The widow of writer Gurgen Mahari is too proud to ask for assistance despite hard times

“It hurts me when people say, ‘We respect her because she’s the wife of Gurgen Mahari’. If I can’t be appreciated on my own, then I have no need for the name of anyone else, if I have nothing of value that commands respect,” said Antonina Mahari, the wife of noted Armenian writer and poet Gurgen Mahari. »»»»»

Will Erhan Arik Succeed in Pricking the Conscience of Fellow Turks?

Erhan Arik was born in Ardahan, Turkey, and lived there till he turned thirteen. His ancestors were Meskhetian Turks who hail from the region now known as Samtskhe-Javakheti in southern Georgia. Erhan now lives in Istanbul but visits Ardahan every year. He has many close Armenian friends. »»»»»

Charles Lonsdale: “Not only open borders, but more open atmosphere in Armenia”

“I look back now and recall that there was a big sport field behind our house and how we used to run there. When I compare this to Yerevan I see how little opportunities there are for Armenian kids to play outside and then I really appreciate my childhood, how happy and lucky we were”, Charles Lonsdale remembers his childhood. »»»»»

29 year-old Mariam Harutyunyan, who sells women’s jeans and clothing accessories in s store called “Fashion Time” was charged with credit card fraud back in February 2009 after an investigation by the RoA National Security Service. She was indicted with using fake bank cards to withdraw and then launder large sums of cash from automated teller machines in Armenia. »»»»»

An exhibition entitled, “The Armenian Genocide-95 Years Later, In Remembrance”, will be on display at the University of Rhode Island’s Feinstein Providence Campus Gallery during the month of April.

The exhibition will display works of 47 professional artists and over 100 school-age children from local Armenian schools. The show will reflect impressions and understanding of the Genocide and aims equally to showcase the survival, achievements, and contributions of the Armenian people and culture. For more information: www.armeniangenocide95years.com.

Tomorrow, bailiffs from the Compulsory Enforcement Service are scheduled to evict the family of Anna Pamboukhchyan form their house on Nor Aresh Street.

What happened is that Sonia Tovmasyan, who resides in the U.S., filed a court suit claiming that her brother’s wife, Anna, had illegally taken possession of the house. The court ruled in favour of Tovmasyan. »»»»»

The “Orinats Yerkir Party” (Rule of Law) has officially confirmed that the RoA Minister of Transport and Communication Gurgen Sargsyan and the RoA Minister of Emergency Situations Mher Shahgeldyan, both party members, have been dismissed.

Party Press Secretary Susanna Abrahamyan has said that Manuk Vardanyan will be nominated as Minister of Transport and Communication and Armen Yeritsyan as the Minister of Emergency Situations. Artur Baghdasaryan, leader of Orinats has said that he will hold a press conference tomorrow.

During 2009, there were 1,238 drug related crimes and 130 legal infractions reported by the RoA Organized Crime Division.

This is a marked rise from the 763 crimes and 22 infractions reported during 2008.

The Speed Art Museum in Kentucky, USA, has opened an exhibition devoted to photographer Yousuf Karsh as part of its “The Most Famous People in the World” series to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Karsh’s birth in the eatern Anaatolian town of Mardin.

Included in the exhibition are many of the best known portraits of the era’s most illustrious faces displayed alongside rarely seen earlier photographs that reveal how Karsh learned his craft. »»»»»

Christer Asp, Sweden’s ambassador to Turkey, says that protests against Sweden were still underway on Saturday in some Turkish cities, following large demonstrations outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul in the wake of last week’s vote in the Swedish parliament to recognize the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

He added that his post box was over flowing with hate mail and letters indicating Swedish business interests have been affected by the dispute, this according to The Local, a Swedish newspaper. »»»»»

On March 11, the U.S. Postal Service issued the Arshile Gorky postage stamp, based on the artist’s 1944 painting “The Liver in a Cock’s Comb.” It will be the first of a series of stamps being unveiled on March 11 by the US Postal Service honoring abstract expressionists. »»»»»

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Sweden condemned on Saturday a vote in the Swedish parliament that defined the early 20th-century killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, reports Reuters

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who is holding informal talks with foreign ministers including Turkey’s Ahmet Davutoglu in northern Finland, said he was upset by the vote and concerned it could affect Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. »»»»»

By Nathan Hegedus

Yes, you read the headline right- the Ottoman Empire.  And yes, it is making Obama’s life miserable eighty-eight years after its unceremonious dissolution.

For six hundred years, the Ottomans straddled Europe and Asia, stretching from Algiers to the Persian Gulf to the gates of Vienna. It was a colossus, the last and maybe greatest center of political authority in the Muslim world. »»»»»

The United States issued its 2009 “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” on March 11. According to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “The reports released today are a record of where we are. They provide a fact base that will inform the United States’ diplomatic, economic and strategic policies toward other countries in the coming year.” Here are some excerpts from the Armenia report.

Freedom of Speech and Press

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the government did not always respect these rights in practice. There continued to be incidents of violence, intimidation, and self-censorship against and in the press throughout the year. »»»»»

“For 95 years Turkey has been denying the fact of the 1915 Genocide”

Below is the text of an interview given by RoA President Serzh Sargsyan to the newspaper Le Figaro during his recent trip to France. It is taken from the official website of the RoA Presidency.

Why has the Armenian-Turkish process of normalization entered a deadlock?

