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Administration Address: 26 Parpetsi St., No 9
Phone: +(374 1) 532422
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Internet: www.armenianow.com
Technical Assistance: (For technical assistance please contact Babken
Juharyan)
Email: [email protected]
*************************** *************************************************
September 4, 2009
1. Murder in the Ranks: Teenage conscript beaten to death by commander
2.** First Bell Signals Money Time: Armenian parents do not skimp for
their schoolchildren expenses**
3. Strict Eye on Protocols: Armenia-Turkey dialogue under increasing
Diaspora scrutiny
**4.** Generation gap: Veteran professional sees decline in Armenian
feature film quality
5. Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and `Armenianness'
6.** Sport: Bosnian challenge for Armenia in WC 2010 qualifier
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1. Murder in the Ranks: Teenage conscript beaten to death by commander
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
An Armenian conscript died September 2 from beatings he received at the
hands of his battalion commander.
Aram Lazarian was 18, from Verin (Upper) Getashen village, Gegharkunik
Province and had been in the army for three months.
Lazarian served under Captain Andok Galstyan, 26, at a military post in
Vayk in southern Armenian province of Vayots Dzor. Galstyan has been placed
under arrest, charged with misfeasance and dereliction of duty - charges
that could lead to 3-8 years imprisonment.
According to accounts of fellow soldiers and relatives, Galstyan attacked
Lazarian while the conscript was still in his bunk, between 6-7 a.m. on
August 28. So far, no one has said what might have sparked the attack.
Lazarian reported for morning drills, holding his ribs in pain say other
soldiers. When he was in too much pain to perform stretching exercises, his
comrades say the captain attacked Lazarian, threw him on the ground, sat on
him and beat him in the head for several minutes.
Galstyan then sent the platoon on a run, while he remained behind alone with
Lazarian.
No one except Galstyan knows what happened during that time, but forensics
show that Lazarian had multiple wounds over much of his body.
At about 11:30 a.m., Lazarian was taken to an aid station.
`The doctor says that Aram was screaming and crying out in pain saying
`Shoot me and leave me alone,' and then he lost consciousness,' Norayr
Norikyan, his cousin, told Armenianow.
It was not until 4:30 p.m. - some four hours after losing consciousness
-
that Lazarian was taken by ambulance to hospital in Yerevan - a drive of
about three hours.
He underwent surgery, but according to Colonel Mikael Mikaelyan, head of
Central Clinic Military Hospital of the Ministry of Defense, `the brain
trauma and hemorrhage was very heavy and not compatible with life.'
`After being beaten he was left without aid, in a careless condition for
about four hours; and experts say that it would be possible to save his life
if he were taken to the hospital in time,' says the victim's cousin,
insisting that the officer corps on duty that day should also bear the
responsibility for negligence.
`I asked the regiment officer of the day, as well as the head of the
regiment where they were, did not they hear noises of a fight, quarrel from
the other room, which was about 30 meters away, and they answered that no,
they did not,' Norikyan says.
Lazarian died in hospital five days later without gaining consciousness.
In its grief, the teenager's family is also angry that the charges brought
against Galstyan have relatively minor consequence.
`This cannot be considered to be a misfeasance; it is an attempt of murder
accompanied with beating with special cruelty, and it is a different article
envisaging different measures of punishment,' says Norikyan.
The Armenian army is notorious for soldiers being mistreated, and deaths
from beatings among conscripts - sometimes ordered by commanders - have not
been uncommon.
But a key organization supporting soldiers' rights says the severity of
Lazarian's death is unprecedented.
`This is a terrible case in its character,' says Greta Mirzoyan, head of
`Zinvori Mayr' (`Soldier's Mother') Non Governmental Organization. `There
were cases of murders in our army, fights among soldiers, but a case of a
commander severely beating a soldier is unprecedented.' (In 2007 conscript
Gegham Segoyan was shot dead by his commander. Mirzoyan refers to the severe
beating as being `unprecedented'.)
According to Mirzoyan, this is the first murder in the Armenian army during
2009. There is another case of death, however due to an illness.
`We are all in shock, because the commanders of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military
Institute (from which Galstyan graduated) are mainly well-educated and
balanced officers. We know him (Galstyan), he has a good family, he has a
four-year-old child, his wife is currently pregnant,' Mirzoyan told
ArmeniaNow. `I cannot imagine in what a psychological state the commander
was at that moment to commit such a crime, but he must be punished according
to the whole strictness of the law.'
******************************************* *********************************
2. First Bell Signals Money Time: Armenian parents do not skimp for their
schoolchildren expenses
By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
This year even the world crisis did not hinder parents in their preparations
for September 1 to spend hundreds of dollars on buying clothes and
stationery for their schoolchildren and send then to school.
According to average calculation it takes some $100-150 to equip one child
for school, including textbooks and clothes, while in case of students of
senior schools such an amount is spent on only one dress of clothes.
Hasmik Lazarian, 37, from Echmiadzin (Armavir Province), is among mothers
who borrowed money (50,000 drams -about $135), in order to buy clothes and
schoolbags for her three schoolchildren.
