Day: September 20, 2023

The applications for International Armenian Literary Alliance’s three literary grants are now open. The grants for creative writing and translation—each worth $2,500—will be offered to one writer and two translators. Applications will be open until September 30, 2023, and the winners will be announced in December 2023.

IALA’s Creative Writing Grant will award $2,500 annually to one Armenian writer whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2023, the grant will be awarded for a collection of poetry, and in the coming years, to works of creative nonfiction and fiction, as well as other mixed genre forms. The grant will be judged by Gregory Djanikian and Raffi Wartanian.

IALA’s Creative Writing Grant, made possible by a generous donation from the Armenian Allied Arts Association, is meant to foster the development of contemporary Armenian literature in English through an annual monetary award and support Armenian writers who have historically lacked resources in the publishing world. Additionally, IALA will support grant recipients in promoting their publications through marketing on our website and social media channels, book reviews, readings and discussions.

The Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant will award $2,500 to one translator working from an English source text into Eastern Armenian, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2023, the grant will be awarded for a work of literature (in any form) that stimulates the imagination of young adults at a formative time in their development. In the coming years, the grant will also be awarded to translators working from English source texts into Western Armenian. The 2023 grant will be judged by Anna Davtyan, Armen Ohanyan and Zaven Boyajyan.

Despite the growing number of translated works from English to Eastern Armenian in recent years, translated literature remains an area that needs further attention and development. IALA’s Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant, made possible by a generous donation from Souren A. Israelyan, supports translators working with literature written in the English language through a monetary award. Additionally, IALA will support grant recipients in promoting their publications through marketing on our website and social media channels, book reviews, readings and discussions.

The Israelyan English Translation Grant from the International Armenian Literary Alliance will award $2,500 to one translator working from Eastern Armenian source texts into English, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2023, the grant will be awarded for a work of literature (in any form) written in Eastern Armenian and published any time after 1900, and in the coming years, to works written in Western Armenian. This grant will be judged by Dr. Myrna Douzjian, Nairi Hakhverdi and Tatevik Ayvazyan.

Given the traumatic history of the Armenian diaspora, many readers are unable to read works in the original Armenian, and therefore, have centuries of literature inaccessible to them. Translators working with Armenian texts have traditionally lacked resources in the publishing world, as well as access to other funding, due to the overwhelming influence of so-called “majority languages.” IALA’s Israelyan English Translation Grant, made possible by a generous donation from Souren A. Israelyan, supports translators working with contemporary Armenian literature through a monetary award. Additionally, IALA will support grant recipients in promoting their publications through marketing on our website and social media channels, book reviews, readings and discussions.

For more details, full eligibility criteria, and more information on past grant recipients, please visit IALA’s website or contact Hovsep Markarian, IALA’s program manager, at admin@armenianliterary.org.

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Armenia

On Sunday, September 17, mayoral elections took place in Yerevan with the lowest voter turnout in the history of city council elections. About 28.5-percent of Yerevan’s eligible voters cast ballots. PM Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party failed to earn enough votes to keep its majority in Yerevan’s city council, receiving 32.8-percent of total votes. The National Progress party, represented by ex-mayor Hayk Marutyan, came in second with 19.16-percent of total votes. The opposition Mother Armenia party, represented by Andranik Tevanyan, came in third with 15-percent of the votes. The Republic and Public voice parties came in fourth and fifth, respectively. All five parties will have seats in the new city council. 

From September 19-20, thousands gathered outside the government building in Yerevan’s Republic Square to demand immediate actions to protect Artsakh. Protesters later called for the immediate resignation of PM Pashinyan’s administration for betrayal. Different political factions also suggested the formation of a temporary government. 

Artsakh

On September 18, according to the agreement reached with the Stepanakert office of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the command of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh, about 23 tons of Armenian-made flour were transported to Stepanakert through the Berdzor Corridor in parallel to medical and hygiene supplies of Russian and Swiss production transported through the Akna (Aghdam)-Stepanakert road. The supplies are currently being held in the offices of the ICRC, where they will be handed over to the government of the Republic of Artsakh following extensive examinations. Products that do not pass examination, based on quality and origin, will be destroyed on the spot. 