We have a history of thorny relations. For ninety-five years Turkey has been denying the fact of the Genocide perpetrated against the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. When I invited the President of Turkey to Armenia to watch the football game between our two national teams, my point was to promote the establishment of relations between our countries without preconditions. »»»»»

Earlier today, the RoA Ambassador to Russia, Oleg Yesayan, met with His Holiness Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and finalized arrangements for the visit of His Holiness Kirill to Armenia at the invitation of His Holiness Karekin II.

His Holiness Kirill I is scheduled to visit Armenia from Marc 16-18.

Attorney Hayk Alumyan has told Hetq that on March 23, the RoA Administrative Court will review the suit drafted by a group of environmental organizations seeking to halt mining in the Teghut forest.

The court had refused to hear the suit, arguing the plaintiffs were professionally not suitable to argue the merits of the case. The court partially reversed its decision and has only allowed the group “EcoDar” to act as plaintiff.

A Polish delegation headed by the Prime Minister Donald Tusk, arrived in Armenia today on a one day official visit.

During the official reception at the Presidential Palace, RoA President Sargsyan noted that Armenian-Polish relations have great potential and that Armenia wishes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres. “There are two very important bases for it – the positive relations between our peoples and the Eastern Partnership Program co-authored by Poland,” President Sargsyan said. »»»»»

By a vote of 131 to 130 on Thursday evening, the Swedish Parliament has characterized the massacres of Armenians. Assyrians and Pontic Greeks by Ottoman Turkey as ‘genocide”

 As expected, Turkey condemned the decision of the Swedish Parliament. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Sweden for consultations and said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled his planned visit to Sweden on March 17. »»»»»

On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch bestowed the Women of Courage Award to Mariam Sukhudyan, a young Armenian human rights activist and a leader of SOS Teghut, an environmental defense organization.

“This award recognizes an Armenian woman who has demonstrated exceptional courage, innovation, and leadership in the pursuit of equality, opportunity, and justice,” Ambassador Yovanovitch declared at yesterday’s ceremony at the U.S. Embassy. »»»»»

His Holiness, Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia, held a meeting today with members of the Armenian Genocide Commemoration central organizing committee, comprised of representatives of the three Armenian communities and political parties in Lebanon.

Catholicos Aram I specifically directed the members to underline the need for national unity in their activities to mark the 95th  anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, as well as Turkey’s continued policy of denial. His Holiness declared that international recognition of the events of 1915 as “genocide” is more vital than ever.

On March 23, the Administrative Court of the RoA will hold the first hearing of a suit brought by the group “EcoDar” regarding the Armenian government’s go-ahead to develop and operate a mine in Teghut.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the government’s decision to allow the Armenian Copper Programme, a subsidiary of the Vallex Group, to operate a copper and molybdenum mine in the forested area of northern Armenia. »»»»»

The appeal hearing brought by Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan, seeking to overturn a district investigator’s decision to drop slander charges against the newspaper “Azatamtutyun”, wrapped up today at the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court.

MP Postanjyan is appealing the decision of Central District Investigator Ashot Mkhitaryan to drop slander charges against the newspaper. Investigator Mkhitaryan found that the newspaper’s reporters had merely presented their evaluation of MP Postanjyan’s professional activities and that they had no intention of defaming her. »»»»»

By Vadim Ryzov

Rebel Land: Unraveling The Riddle Of History In A Turkish Town originated from an error. In a 2001 New York Review Of Books piece about Turkey’s history, Christopher de Bellaigue stated in passing that the deaths of Armenians in Turkey during the 1890s and the infamous genocides of 1915 were aberrations rather than a calculated, coordinated, state-endorsed effort.

Many letters of outrage later, he realized he’d gotten his information “only from Turkish or pro-Turkish authors.” »»»»»

Kapan’s outlying neighborhood of Barabatum has gone without its own garbage dump for many years. Residents throw their trash out wherever they please, usually in nearby ravines or roadside gullies.

One of these convenient dumps is situated near the municipal cemetery. To read more in Armenian and see some truly disturbing photos go to Banali.hetq.am

During the first two months of 2010, officials with the Compulsory Enforcement Service of Court Decrees seized 1.554 billion AMD in cash as compared to the 375 million in took during the same period in 2009.

Officials say that the 400% rise is due to the number of writs being issued based on non-payment claims by banks and credit agencies. Collection rates have gone up as well, from 55% last year to 70% this year.

By Vartan Oskanian

YEREVAN – Will Turkey’s current turmoil between Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdoğan and the country’s powerful army complicate and delay the country’s boldest initiatives in years – the moves to address decades-old tensions with both Armenians and Kurds? »»»»»

Those who opposed Genocide Bill must not be reelected,  says Harut Sassounian

It was bad enough that Pres. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had failed to keep their campaign pledge to reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide.

They sunk to a new low last week, when Mrs. Clinton announced that she and the President opposed adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution by the full House, following its passage by the Foreign Affairs Committee. »»»»»

RoA President Serzh Sargsyan, on the first day of his official visit to France, toured a display of renowned French-Armenian artist Jean Jansem’s works at the Matignon Gallery, Paris.

Jean Jansem (Semerjian) was born in 1920 in Seuleuze (Asia Minor), spent his childhood his childhood in Salonika, Greece, and arrived in France at the age of 11 when he took up painting. »»»»»

Michael Vardanyan, Armenia’s newly appointed permanent representative to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization presented his credentials to BSEC Secretary General Leonidas Chrisanthopoulos.

Mr. Vardanyan stressed the importance Armenia attached to participating in the activities of the BSEC. At the meeting urgent issues of cooperation and the future of the Armenia-BSEC partnership were covered.