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ONLY CONNECT: COMPETITION IN MOBILE PHONE SERVICES BRINGS AN END TO CALL WAITING
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenia's new mobile phone operator K-Telecom begins operations today,
July 1, opening the market to competition for the first time.
The company will offer two types of VivaCell phone cards in a bid
to attract customers from ArmenTel, hitherto Armenia's monopoly
telecommunications provider.
Experts already predict a summer of hot competition between the rivals,
with ArmenTel already making drastic price reductions in response to
K-Telecom's offer of much cheaper calls.
VivaCell is offering two types of phone service - a pre-paid Alo
card and its Classic monthly billing account. The Alo card costs
7,000 drams (about $16) initially for the SIM card and 3,700 drams'
worth of calling time. Alo scratch cards can be purchased for 2,000
to 18,000 drams. The Classic SIM card costs 4,500 drams ($10) plus
a monthly fee of 4,000 drams and the cost of calls.
Armentel responded by announcing that its tariffs for mobile services
would be cut by 30% from July 1. Its pay-as-you-go Easy card will
cost 7,800 drams (formerly 10,700 Drams) including 5,000 drams worth
of calling time. Previously, the SIM card alone cost $25 but was
virtually impossible to buy except through black market dealers
charging as much as $200.
Its equivalent to the Classic account will cost 5,400 Drams to activate
plus a monthly fee of 6,000 drams (it used to be 8,000 drams). An
advance deposit on calls, previously $120, is now 22,000 drams.
Still VivaCell's service is cheaper than its competitor's apart from
tariffs on international calls, since ArmenTel retains a monopoly on
connections out of Armenia.
The Government of Armenia issued the second mobile phone license to
K-Telecom in November last year after deciding to strip ArmenTel of
its monopoly following complaints that the Greek-owned company failed
to meet its investment obligations.
K-Telecom is owned by Lebanese investors. Its chairman is Pierre
Fattouch, a wealthy businessman who is also the owner of Karabakh
Telecom, the only telecom company working in Nagorno Karabakh since
2002.
One of its directors, Hussein Rifai, said it had already invested $75
million to establish its mobile phone service in Armenia. He said:
"We confronted the problem of building a network in record quick time,
a network that would meet market requirements. We also had a clear
understanding that we should be the leading company in providing
telecommunication services."
Karabakh Telecom's mobile calling tariffs in Karabakh are just 30
drams per minute, while ArmenTel was charging 130 drams in Armenia
until recently.
K-Telecom's executive director, Lebanese-Armenian Ralf Yirikian,
who formerly held the same position at Karabakh Telecom, says the two
operators are separate companies. One is entitled to operate only in
Armenia and the other only in Karabakh.
Yirikian says K-Telecom will commence its services in Yerevan then
spread out to Armenia's regions. He predicts that VivaCell will have
300,000 customers within three months.
"We will offer coverage throughout the republic's territory,
independently whether we have customers there or not, and whether
there is a populated area there or not," says Yirikian.
ArmenTel says it had 235,000 subscribers as of April 1 this year,
75 per cent of whom used the pay-as-you-go Easy card. Its cellular
coverage extends to 46 per cent of Armenia's territory and 85 per
cent of the population.
The beginning of competition in the mobile phone market is already
having a positive effect from the customers' viewpoint. Black market
cell phone cards are losing their value day by day.
UNWELCOME VISITORS: SIGHTINGS OF POISONOUS SNAKES IN YEREVAN INCREASE
AS REPTILES AND RESIDENTS COMPETE FOR ROOM
By Gayane Abrahamyan Armenia Now reporter
Snakes are taking up residence in Yerevan.
A few years ago, snakes were an occupational hazard only for people
working in the countryside. But this year, residents in different
parts of the capital have encountered the dangerous reptiles - even
in the crowded square by the monument to Guy (Armenian revolutionary
Hayk Bzhshkyants) in the Nor Nork district.
The strangest case involved Georgi Hakhnazaryan, who caught a poisonous
Levantine Viper snake in his fourth floor apartment in Nor Nork two
weeks ago.
"I had heard that snakes appear in basements and private houses, but
this one had climbed to the fourth floor and that was news. It was
a young snake, 30cm long with a triangle-shaped head. Fortunately,
I was at home and I'm not much afraid of snakes. I caught it and let
it out in a field very far from my home," says Hakhnazaryan.
Ecologist Susanna Petrosyan believes the intrusion of snakes into
Yerevan is a natural response to the destruction of their normal
habitats. Snakes mainly lived in the forests and fields that formerly
surrounded Yerevan, but the forests have been cut and the fields have
been buried under new houses.
"Armenia is gradually experiencing desertification and it is not news
that there are many snakes in the desert," says Petrosyan.
Aram Martirosyan, a herpetologist and head of the terrarium at the
Zoological Park, says the number of snakes has not increased, but
their territory has shrunk.
"The amount of cultivated land has grown, the Hrazdan Gorge is full
of restaurants, and the snakes escape to the city. Where can the
poor creatures go when people have occupied their space?"
The Agency for Extreme Situations has recorded an increase in emergency
calls involving snakes; however, the agency does not have a service
to deal with them. In many cases, residents turn to staff at the Zoo.
"People have been calling constantly for the last several weeks that
snakes have appeared in basements and yards. I go there but I can't
run from one district to another every single day," says Martirosyan.
He suggests that the Agency for Extreme Situations should create a
response team for the six months when snakes are active.
In 2004, 67 people suffered snake bites in Armenia and 3 of them
died. Between 1995 and 1999, the annual total was between 25 and 38
incidents, with almost no cases in Yerevan.
Mikael Gabrielyan, senior state toxicologist and head of the department
for acute intoxication at the Armenia Medical Center, says staff at
his center dealt with 23 cases in 2004. So far this year, they have
received 12 patients.
A tragic case emerged in Ararat marz last year when a 12-year-old
boy died after being bitten by a Levantine Viper. The anti-serum
"Antigyurzin", produced in Russia, is the only means of combating
the poison but the drug is not registered in Armenia (only registered
drugs can be sold oin drugstores).
"Both the registration and the medicine itself are very expensive. The
importer must pay $2,000 for registration and one tube of "Antigyurzin"
costs 60,000 drams (about $130) and has a shelf life of only one year,"
says Ruslana Gevorgyan, an advisor to the Minister of Health.
For companies importing medicines "Antigyurzin" is not profitable
to import because the volume of use is unpredictable and pharmacies
would not sell it.
"It is not analgesic or aspirin that you buy and keep at home; this
medicine is not bought unless an accident happens," says Gevorgyan.
Eric Hovhanisyan, a fan of extreme tourism, says it would be nice
if a few pharmacies stocked "Antigyurzin". He says: "I frequently
climb Aragats with my hiking group, go to gorges and forests, and we
would like to take with us at least a tube of "Antigyurzin". It is
not realistic to think that if a snake bit someone we would be able
to get to a medical center in one hour."
The Ministry of health has now imported 200 tubes of "Antigyurzin"
and distributed it to nine hospitals in the republic.
But for this supply, the three children of Edjmiadzin resident Mkhitar
Galstyan would be without a father. A week ago, 40-year-old Galstyan,
already unconscious, was rushed to the Armenia Medical Center.
While working at the town's cemetery, Galstyan had spotted a Levantine
Viper and tried to kill it with a spade. The snake defended itself
by biting Galstyan's wrist.
Fortunately for him, the hospital had the anti-serum. Gabrielyan,
the head of the intoxication department, recalls: "His condition was
quite serious, the swelling had moved from his left hand to the waist
and he was in shock."
His hand is still swollen and blue, but Galstyan is getting better
and even joking about his experience.
