Still no progress in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Although the Minsk Group Co-Chairs often visit this conflict zone of Caucasus and run negotiations, during the last 4-5 months many Armenian soldiers were killed along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh.

Periodical ceasefire violations are committed by Azerbaijani forces. As the violations continue in the conflict zone and there is no progress in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks, Baku goes on with threats of force solution.

Last month during a summit in Kazan City presidents Serzh Sarkisian, Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev discussed this issue, but seems negotiations failed.

After the meeting in Kazan Ilham Aliyev was asked by Euronews journalist, "What is Azerbaijan prepared to give in the case of withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh? Is Azerbaijan offering something in return?"

Aliyev, " Actually we don't have to give anything back for something that belonged to us in the first place. Nagorno-Karabakh is a historic land of Azerbaijan and internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan".

Let me remind a piece of history here. Nagorno-Karabakh was first settled by Noah's descendants. In the 5th century ruler Aran was appointed to be the first governor of the territory. Armenian historiography author Movses Khorenatsi name of it Aran the ancestor inhabitants of Artsakh and Utik, the descendant of Sisak, the ancestor and eponym of Syunik and finally the descendant Hayk, the ancestor and eponym of all Armenians.

During the 13-14th centuries the territory was called Kingdom of Artsakh or Khachen. In 1730, after the death of David Bek, the ruler of Artsakh (Karabakh), Turkish tribes managed to dominate most of the territory of Artsakh and in the late 50s they proclaimed the Khanate of Karabakh.

This comes to prove that in 1994 Armenians just liberated Artsakh, which historically belonged to Armenians.

And what is most amazing, is the aggressive and intolerable attitude and behavior of young Azerbaijanis.

The Caucasus Triangle Movie

After a long period of absence I'm back, the cause was my over-business. However during this time a lot of things and ideas were born and stayed in my head.

A few weeks ago I learned about this movie "The Caucasus Triangle", which is a documentary on youth media and democracy in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Director of this documentary is Letizia Gambini and the film was produced in 2011.

http://vimeo.com/23790146

The focus is mainly on Azerbaijan, but it is definitely worth watching.

Starring are Gor Baghdasaryan, Onnik Krikorian, Alexander Arzoumanyan, Robert Arzoumanyan. The film touches such issues as human rights, youth activism, culture and politics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

I strongly recommend to watch this documentary. Though I would like the director to go deep into problems in these conflict zones.

New Year celebrations - The Armenian Way

crosspost from my blog.

The New Year celebration is one of the most anticipated holidays for an Armenian family.
Through the years, the traditions and customs are being kept but also a bit modernized :) Some of the customs come from Soviet times, they are quite similar to the ones in Russia and former USSR, but some are typical only in Armenia. Families with modest means and low income do their best to save money for New Year table. People even do more than they can afford, since it's believed that "You'll spend the year just the way you've welcomed it" and also people will be welcoming guests the following days, so the table has to be as "rich" as possible.
The preparations start weeks before the New Year. People start attacking the food stores and supermarkets, trying to do the shopping beforehand, since the last days many things become more expensive (others like to leave everything till the last moment and the shop owners are earning on it).

The Table
One of the most anticipated New Year table "accessories" is the pork leg. It has become one of the main symbols of the holiday and there are already many jokes connected to that "cult" - like the question "how days in advance do you buy the pork?" asked to everybody or the greeting "happy pork holidays!". It costs about 100$ for an 8-10 kg piece. The recent years, some families that are trying to be original, are replacing the pork with turkey or some fish. In my family, we never betray this tradition since for my father, the pork is a "must-have" and traditionally my mother cooks it the best way. So the pork in our home is something to try out at the new year ;)

a typical table at new year - my uncle's house example

Other traditional things for the table are meat snacks (ham, basturma, sujukh), various salads ("stolichnyj", "olivier", chicken breast with nuts or mushrooms and other), …

On the table you can find pastry (mostly eastern ones - with sweet honey syrup and nuts, since they can stay eatable longer because there's no milk cream), fruits (orange, apples, pomegranate, bananas, grapefruits),   various nuts (pistachio, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, etc...), and the sweet sudjukh - walnuts, threaded and soaked in thick syrup of grape or mulberry juice. Dried sweet snacks from all kinds of fruits (sometimes also vegetables) is also a must-have for the table. Apples, blackberry, peach, apricot, pear, prunes, watermelon, cherries, etc... (my friend's granny makes sweet dried carrots !)

