SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXIX, NO. 9, Issue 4553 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Turkish Minister Pashinyan, Attends Service at Aktamar Church Putin Meet ISTANBUL (Panorama.am) — Turkey’s Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy attended a divine litur- gy served on Sunday, September 9, at the historic Armenian Church Cathedral of the Holy Cross in In Moscow Akhtamar island, in eastern Van province, Ermenihaber reported. MOSCOW (Combined Sources) — Russian As the source reports, organized by the local President Vladimir Putin received Armenian Patriarchate, the religious ceremony was Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan the first in four years after the annual event was at the Kremlin on September 8. scrapped due to security concerns. The quickly arranged meeting between “We continue to respect, support, and protect Pashinyan and Putin came after a reported Armenians’ religious freedoms and life cultures. rise in tensions in Armenian-Russian relations This will continue to be the case. We have started over an investigation by the new Pashinyan the ceremonies because the security environment government into events surrounding deadly has been ensured again this year. Thus, we are very 2008 postelection demonstrations. happy. Our wish is that services at the Akhtamar Prosecutors have filed criminal charges Church will continue without any interruption,” against former Armenian President Robert the minister said, as quoted by local sources. Kocharyan and current Collective Security The church re-opened in 2007 as a “monumental Treaty Organization Chairman Yuri museum.” In 2010, the cathedral hosted its first ser- Khatchaturov, actions that the Kremlin has vice after a 95-year break. The last service was con- criticized. ducted in 2015, which saw a gathering of thousands Putin stressed the special nature of the of local and international tourists in Van. Armenian-Russian relations. Russian workers rushing relief material to Yerevan at Moscow’s International Airport “Today the relations between Armenia and Russia are steadily developing in all Pashinyan Discusses directions. This refers to the field of politi- March 1 Events cal relations, military cooperation, security The Untold Story issues, economic cooperation,” Putin said. YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Prime Minister of He noted that “Russia confidently ranks Armenia Nikol Pashinyan presented details on the first among the economic partners of the The Earthquake that Shook Armenia, March 1, 2008 incidents and the developments Republic of Armenia. “We are the largest before that in his speech during the election cam- investor in the Armenian economy, and we The Relief Effort that Changed the World paign of his bloc. He emphasized that on February can affirm that in this respect our relations 23, 2008, President Robert Kocharyan announced are rather diversified,” he said. PARAMUS, N.J. — the introduction of an emergency situation in the “This refers to energy, particularly hydro- By Stephen Kurkjian John A. Simourian was a country starting from midnight. carbon energy, as well as gas supply,” he legendary athlete at “The emergency situation was not introduced said, reminding that Gazprom sells gas to Watertown High School on March 2, 2008. It was only the official com- Armenia at the lowest prices – $150 per and Harvard College during the mid-1950s and his successes on ponent. It was introduced on February 23 and 1000 cubic meters. the football and baseball fields made him one of the most cele- this has been proved and there are all the neces- “It is particularly gratifying that the trade brated Armenian-American sports figures in the 20th century. sary facts. Robert Kocharyan withdrew the turnover grew by almost 30 percent last Yet unbeknownst to everyone except a few close friends, troops from the Armenian-Azerbaijani border year, and the growth has made 22.2 percent Simourian initiated a relief effort that saved the lives of numerous victims of the and used it for the occupation of his own peo- in the first half of the current year,” he said. devastating earthquake in Armenia in 1988 by reaching out to two players he had ple,” Pashinyan said. Pashinyan said, in turn, he is glad for the met while leading Harvard’s football team 30 years before. “The army was ordered to open fire at the win- third meeting between the two leaders over The relief effort, which depended on a secret agreement between the United States dows of the buildings and uniforms were taken the past four months. and the Soviet Union to succeed, was spurred by an entreaty to Simourian by his wife, from the army and given to the bodyguards of the “I think such regularity stresses the spe- Michele, that “we’ve got to do something” hours after learning of the disaster. oligarchs inside the building of the Government, cial character of relations between our Three decades later, the devastating earthquake is a reminder of the horrific and automatic rifles were also given to them. countries,” he said. events that Armenia and its people has had to endure to survive through history. According to our operative data, there was an order “I want to stress that despite certain pes- But a closer look of what followed it, particularly the collapse of Communism and in the morning of March 1 to beat the people. The simism in the Armenian and Russian press see RELIEF, page 14 document they showed later was created later. The see MEETING, page 2 servicemen received orders from the President’s administration to go to the fact finding group and Armenian Child Asylum- tell them lies. They also made the army their own mercenaries,” Pashinyan said. Seekers Allowed to Stay In connection with the investigation, the first Annie Totah: president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosian and the In Netherlands third, Serzh Sargsyan, will be interrogated. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Woman, Armenian, Warrior Dutch government performed an abrupt U- turn and said on Saturday, September 8, that two Armenian children whose bid for INSIDE By Taleen Babayan asylum had been rejected could remain in Special to the Mirror-Spectator the Netherlands. The decision came after the children, 12- year-old Lili and her brother, 13-year-old WASHINGTON — When Annie Howick, went into hiding ahead of their A Pastor Simonian Totah fights for Armenian expected deportations. The government Genocide recognition on Capitol Hill, the faced mounting disapproval of its original dispiriting thought of her parents in an refusal to let the siblings remain in the Recounts orphanage takes centerstage. country where they have lived for a decade. The daughter of Genocide survivors, The Ministry of Justice and Security said Page 12 Totah has made it one of her life’s mis- in a written statement that while Dutch and sions to obtain worldwide recognition for Armenian authorities had worked hard to the first human rights exodus of the 20th arrange a secure situation for the pair in century, which claimed the lives of close Armenia, “recent developments” meant “the INDEX to 1.5 million Armenians during the crum- welfare and security of the children can no Arts and Living . 12 bling of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. longer be sufficiently guaranteed.” Armenia . 2,3 It is with that determination and pas- The statement added: “The state secre- Community News. .. 6 sion in mind that she has dedicated 40 tary has therefore, taking everything into Editorial . 18 International . .4,5 years of her life for advocacy work and account, decided that the children can see TOTAH, page 10 remain in the Netherlands.” see ASYLUM, page 4 2 S ATURDAY, S EPTEMBER 1 5 , 2 0 1 8 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Shant Military Drills Kick off YEREVAN (Armenpress) — The Shant 2018 (mean- ing Lightning 2018) nationwide military exercises have kicked off in Armenia. The state will be brought to a simulated wartime sit- uation during the duration of the exercises: from September 11 through the 14th. The drills are aimed at testing the skills and abilities of all state bodies and agencies and elevating the level of partnership during a war scenario. Baroness Cox Visits Artsakh Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at a rally for Yerevan mayoral candidate Hayk Marutyan on September 10. YEREVAN (Armenpress) — On September 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) Masis Mayilian received a Pashinyan Urges Voters to Reaffirm Victory of ‘Revolution’ delegation led by Baroness Caroline Cox, member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenian publicly spoke of scenarios in which for- Marutyan, who was one of the active and Northern Ireland, the Artsakh foreign ministry said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called mer President Serzh Sarkisian’s Pashinyan supporters during peaceful in a press release. on voters in Yerevan to reaffirm the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) that antigovernment protests in spring, was Welcoming Cox’s visit to Artsakh, the minister noted results of last spring’s “velvet revolution” still dominates the National Assembly criticizes by political rivals last week for its importance from the point of view of observing the in an upcoming ballot in the capital – the could break political agreements and try his remarks in which he made a divi- current situation in the republic and the achievements first major election in Armenia since the to install another prime minister if he steps sion of the political spectrum into in different spheres. Mayilian praised her consistent change of government. down as prime minister. As an additional “whites and blacks” ahead of the efforts aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate Twelve parties and alliances are con- safeguard he, therefore, suggested a con- Yerevan elections.