`I have not bought notebooks yet, because I bought them last year, and it
turned out that they distributed their own notebooks at the school, and we
had to buy those notebooks, too,' says Lazarian. `I spent only 3,000 drams
(about $8) on stationery for the beginning,' she adds.
`There is a new law at schools - they demand to buy only their own
notebooks. What a State is it?! A notebook costs 350 drams (95 cents),' she
adds.
Like parents, traders are also more active on the eve of the new education
year but with raising the prices of stationery and other accessories
necessary for school. Thus, an average notebook costing 30 drams (about 10
cents), on the eve of September 1 became 45-50 drams, a thick notebook from
200 drams became 240-350 drams depending on the quality.
`Outside (of the school) the prices are not low either. For example, last
year in May, I bought a school diary for my son from the school, paying 450
drams (about $1.20), and as for my daughters, I bought diaries for them from
a shop, paying 800 drams (about $2.16) for each,' Hasmik says.
During the recent years the practice of selling their own notebooks is
implemented at many schools of Armenia. In fact, the school does not produce
those notebooks; it simply buys them and resells them to schoolchildren,
suggesting that those are notebooks of high quality and they are handier for
writing.
At many schools of Yerevan in May, when children were going to have their
summer vacations, they were warned not to buy notebooks in September.
In fact, it is possible to buy notebooks at lower prices. There are schools
which do not demand pupils to buy their notebooks, for example, at School #
171, in Avan community, where keen-witted parents manage to spend less money
on stationery.
Nadya Muradyan, 32, spent only 6,000 drams (about $16) on buying notebooks,
a schoolbag and stationery for her seventh-grade son, buying that entire
stuff from one of Yerevan's wholesale markets - Surmalu.
`There, an 80-page notebook costs 60 drams (about 16 cents) less expensive
than in Avan. So I saved 300 drams (about 80 cents) buying five notebooks,'
says Nadya, who also spent less money on clothes - 4,000 drams (about $11).
`My son had shoes, so I did not buy shoes for him. I spent 5,000 drams
(about $13) on books. Thus, totally I spent 15,000 drams (about $40) to send
my son to school,' says Nadya, mother of one schoolchild, presenting the
invoice of her expenses.
Each book, given at school, costs 330-400 drams (about 90 cents to $1). A
parent pays that amount for using the book during the whole education year.
And those books that cannot be found at libraries, are sold at 1,000 drams
(about $3) each, and parents usually have to buy 2-3 such books.
Lusine Adamyan, 28, has already spent 100,000 drams (about $270) to send her
first-grade son to school.
`To tell the truth, I did not expect that I would spend so much money,'
Lusine says. `But he is my first child, I want to buy everything for him, so
I went to a normal shop. I paid 18,000 drams (about $48) for the schoolbag,
25,000 drams (about $67) - for stationery. I bought shoes for 18,000 drams
(about $48), and the suit (his school uniform) was a present, and if it were
not, I imagine how much it would cost. And the education fee for the first
month is 30,000 drams (about $81),' she adds.
******************************************* *********************************
3. Strict Eye on Protocols: Armenia-Turkey dialogue under increasing
Diaspora scrutiny
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan**
ArmeniaNow reporter
Different Diaspora and Armenia-based organizations have expressed their
views and attitudes to the hottest subject of the passing week - a major
step towards reconciliation taken by Armenia and Turkey. Some have shown
quite a tough position on the matter.
On Monday, Armenia, Turkey and their mediator Switzerland announced the
start of `internal political discussions' on two protocols that, if
ratified, will establish diplomatic ties and lay the foundation for
developing bilateral relations between the two historical foes.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a tough statement
on September 1 warning Members of U.S. Congress about `dangers' of `a recent
set of secretly-negotiated, Swiss-brokered, protocols between Turkey and
Armenia.'
`Among the ANCA's primary concerns is that Armenia, blockaded by Turkey and
under intense economic and diplomatic pressure, was forced into accepting
terms that threaten her interests, rights, safety, and future - very notably
in the form of a proposed `historical commission',' wrote ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian.
He also added that `this provision, a tactic long pursued by Ankara to cast
doubt on the historical record of the Armenian Genocide, is intended to
serve Turkey's drive to roll back the growing tide of international
recognition of this crime against humanity.'
(In the annexed document on the implementation of the Protocol on
Development of Relations between Armenia and Turkey, the `Steps to be
Undertaken' include setting up a sub-commission, as part of an
intergovernmental commission, `on the historical dimension to implement a
dialogue with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations,
including an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and
archive to define existing problems and formulate recommendations, in which
Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and other international experts shall
take part.' This provision has been construed and viewed by the Armenian
opposition and main nationalist forces as agreement to debate the Armenian
genocide, i.e. to call it into question.)
Another major American-Armenian advocacy group, the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA), issued a statement on September 2, in which it `views as
encouraging the commitments made by the government of Turkey to normalize
relations with Armenia without preconditions.' But it recalls `Turkey's
ample track record of unfulfilled promises.'