"They say the bite of the mother-in-law is worse than the bite of
the snake; they lie, there is no worse pain than a snake bite."
Before "Antigyurzin" is made available to everyone, doctors advise
people to earn the rules of first aid. Time matters a lot in treating
a poisonous snake bite.
First of all, it is important not to panic. Statistics say 40 per
cent of snake victims die of pain-shock and heart attacks.
Within the first five minutes of an attack, the bitten area should
be squeezed around in order to force out blood and venom. Sucking the
poison out is forbidden - the venom may spread through the whole body
through any tiny cuts in the mouth.
Gabrielyan says making cuts around the injury also does not help,
and the pain intensifies the speed of the blood, which facilitates
the spread of the poison. The victim's movements should be limited,
a cold compress should be made and they should drink a lot of liquid,
though not alcohol.
Martirosyan, the herpetologist, advises: "People should not be afraid
of snakes; they are the most noble creatures in nature. The snake is
the only one that warns you when you approach it. There is no need
to harm them and they will not harm people either."
A FEAST OF FRUIT: BUMPER APRICOT HARVEST MAKES THIS THE SWEETEST
OF SUMMERS
By Marianna Grigoryan ArmeniaNow reporter
The colorful rich harvest of a fertile summer has injected a fresh
liveliness to Yerevan's markets for 15 days already.
Unlike last year, when spring frosts and hailstorms spoiled almost all
the crops in the republic and surviving apricots sold for previously
unheard-of prices, agriculture experts say this year promises an
abundance of fruit and vegetables.
"During the last three years, due to bad weather and other unpleasant
surprises of nature, the crops in Armenia were very bad and people
have forgotten the taste of real fruits. Luckily, everything has
changed this year," says Garnik Petrosyan, head of Plant Selection
and Protection at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Petrosyan says this is set to be the richest harvest of the past
decade. If no more than 6,000 tons of apricots were available last
year, this time experts expect the crop to be 70-80,000 tons.
The abundance of fruit has driven down prices and brought customers
flocking to the markets like bees to honey. The noise of bargaining
over wooden crates heaving with fruit fills the air.
Her hands ploughed with wrinkles from working the land, an elderly
woman with a handkerchief around her head points to different piles
of apricot that she has brought from her native village of Armash to
the Malatia market in Yerevan.
"Here it is - apricot sweeter than sugar," says 66-year-old Yulia
Hayrapetyan. "I have half a hectare of apricot garden; last year was
very bad and all our efforts were thrown into the water. We hardly
gathered even a few kilos."
Specialists say the apricots will reach their peak of ripeness in
about a week. A kilo of best quality golden queen can be bought for
400-500 drams (around $1) compared to as much as 6,000 drams last year.
Less prestigious apricots sell in the markets for between 200 and
350 drams. Says Poghosyan: "In a week's time, there will literally
be no place in the markets and the price will be very low. It will
be difficult for the peasants."
The farmers lost out last year because of the poor crop, but this year
they may lose out for the opposite reason - too much produce. Many
do not know what to do with their crops to get an income.
One way out of the situation is to sell fruits to canning factories
for preservation, but as a rule, the canneries offer incomparably
lower prices.
"Several years ago, when the apricot crop was relatively good and there
was a problem of selling them, the canneries were giving peasants only
20-40 drams per kilo," says Vahan Taroyan, a villager at Mrgashat in
Armavir marz.
The canning companies assert that they will do their best for the
people. Vartan Soghomonyan, a representative of the Artashat cannery,
says: "Last year we did not buy apricot at all, because there were no
apricots in the republic and the only ones available were so expensive
that they were only exported.
"But this year is quite different, we are going to produce apricot
jams and stewed apricots; in a word, everything that is possible."
Soghomonyan says, to achieve that aim, Artashat plans to purchase
more than 5,000 tons of apricot from peasants.
The sun-flavored apricot of Armenia grows in Ararat, Armavir, and
partly in Aragatsotn and Vayots Dzor marzes.
In Yulia Hayrapetyan's village Armash, 60 kilometers from Yerevan
in Ararat marz, there are plenty of apricot gardens. She says she
expects to have more than 3 tons of fruit this year.
"There is no fruit like Armenian apricot in the world," she smiles.
Cultivation of apricot in Armenia dates back to ancient times. The
general opinion is that it owes its honeysweet taste to the
Armenian sun, soil and water, elements obviously lacking in other
countries. That is the reason why the Armenian apricot is successfully
exported.
One of the most respected types of apricot is the Shalakh-Yerevani. It
gets the name Shalakh for its big size, sweet taste and nice appearance
appropriate to an apricot fit for a Shah. Agriculturists say Shalakh is
considered an elite apricot whose export maintains the high reputation
of Armenian apricots abroad.
Another sort is Sateni, or as people say - Aghjanabad. It has small
round very sweet fruits and is wonderful for making dried fruits and
jams. The type known as White Apricot is harvested later and mostly
processed into special jams.
"These varieties have an original taste and amaze people around the
world," says Petrosyan. "Peasants have cultivated the Armenian apricot
for centuries with pleasure, although now we don't have the leverage
yet to dictate a better price for them from the fruit companies."
Garnik Petrosyan says it would be helpful to the peasant farmer if
more apricots were exported. He expects that 6,000- 8,000 tons of
good-quality apricots will be exported this year, compared to only
1,500 last year.
"At present Armenia mainly exports apricots to Moscow, where there
is a big demand for this fruit," he says. "If we could export also
to Europe both the entrepreneur and the peasant would benefit."
However, according to Petrosyan, Armenian producers lack the relevant
certificates to demonstrate that apricots are ecologically clean and
meet European standards.
"Maybe soon we will be able to enter the European market, but first
we should be able to control the right use of types and quantity of
chemical weed and pest-killers in Armenia," Petrosyan says.
CULTURAL DIVIDE: PROPOSAL TO AID NATIONAL PICTURE GALLERY DRAWS
CRITICISM
By Vahan Ishkhanyan ArmeniaNow reporter
The National Picture Gallery and History Museum in Yerevan became
the center of controversy recently over a proposal to establish a
tourism development project there with restaurants and other trading
facilities.
The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) (www.armeniainfo.am)
put forward the plan under the heading "Armenia Begins at 1 Abovyan
Street", which is the address of the cultural center. It wanted to
relocate its information office within the museum complex, merge the
picture gallery and museum into a single establishment, and open a
restaurant on the ninth floor of the building.
The proposal also suggested leasing out space in the pillared entrance
to the gallery to seven Yerevan restaurants to generate income.
This was a rare case in which newspapers normally known to be critical
of each other united in opposition to the project. Haykakan Zhamanak
published an article entitled "It's the Picture Gallery's Turn" and
declared: "The Picture Gallery will become a large trade and service
center. And it will be different from other similar centers by the
fact that besides trade a picture gallery and a museum will operate
here at the same time."
The article ended by saying: "Take the Picture Gallery as a gift as
well. Congrats!"
Hayots Ashkharh, usually hostile to the views of Haykakan Zhamanak,
was equally scathing of the ATDA's proposal. Under a headline of
"Let's Go to the Picture Gallery to Eat Pork, it wrote: "The day will
come when a bazaar will enter the Picture Gallery. Over the years we
have been psychologically prepared for that: any immoral idea would
eventually be translated into action."
The negative press coverage and the opposition of the History Museum's
director led to the proposal being withdrawn. The Ministry of Culture
also expressed dissatisfaction, with a spokeswoman stating bluntly:
"The Ministry is against the premises of the museum being given to
the agency and a restaurant being opened on the ninth floor. The two
establishments will not be merged."
