Jivan Gasparyan Opens Nelson Mandela's Birthday Concert in London
June 27th, 2008. Jivan Gasparyan, the renowned duduk player, was the first performer at Nelson Mandela's 90th anniversary concert held in Hyde Park. London. A constellation of international stars 
participated in the charity event that had attracted more than fifty thousand viewers to Hyde Park and was watched by tens of millions worldwide. Jivan Gasparyan rose to world fame by his masterly performance on the duduk, the Armenian wooden flute, usually made from apricot-tree, especially by playing in scores of internationally acclaimed films, such as The Gladiator. Himself 80 years old this year, Jivan returned to the scene a few acts later to 
perform with Zucchero, the Italian rock singer.
All the five million pounds raised at the concert will go to Mr. Mandela's charity 46664 that aimes at raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the sub-Saharan Africa.
 Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan appointed as new Head of the State Committee for relations with Diaspora of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. June 27, 2008 President Sargsyan signed a decree on appointing Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan as new Head of the State Committee for relations with Diaspora of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. Prior to this appointment, Mrs. Hakobyan, MP from Armenian Republican Party, has been the Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
A new Ministry of Diaspora Affairs is established in Armenia.
June 21st, 2008. President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on establishing a new Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. The decree will come into force from 1st of July, 2008 and the Ministry will become a part of the Government of the Republic of Armenia from 1st of October, 2008.
Ambassador Gabrielyan responds to Norman Stone's letter in the Economist
June 17th, 2008. Ambassador Gabrielyan's piece in the "Letters" section of the Economist refutes Norman Stone's (currently teaching at Bilkent University, Ankara) allegations about the 1915 Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The Ambassdor writes that today most discussions about the international recognition of the Genocide do not really question it, but rather look at the political expediency of the recognition.
To read the letter, please click here.
Ambassador Gabrielyan responds to the Guardian publication on Nagorno Karabakh
June 16, 2008. An article by H.E. Vahe Gabrielyan was published in The Guardian in response to the 7 June 2008 publication on Nagorno Karabakh by Alexandros Petersen “ Negotiating a Black Hole”.
Please click here for the text of the article.
Workshop in Armenian Studies Held in Cambridge
June 7-8, Cambridge. Scholars in Armenian studies convened in King’s College, Cambridge University for a two-day workshop organized by Dr. Bert Vaux, University Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics. Robert Thomson, Galouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies (emeritus), Timothy Greenwood, Lecturer in History, University of St, Andrews, Christina Maranci, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor of Armenian Art, Tufts University, Kristine Rose, Book Conservator, Chester Beatty Library, Elizabeth Redgate, Lecturer in the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University, James Clakson, Senior University Lecturer in Classics, Jesus College, Cambridge and Theo Van Lint, Galouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies, Oxford University contributed to an interesting discussion of a variety of subjects in linguisting, art and related crafts such as book-binding and others
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L-R. J. Clakson(seated), R. Thomson, T. van Lint,K. Rose, B. Vaux and H. Gabrielyan
Dr. Vaux is the author, among many other titles, of the acclaimed book "The Phonolgy of Armenian" and a textbook on Eastern Armenian.
The Ambassador and Mrs. Gabrielyan attended the first day of the discussions.
Mr. Alik Sargsyan appointed new Chief of the Police of the Republic of Armenia.
May 29. Today President Sargsyan signed a decree appointing Mr. Alik Sargsyan new Chief of the Police. A. Sargsyan, 51, has been with the Police since 1982, holding different high-level positions within the system. Since 2000 he has been the Governor of Ararat district of Armenia. With another presidential decree Colonel Alik Sargsyan has been promoted to Major-General of Police.
The 90th Anniversary of the First Republic is celebrated in Armenia
May 28. The Republic Day was celebrated in Armenia on 28th of May, marking the 90th anniversary of the foundation the first Armenian Republic in 1918, also commemorating the anniversary of the heroic battle of Sardarabat.
President Serzh Sarkissian visited the Sardarapat Memorial and participated in the festivities organised on the occasion of the holiday. A wreath laying ceremony, which took place at the Memorial dedicated to the heroes of Sardarapat, was followed by festivities and concert.
International Social Services Fair
May 13-14th. Armenia was again represented at the annual International Social Services Fair (also known as Diplomatic Fair or Sring Fair), a world market showcase of craft and food.
Members of the Armenian House Ladies Committee run the Armenian stall, promoting Armenian produce.
Yvonne Torikian knows from experience what the customers are after.
All proceeds of the Spring Fair go the ISS UK which spends them on a variety of charity purposes.
Victory Day Celebration
May 9th. Alongside with most of the former Soviet countries, Victory Day is annually celebrated and a solemn Remembrance ceremony is held by the Trustees of the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund at the Soviet War Memorial in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, adjacent to the Imperial War Museum, Southwark, London.
As usual, the Armenian Embassy joined the Mayor of Southwark, national and local politicians, British war veternas, diplomatic representatives of several embassies and many other supporters in this Remembrance act and laid a wreath at the memorial for the memory of the victims of World War II.
