Five Armenians on Forbes Magazine’s List of Billionaires

NEW YORK — According to tradition, Forbes magazine has released the list of the world’s richest people for the year 2015. As in the previous years, former head of Microsoft Bill Gates is still on top of the list with $79.2 billion dollars.

The list published by Forbes on March 2 includes five Armenians. Sergei Galitsky (Harutyunyan) (162nd) is the world’s richest Armenian with an estimated net worth of $8.3 billion. Other Armenians on the list include American-Armenian Kirk Kerkorian (393rd) $4.2 billion , Samvel Karapetyan (418th) $4 billion , Argentin-Armenian Eduardo Eurnekian (1006th) $1.9, and Danil Khachaturov (1190th) $1.6. Sergei Sarkisov and Nikolai Sarkisov (both ranked1465th last year) have dropped out of the ranks.

Despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro, the ranks of the world’s wealthiest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet again. For the 29th annual guide to the globe’s richest, the Forbes has found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. The total includes 290 newcomers, 71 of whom hail from China.

Gates is followed on the list by Mexican telecommunication magnate Carlos Alim Helu with 77.1 billion dollars and investor Warren Buffet with 72.7 billion dollars.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg moves up 5 spots to number 16, his first time ranked among the world’s 20 richest. Zuckerberg is also the leader in a youth revolution that has minted 46 billionaires under the age of 40. The youngest billionaire on the planet is Evan Spiegel, 24, co-founder of photo- messaging app Snapchat.

Five Armenians on Forbes Magazine’s List of Billionaires

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

ALFORTVILLE, FRANCE – The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Nazarpek Youth Movement hosted a forum on Feb. 27 at the Hunchakian Armenian Youth Center in Alfortville, France, to commemorate the Sumgait pogrom, which took place on Feb 27 – 29 prior to the Artsakh war of independence in 1988.

The forum began with a moment of silence, initiated by Nazarpek Youth Movement member and moderator of the evening, Mr. Sevag Sarikaya. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sarikaya, expressed that the Sumgait pogrom awoke the dark memory of the Armenian genocide amongst Armenians throughout the world.

The program began with the screening of the documentary “Soumgait, un crime impuni,” a documentary on the Sumgait pogrom perpetrated by the authorities of Azerbaijan against the Armenian minority of the country, in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union. The documentary showed the horrors of the pogrom, and the entailing start of a war for the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following the documentary, the keynote speaker Mr. Hovannes Guevorkian, Representative of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh to France, presented the day to day social situation in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan before and after the massacres. Mr. Guevorkian also read excerpt testimonials from former French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner’s “La Tragédie de Soumgait,” confirming the fact the massacres were intentional and methodical.

During the question and answer session of the forum, Mr. Guevorkian addressed the stagnation and slow progress of the peace process which is in the best interest of the Aliyev authoritarian government and his family; the dangers of conflict along the border; the number of victims due to the recent escalation of the conflict by the Azeri side; and the economic growth in spite of the conflict within the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

At the end of event, SDHP France Executive Committee Chairman Mr. Kevork Satchlian reminded the audience of the OSCE Minsk Group’s mission and the importance of reinstating the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the negotiating table as a full participant.

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

ALFORTVILLE, FRANCE – The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Nazarpek Youth Movement hosted a forum on Feb. 27 at the Hunchakian Armenian Youth Center in Alfortville, France, to commemorate the Sumgait pogrom, which took place on Feb 27 – 29 prior to the Artsakh war of independence in 1988.

The forum began with a moment of silence, initiated by Nazarpek Youth Movement member and moderator of the evening, Mr. Sevag Sarikaya. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sarikaya, expressed that the Sumgait pogrom awoke the dark memory of the Armenian genocide amongst Armenians throughout the world.

The program began with the screening of the documentary “Soumgait, un crime impuni,” a documentary on the Sumgait pogrom perpetrated by the authorities of Azerbaijan against the Armenian minority of the country, in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union. The documentary showed the horrors of the pogrom, and the entailing start of a war for the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following the documentary, the keynote speaker Mr. Hovannes Guevorkian, Representative of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh to France, presented the day to day social situation in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan before and after the massacres. Mr. Guevorkian also read excerpt testimonials from former French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner’s “La Tragédie de Soumgait,” confirming the fact the massacres were intentional and methodical.

During the question and answer session of the forum, Mr. Guevorkian addressed the stagnation and slow progress of the peace process which is in the best interest of the Aliyev authoritarian government and his family; the dangers of conflict along the border; the number of victims due to the recent escalation of the conflict by the Azeri side; and the economic growth in spite of the conflict within the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

At the end of event, SDHP France Executive Committee Chairman Mr. Kevork Satchlian reminded the audience of the OSCE Minsk Group’s mission and the importance of reinstating the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the negotiating table as a full participant.

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

Acclaimed Turkish Writer Yasar Kemal Passes Away

ISTANBUL — One of modern Turkey’s most celebrated literary figures, Yasar Kemal, who repeatedly clashed with the Turkish state, died on Saturday in Istanbul following respiratory problems, lung infection and heart arrhythmia.

Yasar Kemal emerged as his country’s first novelist of global stature, whose works have been published in dozens of languages, was the country’s first candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Kemal Sadik Gokceli was born into a Turkish-Kurdish family in the village of Hemite (now Gokcedam) in southern Turkey. His home region of Cilicia is the backdrop for his sweeping tales of rapacious landlords, callous bureaucrats and peasant heroes who fight injustice. He wrote more than two dozen books, using a colorful narrative style that appealed to a broad audience, fiercely criticizing injustice and creating noble outlaws who became permanent parts of Turkey’s cultural landscape.