`As such, many remain skeptical as prior governments of Armenia had also
offered to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions only to be
rebuffed,' the Assembly said.
The Assembly reminds that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu `sent
mixed signals' on the same day as the joint statement was released and
`not
only indicated that the opening of the border would be `a long process,' but
also stated that Turkey would guard Azerbaijan's interests.'
(Opposition groups in Armenia, notably the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, have also expressed their growing concerns that the
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement in its current format is a prelude to major
Armenian concessions in the long-running dispute with Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh).
Meanwhile, in Armenia, the think tank founded by former Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian published an analytical piece on Thursday in which it stated
that the released document with its current language does not meet Armenia's
national interests.
According to the Yerevan-based Civilitas Foundation, `a sober evaluation
reveals a dangerous scenario in which Turkey's executive authorities shows
to the world its `goodwill' to improve relations with Armenia, but `as an
established democracy' cannot foist its will on the parliament.'
`It becomes clear already today from reactions of Turkish parliamentarians
that the noise around this document will be big in [Turkish] parliament. And
the Turkish government can easily explain to the international community
that for the document to be ratified in parliament it is necessary that the
Armenian party should make at least certain concessions in the Karabakh
issue and withdraw from territories adjacent to Karabakh,' writes Civilitas.
The think tank suggests that in exchange for diplomatic relations and the
opening of the border with Turkey, Armenia acknowledges with this document
that it has no territorial claims to Turkey and agrees to the
Turkey-proposed establishment of a commission with the involvement of
historians.
`One must try and use the provision that the protocols need parliament
ratification and leave an opportunity of amending the document or rejecting
it through parliament. It would be an irreversible error if the Armenian
authorities, solely out of their desire to save the face of the executive,
ignore the dangers existing in the document,' Civilitas concludes.
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**
4. Generation gap: Veteran professional sees decline in Armenian feature
film quality
By Karine Ionesyan
Armenia's veteran filmmaker who organizes a youth film festival later this
month sees a declining quality and `amateurism' in feature film production
in Armenia and urges commencing directors to read more.
Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia Ruben Gevorgyants says
the fifth international youth film festival, `I Am', to be held in Yerevan
on September 26-30, will present fewer films (135 instead of more than 200
shown last year), including fewer Armenian films. But he promises a good
choice of foreign-made films at festival shows.
`I cannot say that this festival will be better than the previous one. But
one thing is clear - Armenian films have seen a decline in terms of their
quality,' Gevorgyants says.
Gevorgyants argues that the `amateur nature' of films by young directors
reveals that they dislike reading.
Representative of the younger generation of filmmakers in Armenia, for their
part, blame their elder colleagues for falling short of quality that
deserves to be emulated.
One such young filmmaker David Enfenjyan says commencing professionals get
no assistance either in the form of ideas or funding today. Therefore, he
says, they are left to do what they consider to be right.
`We even do more than is required from us. But often many get discouraged by
the indifference of the older generation and leave the profession,' says
Enfenjyan. `But despite this criticism, I make films and will continue to
make films.'
Gevorgyants, however, sees some good examples of work by older filmmakers.
He, in particular, singles out Hovhannes Galstyan's `Entangled Parallels',
Mikael Dovlatyan's `Landslide' and Suren Babayan's `Don't Look
Into the
Mirror'.
Gevorgyants also contends that more achievements have been made in
documentary production in Armenia and mentions the ongoing production of a
film series on Armenian history. Six episodes of the film have already been
made - from the Stone Age to 301 AD when Armenia embraced Christianity as a
state religion.
`These films must become available for the public and we are going to do
that in the future with a special television program that will be shown on
Armenia TV,' says Gevorgyants.
Gevorgyants, who played a top gangster's character in a serial on the
Armenia TV channel, positively evaluates the production of soap operas in
Armenia. `Of course, I am not satisfied with 80 percent of current
production, but generally I notice a positive shift in this area.'
The head of the Union of Cinematographers thinks that Armenia's Public
Television should not, like other TV channels, show such soap operas, but
instead should focus on national films.
A few days ago, this intention was also voiced by Public Television
Executive Director Armen Arzumanyan, who announced plans to make films based
on works by classics.
Gevorgyants, however, doubts that this intention is realistic, as he sees a
shortage of professionals to realize this goal.
Art critic Armen Yesayants says television air could be used in a better way
and suggests restoring shows of `televised theater plays.'
`They keep using the same people and the same hackneyed programs. You always
hear the same voice,' he says.
************************************************ ****************************
5. Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and `Armenianness'
By Elizabeth Gemdjian
Armenian Assembly of America Intern / Special to ArmeniaNow
My time in Armenia has run out, and as I sit in my home back in America, I
find myself thinking about the extent to which my trip has affected me and
about where Armenia will fit into my life after having come here, lived
here, and worked here.
Though my time in Armenia was brief and really only gave me a glimpse into
the social, political, and economic landscapes of the country, there was
something about being there and seeing things firsthand that made it
difficult to leave. There is a saying - `there must be something in the
water' - that is used to rationalize inexplicable behavior and feelings.
