posters are in English, Russian, Farsi, French, but not Armenia,
as the RA law on language requires," says Lavrenti Mirzoyan, the Head
of The RA State Agency for Language. "We must do everything to revive
the Armenian look of the cities, while doing it is not an easy matter."
Colorful, light, huge, gorgeous, fine and distasteful, sometimes
fashionable, and sometimes with odd names, the posters appear to the
passersby mainly in languages other than Armenian.
Mirzoyan says the agency is not insisting that signs only be in
Armenian "but this doesn't mean Armenian should be discarded".
Agency officials say foreign influence is so strong that shop keepers
prefer a grammatically incorrect poster in a foreign language over
one that is in Armenian.
To make Armenian language predominant, as the law requires, a
one-month term has been declared beginning March 15 during which
attention will be paid to the problem. The members of the Agency for
Language will make visits throughout the republic to make sure the
law is being enforced.
In case of infringements, the Agency photographs the offending business
and demands that corresponding posters appear in Armenian within
three days. If the offense continues charges are filed in court,
with penalties up to 300,000 drams (about $660).
"Business representatives who come to us try to convince us that the
Armenian language posters do not attract passersby and are unable to
bring them recognition," says Mirzoyan.
Mirzoyan says there is too much work to do. During three day visits
only to the Kentron and Arabkir districts of the capital some 100
infringements have been found out, some two dozen cases have been
already forwarded to the court of the first instance.
In one case owners of the shop were not aware of the law; in another
they try to get around it by using connections; and one prefers to
pay fines rather than have to buy new advertisements.
"There are many who hamper our work," Mirzoyan says, charging that
one shop took away the Agency's camera and documents. "In some cases
they try to delay everything."
Mirzoyan says the work is very difficult, because so many of the
offending shops are owned by Members of Parliament or other powerful
figures who try to use their influence to get around the law.
Mirzoyan also says that since starting the work he has even received
death threats from shop owners.
NEW YEAR, OLD TRADITION: PAGANS PRAISE THEIR GOD IN GARNI CEREMONY
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
"We congratulate all Aryans, all God fearing, all sons of Vahagn,
all those who feel their roots in Mother Ararat with the New Year,
the near approach of the Cosmic Spring and the 9,588th anniversary
of Vahagn," shouts Pagan priest Zhora, raising a dagger.
It is the Pagan new year and about 100 Armenians have gathered near
the temple in Garni March 21 to celebrate the birth of Vahagn, the
God of Power and Fire.
All together they spell.
The heaven was in torments of childbirth; the earth was in torments
of childbirth
And the crimson sea was in torments of childbirth
And from the torments of the sea,
A red reed came out,
And smoke came out from the rim of the reed,
And a flame came out from the rim of the reed
And from that flame, a red-haired youth runs out ...
And they end their poem with the exclamation "Let Vahagn be
praised!"...
On this day,the Sun enters the constellation of Aries, and the day
and the night equal in duration: the Cosmic Spring begins.
For 16 years "The Oath of the Sons of Aryans" non-governmental
organization celebrates in Garni the New Year on Areg 21 (in the
ancient Armenian calendar March is called Areg). The group claims
more than 1,000 members.
On this day the sons of the Aryans hold on to the Pagan ritual fixed
centuries ago. And if someone appears suddenly nearby the temple
of Garni he will think for sure the time has gone back for hundreds
of years.
The Pagan priests of the order in golden, blue and white coats, with
daggers hanging from their belts open the ceremony. Their hierarchy
is differentiated with the colors of their coats: the one in a golden
coat is the Supreme Priest; the one in blue is the President of the
Priest Class and the one in white is the Priest.
Vahagn's birth, torn from heaven and earth, is celebrated.
"He will be born to continue the tribe of his Aryan gods on Earth. And
those Aryans who will believe and wait for Vahagn will get power,"
shouts Supreme Priest Samvel. "And those, who will not believe,
will remain in their undesirable illness and will be destroyed,
for no gods are born from the ill."
Then they burn Vahagn's fire, make their daggers red-hot and plunge
them into cups of wine.
"Praising the Gods of my tribe, with their help, I consecrate this
wine...Drink it and get power," says the Supreme Priest.
Everybody tastes the consecrated wine.
They consecrate willow fronds and distribute among participants. The
young fronds symbolize life.
Similar to other Pagan festivals, lambs are also sacrificed on this
day This time the president of the "Union of Armenian Aryans" Armen
Avetisyan made the sacrifice.
