Cameraman Gevorg Avagyan

How do issues of public importance enter the political agenda and emerge as cases of violation of rights? What distinguishes the last years of our lives from the point of view of protecting rights? Isn't the lack of information or its complete absence a serious violation of human rights, when under the enormous information noise there is very little information about essential issues? Anna Sargsyan spoke with human rights defender and political scientist Maya Barkhudaryan.

The "Narek" Dance School of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and AGBU Youth Center has returned victorious from the International Performing Arts Festival held in Pineto, Italy, winning the Grand Prix, the main prize.

Among the groups from 12 countries, only the "Narek" Dance School participated from Armenia, with a 20-member team, presenting the performances "Tsaghkadzor" and "Khio".

All these performances, tours and victories of the ensemble, which regularly performs in different countries and returns with victories, are preceded and followed by long, persistent work.

On July 12, on the occasion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ, a festive liturgy was celebrated in the Mother Cathedral of Etchmiadzin under the presiding authority of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. 

During his speech, the liturgist Karekin Vardapet Hambardzumyan referred to the commemoration of Christ appearing to the disciples in divine glory on Mount Tabor, noting that every day can provide an opportunity for transformation. 

At the end of the ceremony, the Armenian Patriarch blessed the people on the occasion of the Feast of the Transfiguration.

The end-of-year exhibition of students of the painting and decorative-applied arts classes of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the AGBU Nork Armenian Children's Home opened, where the achievements and joint creative efforts of gifted children were brought together.

Despite the temptations of modern technologies, thanks to the joint work of educators and parents, the young people create with great enthusiasm and connect with national art. 

At the opening of the exhibition, the director of the center, Aida Andriasyan, presented certificates to the graduates, and awards and certificates to the students who distinguished themselves in competitions during the year.

On July 10, the Catholicos of All Armenians received at the Mother See the pilgrims of the community of the Holy Savior Church in Ustry, Massachusetts, of the Armenian Eastern Diocese of the USA, led by the spiritual pastor Father Thaddeus Barseghian.

In his blessing speech, the Armenian Patriarch emphasized the importance of the support of Armenians in the Diaspora for their sisters and brothers in their homeland and urged them to keep their families Armenian and strengthen the Mother Church with faith.

The ancestors of the pilgrims are the descendants of Armenians who took refuge there after the Hamidian massacres and the Genocide, mainly from Kharpert and Erzincan, who, having migrated to the USA, founded the first Armenian church in the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere.

Human rights activist, President of the "Artsakh Union" NGO Artak Beglaryan, when asked who is listening to the people of Artsakh today, answers: "Today there is a problem of more speakers, because the pressure on the people of Artsakh is great, unfortunately, also from the Armenian authorities." Can geopolitical and internal political tensions overshadow the Artsakh agenda to the extent that it disappears? Anna Sargsyan spoke with Artak Beglaryan.

“Everything has its time.” This mysterious message from the book of Ecclesiastes has become an inseparable companion of the life of the Armenian people. What is hidden in this succession of times? Father David Gishyan explains how life’s difficulties and achievements become part of the divine plan.

Khrimyan Hayrik was the first to compile the curriculum and textbooks for the subject of Patriotic Studies. He founded a school in Varagavank that corresponded to the modern perception of schooling, with textbooks, a blackboard, a chair-table, and stationery. In addition, he founded the first periodical published in Western Armenia, “Artsui Vaspurakan.” It is no coincidence that the first Western Armenian liberation organizations and parties were founded in Van. The core of his activity is also the commitment to write an epic that reproduces the historical memory of the nation, which Garegin Srvandztyants undertakes.