ATDA was founded in 2001 by a government order. The idea came from
the American-Armenian businessman Vahakn Hovnanian and the director
is his daughter Nina.
Although the agency is state-run, its costs are met totally by Vahakn
Hovnanian. The government has failed so far to meet a commitment to
provide the agency with office space and it does not provide funding.
Tourists who visit the ATDA's office on Nalbandyan Street can receive
free information and purchase different items about Armenia such as
maps and CDs.
The ATDA asked the Government to provide office space and it responded
by telling the agency to suggest an appropriate location. The agency
chose the History Museum.
Nina Hovnanian explains: "As many as 1,000 tourists visited our agency
in June alone. They come to get information about the country. We
would like our office to be there so that people know and understand
better what country they have come to.
"It is the government's business, not mine and I was not supposed to
earn a penny there, I don't have a hotel or a travel agency, I would
only wish to help Armenia."
But the press and specialists in the sphere of culture were
hostile to the idea of a tourist office operating from the museum's
premises. Anelka Grigoryan, director of the History Museum, says:
"Tourism and culture are not one body and culture cannot be adjusted
to tourism.
"It is a cultural bank, a regime establishment. The premises of the
museum have moral immunity and are not a place to be trampled and
adapted for the convenience of others."
Grigoryan adds: "The museum could have its own store where books
related to the museum and copies of exhibits could be sold to bring
profit and publicize the collection. But it is unacceptable to bring
items from the flea market and sell them here."
Nevertheless, the columned terrace outside the building is already
dotted with cafes that give this cultural center an unattractive
appearance. A former culture minister rented out the premises.
Other cafes have sprung up along the other walls of the building,
let by the prefecture. They bring no income to the museum.
"You will see, eventually they will themselves open their bistros
and will realize that project," says Nina Hovnanian.
Vahakn Hovnanian did not pluck the idea from thin air. He is a member
of the financial board of a number of famous museums, in particular
the Hermitage, New York's Metropolitan, and the Whitney Museum,
and in developing the project he used the experience of these museums.
"I am no stranger in this field and that's why I proposed this
project. I have seen numerous museums and wanted to introduce their
experience to ours so that they work properly. But what did they
write about me? That I wanted to open a trade or entertainment and
even a brothel," he said to ArmeniaNow.
"Shame on them. Instead they should admit their own fault that people
do not enter the museum, the premises are dead. What we wanted was
that tourists should enter these premises, to see our culture."
He says that in fact only books and souvenirs related to the museum
were to be sold in the Museum's shops, adding: "And, of course,
no goods brought from outside."
Misunderstanding on this point also arose due to an incorrect
translation of the project into Armenian. For example, the English
version showed that it was planned to provide 300 sq. meters for cafes,
but it became 3,000 sq meters in the Armenian version.
Following the example of well-known museums, Hovnanian also planned
to set up a financial board for the Picture Gallery and History Museum
that would include wealthy Diaspora Armenians with their investments.
The angry response to the project was due in part to the fact that
it came from a Diaspora Armenian. One cultural official said angrily
that Diaspora Armenians believed they could do whatever they liked
in Armenia with their money regardless of the views of local residents.
However, Hovnanian stresses that his projects aim only assist the
country's development. He says: "I haven't earned a penny in this
country, we only provided aid (the Hovnanians are implementing a
number of charity projects), but the papers have crucified me."
ATDA established ties between foreign and local travel agencies, and
invited journalists from many countries so that they could write about
Armenia in their periodicals. Last year, 12,000 tourists visited its
information center and up to 50,000 are expected to visit this year.
Hovnanian thought of giving up the agency in response to the criticism
he received. Now he says that he will continue his activities if
a Tourism Foundation is set up in which interested businessmen can
make investments.
"Tourism will belong to all, to cafes, to wine- makers and beer
producers. We want them to participate in the development of tourism,"
he says.
If the foundation is set up, he argues, then it will be possible to
promote Armenia on CNN and in different tourist guides. Nina Hovnanian
is sure that if these projects are realized, a million tourists will
visit Armenia.
DRENCHED IN HISTORY: VARDAVAR'S MEANING GOES BEYOND A SUMMER SOAKING
By Gayane Lazarian ArmeniaNow reporter
Painter Lusik Aguletsi decorates the festive table with quick
movements. On one edge there is a traditional Armenian Nuri doll made
of dried vegetables smartened up with small pomegranates, while next
to it is a khachbur and a kskrank (types of dolls resembling small
trees) woven of wheat.
But the main decoration of the festive table is the "khndum tokq"
tree, which means "bringing joy". There are still a few days before
the festival of Vardavar, but the painter has beautified her house
just as Armenians did hundreds of years ago.
"The "khndum tokq" tree was decorated like this in particular by my
great grandfathers in Agulis, between Meghri and Nakichevan. Every
Armenian woman made these preparations on that day. They symbolized
success, fertility, abundance and protection from evil," Lusik
explains.
Khndum tokq is made from cross-like sticks attached to each other
then decorated with different fruits - apple, apricot, cherry and
cucumber, which symbolize eternal life. The cross is fixed onto a
plate in which wheat has been planted in advance, and the edges of
the plate are decorated with opened aromatic rose buds.
Aguletsi says that when people talk about Vardavar they only think
of throwing water over each other, but the festival has deeper roots
and is filled with traditions that many have forgotten. Pouring water
over each other is only one of 20 games played in different regions
of Armenia on that day.
"The question is how correctly every Armenian woman can observe the
ritual in her home. The whole ritual should be presented correctly
to people so that they understand it. We have amazing rituals handed
down to us from the depths of millennia and today we ought to pass
them on to future generations," she says.
Vardavar has been celebrated in many parts of Armenia on the first
Sunday after July 22, and in other regions 98 days after Easter. This
year it is celebrated on July 3. It is considered a pagan occasion
that Gregory the Illuminator transformed into the festival of the
Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
Pagan Armenians marked the festival in honor of the Goddess Astghik,
offering her flowers especially roses. The festival mainly took
place in the mountains, near springs and lakes, which were regarded
as particularly holy places. Offerings honored water spirits and
entreated them to provide rains for the harvest and spare them from
drought.
"On the day of Vardavar the whole village would gather, decorate
an ox in a special ceremonial way and then take it to church for
offering. Women and girls wore their best dresses, put garlands on
their heads, and took khach burs and kskranks to be blessed in church,
along with their infants. Dhol and zurna - national instruments -
were played to herald the news of Vardavar," Aguletsi says.
After the church ceremony, khach burs and kskranks were hung
on the walls of houses and in barns to bring abundance and
fertility. Villagers hung special blessed wooden decorations -
daghdghans - on the foreheads of cattle to keep them safe from the
evil eye. Ears of grain were granted to the church so that fields and
orchards would be kept safe from disasters, especially hail. Houses
were decorated with twigs and doves were let fly.
"We had very beautiful and interesting games. Little ones played the
game of Hayk and Bel, young girls and boys played games of disguise. A
boy would put on women's clothes and make his way into the company
of girls to be closer to his beloved. People presented each other
with different types of trees made from wheat, and in exchange they
would receive ghee, butter, flour and eggs," the painter says.
The women of Agulis played an especially interesting game, the
"Chichi Mama" game.
"The Chichi Mama was a woman dressed in white clothes, and other women
with copper plates and ladles for instruments called out 'Chichi Mama,
Chichi Mama, what would you like? Chichi Mama would like ghee and
eggs, Chichi Mama would like rain" and water was poured on her. Chichi
Mama had to keep silent, that is, to be a tolerant woman. Then they
gathered and baked cakes for a feast."
