Category Archives: Armenia

Moscow’s fruit stalls become frontline of a border skirmish 2,000 miles away

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New violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan has provoked anger and boycotts throughout the two countries’ diasporas

When Saribek Gevorkyan heard reports that Food City, a vast food distribution centre owned by entrepreneurs from Azerbaijan, had suddenly blocked Armenian farmers and turned away 50 truckloads of fresh apricots, he took action. He offered space for free in his own shopping centre to the farmers, helping to host a fruit rescue mission that its organisers have dubbed “Operation Apricot”.

“We told our friends that in the Russian Federation nobody can close their doors to us Armenians,” boomed Gevorkyan, the owner of the Shelkovy Put (“Silk Way”) shopping centre. “The Russian Federation is open for everyone to come here, make money, and sell goods.”

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Turkey’s ‘last Armenian village’ displays heritage that survived genocide

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More than century on, descendants of survivors who returned home open a museum to celebrate and preserve their culture

Vakifli, a village in Hatay, the small wedge of Turkey sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the border with Syria, has the melancholy honour of being known as the country’s “last Armenian village”.

These days, it is home to just 100 people, but Vakifli’s orange groves and traditional stone houses are rich with history. Every summer, thousands of visitors in search of a connection to their Armenian past descend on the tiny village to visit its church, buy locally made jams and soap, and listen to the West Armenian dialect.

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Relatives of Armenian axed to death by Azeri officer call for justice

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ECHR is examining actions of Hungary and Azerbaijan over release of killer Ramil Safarov

Relatives of a murdered Armenian army officer killed with an axe by an Azerbaijani counterpart on a Nato training programme in Budapest are hoping the European court of human rights will hand down rulings against Hungary and Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

Gurgen Margaryan was murdered in February 2004 by Ramil Safarov, while both men were attending a three-month Nato English-language training course in the Hungarian capital.

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Speech that led to death threats against an Armenian trans activist – video

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Armenia’s first passport-registered transgender woman has received death threats following an impassioned parliamentary speech. Lilit Martirosyan became the first member of the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community to take to the parliamentary podium, speaking out against discrimination at a session before the committee on human rights. The speech, delivered a fortnight ago, has sparked a vicious backlash in Armenia, where homosexuality has been decriminalised but discrimination against LGBTI people remains rife 

Armenian MPs call for trans activist to be burned alive after historic speech

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Armenian MPs call for trans activist to be burned alive after historic speech

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Landmark parliamentary address on LGBTI discrimination challenges reformist agenda of post-revolution government

Armenia’s first registered transgender woman has received death threats after making a historic speech in her country’s national assembly.

Lilit Martirosyan became the first member of her country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community to take to the parliamentary podium, speaking out against discrimination at a session of its committee on human rights. A video of the speech has been shared around the world.

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Superyachts and private schools: Britain’s dirty money problem

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Russian money – some legitimate, some the proceeds of fraud – was channeled through a Lithuanian bank into the UK, according to a major leak of banking documents. The Guardian’s Juliette Garside has been investigating for months and describes how Prince Charles and some of England’s most exclusive schools have benefited. Plus: Ben Beaumont-Thomas on the legacy of the Prodigy’s Keith Flint

The leak of more than 1m bank transactions has shown how an estimated $4.6bn (£3.5bn) was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania.

The Guardian’s Juliette Garside has been investigating the network and where the money ended up. She tells India Rakusen that money linked to major Russian fraud cases was laundered with funds from legitimate enterprise, making it impossible to trace the original source. It could then be spent on luxury goods, private school fees and property.

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Banking leak exposes Russian network with link to Prince Charles

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Exclusive: investigation reveals how Troika Dialog channelled $4.6bn to Europe and US

A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal.

Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin’s presidency.

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US House of Representatives approves funding for Artsakh de-mining

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Armenpress News Agency , Armenia September 8, 2017 Friday US House of Representatives approves funding for Artsakh de-mining YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted September 7 an amendment by Rep. David Valadao backing continued Congressional appropriations for the HALO Trust's life-saving de-mining across the interior farmlands and villages of the Artsakh Republic, the Armenian National Committee of America told ARMENPRESS.

California Courier Online, December 15, 2016

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Turkish and Azeri circles were displeased with my latest column where I had analyzed Vice President-elect Mike Pence's phone call to Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan. 's Trend news agency published a ridiculous article by Elmira Tariverdiyeva, titled: "Yerevan's failed phone call or why Trump did not respond."

Local author details Canada’s response to the Armenian genocide

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The trauma of genocide threads through Aram Adjemian's life: he grew up in the shadow of the Armenian genocide, he pursued the topic academically, he met his wife at a genocide conference, and it is the subject of his first book, The Call from Armenia: Canada's Response to the Armenian Genocide. It documents Canadians' interest in the Armenian people through missionary involvement, the consequent fundraising for Armenian relief, governmental action, and Armenian immigration and support in Canada.