(Avetisyan stirred controversy in the National Assembly last fall,
with a series of charges against various groups who were "dangerous"
to Armenian purity. The word "Aryan" itself is frequently associated
with racism in the West. The NGO, however, says for their use, it is
simply a synonymn for "pagan".)
"I myself have an ode to Vahagn and I dream of time when my soul
gets in touch with the soul of Vahagn - the Armenian god of Power. I
wish Armenian gods return to the spiritual world of our nation, only
they can return us to our roots and protect us from foreign gods,"
says Armen Avetisyan.
An apricot tree was planted in the yard of the temple, holding on to
tradition despite a heavy March snow. Pagan Armenians consider the
apricot a tree of life and believe the energy of that tree protects
Armenian families from evil.
The priests call on the gathered to decorate the apricot tree for
the fulfillment of wishes.
"I participate in all the events taking place here since 1990," says
35 year old Pagan, Edik. "Christianity has once been something like
globalization. That is why we Armenians have also adopted it. But
in truth the basics of our religion is Paganism. The Mother Temple
of Etchmiadzin also has Pagan grounds and is built on the basis of
the sanctuary of the god Mihr. We consider Paganism is a belief,
and Christianity - a religion."
Pagans and everybody else gathered were united not only by their
belief, but also by their age. They insist they are 9,588 years old,
the age they share with god Vahagn in whom the souls of all Armenian
Aryans have been living.
LOANING OPPORTUNITY: UMCOR PROGRAM HELPS WOMEN BREAK INTO BUSINESS
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Boryans live in Sevan, in a house where the walls have grown moldy.
There is a chicken coop next to the house. By comparison, the coop
is in preferred condition.
"In what condition is the house for the chicken coop to be good?" says
Karen Boryan, embarrassed by the comparison.
There are incubators in the coop, made by Boryan. And he recently
bought an electricity generator and a grinder, from a 180,000 dram
(about $390).
The loan was issued to his wife, Galya, through a program set up by
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) in which groups of women
are assisted in setting up businesses.
UMCOR's "Aregak" program issues unsecured loans, with the stipulation
that the group to whom it is issued is responsible for individual
default.
Galya applied with four acquaintances and all got the same amount. If
one of the five women cannot return the loan, all of them are
responsible and are to repay it. The motto of the three musketeers,
"One for all, all for one", acquired viability in Soviet pioneer
organizations, but it was forgotten later. Now Aregak is revitalizing
it.
"It often happened so that one member of the group could not return
the money and the others repaid the loan for her," says Aregak program
manager in Gegharkunik Levon Makhsudyan.
Aregak issues loans to economically active but low-income families. The
mission of the program is to reduce poverty.
The Boryans are refugees from Kirovabad, Azerbaijan. The couple used
to work as engineers at a plant. Now Karen works in Armenian Air
Navigation, where he makes 75,000 drams (about $163) a month. However,
it is very little for the family with three children (one daughter
is married and their son is in the army).
"Once I stayed at home for three days and made an incubator. Galya
was quarreling with me - who on earth has seen an incubator in an
apartment," Karen says.
He was already getting chickens from the incubator in his apartment,
but he quickly sold them, since it was impossible to raise chickens
in home conditions. Seven years ago they had to sell their apartment
and it was then that they bought this small tumbledown private house
to engage in poultry farming. Running their business they managed
to get up to 500 chickens a month. It was impossible to get more. To
improve their business they needed additional funds.
Had any bank worker seen the walls of the Baroyans' house, he wouldn't
have given them a loan. Karen himself went to banks several times
to ask for a loan, but every time he was turned down for different
reasons. The matter didn't go even as far as leaving a security. He
says that at one place they wanted a bribe from him, at another place
they told him that they issued loans only to registered organizations.
Two years ago Aregak opened an office in Sevan and Galya set up a
group of five women required for a loan.
"The recipient's being an organization or not is not important to us,"
says Makhsudyan. "This person can barely maintain his family. How
can I tell him to go and register with the tax inspection?"
The most important work done with the first loan was the purchase
of a $100 grinder for birdseeds. "We toiled a lot before purchasing
this grinder," says Karen. "We used to call a taxi and load 4-5 sacks
(of wheat, barley) on it. I am not a strong person. Now it saves me
a lot of effort."
The Boryans returned the loan ahead of time and now have received the
second one - this time they borrowed 250,000 drams (about $543). Every
new Aregak loan exceeds the previous one by 40%. This way the size of
the loan grows seven times and reaches $2,000 at best. Larger loans
are not issued.