 

Dried fruits on our table

on the left - Հոն (couldn't find its name in English and even in Russian for translating), apricots on top, peaches on bottom and watermelon slices on the right, figs in the middle.

 

Sudjukh on the top, sweet dried figs on the left and dried prunes

For the bread we usually put Armenian thin lavash since it lasts longer fresh. For about a week we don't do any shopping (actually we wouldn't be able to do it since the stores are closed), so all that days we are eating the food prepared in advance. Many people's stomachs won't easily survive this holiday.

 

my favorite eastern pastry on our table

it's Pakhlava on the top (eastern pastry with walnut stuffing and honey) and "rshta halva" on the bottom (again with walnuts and honey)

There's an unannounced competition among the families and housewives - whose table will be richer and more original?. In addition to the traditional dishes, my mother also makes "chicken Kiev" cutlets, and traditional "Ishli kyufta" - chopped meat of different kind - stuffed one in another. Usually meat-stuffed pancakes are also an important part of the new year table, as well as traditional Armenian Dolma made by grape leaves.
No female family member can skip from the responsibility of making these preparations (cutting vegetables, rolling dolmas, and baking pankaces).

The House
The preparations are not only for the table, but also for the house. A very important tradition for Armenians is cleaning out the house. These days girls are going upstairs on the stairs cleaning chandeliers and ceilings, also tops of wardrobes, cupboards and other wall units. This tradition is believed to be very important so that the house have to be totally ready to enter the new year clean. If you call an Armenian house on the last days of December, be sure that if you ask what are they doing, they must be either cleaning, or cooking :)

So the new year is traditionally being met with the family. In some families women are busy preparing the table and cleaning the house up to the last minutes of the year. Then we are watching the Catholicos' and President's speeches, watching the Republic Square clock ticking. With the ticking, we raise glasses, say toasts, wishes and start eating :) pork, salads etc...

Later some close relatives may arrive. Some families meet the new year also with the Moscow time (1 hour later), since Russian TV channels are very popular in Armenia and we watch also Russian president's speeches, compare them with ours' :D

Then the fuss with phone calls begins. You have to be very lucky to be able to make a call or have your sms delivered. The telephone operators have the most extensive traffic load this night. It's also funny getting sms from unknown numbers with standard phrases "happy new year, i wish you happiness".
Also, during all the holiday days, with all congratulations and wishes that one is saying to another, one very meaningless and stupid question is being asked always ! It's "How did you spend the New Year?". Of course, it's not about spending upcoming the year, but about the holiday, and you should really do something notable to tell since that question is just un-skippable.

For the recent years it has become a tradition to meet the new year in Tsakhkadzor (a small town that became a winter resort, about 30 mins from Yerevan). All the guest houses and hotels are already fully booked before October! Most of the venues have their new year eve celebration show mandatory to attend and included in the price. It's nice when families can arrange to rent a house with their friends families and spend a week in this popular winter resort, enjoying the snow, skiing and climbing the mountains with the ropeway.

Some families go to the restaurants for the night, where the Armenian pop stars start visiting the whole night. It's their most packed season :)

New Year eve's TV shows of Armenian channels become more and more professional each year and you can notice that their budgets also increase by each year. But still if you switch the channels that night, you'll see the same pop stars singing the same hits :( The most popular shows are humorous films and recordings from previous year's humorous films.

Guest/Host or "tun-tunik"
The next day the holiday routine begins… endless visits and guest welcoming. It lasts from January 1 till 7-8. Families start visiting each other, one after another. In a day on average 3-4 visits are being completed, some people manage to visit more! It's kind of annoying but you may visit the families that visited you, just the next day. I wonder, are there so many things to talk and discuss ? :) On each visit, everybody has to try all the dishes that the hosts have prepared, even if it's your 5th ishli qyufta or pork ham slice. They will insist badly and you won't resist :D

a family visit :) at my uncle's

There's some kind of a priority system for the visits - the first two days are mainly for the close relatives and on Jan.1 it is required to visit houses where somebody has died that year.

Armenian Christmas
Armenian Christmas is being celebrated on Jan. 6. On the eve, people usually go to the church and bring consecrated fire from there (lighted candle that will clean the house from dark spirits). On the Christmas day families gather to eat rice prepared with dried fruits or raisins, eat fish and drink wine. No meat is allowed. Then some people visit a church and light a candle again.
The next day of the main church holidays (including Christmas) is called "merelots" and that day people visit the graves of their relatives. From 2008, all the "merelots" days are declared non-working and are replaced by the nearest Saturdays in the week.

In Armenia the Christmas is not as much anticipated and celebrated as the new year's eve, but i guess it depends on the family traditions.

about "Manana" youth educational-cultural center (Armenia)

Yesterday I went to the opening of the photo exhibition of "Manana" youth educationa-cultural media center's students at Naregatsi Art Center.

"Manana" center is my native organization. 10 best years of my life were connected to it :) first, I was a student of the journalism, photography and filmmaking clubs, then - a teacher of Web design and computer skills.

"Manana" non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1995. The center brings together people of different ages and interests, who are all educators, irrespective of their main profession, and are deeply concerned with children's issues. Throughout these years Manana has been working towards the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of the children. Different years there have been Journalism, Photography, Film making, English language, Painting, Animation, Handicraft, Computer skills, Web design and Debate clubs...

The Center started its activities literally from nothing. It began in a one-room apartment where the first classes took place on the floor. There was no in-kind or financial support, and no expectations to ever acquire any. The deep awareness of the importance of this new undertaking, and the sheer enthusiasm of the teachers, were the basis of everything. The Center's most valuable resource today still lies in its talented and devoted members, volunteers, parents, and students, whose numbers grow each year.

As for me, the uniqueness of Manana is that it's not just teaching-learning like courses of journalism, etc. It's a learning-by-doing method with elements of peer-to-peer education. The kids have opportunity to publish their works, so they are working on the "products" themselves.
For example, they need to publish a newspaper. Apart from writing articles, stories, interviewing different people and making the photo & graphic illustrations for own articles, they are also learning how to make the layout of the newspaper, how to publish them on the website, how to translate etc... same with the films and other products.

The teachers are mostly the alumni of Manana. Like me :) This fact makes the classes (club meetings) more comfy and effective. The kids see that we are enthusiastic for helping them in their learning and they help us too.

The children of Manana have the unique opportunity to develop their talents and to realize own capabilities. They get the opportunity to participate in many international & local events, travel, explore and experience things that are usually not available to average Armenian schoolchildren.
Manana is open to youngsters from 8 to 16 y.o. that can contribute their time and skills. Clubs' meetings take place in the afternoon, after the kids come from their schools. Each club usually meets once a week, for 1.5 hours. For some years, I used to be in "Manana" for almost everyday after my classes, participating in all clubs' works.

"Manana" is non-commercial and the participation in the clubs is free, so it's accessible to kids from families with limited possibilities. Currently "Manana" is being funded by Tufenkian Charitable foundation and Paros Foundation, and throughout the years it has received support from different individuals that were helping to get the needed technical equipment - computers, cameras, editing hardware and software etc...

I like it also that there's always a very cozy and nice atmosphere... always lots of work, lots of upcoming events and achievements. It's difficult to name all the awards, certificates and recognition that "Manana" has gained throughout these years since it's a veeeeeeeery long list!
We have participated in numerous film festivals, photo exhibitions.. stories have been published in many magazines and websites...
"Manana" is a full member of European Youth Press, CIFEJ.

Our old website with the works is here: www.mibanasem.com. ("Mi ban asem" means- "I got to tell you something")

Just the fact that Manana is more known abroad than in Armenia is a bit confusing...

I can definitely say that if not my involvement in Manana, I won't be the same person. I learned so many things, met so many people and seen so many things there that I just cannot describe my gratitude... it's simply invaluable.
As you can guess, there are so many things you can live in 10 years... but imagine when it's so active, different, interesting and fun?!
I have a huge collection of photos of Manana....I want to share with you some of them...