In
Armenia, they admit that the local water makes their fruits and brandy the
best in the world, but I think there must have been something in the water
that made it so hard to leave.
Throughout my trip, I continually encountered questions about my plans to
return to Armenia, whether for a long-term stay, a permanent move, or
short-term visits. Whenever I heard this question, I drew a blank, both
because at this point in my life I do not have concrete plans for my future
and because I am still trying to figure out my place in the confusing web of
Armenian identity.
I started my first `Letter Home' by asking instead of asserting, `Because I
am Armenian?' as a response to questions about why I came to Armenia. Eight
weeks later, I think I am ready to take the question mark off that sentence
and defend my `Armenianness.' Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there
is not one standard definition of an Armenian. Armenian history precludes
such simplification. Rather, we are all forced to acknowledge the diversity
of experience, appearance, location, and even language that makes up
Armenian identity, while also valuing the similarities that bring us all
together and make us feel our unity.
Why shouldn't I consider myself Armenian? Because I was born in America;
because my parents and grandparents were raised in Bulgaria; because I speak
Western Armenian; because I had not visited `the homeland' until
recently? People
can throw many objections at me. However, over and against all those
objections, I feel ready to assert and defend my Armenianness because I
believe that it is precisely the uniqueness of Armenian experience that
allows for a person like me to claim her Armenianness, to feel Armenian, and
to be connected to a country I neither grew up in or visited for most of my
life.
With more Armenians living outside of the country than inside of it, it is
an unavoidable, though perhaps unpalatable feature of Armenian identity to
be more flexible in terms of who qualifies as Armenian. Rather than
difference, division gets us in trouble and impedes us from utilizing each
other. This in-fighting within the Armenian community does nothing to
further the interests of any Armenians and only holds Armenia back from
realizing potential sources of strength and untapped assets waiting to be
discovered through collaboration and cooperation.
While my time in Armenia showed me the persistence of these divisions
between groups of Armenians, it also gave me hope for a future in which
Diasporans, Hayastanzis, Barsquahays, etc. will stop identifying as such and
just be Armenian. It might take some time, but I look forward to the day
when this sense of unity and solidarity will be attained. Until then, I
will continue to assert that I am Armenian, replacing the question with the
imperative - I cannot help but be otherwise.
Elizabeth, 22, is studying anthropology at Columbia University in New York
City, her home. She was in Armenia as part of the Armenian Assembly of
America internship program. She is first generation Armenian-American. Her
immediate family stems from Bulgaria, where her grandparents were moved
following the Armenian Genocide.
************************************************ ****************************
**
6. Sport: Bosnian challenge for Armenia in WC 2010 qualifier
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Soccer
Armenia are hosting one of World Cup 2010 Group 5 leaders,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, this weekend. The match at the Vazgen Sargsyan
Republican Stadium on Saturday kicks off at 8.00 pm Yerevan time.
The fixture on September 5 is the second match of the two teams in the
current qualifying campaign. In the first played in Bosnia last fall Armenia
lost 1-4.
Armenia have only one point in six matches played in the Group so far and
are bottom in the six-nation group that also includes Spain, Turkey, Belgium
and Estonia.
Besides Bosnia-Herzegovina Armenia are also scheduled to play Belgium and
Spain in Yerevan (Sept. 9 and Oct. 10, respectively), and travel to Turkey
for an away game on October 14.
(So far, the towns of Kayseri, in central Anatolia, and Bursa, in
northwestern Turkey, have been mentioned as possible venues for the Turkey
v
Armenia fixture).
(Reference links: www.ffa.am; www.fifa.com)
Chess
Armenia's top chess player Levon Aronyan will be among the challengers of
the FIDE world championship crown after becoming an early Grand Prix winner
last month.
At the fifth FIDE Grand Prix tournament named after world champion Tigran
Petrosyan and held in the Armenian resort town of Jermuk on August 8-24,
Aronyan placed second and totally scored 500 points in the Grand Prix
series. He thus has become unreachable for opponents regardless of the last
6th tournament in the series to be held in December.
The result also means that the Armenian grandmaster has qualified for a
tournament of contenders for the FIDE world chess crown as the winner of the
Grand Prix series.
(Reference links: www.armchess.am, www.fide.com)
Judo
Two government ministers of Azerbaijan were in Armenia this week to
negotiate the terms of the participation of Azeri athletes in the European
junior judo championships to be held in Yerevan September 11-13, reported
the Armenian Judo Federation.
Azerbaijan's Sport Minister Azad Rahimov and Labor Minister Fizuli Alekperov
(also head of Azerbaijan's judo federation) signed a document with Armenian
counterpart structures on the security of Azeri sportsmen in Armenia.
Representatives of European judo and Olympic structures attended the meeting
in Yerevan on September 2.
No athlete from Azerbaijan has participated in sporting events organized in
Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the war between the two
neighboring countries over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is now expected to
send a 14-member delegation, including 8 sportsmen to Yerevan to compete in
a tournament that is expected to bring together several hundred junior judo
fighters from more than 40 countries of Europe.