The game of mud was also known. Round bowl-shaped balls were made of
mud and smashed forcefully against the ground. The winner was the
one who made the strongest sound.
Water games, which are the ones most rooted in the popular imagination
today, were added to all of this, and beautiful fires were lit in
the villages during the evening.
Aguletsi says: "Every family prepared a stack of dried grass in their
yard and watched it all day long to prevent someone else from burning
it. A male child of the house then set fire to the stack and the family
cooked apples in it for eating. It symbolized that the fruit was ripe."
Almost all regions of Armenia marked Vardavar with offerings. In
Agulis, sheep were slaughtered and hung inside a tonir, with a pilaf
placed under it. Fat from the cattle dripped into the pilaf all night
long for a dish known as "kashovi" pilaf. Gata was prepared on that
day, and fruit and flowers were in abundance.
"Many people do not know today that people fasted for 40 days before
Vardavar so as to be able to ask God on that day for their goals to
be fulfilled," says Aguletsi.
"This is the primary meaning of the festival. I am sure that if they
knew about it, people would fast to seek favors from God."
GAYANE IN ISTANBUL: ATATURK MEETS ARMENIA IN LANDMARK OPERA PERFORMANCE
By Gayane Abrahamyan ArmeniaNow reporter
The State Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia has returned from its
first concert tour to Turkey.
Before a sell-out audience of 1,100 in Istanbul's Ataturk Cultural
Center, the sounds of Aram Khachaturyan's Gayane ballet were heard
while Minas Avetisyan's art decorated the hall.
Although for the last several years the Academic Theater after
Sundukyan, State Academic Choir under Hovhannes Chekijyan, Jivan
Gasparyan have performed in Turkey, no such large scale appearance
of Armenian artists has been organized in Turkey yet.
The tour was unique not only for the debut appearance of the 140-strong
group of Armenian artists in Turkey's most prestigious opera hall,
but also because the invitation from the Rotary club was supported
by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey.
"This was an important and difficult step in a situation where there
are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. It is time
the Turks recognized our high quality cultural works," says Kamo
Hovhannisyan, the director of the National Opera and Ballet Theater.
Khachaturyan's ballet was selected by the president of Istanbul-based
Rotary club Kemal Dincer, who had seen it performed in Yerevan last
November.
"Dincer expressed a wish to invite us to present this work in Turkey to
mark the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Branch of Rotary club. At
that moment, that seemed to be only a compliment to me," recalls
Hovhannisyan.
The influence of Khachaturyan's music and the beauty of the ballet
performance were strong, however, and two months later the Rotary
club invited Hovhannisyan and Gegham Grigoryan, the art director of
the Opera, to Turkey for negotiations.
Hovhannisyan says they found that everything was more serious than they
believed before leaving for Turkey. To ensure the staging of Gayane,
Rotaty club of Turkey undertook all of the expenses of the Armenian
tour, including travel, accommodation and food, and paid honoraria
to the actors, while the government allocated the hall and provided
the security of the Armenian artists.
Audience members paid between $20 and $130 to see the Armenian
ballet. Some 40 percent of audience were Turks, the rest were
Armenians. The Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkey and the Coordinator
of Caucasus issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the
performance.
The reviewer in the Armenian newspaper in Turkey, Marmara, commented:
"Art lovers waited a long time for this initiative and all those
present at the concert enjoyed a truly universal human art."
The Turkish press also gave a positive response especially Milliyet
and Aksam. The TV8 channel prepared a big program about the opera
company's tour.
Gayane was performed by the Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia
Vilen Galstyan in 1973 and a year ago he refreshed the performance with
a new and contemporary choreography. Soloists were Sona Arustamyan,
Marina Divanyan, Tigran Mikaelyan and Melkon Khachikyan. According to
the soloists, it was very responsible to appear before the Turkish
public because they need to uphold the honor of Armenia and its
culture here more than anywhere else.
"It was a cultural victory; our tour was already a phenomenon and
proof that Armenian nation has not been destroyed, that we have
powerful culture and appear to the world openly," says ballet-master
Hovhannes Khachikyan.
Hovhannisyan says that the actors were on stage for 20 minutes
after each performance because of the intensity of the applause from
audience members.
The Rotary club, in a letter of appreciation sent to the theater
company, declared the concert to be the most beautiful and valuable
gift for the 100th anniversary of their club and the Turkish public.
OF FOOD AND WATER: MEMORIES OF KINDNESS AND HARDSHIP ON THE LONG ROAD
FROM IZMIR TO ARMENIA
By Mariam Badalyan ArmeniaNow Reporter
Andranik Semerjyan remembers well the heat of the summer of 1918,
when Turkish women in yashmaks walked timidly in the streets past
policemen whose red fezes caught the eye in the sunshine.
Turkish officials had declared a curfew for Armenians and fear gripped
the two Armenian districts in Izmir - Getezerk and Qarap.
Andranik, now 98, recalls: "The Turks were saying 'do not come out
of your houses or we shall not be responsible for you'."
In 1918 around 30,000 Armenians lived in Izmir.
Although the curfew applied only to Armenians, other Christian
nationalities in the town, including Greeks, were cautious. In Izmir,
people had heard about the dreadful atrocities of 1915 in Armenian
towns and villages and they waited fearfully for the hour when it
would be their turn to face slaughter.
"But our turn was not yet to come. We were lucky at that time. For
fear of the French, the Turks would not touch us," says Andranik.
Close to the Armenian district, where the water-seller Hambartzum
lived with his wife and three children, was the French Consulate. The
Turks were anxious to avoid trouble with French officials, and employed
other measures to get rid of the Izmir Armenians. Confined to their
houses and deprived of all means of existence, the Armenians were
expected to die of hunger.
"We lived hungry days," Andranik remembers. "My father sold water in
an old pitcher to earn a living but he would not come out of house
and we had to stay hungry."
The hungry children - 9-year old Andranik, 11-year old Khatun and
13-year old Vardivar, were huddled together on the couch, when suddenly
they heard a faint knock at the door.
It was a Turkish woman living in the neighborhood, who entered
timidly with food for the children. For several months the woman,
whose name Andranik no longer remembers, visited with food hidden
under her yashmak.
In this way, at risk to her own life, she saved the Armenian
water-seller's family.
"Then we heard that French ships had come to take us," says
Andranik. Under cloak of night, the family made its way to the port
and the French ship, which carried them to Athens, Greece.
"My father started selling water there, but it did not last long,"
Andranik remembers. "He soon went to war, joining the Greeks who fought
against Turkey. We were friends with the Greeks. They protected us
and we had to protect them."
During the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922, Hambartzum was taken
captive and did not return for more than two years. When he did,
says Andranik, he carried the news that all of the remaining Armenians
in Izmir had been exterminated.
The Izmir of his childhood survived now only in Andranik's heart. The
family settled peacefully in Athens and Hambartzum and his wife had
two more children - a boy and a girl.
When, in 1946, the opportunity came up to settle in Soviet Armenia,
Hambartzum and his large family, now including grandchildren, decided
to move to their homeland. They wanted the children to grow up as
Armenians.
At the dockside, Hambartzum had a shock: he met his brother, whom he
lost in Izmir and had not seen for more than 25 years.
Andranik says that sunny days met them in their homeland, adding with
a sigh: "There is nothing more about this to remember, my girl."
His wife, 85-year-old Gayaneh, nods her head gracefully and smiles.
"I would only add," he says suddenly, "that although the Turks were
our enemy, each time I remember that Turkish woman, my heart fills with
gratitude for human kindness that does not acknowledge nationality."