President of the Republic of Artsakh, Samvel Shahramanyan, appointed Artur Harutyunyan as the State Minister on September 18. Harutyunyan is the former Minister of Finance of the Republic of Artsakh, a former parliamentarian representing the “Free Homeland-United Civic Alliance” faction and chairman of the Standing Committee on Financial, Budgetary and Economic Management of the Artsakh National Assembly.

Iran

On September 20, the head of the Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that in order to ensure the safety of passengers, all flights between Iran and both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been canceled until further notice.

Turkey

In his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his support for Azerbaijan’s steps to preserve its territorial integrity, after Baku launched a military operation in Artsakh. Erdogan said that Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is a part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory, and the imposition of another status for the breakaway region is unacceptable. He expressed Turkey’s expectation that Armenia fulfill its commitments, once again making claims to the so-called Zangezur corridor, a road that would pass through Armenian territory and connect Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhichevan.

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The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will present a hybrid (in-person and online) program, “After the Ottomans: Genocide’s Long Shadow and Armenian Resilience,” with Seyhan Bayraktar and Khatchig Mouradian in conversation with Nanore Barsoumian, on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) / 4:30 pm (Pacific).

This program will be held at the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA. It is free and open to the public. Copies of After the Ottomans will be available for purchase and signing.

The program will also be accessible live on Zoom (registration required) and on NAASR’s YouTube Channel. You may register here.

Edited by Hans-Lukas Kieser, Seyhan Bayraktar, and Khatchig Mouradian, After the Ottomans: Genocide’s Long Shadow and Armenian Resistance (I.B. Tauris, 2023), presents the work of eleven scholars of history, anthropology, literature, and political science exploring the Ottoman Armenians not only as the major victims of the First World War and the post-war treaties, but also as agents striving for survival, writing history, transmitting the memory and searching for justice.

Dr. Seyhan Bayraktar is PhD-coordinator at the Graduate School of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Zurich. She has a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Konstanz (Germany). Her research focuses on the politics of memory and apology and political communication. She is the author of Politik und Erinnerung: Der Armeniermord im türkischen Diskurs zwischen Nationalismus und Europäisierung (Politics and Memory: The Armenian Genocide in Turkish Discourse Between Nationalism and Europeanization) published by transcript 2010.

Dr. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, and the Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist at the Library of Congress. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the project on Armenian Genocide Denial at the Global Institute for Advanced Study, New York University. Mouradian is the author of the award-winning book The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918.

Nanore Barsoumian is the former editor of the Armenian Weekly newspaper and the author of the chapter “Genocide Commemorations in Turkey: A Social Identity Perspective” in After the Ottomans.

For more information contact NAASR at hq@naasr.org.

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Ara Garo Hollisian

Ara Garo Hollisian of Weymouth, Massachusetts, passed away on September 16, 2023. He was the beloved husband of June (Samourian) Hollisian; devoted father of Christopher and his wife Sixx, Stephen, and Ani Hollisian; cherished grandfather of Lucia Hollisian; and uncle of Sharis Barkhordarian.

He was the loving brother of the late Raffi Hollisian and the late Tamar (Hollisian) Barkhordarian and nephew to Hrach (Charlie), Levoun (Leo), and Zevart (Zee) Hollisian, Marie Chichmanian, Eugene Hagopian, Ovssanna DerSimonian, and Katchik Batalian.

Ara is also survived by many loving cousins and friends.

Born on April 10, 1957, in Boston, Massachusetts to Herant (Harry) and Zarouhi (Batalian) Hollisian, he grew up in Watertown, surrounded by the Armenian community for which he had great pride. After graduating from Watertown High School, he attended Northeastern University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

In his youth, Ara’s passion for music translated into a profound talent for drumming. He played in many bands and could always be found tapping to a beat, no matter the surface. He was also an avid sports fan and loved to watch any game from the comfort of his home. 

After marrying his sweetheart, he entered the audio-visual industry, first as an owner-operator of Movies & More in Braintree, and later pursuing his self-taught talent of videography through his second business, AJC Video Productions. From weddings to legal depositions, Ara worked tirelessly to support his family. Although he was a hard worker, he never missed a swimming lesson, a soccer practice, a piano recital or a church event that his children participated in. He never missed a moment of their lives because being a father was more important than anything else.

Ara loved to share his hobbies and passions with his family. He enjoyed tinkering with model trains with his son, Christopher. He was a talented chess and tavloo player and loved to frequently play tournaments with his son, Stephen. His love of music created an emotional connection with his daughter, Ani. And with his wife, June, he simply shared his life, his heart and his soul. 

He lived a happy, devout life committed to his Christian faith and the Armenian church. He served on Holy Trinity’s Parish Council for six years, serving as vice chairman from 2013-2014, and was co-chairman of the bazaar for seven years. He had immense love for his Armenian ethnicity and vowed to raise his children in the church. 

Ara felt honored to care for his Aunt Zee in the last years of her life, never missing a single Saturday with her even while he was sick. He loved his family more than anything in this world and felt their continuous presence, both in life and death. He died feeling their love and hearing their voices. He will truly be missed by all who had the honor of knowing him.

Visiting hours will be from 10 a.m.-12 noon at Holy Trinity Armenian Church, 145 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 23, 2023, immediately prior to the funeral service at noon. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Multiple Myeloma Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, PO Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168 (by phone to 1-800-525-4669 or dana-farber.org/give) or Holy Trinity Armenian Church.

Interment will be at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Watertown.

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No. 1 Georgia seeing red in red zone, up for UAB test  bigcountrynewsconnection.com

Iran prisoner exchange: How much is an American’s freedom worth?  Yahoo News

Ronaldo plays in Iran for the first time ever  CNN

Iranian president says humanitarian motives prompted release of 5 Americans  CNN

Protect the rights of children in Artsakh  Armenian Weekly

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday defended Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh accused by Armenia of not protecting the region’s population against Azerbaijani attacks.

“The Russian peacekeepers are doing everything to protect the civilian population,” Putin told a visiting senior Chinese official. “We are in constant touch with the authorities in Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku. We hope to achieve de-escalation and put things on a peaceful track.”

Putin did not explicitly comment on the Azerbaijani military offensive in Karabakh, launched on Tuesday, and Wednesday’s Russian-brokered ceasefire reflecting Baku’s demands. He said only that the Russian peacekeepers have evacuated scores of Karabakh Armenians affected by the fighting.

The Kremlin said that over 2,000 Karabakh Armenians took shelter at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. More than half of them are children, according to it.
Putin spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan later in the day. The Armenian government said they discussed “the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh” and Russian-Armenian relations that have further deteriorated in recent weeks. It gave no details.

According to the Kremlin’s readout of the call, Putin welcomed the ceasefire agreement and said the commanders of the Russian peacekeeping contingent will mediate talks between Azerbaijani and Karabakh officials slated for Thursday.

“Despite the difficult conditions, the peacekeepers continue to accurately carry out their assigned tasks and provide comprehensive assistance to the civilian population and refugees, including with the help of military doctors,” the statement cited Putin as saying.

Speaking to Armenian Public Television late on Tuesday, Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, charged that the Russian peacekeepers failed to protect Karabakh’s population contrary to their “obligations” spelled out by another truce accord that was brokered by Moscow during the 2020 war.

Grigoryan denied suggestions that Yerevan further alienated Moscow earlier this month by holding a joint military exercise with the United States, providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and moving to accept jurisdiction of an international court that issued an arrest warrant for Putin in February. He said that Moscow failed to honor its commitments even before these moves condemned by the Russian Foreign Ministry as “unfriendly.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, accused the Armenian government of “ingratitude” after several Russian peacekeepers were killed in Karabakh in unclear circumstances on Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not initially specify the number of the victims or blame either side for their deaths. The soldiers died when they their armored vehicle came under fire in Karabakh’s northern Martakert district, the ministry said, adding that the incident is being investigated by Russian and Azerbaijani military officials.

In a Telegram post, Zakharova also rejected the Armenian criticism of the Russian peacekeepers and implied that the latest Azerbaijani offensive was made possible by Pashinyan’s decision to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

“That became Yerevan’s final solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,” she charged amid widespread expectations of mass exodus of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.

Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is now the deputy head of the country’s Security Council, hit out at Pashinyan shortly after the Azerbaijani army launched the large-scale offensive in Karabakh. Some members of Pashinyan’s entourage responded by accusing Moscow of trying to provoke a coup d’etat in Armenia.

Grigoryan hit back Medvedev and said Moscow must “explain” the ex-president’s comments highlighting growing tensions between the two allied states. He also suggested that Russia may be “leaving the region” and Armenia in particular. Pashinyan made similar claims early this month, prompting a stern rebuke from Moscow.