At the world judo championships held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in late
August, Hovhannes Davtyan (60 kg) won bronze thus bringing Armenia its first
ever world championship medal in judo, reports www.sportinfo.am.
******************************* *********************************************
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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 Babken
Juharyan)
Email: [email protected]
*************************** *************************************************
September 4, 2009
1. Murder in the Ranks: Teenage conscript beaten to death by commander
2.** First Bell Signals Money Time: Armenian parents do not skimp for
their schoolchildren expenses**
3. Strict Eye on Protocols: Armenia-Turkey dialogue under increasing
Diaspora scrutiny
**4.** Generation gap: Veteran professional sees decline in Armenian
feature film quality
5. Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and `Armenianness'
6.** Sport: Bosnian challenge for Armenia in WC 2010 qualifier
************************************************ ****************************
1. Murder in the Ranks: Teenage conscript beaten to death by commander
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
An Armenian conscript died September 2 from beatings he received at the
hands of his battalion commander.
Aram Lazarian was 18, from Verin (Upper) Getashen village, Gegharkunik
Province and had been in the army for three months.
Lazarian served under Captain Andok Galstyan, 26, at a military post in
Vayk in southern Armenian province of Vayots Dzor. Galstyan has been placed
under arrest, charged with misfeasance and dereliction of duty - charges
that could lead to 3-8 years imprisonment.
According to accounts of fellow soldiers and relatives, Galstyan attacked
Lazarian while the conscript was still in his bunk, between 6-7 a.m. on
August 28. So far, no one has said what might have sparked the attack.
Lazarian reported for morning drills, holding his ribs in pain say other
soldiers. When he was in too much pain to perform stretching exercises, his
comrades say the captain attacked Lazarian, threw him on the ground, sat on
him and beat him in the head for several minutes.
Galstyan then sent the platoon on a run, while he remained behind alone with
Lazarian.
No one except Galstyan knows what happened during that time, but forensics
show that Lazarian had multiple wounds over much of his body.
At about 11:30 a.m., Lazarian was taken to an aid station.
`The doctor says that Aram was screaming and crying out in pain saying
`Shoot me and leave me alone,' and then he lost consciousness,' Norayr
Norikyan, his cousin, told Armenianow.
It was not until 4:30 p.m. - some four hours after losing consciousness
-
that Lazarian was taken by ambulance to hospital in Yerevan - a drive of
about three hours.
He underwent surgery, but according to Colonel Mikael Mikaelyan, head of
Central Clinic Military Hospital of the Ministry of Defense, `the brain
trauma and hemorrhage was very heavy and not compatible with life.'
`After being beaten he was left without aid, in a careless condition for
about four hours; and experts say that it would be possible to save his life
if he were taken to the hospital in time,' says the victim's cousin,
insisting that the officer corps on duty that day should also bear the
responsibility for negligence.
`I asked the regiment officer of the day, as well as the head of the
regiment where they were, did not they hear noises of a fight, quarrel from
the other room, which was about 30 meters away, and they answered that no,
they did not,' Norikyan says.
Lazarian died in hospital five days later without gaining consciousness.
In its grief, the teenager's family is also angry that the charges brought
against Galstyan have relatively minor consequence.
`This cannot be considered to be a misfeasance; it is an attempt of murder
accompanied with beating with special cruelty, and it is a different article
envisaging different measures of punishment,' says Norikyan.
The Armenian army is notorious for soldiers being mistreated, and deaths
from beatings among conscripts - sometimes ordered by commanders - have not
been uncommon.
But a key organization supporting soldiers' rights says the severity of
Lazarian's death is unprecedented.
`This is a terrible case in its character,' says Greta Mirzoyan, head of
`Zinvori Mayr' (`Soldier's Mother') Non Governmental Organization. `There
were cases of murders in our army, fights among soldiers, but a case of a
commander severely beating a soldier is unprecedented.' (In 2007 conscript
Gegham Segoyan was shot dead by his commander. Mirzoyan refers to the severe
beating as being `unprecedented'.)
According to Mirzoyan, this is the first murder in the Armenian army during
2009. There is another case of death, however due to an illness.
`We are all in shock, because the commanders of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military
Institute (from which Galstyan graduated) are mainly well-educated and
balanced officers. We know him (Galstyan), he has a good family, he has a
four-year-old child, his wife is currently pregnant,' Mirzoyan told
ArmeniaNow. `I cannot imagine in what a psychological state the commander
was at that moment to commit such a crime, but he must be punished according
to the whole strictness of the law.'
******************************************* *********************************
2. First Bell Signals Money Time: Armenian parents do not skimp for their
schoolchildren expenses
By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
This year even the world crisis did not hinder parents in their preparations
for September 1 to spend hundreds of dollars on buying clothes and
stationery for their schoolchildren and send then to school.
According to average calculation it takes some $100-150 to equip one child
for school, including textbooks and clothes, while in case of students of
senior schools such an amount is spent on only one dress of clothes.
Hasmik Lazarian, 37, from Echmiadzin (Armavir Province), is among mothers
who borrowed money (50,000 drams -about $135), in order to buy clothes and
schoolbags for her three schoolchildren.
`I have not bought notebooks yet, because I bought them last year, and it
turned out that they distributed their own notebooks at the school, and we
had to buy those notebooks, too,' says Lazarian. `I spent only 3,000 drams
(about $8) on stationery for the beginning,' she adds.
`There is a new law at schools - they demand to buy only their own
notebooks. What a State is it?! A notebook costs 350 drams (95 cents),' she
adds.
Like parents, traders are also more active on the eve of the new education
year but with raising the prices of stationery and other accessories
necessary for school. Thus, an average notebook costing 30 drams (about 10
cents), on the eve of September 1 became 45-50 drams, a thick notebook from
200 drams became 240-350 drams depending on the quality.
`Outside (of the school) the prices are not low either. For example, last
year in May, I bought a school diary for my son from the school, paying 450
drams (about $1.20), and as for my daughters, I bought diaries for them from
a shop, paying 800 drams (about $2.16) for each,' Hasmik says.
During the recent years the practice of selling their own notebooks is
implemented at many schools of Armenia. In fact, the school does not produce
those notebooks; it simply buys them and resells them to schoolchildren,
suggesting that those are notebooks of high quality and they are handier for
writing.
At many schools of Yerevan in May, when children were going to have their
summer vacations, they were warned not to buy notebooks in September.
In fact, it is possible to buy notebooks at lower prices. There are schools
which do not demand pupils to buy their notebooks, for example, at School #
171, in Avan community, where keen-witted parents manage to spend less money
on stationery.
Nadya Muradyan, 32, spent only 6,000 drams (about $16) on buying notebooks,
a schoolbag and stationery for her seventh-grade son, buying that entire
stuff from one of Yerevan's wholesale markets - Surmalu.
`There, an 80-page notebook costs 60 drams (about 16 cents) less expensive
than in Avan. So I saved 300 drams (about 80 cents) buying five notebooks,'
says Nadya, who also spent less money on clothes - 4,000 drams (about $11).
`My son had shoes, so I did not buy shoes for him. I spent 5,000 drams
(about $13) on books. Thus, totally I spent 15,000 drams (about $40) to send
my son to school,' says Nadya, mother of one schoolchild, presenting the
invoice of her expenses.
Each book, given at school, costs 330-400 drams (about 90 cents to $1). A
parent pays that amount for using the book during the whole education year.
And those books that cannot be found at libraries, are sold at 1,000 drams
(about $3) each, and parents usually have to buy 2-3 such books.
Lusine Adamyan, 28, has already spent 100,000 drams (about $270) to send her
first-grade son to school.
`To tell the truth, I did not expect that I would spend so much money,'
Lusine says. `But he is my first child, I want to buy everything for him, so
I went to a normal shop. I paid 18,000 drams (about $48) for the schoolbag,
25,000 drams (about $67) - for stationery. I bought shoes for 18,000 drams
(about $48), and the suit (his school uniform) was a present, and if it were
not, I imagine how much it would cost. And the education fee for the first
month is 30,000 drams (about $81),' she adds.
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3. Strict Eye on Protocols: Armenia-Turkey dialogue under increasing
Diaspora scrutiny
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan**
ArmeniaNow reporter
Different Diaspora and Armenia-based organizations have expressed their
views and attitudes to the hottest subject of the passing week - a major
step towards reconciliation taken by Armenia and Turkey. Some have shown
quite a tough position on the matter.
On Monday, Armenia, Turkey and their mediator Switzerland announced the
start of `internal political discussions' on two protocols that, if
ratified, will establish diplomatic ties and lay the foundation for
developing bilateral relations between the two historical foes.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a tough statement
on September 1 warning Members of U.S. Congress about `dangers' of `a recent
set of secretly-negotiated, Swiss-brokered, protocols between Turkey and
Armenia.'
`Among the ANCA's primary concerns is that Armenia, blockaded by Turkey and
under intense economic and diplomatic pressure, was forced into accepting
terms that threaten her interests, rights, safety, and future - very notably
in the form of a proposed `historical commission',' wrote ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian.
He also added that `this provision, a tactic long pursued by Ankara to cast
doubt on the historical record of the Armenian Genocide, is intended to
serve Turkey's drive to roll back the growing tide of international
recognition of this crime against humanity.'
(In the annexed document on the implementation of the Protocol on
Development of Relations between Armenia and Turkey, the `Steps to be
Undertaken' include setting up a sub-commission, as part of an
intergovernmental commission, `on the historical dimension to implement a
dialogue with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations,
including an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and
archive to define existing problems and formulate recommendations, in which
Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and other international experts shall
take part.' This provision has been construed and viewed by the Armenian
opposition and main nationalist forces as agreement to debate the Armenian
genocide, i.e. to call it into question.)
Another major American-Armenian advocacy group, the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA), issued a statement on September 2, in which it `views as
encouraging the commitments made by the government of Turkey to normalize
relations with Armenia without preconditions.' But it recalls `Turkey's
ample track record of unfulfilled promises.'
`As such, many remain skeptical as prior governments of Armenia had also
offered to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions only to be
rebuffed,' the Assembly said.
The Assembly reminds that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu `sent
mixed signals' on the same day as the joint statement was released and
`not
only indicated that the opening of the border would be `a long process,' but
also stated that Turkey would guard Azerbaijan's interests.'
(Opposition groups in Armenia, notably the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, have also expressed their growing concerns that the
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement in its current format is a prelude to major
Armenian concessions in the long-running dispute with Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh).
Meanwhile, in Armenia, the think tank founded by former Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian published an analytical piece on Thursday in which it stated
that the released document with its current language does not meet Armenia's
national interests.
According to the Yerevan-based Civilitas Foundation, `a sober evaluation
reveals a dangerous scenario in which Turkey's executive authorities shows
to the world its `goodwill' to improve relations with Armenia, but `as an
established democracy' cannot foist its will on the parliament.'
`It becomes clear already today from reactions of Turkish parliamentarians
that the noise around this document will be big in [Turkish] parliament. And
the Turkish government can easily explain to the international community
that for the document to be ratified in parliament it is necessary that the
Armenian party should make at least certain concessions in the Karabakh
issue and withdraw from territories adjacent to Karabakh,' writes Civilitas.
The think tank suggests that in exchange for diplomatic relations and the
opening of the border with Turkey, Armenia acknowledges with this document
that it has no territorial claims to Turkey and agrees to the
Turkey-proposed establishment of a commission with the involvement of
historians.
`One must try and use the provision that the protocols need parliament
ratification and leave an opportunity of amending the document or rejecting
it through parliament. It would be an irreversible error if the Armenian
authorities, solely out of their desire to save the face of the executive,
ignore the dangers existing in the document,' Civilitas concludes.
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4. Generation gap: Veteran professional sees decline in Armenian feature
film quality
By Karine Ionesyan
Armenia's veteran filmmaker who organizes a youth film festival later this
month sees a declining quality and `amateurism' in feature film production
in Armenia and urges commencing directors to read more.
Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia Ruben Gevorgyants says
the fifth international youth film festival, `I Am', to be held in Yerevan
on September 26-30, will present fewer films (135 instead of more than 200
shown last year), including fewer Armenian films. But he promises a good
choice of foreign-made films at festival shows.
`I cannot say that this festival will be better than the previous one. But
one thing is clear - Armenian films have seen a decline in terms of their
quality,' Gevorgyants says.
Gevorgyants argues that the `amateur nature' of films by young directors
reveals that they dislike reading.
Representative of the younger generation of filmmakers in Armenia, for their
part, blame their elder colleagues for falling short of quality that
deserves to be emulated.
One such young filmmaker David Enfenjyan says commencing professionals get
no assistance either in the form of ideas or funding today. Therefore, he
says, they are left to do what they consider to be right.
`We even do more than is required from us. But often many get discouraged by
the indifference of the older generation and leave the profession,' says
Enfenjyan. `But despite this criticism, I make films and will continue to
make films.'
Gevorgyants, however, sees some good examples of work by older filmmakers.
He, in particular, singles out Hovhannes Galstyan's `Entangled Parallels',
Mikael Dovlatyan's `Landslide' and Suren Babayan's `Don't Look
Into the
Mirror'.
Gevorgyants also contends that more achievements have been made in
documentary production in Armenia and mentions the ongoing production of a
film series on Armenian history. Six episodes of the film have already been
made - from the Stone Age to 301 AD when Armenia embraced Christianity as a
state religion.
`These films must become available for the public and we are going to do
that in the future with a special television program that will be shown on
Armenia TV,' says Gevorgyants.
Gevorgyants, who played a top gangster's character in a serial on the
Armenia TV channel, positively evaluates the production of soap operas in
Armenia. `Of course, I am not satisfied with 80 percent of current
production, but generally I notice a positive shift in this area.'
The head of the Union of Cinematographers thinks that Armenia's Public
Television should not, like other TV channels, show such soap operas, but
instead should focus on national films.
A few days ago, this intention was also voiced by Public Television
Executive Director Armen Arzumanyan, who announced plans to make films based
on works by classics.
Gevorgyants, however, doubts that this intention is realistic, as he sees a
shortage of professionals to realize this goal.
Art critic Armen Yesayants says television air could be used in a better way
and suggests restoring shows of `televised theater plays.'
`They keep using the same people and the same hackneyed programs. You always
hear the same voice,' he says.
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5. Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and `Armenianness'
By Elizabeth Gemdjian
Armenian Assembly of America Intern / Special to ArmeniaNow
My time in Armenia has run out, and as I sit in my home back in America, I
find myself thinking about the extent to which my trip has affected me and
about where Armenia will fit into my life after having come here, lived
here, and worked here.
Though my time in Armenia was brief and really only gave me a glimpse into
the social, political, and economic landscapes of the country, there was
something about being there and seeing things firsthand that made it
difficult to leave. There is a saying - `there must be something in the
water' - that is used to rationalize inexplicable behavior and feelings.
In
Armenia, they admit that the local water makes their fruits and brandy the
best in the world, but I think there must have been something in the water
that made it so hard to leave.
Throughout my trip, I continually encountered questions about my plans to
return to Armenia, whether for a long-term stay, a permanent move, or
short-term visits. Whenever I heard this question, I drew a blank, both
because at this point in my life I do not have concrete plans for my future
and because I am still trying to figure out my place in the confusing web of
Armenian identity.
I started my first `Letter Home' by asking instead of asserting, `Because I
am Armenian?' as a response to questions about why I came to Armenia. Eight
weeks later, I think I am ready to take the question mark off that sentence
and defend my `Armenianness.' Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there
is not one standard definition of an Armenian. Armenian history precludes
such simplification. Rather, we are all forced to acknowledge the diversity
of experience, appearance, location, and even language that makes up
Armenian identity, while also valuing the similarities that bring us all
together and make us feel our unity.
Why shouldn't I consider myself Armenian? Because I was born in America;
because my parents and grandparents were raised in Bulgaria; because I speak
Western Armenian; because I had not visited `the homeland' until
recently? People
can throw many objections at me. However, over and against all those
objections, I feel ready to assert and defend my Armenianness because I
believe that it is precisely the uniqueness of Armenian experience that
allows for a person like me to claim her Armenianness, to feel Armenian, and
to be connected to a country I neither grew up in or visited for most of my
life.
With more Armenians living outside of the country than inside of it, it is
an unavoidable, though perhaps unpalatable feature of Armenian identity to
be more flexible in terms of who qualifies as Armenian. Rather than
difference, division gets us in trouble and impedes us from utilizing each
other. This in-fighting within the Armenian community does nothing to
further the interests of any Armenians and only holds Armenia back from
realizing potential sources of strength and untapped assets waiting to be
discovered through collaboration and cooperation.
While my time in Armenia showed me the persistence of these divisions
between groups of Armenians, it also gave me hope for a future in which
Diasporans, Hayastanzis, Barsquahays, etc. will stop identifying as such and
just be Armenian. It might take some time, but I look forward to the day
when this sense of unity and solidarity will be attained. Until then, I
will continue to assert that I am Armenian, replacing the question with the
imperative - I cannot help but be otherwise.
Elizabeth, 22, is studying anthropology at Columbia University in New York
City, her home. She was in Armenia as part of the Armenian Assembly of
America internship program. She is first generation Armenian-American. Her
immediate family stems from Bulgaria, where her grandparents were moved
following the Armenian Genocide.
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6. Sport: Bosnian challenge for Armenia in WC 2010 qualifier
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Soccer
Armenia are hosting one of World Cup 2010 Group 5 leaders,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, this weekend. The match at the Vazgen Sargsyan
Republican Stadium on Saturday kicks off at 8.00 pm Yerevan time.
The fixture on September 5 is the second match of the two teams in the
current qualifying campaign. In the first played in Bosnia last fall Armenia
lost 1-4.
Armenia have only one point in six matches played in the Group so far and
are bottom in the six-nation group that also includes Spain, Turkey, Belgium
and Estonia.
Besides Bosnia-Herzegovina Armenia are also scheduled to play Belgium and
Spain in Yerevan (Sept. 9 and Oct. 10, respectively), and travel to Turkey
for an away game on October 14.
(So far, the towns of Kayseri, in central Anatolia, and Bursa, in
northwestern Turkey, have been mentioned as possible venues for the Turkey
v
Armenia fixture).
(Reference links: www.ffa.am; www.fifa.com)
Chess
Armenia's top chess player Levon Aronyan will be among the challengers of
the FIDE world championship crown after becoming an early Grand Prix winner
last month.
At the fifth FIDE Grand Prix tournament named after world champion Tigran
Petrosyan and held in the Armenian resort town of Jermuk on August 8-24,
Aronyan placed second and totally scored 500 points in the Grand Prix
series. He thus has become unreachable for opponents regardless of the last
6th tournament in the series to be held in December.
The result also means that the Armenian grandmaster has qualified for a
tournament of contenders for the FIDE world chess crown as the winner of the
Grand Prix series.
(Reference links: www.armchess.am, www.fide.com)
Judo
Two government ministers of Azerbaijan were in Armenia this week to
negotiate the terms of the participation of Azeri athletes in the European
junior judo championships to be held in Yerevan September 11-13, reported
the Armenian Judo Federation.
Azerbaijan's Sport Minister Azad Rahimov and Labor Minister Fizuli Alekperov
(also head of Azerbaijan's judo federation) signed a document with Armenian
counterpart structures on the security of Azeri sportsmen in Armenia.
Representatives of European judo and Olympic structures attended the meeting
in Yerevan on September 2.
No athlete from Azerbaijan has participated in sporting events organized in
Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the war between the two
neighboring countries over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is now expected to
send a 14-member delegation, including 8 sportsmen to Yerevan to compete in
a tournament that is expected to bring together several hundred junior judo
fighters from more than 40 countries of Europe.
At the world judo championships held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in late
August, Hovhannes Davtyan (60 kg) won bronze thus bringing Armenia its first
ever world championship medal in judo, reports www.sportinfo.am.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress