I’m off for the Christmas holidays, so no posting for a few days at least. I want to wish all of you a very happy holiday season. Being an odar myself, I found this page from the website of the Armenian Church useful in explaining the Armenian Christmas tradition.
But of course you all know that. Happy Christmas!
Continuing with the theme of hardship at Christmas, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting shares this article about the village of Vanand in Armavir marz.
Drinking water is worth more than gold here. Ohanes Margarian, a 40-year-old villager, told IWPR that water is brought into the village once or twice a week in churns. “We can’t even drink an extra cup of coffee, let alone have a hot meal,” he said. “Because of lack of water we often have to eat dried food. I believe that the local authorities are to blame that we live in such primitive conditions. They couldn’t care less about us. This is a border village and they can’t be bothered with it.”
Read the full article.
It’s sad to bring up this topic on the eve of the holiday season, but HETQ Online has a story about the homeless of Armenia.
Aram, homeless himself, is a kind of liaison between the homeless and the outside world. Aram graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory, but since he suffered several strokes has been unable to play music. He has a daughter and a son who live with their maternal grandmother. His wife died ten years ago. He can’t stay at the house but from time to time his mother-in-law lets him use the conveniences - to wash, shave, or make phone calls. Ten days ago he told us over the phone that two homeless people were in very bad condition, almost dead. They had frozen while sleeping in the streets.
And they did freeze to death. Their names were Vova, Tamara and Toma.
HETQ Online has a photostory entitled “Immigration and Return”:
It’s a series of photographs taken by Zaven Khachikyan during stays in Switzerland and the Russian region of Krasnodar.
It’s a touching series of pictures of Armenians in their different environments. My favourite is the picture of Karen’s family with their backyard replicas of Mount Ararat and Lake Sevan.
The company I work for has 5 iMacs which we no longer need. I thought of donating these to Armenian schools or a charity that can find a home for them.
Does anyone know who can help with this?
There’s a catch: They have a Japanese Mac OS! My company is willing to pay the shipping cost from Japan to Armenia. Please add a comment below if you can help.
This blog gives an extract about Armenians in Iran. It is taken from a book entitled A Concise History of the Armenian People by George A. Bournoutian. There are some other books about Armenian history from the UCLA Armenian History and Culture Series, such as Armenian Van/Vaspurakan, Armenian Tsopk/Kharpert and Armenians and Russia.
There is also a two volume History of Armenian People (Volume I / Volume II), again by George A. Bournoutian.
A typical newsday in Armenia-world relations:
CHIRAC: TURKEY WILL NEED TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN KILLINGS DURING ENTRY TALKS
US SAYS IT ACKNOWLEDGES ARMENIAN TRADGEDY
ABDULLAH GUL CONSIDERS THAT ISSUES OF OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER AND RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE NOT INCLUDED IN EU CRITERIA
The BBC’s Jonny Dymond (who normally reports from Istanbul and Ankara) has ventured to the east of the country to bring us this look into Turkey’s EU bid.
Kars is a miserable place. Once it was rich; its broad boulevards and the few remaining grand Russian and Armenian traders’ houses are a reminder of days when the city was a prized possession of the Russian empire and trade brought wealth and style.
.
more…
This Armenian group based in Moscow comes highly recommended.
Deti Picasso:
Vocalist Gaya Arutiunian sings songs in Russian and Armenian, astounding the public with the feeling and expression of her performance.
Ancient Armenian chants blend with new forms of guitar Brit pop, with a similarly interesting, if not so ancient, history: the 60’s, Blur and Radiohead…
They have made some of their songs available online to download in mp3 format. I like the track “Im Gala“. (Clicking this link will download the file to your computer)
It’s time for a little shameless self-promotion. Well, promotion of the Blogrel shop, where you can purchase the 2005 Armenia Wall Calendar and other goodies such as mugs, t-shirts, and so on. The photos were taken by me in my favourite spots around Armenia.
Proceeds will go towards paying my hosting costs.
I’ll be travelling through Thessaloniki in northern Greece in May and had heard that there was a sizeable Armenian community there. If anyone has been there or knows anything about the community please let me know.
I’d be interested to see the churches and take some photographs. I have heard there are good Armenian ‘tavernas’ there, which would be interesting to visit.
The International Herald Tribune has this follow-on article about Armenia by Susan Sachs, who wrote the previous piece about Armenia’s youth.
It talks about the “deepening isolation” of Armenia, and lists the closure of the Georgia-Russia border, the successful completion of part of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, and the move to start accession talks for Turkey to join the EU.
“If nothing changes, Armenia will be left as an island,” said Levon Barseghyan, a political activist in Gyumri, a rundown town on the railroad line that was closed by Turkey in 1992. “Everyone will forget about Armenia.
My father went to see the film Vodka Lemon (2003) in London last week. I hadn’t heard about it, or at least it hasn’t reached Tokyo yet.
Apart from the fact that this film is set in a small village in the mountains of Armenia, what caught my attention is that it was directed by Hiner Saleem, an exiled Iraqi Kurd. Of the three films I can find to his credit, another (
Passeurs De Reves) has an Armenian connection, although this film is ostensibly about a young Kurdish couple fleeing their homeland.
more…
For background see here and here:
RFE/RL report that George Najarian, an Armenian-American who claims he has been defrauded out of property in Yerevan, has won a court case he brought against prosecutors who had refused to press formal charges against his former business associate, Grigor Igitian.
According to Najarian’s attorney, Ashot Poghosian, the court recognized his client as a “victim” and ordered the Prosecutor-General’s Office to resume the fraud inquiry. “We are satisfied with the verdict,” Poghosian told RFE/RL. “We regret that things have gotten thus far and hope that the prosecutor’s office will not appeal.
This doesn’t mean he has won his case against Igitian. He has only won the right to prosecute Igitian.
The New York Times (free registration required) has an article about young Armenians who contemplate leaving their country.
“We can fit in anywhere,” she said. “The only place we can’t is Armenia.”
He is one of those nostalgic for an imagined past. Like many of his fellow students, Mr. Simonian, 21, was uncomfortable with what seem to be the country’s choices, integration with Europe or tighter bonds with Russia.
“We are trying to love foreigners too much,” he said.
It’s a familiar refrain. This angst about the future of the country is mixed with differing opinions on how to confront the past.
more…
Sadly, an Armenian and Chaldean church have been attacked in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Smoke billowed from one of the northern city’s Armenian churches and one of its oldest Chaldean churches was ablaze and a wall shattered.
Luckily, no casualties have been confirmed in these attacks.
Read the full article.
A play about the Armenian Genocide is to debut on Broadway, reports Asbarez (Via Pacific News Service)
Armenian-Americans will be doubly compelled to see this play. On a purely human level, the audience must grapple with the complexity of how love enables the most deeply unexpressed feelings to emerge and be potentially healed, while an Armenian audience will connect with the pathos of what many grandparents and great-grandparents endured as they struggled to construct a life in the aftermath of witnessing the vicious destruction of their families.
Read the full story.
TurkishPress.com reports on the opening in Istanbul of the Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital Museum. Attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
Erdogan, who inaugurated the Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital Museum which was renovated by the Armenian Foundation, said that the hospital was established by the Armenians upon the statement of Sultan Mahmud II 172 years ago, and continued to serve patients since then.
Erdogan “thanked” Armenians for their contribution to Turkey.
Read the full article.
Construction of the gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia has started in Agarak, situated on the border. (This comes as Iran and Armenia sign an agreement on a 3rd power line between the two countries.) There is an interesting article (Via Groong) about the village and the economic benefits that the construction may bring.
These benefits include both the income generated from the construction work, and the provision of gas.
Agarak is the farthest settlement from the capital. It is far from it
for over 400 km. Opposite Agarak are the Arax River and the Iranian
highlands. The first wooden cottage was built on the left bank of the
Arax in spring of 1949. That was the beginning of the town’s
construction. Agarak would not have been built if there were no
molybdenum and cupper mines in the surrounding territory of the city
It takes almost a day to reach Agarak from Yerevan, and there is no Armenian television broadcast, no internet, and no mobile telephone service. Still, it’s an evocative place, and stands to benefit from the trade with Iran.
Read the full article.
Powered by WordPress