  

  

 My first months in Manana. 1997

my fav. room in Manana. children working on collages. 2004

  

trip to Dilijan/Haghartsin 2004

On Aragats mountain. 2005

Armenian chess players won Gold at the Chess Olympiad 2008!

We won! Moreover, we defended our chempion status ! (Armenia won Gold the previous Chess Olympiad 2006 in Torino too).

photo from armenianow.com

Here's our team:

• Levon Aronyan
• Vladimir Hakobyan
• Gabriel Sargissian
• Tigran L. Petrosyan (who was my classmate for some short period)
• Artashes Minasian

During the final round, Armenia's only win came on board four where Tigran L. Petrosyan beat Chinese Li Chao.
Thank you Tigran and others!

And here's a nice photo report from the finals.

photo from the Chess Olympiad in Dresden official website

...and if you watch statistics of winners by each year in the wikipedia, you'll notice that USSR and post-soviet countries were almost in no competition for the recent decades.

For the second consecutive Olympiad, top-seed Russia failed to take a medal. From 1952 to 2004, they (and their predecessor the Soviet Union) never finished below second place.  (Guardian)

a new park in Yerevan

On the background of the disappearing parks (pressed by countless cafes) in the center of Yerevan, this is a big event !!! We have a brand-new park! On the place of the former "Pushkin park" located on top of the "Marshal Baghramyan" metro station (where my granny used to take us for carousels in my early childhood), a new one was built, with totally new landscape design. It was under construction since 2005 and the opening ceremony took place on October 17 with the participation of the president of Armenia and many foreign guests. Now it has a new name - "Lovers' park".

As the official site states:

The Lovers’ Park Landscaping and Design Project is an initiative undertaken by the Boghossian Foundation in collaboration with the Armenia Fund. The project is not merely a reconstruction initiative; it is a renovation project which also insures the sustainable maintenance of the park.

Japanese traditional landscaping has been a major source of inspiration for the Lover’s Park Landscaping and Design Project.

The design for the reconstruction of the new Lovers’ Park has been created by Pierre Rambach, a well known landscape architect based in Switzerland and the author of many books and articles on Japanese and Eastern gardens.
...
The best lighting specialists have worked on the park. As well as general lighting throughout the park, there will be decorative lighting to highlight stone compositions and sculptures.

Some facts and figures.
The park has:

• 4 waterfalls
• 370 trees
• 16 felled trees (3 dried trees have been kept for decorative purposes)
• Amphitheater with 215 seats
• 26 stone compositions
• 214 lights
• 83 garbage bins
• 5 shaded pavilions
• A public toilet
• A small pool for kids
• The park has been designed with the needs of physically challenged people in mind.

I was walking there with my friend, exploring the park, noticing details and trying to criticize. Both me and my friend have been to different parks in Europe and have been dreaming to have something similar in Yerevan too. One of the shortcomings is the restriction to step on the grass. We would like to be able to sit or lay there and read a book!

We were walking there around 7-8 in the evening and while it has been already quite dark for half an hour, the lights weren't still on, I was even wondering if they had the lights there at all, since they weren't noticeable. But when we were about to leave it, they turned them on! It was very beautiful, as you can see in the photos. Luckily I took my tripod so I was able to make these shots.

Also, we didn't like the fact that it was too much crowded and it was hard to walk there. Well, it's understandable - only the 2nd day, and the rumor had it. Hopefully the crowd will decrease in the upcoming weeks. One more thing is that, in my humble opinion, it wasn't that "green". I would like to see more trees there, bushes, flowers... as it has a lack of privacy for lovers :)

However, this is a very nice park to come sometime in Sunday mornings and have a small picnic with friends :) (at least)

I ♥ Yerevan !

"Rock the borders" regional rock festival in Yerevan, Armenia

September 28 was the coldest day in Yerevan since the March I guess… It was raining round the clock and stopped close to the evening of Sunday. Luckily it stopped, because the rock festival that was widely advertised - had to take place in a park, under an open sky.
Bands from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey and Italy, and Armenian bands like Stryfe, Dogma, Vortan Karmir, were announced to be playing. In my memory, this was the biggest ever event of this type in Armenia. Italian band "Sadist" was among the most anticipated ones, since they are quite famous among metal music fans.

I haven't been at rock concerts for a while… some 4-5 years ago I wasn't missing any :) during this one I realized how much I did grow up since then :D
Most of the attendees were teenagers - under the influence of emo, gothic and other subcultures like these. To me it was unusual seeing this much Armenian teenagers with tattoos and piercings. Some years ago these people were quite rare and they were getting much more attention than these young people now. Alternative culture is becoming more and more popular here year by year… When it was my 'age' of attending rock concerts, the 'weirdest' people were guys with long hair and girls wearing large and rude boots, a lot of

Outstanding was fact of the presence of Turkish band "Northern Lights", taking into account the fact of a long-term Turkish-Armenian conflict, and the absence of diplomatic relations between the countries. This was unprecedented event and was interesting for watching the reactions of the public (there are certain masses in Armenia that are against any Turkish presence).
Not surprisingly for me, the audience was welcoming and I didn't notice any display of intolerance. I was wondering if it would be the same with any other concert, especially if it was pop. Yep, even when rock fans are more anti-social, I personally think, they are also more open-minded.
I heard that all of the guest bands wereastonished by the Armenian hospitality which wasn't a surprise for me ;))
It was really cold there and people who liked the music and were dancing had an advantage. Since heavy metal is not my preferred style, I was freezing and left the concert for a hot tea in the middle of performances missing the Italian band, but it was becoming more and more crowded there.

 Performance of the Turkish band "Northern Lights"

this is about Armenia, as i know it

This is my first post in this blog and I'm going to write about my country.

I'm living in independent Armenia for 17 years now. No I'm not 17, I'm 24. It's my country that just turned 17 year old (we celebrated the Independence Day on September 21).
Republic of Armenia has become an independent state from the Soviet Union in 1991. So I was born in Armenian Soviet Republic.

I won't be giving you encyclopedic data, you can easily find it on the net without me, I will just write my memories and about my perception of Armenia. I've seen the painful process forming of the state being already a conscious schoolchild. September 1991 was not only the month of the declaration of independence, it was also my first month at school.

The declaration of independence followed some not very easy processes in the history of Armenia. In 1988 my country faced a terrible disaster - an earthquake which completely destroyed some cities… caused 50,000 deaths, also among my relatives. Then the movement for independence of Armenia started - with mass demonstrations and rallies.

After the declaration of independence - the war for the Karabakh liberation started. Because of the unstable economic situation and the resources concentration on the war, we had some hard years. Those years are called "dark and cold" years. Because of the earthquake danger, our nuclear plant was closed which was our main source of energy. We had electricity for 2 hours daily... Even not every day. We were buying bread by coupons - each person had a right to buy 250 grams of bread per day. For my family of 5, we were buying one bread and a quarter, daily. Winters of those years seemed even colder. People were heating their houses with some petroleum heaters, or cutting trees in the city parks to be able to burn them in the furnace and heat themselves. We were studying under candle lights, watching black and white small TVs working on 12V car accumulators. And yes, I remember tanks marching on the central streets. I was watching it from the windows of my classroom.

These was my childhood, I don't remember it in dark colors, but my parents weren't, of course, that carefree as us - children. The crisis lasted for about 4 years and after the ceasefire in 1994, my country slowly started to recover. Unfortunately that years we had a lot of people emigrating to another countries - mostly to Western Europe, USA and Russia. Young families couldn't afford the living here and were trying all methods to escape. Many of my father's friends did so. I'm happy and grateful to my parents because we weren't among them.
People that leaved then, won't recognize the country now. It has changed radically. It's growing and developing and becoming a pleasant place for living. And it's safe ! I've heard from many tourists that they had quite different thoughts before coming. I'm happy that the tourist flow is growing year by year and more and more people are getting acquainted with my culture and country.

In my next post I will describe you the things that make Armenia unique and so attractive for tourists, also about the famous inventions that were made by Armenians. I will also tell you why Armenia is the only place I can imagine myself living in. Stay tuned!

 

Photo credits belong to me.