"I will buy eggs with 50,000 of the loan, I will buy nets to put them
under hens and will use the rest to buy birdseeds," says Karen. "And
we need money badly, later when I get the loan I will build a new
chicken coop and a shed where I will keep my equipment to prevent it
from getting out of order. We don't yet think about income, we invest
all money that we get into the business."
The other three women of the group are engaged in trade. The fifth,
26-year-old Lilly Hakobyan is a cosmetologist. She worked in Sevan's
Milena beauty parlor. The loan enabled her to set up a separate
business: "I wanted to be totally independent from my parents,"
she says. She spent 180,000 drams to buy two tools (worth $100 each)
and a mobile phone. She has 5-7 customers a day: "The tools brought
me large income, $180 a month only due to these tools," says Leili.
She also began to keep apprentices, she teaches them for $200. Lilly
intends to use her next Aregak loan and the income she gets to buy
a house and open a beauty salon of her own. Now she doesn't have
male customers, since she receives customers in an apartment room
and people will be seeing male customers coming to her. "They will
feel ashamed from neighbors to come, but if I open a center, there
will be a queue of men," she says.
A total of 4,000 people in Gegharkunik marz and 900 in Sevan region
have already received loans. Seventy percent of loans are agricultural.
Why does Aregak loan only to women?
Aregak director Mariam Yesayan, who has worked since 1997, when
the program was launched, says that they had borrowed the model of
micro-crediting of women from international experience, since it is
effective: "Women are more active and more responsible. Besides, after
being deprived of initiative for so long, getting this opportunity
they try in every way to prove that they can earn money."
The two main principles of Aregak - to loan to women and get social
guarantees instead of security - have turned Aregak into an effectively
working program. The loan repayment rate is 98 percent. Today Aregak's
25 offices serve 18,500 customers from 400 communities. Currently,
recipients dispose of a sum of $7 million. Seven offices have been
opened at the expense of incomes (the loan is given at a monthly
interest rate of 2 percent).
UMCOR intends to register Aregak as a crediting organization in
2006. Mariam Yesayan says that even after separation Aregak will
not become a profit-seeking business and will continue its mission:
"The incomes in Armenia will be used to achieve the mission goals to
reduce poverty and we must continue to help people who cannot avail
themselves of traditional loans."
THE RIGHT TO SIGHT: NEW COMPUTERS OFFER INFORMATION ACCESS FOR
VISUALLY DISABLED
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Blind citizens of Armenia no longer need rely only on the Braille
system of reading in order to become better informed.
With the financial support of Speaker of the National Assembly Artur
Baghdasaryan and Russian-Armenian philanthropist Ara Abrahamyan, 10
specially programmed computers have been presented to the Cultural
Center of the Union of Blind People.
Academician Arman Kuchukyan initiated the acquisition and created
the software for Armenian language sound in the computers, that will
enable the blind to hear newspapers, books and other written materials.
Such a system has been operating in other countries for many years. And
for Armenia it seemed unbelievable at least for the nearest decade.
"In our country there are not even minimal modern conditions for the
education and communication of the blind. Even using literature makes
big problems for blind students. I am really very happy we will have
such an opportunity to use computers now," says Hakob Karapetyan,
22, student at the Department of Political Science, YSU (Yerevan
State University).
Hakob and other blind young people will now learn not only to use
computers but will also obtain specialty of programmers.
Baghdasaryan says computers will also go to Union affiliates in
different marzes of Armenia.
"I am confident, during the coming one to two years thousands of
blind people will have the opportunity to use the services of this
computer center for free," says Baghdasaryan. "As a citizen and the
NA speaker, I am very concerned with the social and legal security
problems of disabled people. We plan to open computer centers also
in other settlements."
According to the data of the Ministry of Social Security there are
9,300 visually disabled people in Armenia. About 5,000 are members
of the Union, which was organized in the 1920s.
During Soviet times jobs were provided for the blind as well as
special allowances for utilities and transportation. Also during
those years they were given free holidays at resorts and discounts
on airline and train tickets.
"Years ago our Union was quite wealthy. Many got the opportunity to
obtain apartments, get education, some made families," remembers
its executive director, Gagik Harutyunyan. "One can say, we were
cared for. Now people's love and care for each other has somewhat
decreased. The disabled feel it in a special way, for they need
more attention."
Today the blind have almost no advantages. Many have found themselves
in poverty. Some have sold their apartments and now, as they say,
have been left hoping for a ridiculous pension.
Rosa Harutyunyan, 76, is a member of the Union of Blind since 1949. For
nearly 40 years she has worked in a factory for making wall outlets,
switch-on and switch-off appliances. Then she was fired.
"I have sold my apartment twice since I was fired: I have moved
from the center of the city to its suburbs. Now I get 5,000 drams
(a little more than $10) monthly allowance. But I haven't received
it either for three months," she says, bitterly. "I am an ill woman
alone; there is no one by my side to help me somehow. It seems to me
if I die I will have no one to bury me either. And there were times
when I went to resorts for several times a year..."
She recalls, too, entertainment for the blind staged in the Union
Cultural Center. But now...
"Once there were many drama groups, dancing, chess groups operating
in the Cultural Center. But now there are no opportunities to run
such groups," remembers Hovhannes Grigoryan, librarian at the Braille
library. "Besides, the people's interests, values have changed. A
blind man on the edge of poverty wants neither to step on the stage
nor to attend performances."
Despite everything, the executive director of the Cultural Center is
most hopeful.
"When poet Isahakyan was asked, master, is there more good in the
world or bad, the writer answered: 'if there was more bad, the world
wouldn't exist now.' Indeed, if there are still kind people doing
good things it means not everything is lost yet. I believe, we will
see bright days as well," Harutyunyan says.
ART OF TRADITION: "AMERICANA" ART INSPIRES INTERESTS IN ITS ARMENIAN
VARIANT
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
A unique exhibition of quilts from the southern United States has
opened in the Academy gallery in Yerevan.
Where paintings might usually hang, instead there are 12 colorfully
patterned hand-sewn quilts made by African- American women from the
rural settlement of Gee's Bend, Alabama.
Presented by the US Embassy in Armenia, the quilts have been brought
to Armenia by the coordinator of the exhibition, professional quilt
maker Karen Musgrave.
The quilts - for decades valued in the United States for their
"Americana" art - are sewn from a collection of usually- discarded
items of clothing cut into shapes to form a motif across the surface.
Some say, too that the quilt making is an expression of Black
Americans' rebellion (though quilt making was not peculiar only to
African Americans).
"These are not samples of arts, but expressions of problems and
sufferings; I felt every small rag contains soul, suffering, history,
this is a protest call of a whole nation," says Siran Kochinyan,
a teacher from Vanadzor who visited the exhibit.
The main motives of the patterns are taken from ideas seen in the Cuba
tribes in Central Africa, Asante tribes in Ghana and the inhabitants
of the Ivory Coast.
These blankets carry also a part of the family history; being made up
of different rags of clothes of different times of different members
of family, they reflect like a unique diary the tastes of the given
family, its style of sewing and abilities.
The quilts come to Armenia after having been exhibited in the Atlanta
Museum of Fine Arts in 2002, then in the Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York and other places.
According to Musgrave, the exhibitions in the three Armenian cities
Gyumri, Vanadzor and Yerevan are unique in that every visitor thinks
they also have such "art" in their own homes.
"I saw five Armenian blankets that could be hung there and take the
place they deserve; they are works of arts as well, just a bit of
imagination is necessary," says Musgrave.
The tradition to make quilts from different rags is common in Armenia
and has old roots. According to Deputy Director of the Museum
of People's Art of Armenia Adelaida Manukyan, this has mainly be
peasant's art, especially typical to the poor class.
"There are such works preserved with us, that have had different names
- darn works, rag works, etc. Among us Armenians those have mainly been
used as thin covers, blanket or pillow upper sides," says Manukyan.
Such thin covers were sewed to spread under the woolen mattresses
so that the metal wire netting of the beds didn't harm the most
valuable thick mattresses. They have had various names, depending on
the location and the dialect, mostly known as "mindar" or "palas".
"I can remember my grandma sewed such covers from our old cloths she
would use it mainly to spread on the grass in the field; you can
still find such soft bats made for chair pillows their upper side
made in this very way by joining rags," says pedagogue Irina Galstyan.
Musgrave says this exhibition is important in that the Armenians have
thrown a fresh glance on the works that have lost their value in the
everyday usage.
Gor Vardanyan, Director of the Academy gallery is intended to collect
samples of this kind of arts from different villages and those kept
in museums and organize a separate exhibition this time presenting
the ideas and the expertise of only Armenian women.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress