Activists Hope to Put End to Gold Mine
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AUGUST 29, 2020 MMirror-SpeirTHEror-SpeARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXXI, NO. 7, Issue 4649 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 IN BRIEF Armenian Soldier Activists Hope Taken Prisoner by To Put End to Azerbaijan YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — An Armenian army offi- cer was taken prisoner by Azerbaijani forces over Gold Mine the weekend in disputed circumstances. Armenia’s Defense Ministry said the junior offi- By Mateos Hayes cer, Gurgen Alaverdyan, lost his way due to Special to the Mirror-Spectator “extremely unfavorable weather conditions” as he was about to inspect an Armenian frontline position YEREVAN — On August 20, a hot on the evening of August 22. It did not specify Thursday afternoon, scores of demonstra- whether the position is located on the Armenian- tors from the Armenian Environmental Azerbaijani border or the “line of contact” around Front (AEF) and the Save Amulsar move- Karabakh. ment assembled in front of the Armenian The Azerbaijani military claimed, meanwhile, that National Academic Theatre of Opera and its troops deployed in the Goranboy district just Ballet. The rally was composed of Yerevan north of Karabakh captured Alaverdyan while fight- locals and a group of activists and con- ing back an Armenian commando attack early on cerned citizens from the southern resort Sunday. town of Jermuk, who had travelled to Shushan Stepanyan, the spokeswoman for the Yerevan in a 200-car motorcade organized Defense Ministry in Yerevan, dismissed the claim as by Save Amulsar. The goal of the rally was “disinformation.” simple: to raise awareness of the environ- “There was no [Armenian] sabotage attack,” said mental threat to Amulsar, and to protest Stepanyan. “They are just trying to portray the offi- government inaction. cer who lost his way as a saboteur.” Delivering several speeches over mega- As of Monday, August 24, it was not clear phone and leading the crowds in chants of whether the Armenian government had asked rep- “Amulsar, Miayn Sar” (Amulsar must resentatives the International Committee of the remain a mountain), the rally’s organizers Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Alaverdyan in Azerbaijani led demonstrators on a march from the custody or ascertain his whereabouts. The ICRC Opera down the sidewalks of Mashtots has offices in Baku and Yerevan. Avenue and past the shop fronts of Northern Avenue, before bringing the rally to the Armenian government’s front door Rising Democratic Star on Republic Square. AEF organizers repeatedly reminded Mari Manoogian of attendees of the rally to respect social dis- Michigan Gets a tancing and wear masks, and these rules were mostly observed. Protestors in Yerevan Over the course of the rally, demonstra- tors were shadowed by a veritable army of Special Unit police officers who surround- maintain social distancing and to don tographed by police officers, and a few indi- ed the peaceful demonstrators and block- masks in accordance with the law. Rally viduals were ticketed for not wearing aded the entrances to government build- goers in turn tried to drown out the PA masks. All of this combined to produce a ings. Speeches were routinely interrupted announcements with the chanting of slo- frosty government reception for the envi- by loudspeaker announcements from police gans and the sound of drums. ronmental activists. patrol cars, reminding demonstrators to Demonstrators from Jermuk were pho- see PROTEST, page 2 Armenian Art through the Gaze of Western Institutions By Isabelle Kapoian Special to the Mirror-Spectator BOSTON — Conscientiously attributing artistic and cul- tural goods to their creator, culture and nation state is dependent on nuanced analyses. Dr. Christina Maranci, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara T. Oztemel Associate Professor of Armenian Art at Tufts University and author of The Art of Armenia: An See Story on Page 5 Introduction, men- tions one of the many ways to iden- Teens Face Life Issues tify a work is by its provenance: the INSIDE chronological histo- During Pandemic ry of its ownership which, in some BOSTON — For months By Ani Belorian cases, can be traced 100-Year now, teenagers all over the back to the artist. Special to the Mirror-Spectator country have been trying to Another identifi- adapt to a drastic new reality. er is its similarly- Search Because of their malleable ages, high school students have been monikered prove- uniquely impacted by the pandemic. Moreover, they have had to nience, or the geo- Page 12 deal with the lack of socialization, which is one of their priorities. graphical and Although adults have borne the brunt of the slowing of time, archeological find adolescents have also experienced this new situation. With sports, spot. Key indicators INDEX extracurricular activities, homework, and increasingly challenging specific to a cultur- Armenia . .2-3 classes on their minds, until the lockdown, teens rarely had time al tradition, cre- to spend with family and friends, or just do nothing. It's a strange The Canon Tables of the Arts and Living . 12 ative process, artis- Zeyt’un Community News. 5 feeling, realizing that there is literally nothing to get done by the tic movement, Gospels Editorial . 18 end of the day. Probably none would have minded the idea of hav- group of people, or International . 4 ing nothing to do, but now, the novelty of freedom has passed. a record of the artist such as their signature can also be see TEENS, page 14 used. Visual similarities to other known works, often in see ART, page 16 2 S ATURDAY A UGUST 2 9 , 2 0 2 0 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Aerof lot to Launch Twice-Weekly Flights YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Aeroflot will start operating flights twice a week, every Thursday and Saturday starting August 27. Tickets for the flights operated on Thursdays and Saturdays from Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport can be purchased only by those citizens who will continue their flights from Sheremetyevo Airport to Los Angeles, Shanghai and European counties. According to a decision of the State of Emergency Commandant of Armenia, during the current state, those who arrive in Armenia must self-isolate for 14 days. The isolation period can be reduced with nega- tive test results. US to Provide Additional $1.43M to Address COVID-19 Impact YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — The United States Government has committed an additional $1.43 mil- lion through the US State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the impact of COVID-19 in Armenia, USAID Armenia Office reports. In total, the US government has committed more than $4 million in emergency assistance to Armenia in FY20. The United States is providing support by Demonstrators in Republic Square hold a banner which reads “As long as we exist, not one mine” (photo Mateos Hayes)(Mateos coordinating with the government of Armenia, inter- national humanitarian partners and other stakehold- ers to identify priority areas for investment. In addition to the aforementioned COVID-19 assis- tance, the United States has invested more than Activists Hope to Put End $1.57 billion in total assistance to Armenia over the past 20 years, including nearly $106 million for health, the source said. Armenia Economic To Amulsar Gold Mine Activity Shrank 10.2 PROTEST, from page 1 quickly dismantled by police forces. corporate court cases are often han- Percent in July But by 2018, the situation had dled via a process of secret tribunals Context changed drastically. whose decision cannot be appealed. YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Economic Amulsar is a mountain in southern Armenia’s Velvet Revolution caused Since this means that Armenia – activity in Armenia shrank by 10.2 percent in July Armenia which is the source of two significant shifts in the status quo, whose allotted government budget in year-on-year, data from the National Statistical major rivers. It is also the source of a ushering in Nikol Pashinyan’s pre- 2020 was $4 billion— could face up to Service reveals. network of dams and tunnels miership and promising a new era of 2 billion dollars in fines, this threat Economic activity in the country has contracted as designed to feed Lake Sevan, the democratization and transparency. has been quite a potent weapon for a result of a lockdown imposed in mid-March in a bid largest freshwater source in Armenia. Additionally, an uncontrolled explo- Lydian. to curb the Covid-19 outbreak. Though the state of A British mining firm, Lydian sion at the gold mine led to contami- emergency has been extended several times, most International Limited, discovered gold nated black water flowing from local Government Response/ political restrictions have been removed. in Amulsar in 2006 and has been try- taps. This was just one incident in a division. In July 2020, construction and trade declined by ing construct a mine there since 2016. chain of environmental crises which Following the 2018 Velvet 19.5 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, while Though it has yet to open, the emerged in the years following the Revolution, the government was gen- the industrial sector contracted by 2.3 percent. Amulsar gold mine’s presence has commencement of construction. Since erally uncooperative with Lydian. It Foreign trade turnover decreased by 14.3 percent coincided with the emergence of Lydian’s arrival in the region, repeat- refused to remove the blockade, and year-on-year, exports and imports were down by 5.9 severe environmental crises in the sur- ed explosions at the mine have coated temporarily suspended Lydian’s rights percent and 18.6 percent, respectively. rounding region. surrounding communities in dust. To to operate in Armenia, pending an Average salaries, meanwhile, grew by 2.5 percent However, efforts to open a gold make matter worse, the mine’s pres- environmental audit of the Amulsar in the reporting period.