The Turkish authorities have decided to gradually introduce some new countermeasures against Israel
Day: April 8, 2024
Dr. Henry AstarjianJan. 1, 1934-April 4, 2024
Editor’s Note: The Armenian Weekly editors and staff extend deepest and sincere condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Dr. Henry Astarjian.
Dr. Henry Dikran Astarjian, longtime resident of Hollis, NH, passed away peacefully on April 4, 2024 at the age of 90. Henry was born in Kirkuk, Iraq on January 1, 1934 to the late Dikran & Zarouhi (Esmerian) Astarjian. He grew up in Kirkuk and attended medical school at the University of Baghdad.
After medical school, Dr. Astarjian worked as a general practitioner and served as a medical officer in Iraq, serving families in the northern villages. He met and married Anahid Ashjian while living in Iraq and the couple was blessed with 2 children: Vaché and Hratch. The family later moved to the United Kingdom where Dr. Astarjian did medical internships in both England and Scotland. They later immigrated to Canada and eventually to the United States to the New York/New Jersey area where Dr. Astarjian worked as a neurologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan.
After several years in New York, Dr. Astarjian moved to New Hampshire with his second wife and their daughter Jennifer. It was there that he founded the Nashua Neurological Center. He spent over 30 years in Nashua working as a neurologist. In 1979, Dr. Astarjian opened the first CT scan facility in the state of New Hampshire.
Dr. Astarjian was an accomplished painter whose subjects ranged from landscapes to seascapes and portraits. He also enjoyed writing and often wrote for the Armenian Weekly. He authored the book The Struggle for Kirkuk, which has been used by scholars as a source book on the history of that region. He was keenly interested in Armenian politics and kept up with international news especially in Armenia. He was a proud member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He was also proud to be a delegate from New Hampshire at the 1990 Republican National Convention.
Dr. Astarjian is survived by his beloved wife of 25 years Arev (Hagopian) Astarjian. He was the loving father of Vaché Astarjian and his wife Zela, Hratch Astarjian and his wife Nina and Jennifer Fournier and her husband Michael. He was the loving grandfather of Anais, Lena and Lea Astarjian, Emma Mastropietro and Christian Fournier. He was the dear brother of Teny Serengulian, Ankeen Merzikian and the late Norair Astarjian. He was the loving uncle of Salpi Derstepanian and her husband Edmond, Tania Chamlian and her husband Vatché, Norair Serengulian and his wife Zovig and Hreir Serengulian and his wife Zovik. He is survived by many other extended family members and friends.
Funeral Services will be held at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 38 Elton Ave., Watertown, MA on Thursday, April 11 at 11 a.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Interment will follow at Newton Cemetery in Newton, MA. Memorial donations may be made in his memory to St. Stephen’s Armenian Church or Hairenik Association (The Armenian Weekly), 80 Bigelow Ave., Watertown, MA 02472.
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The political wing of the far-right and pro-Russian extremist group Alt Info, the Conservative Movement, has been de-registered by Georgian authorities.
On Monday, Georgia’s National Agency of Public Registry cancelled the Conservative Movement’s registration on a technicality. According to registry records, the party’s conference failed to formalise the charter they renewed in December 2021, resulting in the revocation of their 7 December vote to register as a political party.
The Public Registry said they decided to revisit their 2021 decision upon a request from the Anti-Corruption Bureau five days earlier. Since its establishment in November 2022, the bureau has met scepticism, with anti-corruption groups questioning its independence given it reports directly to the prime minister’s office.
[Read more on OC Media: ‘These are not reforms!’: Georgia’s proposed anti-corruption agency comes under fire]
The move comes as the government has come under a barrage of criticism from the West over its planned foreign agent law.
Georgia’s investigative services have in the past ignored repeated calls to probe Alt Info for their repeated use of violence against queer people, activists, and journalists.
Such calls, including from Western countries and institutions such as the EU, intensified after Alt Info successfully thwarted a queer pride march in Tbilisi in July 2021.
Calls to refuse them to register as a party, including from the Public Defender, also went unheeded. After organising and leading a violent mob that attacked government critics, their offices, and reporters in 2021, Alt Info was able to obtain a national broadcasting licence for their namesake TV channel. The channel has since broadcast hate speech on a regular basis.
In July 2023, Alt Info were again successful in thwarting a queer event in Tbilisi, as police did not deploy force to prevent them. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
The move to deregister Alt Info also comes as the ruling Georgian Dream party has itself taken a strong conservative and anti-Western turn, including proposing their own homophobic legislation.
Rumours that a rift between the Government and Alt Info emerged in 2023, coinciding with some Alt Info supporters alleging that the ruling party had decided to appropriate their ultra-conservative and anti-western messages.
In late January, the State Security Service searched the flat of a popular far-right blogger associated with Alt Info, Beka Vardosanidze, and questioned him for hours for his alleged connection to bomb threats. At that time, Alt Info had already claimed for months to be experiencing financial hurdles, including a hefty $87,000 fine purportedly imposed in 2022.
Earlier this month, one of the leaders of Alt Info, Zura Makharadze, was charged for a violent altercation in the western city of Zugdidi in March. Makharadze was released on ₾5,000 ($1,870) bond while the trial is pending.
The post Political wing of Georgian far-right Alt Info group de-registered as party appeared first on OC Media.
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В Вязьме обрушился путепровод, на котором в этот момент находились несколько автомобилей, сообщили РБК в экстренных службахhttps://t.co/HfP9IDNMUA
— РБК (@ru_rbc) April 8, 2024