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Announcements:
Exhibition "Armenian Type Now" - An exhibition of Armenian lettering will be opened in the Wren Library of Lincoln Cathedral from Monday 7th to Saturday 12th of July, 2008. This will showcase the design of letters for the Armenian alphabet: hand lettering, book design and typeface design. Opening event will take place on 5th of July at 4pm with tickets only. All the other days the Exhibition will be opened 11am- 3pm. Admission is free (normal Cathedral entry applies).
The Pan - Armenian Youth Assembly “BAZE- 2008” will be held in the town of Jermuk of Vayots Dzor marz from 11 to 18 July, 2008.
Please click here for the program of “BAZE-2008”.
A ” Pan-Armenian Film Project”, will be launched by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia together with Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival from 13th to-20th July 2008.
Please click here for the program and the list of invited cinematographers.
The Third Pan-Armenian festival of culture “One Nation, One Culture” will be held in the Republic of Armenia as well as in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), from 17th to 23rd August 2008. It will be a festival of fine arts, music, choreography, literature and traditional folk arts. The festival is organised by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the “One Nation, One Culture” foundation.
The festival provides an excellent opportunity to present the worldwide Armenian culture in Armenia, and will serve as a forum for joint discussions on cultural issues.
Individual performers and ensembles, as well as representatives of Armenian cultural organisations are invited to participate.
Please click here for more details and application forms.
The Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Armenia has allocated 70 university scholarships for students from the Armenian Diaspora for the year 2008-2009. The submission dates are from 1st of July to 20th of August 2008, for the post-graduate studies until 30th of September.
Please click here for the application form, the list of professions and the list of educational institutions.
The heads of the media outlets from Armenia and Diaspora are invited to a conference entitled “A Week of Armenian Media” to be held in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia from 16th to 22nd September 2008.
Please click here for the conference program.
An International conference under the auspices of UNESCO will take place in October as the 2008 was declared to be the year of Saroyan. Several dozens of events envisaged by the program time-table will be carried throughout the year in Armenia (Yerevan and regions) and the USA ( Fresno - where the writer was born).
For further information please click here.
The UNESCO Chair- Life Sciences International Postgraduate Educational Center under the auspices of the Government of Nagorno Karabakh is organizing a Pan-Armenian Conference of Biologist dedicated to the 20th anniversary of independence of Artsakh to be held in Stepanakert from 17 to 19 of October 2008.
For more information about the UNESCO Chair- Life Sciences International Postgraduate Educational Center click here.
Please click here for the conference announcement and the application form.
In commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Sardarapat battle, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs; Education and Science; and Trade and Economic Development of Armenia, in association with the "Sardarapat" Memorial-museum, have developed a plan of a pan-Armenian guide tour - "To Sardarapat, the cradle of victories". Guided excursions are organized, including to the memorial-museum "Sardarapat" from April 1 to December 31, 2008.
The annual training courses of the Armenian language and literature for teachers working outside Armenia will be organized by the Ministry of Education and Science this year from July 18th to August 16th in Yerevan. For more information on the event and to download the application form, please click here.
Evening on the Sardarapat and Shushi Victories
May 10th. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the battle of Sardarapat and the 16th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi, the K. Tahta Armenian Sunday School, in collaboration with the Embassy of Armenia in London, organised a commemorative evening. Headteacher RuzannaTatulyan opened the evening by introducing the keynote speaker, Prof. Ashot Melkonyan, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and by emphasizing his scholarly achievements. Ambasador Gabrielyan spoke of the historic significance of the two victories and and described Prof. Melkonyan not only as an accomplished scholar but also as a person who is in love with every single part of modern and ancient Armenia.
Professor Melkonyan gave a detailed and pasionate account of the two events and aptly presented the historical and international realities in place during both events. He then answered numerous questions from the audience. The evening was completed by screening of a film about Mount Ararat.
New Government of Armenia finalized
21 April, 2008, President Serzh Sargsyan signed decrees introducing changes in the structure of the Government (Cabinet) and appointing several ministers by which the Cabinet is now fully formed. The Ministry of Trade and Economic Development was reorganized into the Ministry of Economy (Minister Nerses Yeritsyan keeping his job) while Ministry of Finance and Economy becoming Ministry of Finance (with the former head of the Armenian Development Agency, Tigran Davtyan, becoming its new head). In a major shift, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Territorial Administration Hovilk Abrahamyan and Chief of President's Staff Armen Gevorgyan traded places. A new Ministry for Civil Contingencies was created.
For the full structure of the Government (Cabinet) please click here.
Armenian team in the first place by number of medals won at the European Weight-Lifting Championship
21 April, 2008. The European Weight-Lifting Championship ended in the Italian city of Lignano. Armenian sportsman Ara Khachatrian (77 k, city of Gyumri) won one gold and one bronze medal. Tigran V. Martirosian (85 kg, Gyumri) won three gold medals. Edgar Gevorgian (94 kg, city of Vanadzor) won a silver medal. Meline Daluzian (63 kg, Gyumri) and Nazik Avdalian (69 kg, Gyumri) fought in the women tournament. Meline and Nazik took first place, receiving one big and two small gold medals in their respective categories.The national team of Armenia won 17 medals: 13 golds, 3 silvers and one bronze at the European Weight-Lifting Championship and took first place by the number of medals won by the national teams. |