As an outspoken advocate of Kurdish rights and a sharp critic of his country’s leaders, Mr. Kemal was often in trouble with the law. He was tried and given a suspended sentence of 20 months in prison for “inciting hatred.”

As a young journalist, Yasar Kemal played a key role in stopping the planned destruction of a historic Armenian shrine, the Holy Cross Church on Akhtamar Island on Lake Van. Armenians are sympathetic characters in several of his novels. In 2013, the Armenian Ministry of Culture awarded him its “Krikor Naregatsi” medal to recognize “his tribute to Armenian cultural heritage and his courage, as well as his commitment to universal values related to justice, freedom and human dignity.”

“On these lands pople have gone through pain. The most sacred effort is to fight against hostility,” Kemal said upon receiving the award, adding that Krikor Naregatsi was a poet that he esteemed greatly and that he was honored to receive the medal.

Kemal, who wrote more than 20 novels and nearly 10 experimental works, besides short stories, is also famous for recreating Turkish as a literary language.

Acclaimed Turkish Writer Yasar Kemal Passes Away

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

ALFORTVILLE, FRANCE – The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Nazarpek Youth Movement hosted a forum on Feb. 27 at the Hunchakian Armenian Youth Center in Alfortville, France, to commemorate the Sumgait pogrom, which took place on Feb 27 – 29 prior to the Artsakh war of independence in 1988.

The forum began with a moment of silence, initiated by Nazarpek Youth Movement member and moderator of the evening, Mr. Sevag Sarikaya. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sarikaya, expressed that the Sumgait pogrom awoke the dark memory of the Armenian genocide amongst Armenians throughout the world.

The program began with the screening of the documentary “Soumgait, un crime impuni,” a documentary on the Sumgait pogrom perpetrated by the authorities of Azerbaijan against the Armenian minority of the country, in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union. The documentary showed the horrors of the pogrom, and the entailing start of a war for the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following the documentary, the keynote speaker Mr. Hovannes Guevorkian, Representative of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh to France, presented the day to day social situation in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan before and after the massacres. Mr. Guevorkian also read excerpt testimonials from former French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner’s “La Tragédie de Soumgait,” confirming the fact the massacres were intentional and methodical.

During the question and answer session of the forum, Mr. Guevorkian addressed the stagnation and slow progress of the peace process which is in the best interest of the Aliyev authoritarian government and his family; the dangers of conflict along the border; the number of victims due to the recent escalation of the conflict by the Azeri side; and the economic growth in spite of the conflict within the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

At the end of event, SDHP France Executive Committee Chairman Mr. Kevork Satchlian reminded the audience of the OSCE Minsk Group’s mission and the importance of reinstating the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the negotiating table as a full participant.

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

ALFORTVILLE, FRANCE – The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Nazarbek Youth Movement hosted a forum on Feb. 27 at the Hunchakian Armenian Youth Center in Alfortville, France, to commemorate the Sumgait pogrom, which took place on Feb 27 – 29 prior to the Artsakh war of independence in 1988.

The forum began with a moment of silence, initiated by Nazarbek Youth Movement member and moderator of the evening, Mr. Sevag Sarikaya. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sarikaya, expressed that the Sumgait pogrom awoke the dark memory of the Armenian genocide amongst Armenians throughout the world.

The program began with the screening of the documentary “Soumgait, un crime impuni,” a documentary on the Sumgait pogrom perpetrated by the authorities of Azerbaijan against the Armenian minority of the country, in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union. The documentary showed the horrors of the pogrom, and the entailing start of a war for the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following the documentary, the keynote speaker Mr. Hovannes Guevorkian, Representative of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh to France, presented the day to day social situation in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan before and after the massacres. Mr. Guevorkian also read excerpt testimonials from former French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner’s “La Tragédie de Soumgait,” confirming the fact the massacres were intentional and methodical.

During the question and answer session of the forum, Mr. Guevorkian addressed the stagnation and slow progress of the peace process which is in the best interest of the Aliyev authoritarian government and his family; the dangers of conflict along the border; the number of victims due to the recent escalation of the conflict by the Azeri side; and the economic growth in spite of the conflict within the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

At the end of event, SDHP France Executive Committee Chairman Mr. Kevork Satchlian reminded the audience of the OSCE Minsk Group’s mission and the importance of reinstating the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the negotiating table as a full participant.

Forum in France Commemorates Sumgait Pogrom

Armenian Members of Lebanese Parliament Meet With Prime Minister

BEIRUT, LEBANON – Social Democratic Hunchakian Party Central Committee Vice Chairman, and Member of the Lebanese Parliament Sebouh Kalpakian, along with Member of Parliament Jean Ogassapian, visited Prime Minister Tammam Salam to discuss the country’s overall development, political and security issues, as well as issues of concern to Armenians in a Feb. 28 meeting.

Referring to the internal Lebanese situation, Kalpakian and Ogassapian, stressed the government continue convening sessions necessary for the discussion of urgent issues and finding solutions of concern for citizens. Among the issues of concern to the Armenian community of Lebanon, the Parliamentarians presented the Prime Minister with the upcoming Armenian Genocide Centennial commemorative ceremonies to be held in Lebanon in addition to the official Republic of Armenia Armenian Genocide Centennial commemorative events.

Armenian Members of Lebanese Parliament Meet With Prime Minister