Administration Address: 26 Parpetsi St., No 9
Phone: +(374 1) 532422
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.armenianow.com
Technical Assistance: (For technical assistance please contact to Babken Juharyan)
Email: [email protected]
ICQ#: 97152052
ONLY CONNECT: COMPETITION IN MOBILE PHONE SERVICES BRINGS AN END TO CALL WAITING
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenia's new mobile phone operator K-Telecom begins operations today,
July 1, opening the market to competition for the first time.
The company will offer two types of VivaCell phone cards in a bid
to attract customers from ArmenTel, hitherto Armenia's monopoly
telecommunications provider.
Experts already predict a summer of hot competition between the rivals,
with ArmenTel already making drastic price reductions in response to
K-Telecom's offer of much cheaper calls.
VivaCell is offering two types of phone service - a pre-paid Alo
card and its Classic monthly billing account. The Alo card costs
7,000 drams (about $16) initially for the SIM card and 3,700 drams'
worth of calling time. Alo scratch cards can be purchased for 2,000
to 18,000 drams. The Classic SIM card costs 4,500 drams ($10) plus
a monthly fee of 4,000 drams and the cost of calls.
Armentel responded by announcing that its tariffs for mobile services
would be cut by 30% from July 1. Its pay-as-you-go Easy card will
cost 7,800 drams (formerly 10,700 Drams) including 5,000 drams worth
of calling time. Previously, the SIM card alone cost $25 but was
virtually impossible to buy except through black market dealers
charging as much as $200.
Its equivalent to the Classic account will cost 5,400 Drams to activate
plus a monthly fee of 6,000 drams (it used to be 8,000 drams). An
advance deposit on calls, previously $120, is now 22,000 drams.
Still VivaCell's service is cheaper than its competitor's apart from
tariffs on international calls, since ArmenTel retains a monopoly on
connections out of Armenia.
The Government of Armenia issued the second mobile phone license to
K-Telecom in November last year after deciding to strip ArmenTel of
its monopoly following complaints that the Greek-owned company failed
to meet its investment obligations.
K-Telecom is owned by Lebanese investors. Its chairman is Pierre
Fattouch, a wealthy businessman who is also the owner of Karabakh
Telecom, the only telecom company working in Nagorno Karabakh since
2002.
One of its directors, Hussein Rifai, said it had already invested $75
million to establish its mobile phone service in Armenia. He said:
"We confronted the problem of building a network in record quick time,
a network that would meet market requirements. We also had a clear
understanding that we should be the leading company in providing
telecommunication services."
Karabakh Telecom's mobile calling tariffs in Karabakh are just 30
drams per minute, while ArmenTel was charging 130 drams in Armenia
until recently.
K-Telecom's executive director, Lebanese-Armenian Ralf Yirikian,
who formerly held the same position at Karabakh Telecom, says the two
operators are separate companies. One is entitled to operate only in
Armenia and the other only in Karabakh.
Yirikian says K-Telecom will commence its services in Yerevan then
spread out to Armenia's regions. He predicts that VivaCell will have
300,000 customers within three months.
"We will offer coverage throughout the republic's territory,
independently whether we have customers there or not, and whether
there is a populated area there or not," says Yirikian.
ArmenTel says it had 235,000 subscribers as of April 1 this year,
75 per cent of whom used the pay-as-you-go Easy card. Its cellular
coverage extends to 46 per cent of Armenia's territory and 85 per
cent of the population.
The beginning of competition in the mobile phone market is already
having a positive effect from the customers' viewpoint. Black market
cell phone cards are losing their value day by day.
UNWELCOME VISITORS: SIGHTINGS OF POISONOUS SNAKES IN YEREVAN INCREASE
AS REPTILES AND RESIDENTS COMPETE FOR ROOM
By Gayane Abrahamyan Armenia Now reporter
Snakes are taking up residence in Yerevan.
A few years ago, snakes were an occupational hazard only for people
working in the countryside. But this year, residents in different
parts of the capital have encountered the dangerous reptiles - even
in the crowded square by the monument to Guy (Armenian revolutionary
Hayk Bzhshkyants) in the Nor Nork district.
The strangest case involved Georgi Hakhnazaryan, who caught a poisonous
Levantine Viper snake in his fourth floor apartment in Nor Nork two
weeks ago.
"I had heard that snakes appear in basements and private houses, but
this one had climbed to the fourth floor and that was news. It was
a young snake, 30cm long with a triangle-shaped head. Fortunately,
I was at home and I'm not much afraid of snakes. I caught it and let
it out in a field very far from my home," says Hakhnazaryan.
Ecologist Susanna Petrosyan believes the intrusion of snakes into
Yerevan is a natural response to the destruction of their normal
habitats. Snakes mainly lived in the forests and fields that formerly
surrounded Yerevan, but the forests have been cut and the fields have
been buried under new houses.
"Armenia is gradually experiencing desertification and it is not news
that there are many snakes in the desert," says Petrosyan.
Aram Martirosyan, a herpetologist and head of the terrarium at the
Zoological Park, says the number of snakes has not increased, but
their territory has shrunk.
"The amount of cultivated land has grown, the Hrazdan Gorge is full
of restaurants, and the snakes escape to the city. Where can the
poor creatures go when people have occupied their space?"
The Agency for Extreme Situations has recorded an increase in emergency
calls involving snakes; however, the agency does not have a service
to deal with them. In many cases, residents turn to staff at the Zoo.
"People have been calling constantly for the last several weeks that
snakes have appeared in basements and yards. I go there but I can't
run from one district to another every single day," says Martirosyan.
He suggests that the Agency for Extreme Situations should create a
response team for the six months when snakes are active.
In 2004, 67 people suffered snake bites in Armenia and 3 of them
died. Between 1995 and 1999, the annual total was between 25 and 38
incidents, with almost no cases in Yerevan.
Mikael Gabrielyan, senior state toxicologist and head of the department
for acute intoxication at the Armenia Medical Center, says staff at
his center dealt with 23 cases in 2004. So far this year, they have
received 12 patients.
A tragic case emerged in Ararat marz last year when a 12-year-old
boy died after being bitten by a Levantine Viper. The anti-serum
"Antigyurzin", produced in Russia, is the only means of combating
the poison but the drug is not registered in Armenia (only registered
drugs can be sold oin drugstores).
"Both the registration and the medicine itself are very expensive. The
importer must pay $2,000 for registration and one tube of "Antigyurzin"
costs 60,000 drams (about $130) and has a shelf life of only one year,"
says Ruslana Gevorgyan, an advisor to the Minister of Health.
For companies importing medicines "Antigyurzin" is not profitable
to import because the volume of use is unpredictable and pharmacies
would not sell it.
"It is not analgesic or aspirin that you buy and keep at home; this
medicine is not bought unless an accident happens," says Gevorgyan.
Eric Hovhanisyan, a fan of extreme tourism, says it would be nice
if a few pharmacies stocked "Antigyurzin". He says: "I frequently
climb Aragats with my hiking group, go to gorges and forests, and we
would like to take with us at least a tube of "Antigyurzin". It is
not realistic to think that if a snake bit someone we would be able
to get to a medical center in one hour."
The Ministry of health has now imported 200 tubes of "Antigyurzin"
and distributed it to nine hospitals in the republic.
But for this supply, the three children of Edjmiadzin resident Mkhitar
Galstyan would be without a father. A week ago, 40-year-old Galstyan,
already unconscious, was rushed to the Armenia Medical Center.
While working at the town's cemetery, Galstyan had spotted a Levantine
Viper and tried to kill it with a spade. The snake defended itself
by biting Galstyan's wrist.
Fortunately for him, the hospital had the anti-serum. Gabrielyan,
the head of the intoxication department, recalls: "His condition was
quite serious, the swelling had moved from his left hand to the waist
and he was in shock."
His hand is still swollen and blue, but Galstyan is getting better
and even joking about his experience.
"They say the bite of the mother-in-law is worse than the bite of
the snake; they lie, there is no worse pain than a snake bite."
Before "Antigyurzin" is made available to everyone, doctors advise
people to earn the rules of first aid. Time matters a lot in treating
a poisonous snake bite.
First of all, it is important not to panic. Statistics say 40 per
cent of snake victims die of pain-shock and heart attacks.
Within the first five minutes of an attack, the bitten area should
be squeezed around in order to force out blood and venom. Sucking the
poison out is forbidden - the venom may spread through the whole body
through any tiny cuts in the mouth.
Gabrielyan says making cuts around the injury also does not help,
and the pain intensifies the speed of the blood, which facilitates
the spread of the poison. The victim's movements should be limited,
a cold compress should be made and they should drink a lot of liquid,
though not alcohol.
Martirosyan, the herpetologist, advises: "People should not be afraid
of snakes; they are the most noble creatures in nature. The snake is
the only one that warns you when you approach it. There is no need
to harm them and they will not harm people either."
A FEAST OF FRUIT: BUMPER APRICOT HARVEST MAKES THIS THE SWEETEST
OF SUMMERS
By Marianna Grigoryan ArmeniaNow reporter
The colorful rich harvest of a fertile summer has injected a fresh
liveliness to Yerevan's markets for 15 days already.
Unlike last year, when spring frosts and hailstorms spoiled almost all
the crops in the republic and surviving apricots sold for previously
unheard-of prices, agriculture experts say this year promises an
abundance of fruit and vegetables.
"During the last three years, due to bad weather and other unpleasant
surprises of nature, the crops in Armenia were very bad and people
have forgotten the taste of real fruits. Luckily, everything has
changed this year," says Garnik Petrosyan, head of Plant Selection
and Protection at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Petrosyan says this is set to be the richest harvest of the past
decade. If no more than 6,000 tons of apricots were available last
year, this time experts expect the crop to be 70-80,000 tons.
The abundance of fruit has driven down prices and brought customers
flocking to the markets like bees to honey. The noise of bargaining
over wooden crates heaving with fruit fills the air.
Her hands ploughed with wrinkles from working the land, an elderly
woman with a handkerchief around her head points to different piles
of apricot that she has brought from her native village of Armash to
the Malatia market in Yerevan.
"Here it is - apricot sweeter than sugar," says 66-year-old Yulia
Hayrapetyan. "I have half a hectare of apricot garden; last year was
very bad and all our efforts were thrown into the water. We hardly
gathered even a few kilos."
Specialists say the apricots will reach their peak of ripeness in
about a week. A kilo of best quality golden queen can be bought for
400-500 drams (around $1) compared to as much as 6,000 drams last year.
Less prestigious apricots sell in the markets for between 200 and
350 drams. Says Poghosyan: "In a week's time, there will literally
be no place in the markets and the price will be very low. It will
be difficult for the peasants."
The farmers lost out last year because of the poor crop, but this year
they may lose out for the opposite reason - too much produce. Many
do not know what to do with their crops to get an income.
One way out of the situation is to sell fruits to canning factories
for preservation, but as a rule, the canneries offer incomparably
lower prices.
"Several years ago, when the apricot crop was relatively good and there
was a problem of selling them, the canneries were giving peasants only
20-40 drams per kilo," says Vahan Taroyan, a villager at Mrgashat in
Armavir marz.
The canning companies assert that they will do their best for the
people. Vartan Soghomonyan, a representative of the Artashat cannery,
says: "Last year we did not buy apricot at all, because there were no
apricots in the republic and the only ones available were so expensive
that they were only exported.
"But this year is quite different, we are going to produce apricot
jams and stewed apricots; in a word, everything that is possible."
Soghomonyan says, to achieve that aim, Artashat plans to purchase
more than 5,000 tons of apricot from peasants.
The sun-flavored apricot of Armenia grows in Ararat, Armavir, and
partly in Aragatsotn and Vayots Dzor marzes.
In Yulia Hayrapetyan's village Armash, 60 kilometers from Yerevan
in Ararat marz, there are plenty of apricot gardens. She says she
expects to have more than 3 tons of fruit this year.
"There is no fruit like Armenian apricot in the world," she smiles.
Cultivation of apricot in Armenia dates back to ancient times. The
general opinion is that it owes its honeysweet taste to the
Armenian sun, soil and water, elements obviously lacking in other
countries. That is the reason why the Armenian apricot is successfully
exported.
One of the most respected types of apricot is the Shalakh-Yerevani. It
gets the name Shalakh for its big size, sweet taste and nice appearance
appropriate to an apricot fit for a Shah. Agriculturists say Shalakh is
considered an elite apricot whose export maintains the high reputation
of Armenian apricots abroad.
Another sort is Sateni, or as people say - Aghjanabad. It has small
round very sweet fruits and is wonderful for making dried fruits and
jams. The type known as White Apricot is harvested later and mostly
processed into special jams.
"These varieties have an original taste and amaze people around the
world," says Petrosyan. "Peasants have cultivated the Armenian apricot
for centuries with pleasure, although now we don't have the leverage
yet to dictate a better price for them from the fruit companies."
Garnik Petrosyan says it would be helpful to the peasant farmer if
more apricots were exported. He expects that 6,000- 8,000 tons of
good-quality apricots will be exported this year, compared to only
1,500 last year.
"At present Armenia mainly exports apricots to Moscow, where there
is a big demand for this fruit," he says. "If we could export also
to Europe both the entrepreneur and the peasant would benefit."
However, according to Petrosyan, Armenian producers lack the relevant
certificates to demonstrate that apricots are ecologically clean and
meet European standards.
"Maybe soon we will be able to enter the European market, but first
we should be able to control the right use of types and quantity of
chemical weed and pest-killers in Armenia," Petrosyan says.
CULTURAL DIVIDE: PROPOSAL TO AID NATIONAL PICTURE GALLERY DRAWS
CRITICISM
By Vahan Ishkhanyan ArmeniaNow reporter
The National Picture Gallery and History Museum in Yerevan became
the center of controversy recently over a proposal to establish a
tourism development project there with restaurants and other trading
facilities.
The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) (www.armeniainfo.am)
put forward the plan under the heading "Armenia Begins at 1 Abovyan
Street", which is the address of the cultural center. It wanted to
relocate its information office within the museum complex, merge the
picture gallery and museum into a single establishment, and open a
restaurant on the ninth floor of the building.
The proposal also suggested leasing out space in the pillared entrance
to the gallery to seven Yerevan restaurants to generate income.
This was a rare case in which newspapers normally known to be critical
of each other united in opposition to the project. Haykakan Zhamanak
published an article entitled "It's the Picture Gallery's Turn" and
declared: "The Picture Gallery will become a large trade and service
center. And it will be different from other similar centers by the
fact that besides trade a picture gallery and a museum will operate
here at the same time."
The article ended by saying: "Take the Picture Gallery as a gift as
well. Congrats!"
Hayots Ashkharh, usually hostile to the views of Haykakan Zhamanak,
was equally scathing of the ATDA's proposal. Under a headline of
"Let's Go to the Picture Gallery to Eat Pork, it wrote: "The day will
come when a bazaar will enter the Picture Gallery. Over the years we
have been psychologically prepared for that: any immoral idea would
eventually be translated into action."
The negative press coverage and the opposition of the History Museum's
director led to the proposal being withdrawn. The Ministry of Culture
also expressed dissatisfaction, with a spokeswoman stating bluntly:
"The Ministry is against the premises of the museum being given to
the agency and a restaurant being opened on the ninth floor. The two
establishments will not be merged."
ATDA was founded in 2001 by a government order. The idea came from
the American-Armenian businessman Vahakn Hovnanian and the director
is his daughter Nina.
Although the agency is state-run, its costs are met totally by Vahakn
Hovnanian. The government has failed so far to meet a commitment to
provide the agency with office space and it does not provide funding.
Tourists who visit the ATDA's office on Nalbandyan Street can receive
free information and purchase different items about Armenia such as
maps and CDs.
The ATDA asked the Government to provide office space and it responded
by telling the agency to suggest an appropriate location. The agency
chose the History Museum.
Nina Hovnanian explains: "As many as 1,000 tourists visited our agency
in June alone. They come to get information about the country. We
would like our office to be there so that people know and understand
better what country they have come to.
"It is the government's business, not mine and I was not supposed to
earn a penny there, I don't have a hotel or a travel agency, I would
only wish to help Armenia."
But the press and specialists in the sphere of culture were
hostile to the idea of a tourist office operating from the museum's
premises. Anelka Grigoryan, director of the History Museum, says:
"Tourism and culture are not one body and culture cannot be adjusted
to tourism.
"It is a cultural bank, a regime establishment. The premises of the
museum have moral immunity and are not a place to be trampled and
adapted for the convenience of others."
Grigoryan adds: "The museum could have its own store where books
related to the museum and copies of exhibits could be sold to bring
profit and publicize the collection. But it is unacceptable to bring
items from the flea market and sell them here."
Nevertheless, the columned terrace outside the building is already
dotted with cafes that give this cultural center an unattractive
appearance. A former culture minister rented out the premises.
Other cafes have sprung up along the other walls of the building,
let by the prefecture. They bring no income to the museum.
"You will see, eventually they will themselves open their bistros
and will realize that project," says Nina Hovnanian.
Vahakn Hovnanian did not pluck the idea from thin air. He is a member
of the financial board of a number of famous museums, in particular
the Hermitage, New York's Metropolitan, and the Whitney Museum,
and in developing the project he used the experience of these museums.
"I am no stranger in this field and that's why I proposed this
project. I have seen numerous museums and wanted to introduce their
experience to ours so that they work properly. But what did they
write about me? That I wanted to open a trade or entertainment and
even a brothel," he said to ArmeniaNow.
"Shame on them. Instead they should admit their own fault that people
do not enter the museum, the premises are dead. What we wanted was
that tourists should enter these premises, to see our culture."
He says that in fact only books and souvenirs related to the museum
were to be sold in the Museum's shops, adding: "And, of course,
no goods brought from outside."
Misunderstanding on this point also arose due to an incorrect
translation of the project into Armenian. For example, the English
version showed that it was planned to provide 300 sq. meters for cafes,
but it became 3,000 sq meters in the Armenian version.
Following the example of well-known museums, Hovnanian also planned
to set up a financial board for the Picture Gallery and History Museum
that would include wealthy Diaspora Armenians with their investments.
The angry response to the project was due in part to the fact that
it came from a Diaspora Armenian. One cultural official said angrily
that Diaspora Armenians believed they could do whatever they liked
in Armenia with their money regardless of the views of local residents.
However, Hovnanian stresses that his projects aim only assist the
country's development. He says: "I haven't earned a penny in this
country, we only provided aid (the Hovnanians are implementing a
number of charity projects), but the papers have crucified me."
ATDA established ties between foreign and local travel agencies, and
invited journalists from many countries so that they could write about
Armenia in their periodicals. Last year, 12,000 tourists visited its
information center and up to 50,000 are expected to visit this year.
Hovnanian thought of giving up the agency in response to the criticism
he received. Now he says that he will continue his activities if
a Tourism Foundation is set up in which interested businessmen can
make investments.
"Tourism will belong to all, to cafes, to wine- makers and beer
producers. We want them to participate in the development of tourism,"
he says.
If the foundation is set up, he argues, then it will be possible to
promote Armenia on CNN and in different tourist guides. Nina Hovnanian
is sure that if these projects are realized, a million tourists will
visit Armenia.
DRENCHED IN HISTORY: VARDAVAR'S MEANING GOES BEYOND A SUMMER SOAKING
By Gayane Lazarian ArmeniaNow reporter
Painter Lusik Aguletsi decorates the festive table with quick
movements. On one edge there is a traditional Armenian Nuri doll made
of dried vegetables smartened up with small pomegranates, while next
to it is a khachbur and a kskrank (types of dolls resembling small
trees) woven of wheat.
But the main decoration of the festive table is the "khndum tokq"
tree, which means "bringing joy". There are still a few days before
the festival of Vardavar, but the painter has beautified her house
just as Armenians did hundreds of years ago.
"The "khndum tokq" tree was decorated like this in particular by my
great grandfathers in Agulis, between Meghri and Nakichevan. Every
Armenian woman made these preparations on that day. They symbolized
success, fertility, abundance and protection from evil," Lusik
explains.
Khndum tokq is made from cross-like sticks attached to each other
then decorated with different fruits - apple, apricot, cherry and
cucumber, which symbolize eternal life. The cross is fixed onto a
plate in which wheat has been planted in advance, and the edges of
the plate are decorated with opened aromatic rose buds.
Aguletsi says that when people talk about Vardavar they only think
of throwing water over each other, but the festival has deeper roots
and is filled with traditions that many have forgotten. Pouring water
over each other is only one of 20 games played in different regions
of Armenia on that day.
"The question is how correctly every Armenian woman can observe the
ritual in her home. The whole ritual should be presented correctly
to people so that they understand it. We have amazing rituals handed
down to us from the depths of millennia and today we ought to pass
them on to future generations," she says.
Vardavar has been celebrated in many parts of Armenia on the first
Sunday after July 22, and in other regions 98 days after Easter. This
year it is celebrated on July 3. It is considered a pagan occasion
that Gregory the Illuminator transformed into the festival of the
Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
Pagan Armenians marked the festival in honor of the Goddess Astghik,
offering her flowers especially roses. The festival mainly took
place in the mountains, near springs and lakes, which were regarded
as particularly holy places. Offerings honored water spirits and
entreated them to provide rains for the harvest and spare them from
drought.
"On the day of Vardavar the whole village would gather, decorate
an ox in a special ceremonial way and then take it to church for
offering. Women and girls wore their best dresses, put garlands on
their heads, and took khach burs and kskranks to be blessed in church,
along with their infants. Dhol and zurna - national instruments -
were played to herald the news of Vardavar," Aguletsi says.
After the church ceremony, khach burs and kskranks were hung
on the walls of houses and in barns to bring abundance and
fertility. Villagers hung special blessed wooden decorations -
daghdghans - on the foreheads of cattle to keep them safe from the
evil eye. Ears of grain were granted to the church so that fields and
orchards would be kept safe from disasters, especially hail. Houses
were decorated with twigs and doves were let fly.
"We had very beautiful and interesting games. Little ones played the
game of Hayk and Bel, young girls and boys played games of disguise. A
boy would put on women's clothes and make his way into the company
of girls to be closer to his beloved. People presented each other
with different types of trees made from wheat, and in exchange they
would receive ghee, butter, flour and eggs," the painter says.
The women of Agulis played an especially interesting game, the
"Chichi Mama" game.
"The Chichi Mama was a woman dressed in white clothes, and other women
with copper plates and ladles for instruments called out 'Chichi Mama,
Chichi Mama, what would you like? Chichi Mama would like ghee and
eggs, Chichi Mama would like rain" and water was poured on her. Chichi
Mama had to keep silent, that is, to be a tolerant woman. Then they
gathered and baked cakes for a feast."
The game of mud was also known. Round bowl-shaped balls were made of
mud and smashed forcefully against the ground. The winner was the
one who made the strongest sound.
Water games, which are the ones most rooted in the popular imagination
today, were added to all of this, and beautiful fires were lit in
the villages during the evening.
Aguletsi says: "Every family prepared a stack of dried grass in their
yard and watched it all day long to prevent someone else from burning
it. A male child of the house then set fire to the stack and the family
cooked apples in it for eating. It symbolized that the fruit was ripe."
Almost all regions of Armenia marked Vardavar with offerings. In
Agulis, sheep were slaughtered and hung inside a tonir, with a pilaf
placed under it. Fat from the cattle dripped into the pilaf all night
long for a dish known as "kashovi" pilaf. Gata was prepared on that
day, and fruit and flowers were in abundance.
"Many people do not know today that people fasted for 40 days before
Vardavar so as to be able to ask God on that day for their goals to
be fulfilled," says Aguletsi.
"This is the primary meaning of the festival. I am sure that if they
knew about it, people would fast to seek favors from God."
GAYANE IN ISTANBUL: ATATURK MEETS ARMENIA IN LANDMARK OPERA PERFORMANCE
By Gayane Abrahamyan ArmeniaNow reporter
The State Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia has returned from its
first concert tour to Turkey.
Before a sell-out audience of 1,100 in Istanbul's Ataturk Cultural
Center, the sounds of Aram Khachaturyan's Gayane ballet were heard
while Minas Avetisyan's art decorated the hall.
Although for the last several years the Academic Theater after
Sundukyan, State Academic Choir under Hovhannes Chekijyan, Jivan
Gasparyan have performed in Turkey, no such large scale appearance
of Armenian artists has been organized in Turkey yet.
The tour was unique not only for the debut appearance of the 140-strong
group of Armenian artists in Turkey's most prestigious opera hall,
but also because the invitation from the Rotary club was supported
by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey.
"This was an important and difficult step in a situation where there
are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. It is time
the Turks recognized our high quality cultural works," says Kamo
Hovhannisyan, the director of the National Opera and Ballet Theater.
Khachaturyan's ballet was selected by the president of Istanbul-based
Rotary club Kemal Dincer, who had seen it performed in Yerevan last
November.
"Dincer expressed a wish to invite us to present this work in Turkey to
mark the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Branch of Rotary club. At
that moment, that seemed to be only a compliment to me," recalls
Hovhannisyan.
The influence of Khachaturyan's music and the beauty of the ballet
performance were strong, however, and two months later the Rotary
club invited Hovhannisyan and Gegham Grigoryan, the art director of
the Opera, to Turkey for negotiations.
Hovhannisyan says they found that everything was more serious than they
believed before leaving for Turkey. To ensure the staging of Gayane,
Rotaty club of Turkey undertook all of the expenses of the Armenian
tour, including travel, accommodation and food, and paid honoraria
to the actors, while the government allocated the hall and provided
the security of the Armenian artists.
Audience members paid between $20 and $130 to see the Armenian
ballet. Some 40 percent of audience were Turks, the rest were
Armenians. The Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkey and the Coordinator
of Caucasus issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the
performance.
The reviewer in the Armenian newspaper in Turkey, Marmara, commented:
"Art lovers waited a long time for this initiative and all those
present at the concert enjoyed a truly universal human art."
The Turkish press also gave a positive response especially Milliyet
and Aksam. The TV8 channel prepared a big program about the opera
company's tour.
Gayane was performed by the Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia
Vilen Galstyan in 1973 and a year ago he refreshed the performance with
a new and contemporary choreography. Soloists were Sona Arustamyan,
Marina Divanyan, Tigran Mikaelyan and Melkon Khachikyan. According to
the soloists, it was very responsible to appear before the Turkish
public because they need to uphold the honor of Armenia and its
culture here more than anywhere else.
"It was a cultural victory; our tour was already a phenomenon and
proof that Armenian nation has not been destroyed, that we have
powerful culture and appear to the world openly," says ballet-master
Hovhannes Khachikyan.
Hovhannisyan says that the actors were on stage for 20 minutes
after each performance because of the intensity of the applause from
audience members.
The Rotary club, in a letter of appreciation sent to the theater
company, declared the concert to be the most beautiful and valuable
gift for the 100th anniversary of their club and the Turkish public.
OF FOOD AND WATER: MEMORIES OF KINDNESS AND HARDSHIP ON THE LONG ROAD
FROM IZMIR TO ARMENIA
By Mariam Badalyan ArmeniaNow Reporter
Andranik Semerjyan remembers well the heat of the summer of 1918,
when Turkish women in yashmaks walked timidly in the streets past
policemen whose red fezes caught the eye in the sunshine.
Turkish officials had declared a curfew for Armenians and fear gripped
the two Armenian districts in Izmir - Getezerk and Qarap.
Andranik, now 98, recalls: "The Turks were saying 'do not come out
of your houses or we shall not be responsible for you'."
In 1918 around 30,000 Armenians lived in Izmir.
Although the curfew applied only to Armenians, other Christian
nationalities in the town, including Greeks, were cautious. In Izmir,
people had heard about the dreadful atrocities of 1915 in Armenian
towns and villages and they waited fearfully for the hour when it
would be their turn to face slaughter.
"But our turn was not yet to come. We were lucky at that time. For
fear of the French, the Turks would not touch us," says Andranik.
Close to the Armenian district, where the water-seller Hambartzum
lived with his wife and three children, was the French Consulate. The
Turks were anxious to avoid trouble with French officials, and employed
other measures to get rid of the Izmir Armenians. Confined to their
houses and deprived of all means of existence, the Armenians were
expected to die of hunger.
"We lived hungry days," Andranik remembers. "My father sold water in
an old pitcher to earn a living but he would not come out of house
and we had to stay hungry."
The hungry children - 9-year old Andranik, 11-year old Khatun and
13-year old Vardivar, were huddled together on the couch, when suddenly
they heard a faint knock at the door.
It was a Turkish woman living in the neighborhood, who entered
timidly with food for the children. For several months the woman,
whose name Andranik no longer remembers, visited with food hidden
under her yashmak.
In this way, at risk to her own life, she saved the Armenian
water-seller's family.
"Then we heard that French ships had come to take us," says
Andranik. Under cloak of night, the family made its way to the port
and the French ship, which carried them to Athens, Greece.
"My father started selling water there, but it did not last long,"
Andranik remembers. "He soon went to war, joining the Greeks who fought
against Turkey. We were friends with the Greeks. They protected us
and we had to protect them."
During the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922, Hambartzum was taken
captive and did not return for more than two years. When he did,
says Andranik, he carried the news that all of the remaining Armenians
in Izmir had been exterminated.
The Izmir of his childhood survived now only in Andranik's heart. The
family settled peacefully in Athens and Hambartzum and his wife had
two more children - a boy and a girl.
When, in 1946, the opportunity came up to settle in Soviet Armenia,
Hambartzum and his large family, now including grandchildren, decided
to move to their homeland. They wanted the children to grow up as
Armenians.
At the dockside, Hambartzum had a shock: he met his brother, whom he
lost in Izmir and had not seen for more than 25 years.
Andranik says that sunny days met them in their homeland, adding with
a sigh: "There is nothing more about this to remember, my girl."
His wife, 85-year-old Gayaneh, nods her head gracefully and smiles.
"I would only add," he says suddenly, "that although the Turks were
our enemy, each time I remember that Turkish woman, my heart fills with
gratitude for human kindness that does not acknowledge nationality."