CYPRUS TO CONTINUE OFFSHORE GAS
PROJECTS DESPITE TURKISH THREATS

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said last week that the country will continue its search for offshare gas, despite strong opposition from Ankara and the nation's breakaway Turkish Cypriots, according to AP.
Anastasiades said that any new wealth generated from potential new gas fields would be shared equitably with all Cypriot citizens after unification - the island is split between the ethnic Greek Republic of Cyprus and the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".
Anastasiades added that proceeds would be deposited into a sovereign wealth fund.
The Cypriot President also repeated an appeal for the resumption of peace talks on condition that Turkey stops obstructing drilling south-east of the country. Earlier this month, Turkish warships had blocked a rig from the Italian energy firm Eni's ships from reaching its target.
Ankara has warned foreign oil companies not to "overstep the mark". Turkish officials said the gas search ignores Turkish Cypriot rights to the island's resources.
On 13 February, a Turkish vessel collided with a Greek coastguard boat, sparking new tensions between the two NATO members.
Ankara and Athens later agreed to use "dialogue" to settle future maritime disputes.

TURKEY ANGERED BY DUTCH DECISION
TO RECOGNISE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Turkey has summoned the Netherlands’ senior diplomat to account for the Dutch Parliament’s vote to recognise the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
A majority of MPs backed a campaign by Christian Union MP Joël Voordewind to acknowledge the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire as an act of Genocide. They also supported sending a minister to represent the Netherlands at the official commemoration in Armenia in April.
The decision has put further strain on the already frayed relationship between the two countries. The Netherlands formally withdrew its Ambassador from Ankara earlier this month, but has had no representation since last March, when a Turkish Minister was denied permission to attend a gathering of supporters in Rotterdam and given a police escort out of the country.
Turkey has ordered the acting Ambassador to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss what its government continues to describe as ‘the Armenian question’. Voordewind said the Netherlands should take a stand as the home of the institutions of international law in The Hague. ‘We are acknowledging history,’ he said. ‘That is not the same thing as casting aspersions as Turkey has done towards the Netherlands.’

MC DONALD'S TO COME TO ARMENIA IN APRIL

McDonald’s fast food company will come to Armenia in April. Georgian businessmen Temur Chkonia intends to open a chain of restaurants in Armenia.
“The first restaurant must be in a well-visible, respected place. We have received 2-3 offers and by April we’ll make a decision on the location of the first McDonald’s in Armenia,” Chkonia told Public Radio of Armenia.
The businessman has opened a chain of 14 restaurants in Georgia, each serving an average of 25,000 visitors a day.
The food safety authorities are not very delighted with the perspective of the fast food company entering the Armenian market.
Food security expert David Pipoyan says fast food restaurants use a lot of supplements to preserve semi-finished products as long as possible. Besides, you never know what these establishments serve in reality.

PEPI MARTIN EXHIBITS
ON MONDAY 5 MARCH
AT OPUS 39

“Wonderland” - Painting Exhibition by Pepi Martin
Opus 39 Gallery proudly presents “Wonderland” by Pepi Martin.
Opening on Monday, 5 March 2018 at 7.30p.m.
Pepi (Peproneh) Martin (née Iltchibekian) was born into an Armenian family in Tabriz, Iran. She has lived in Iran, the UK, Monaco, the UAE, Qatar and Cyprus. Limassol has been her principal residence since 1989. Spending long periods in a number of countries has helped her to become tolerant towards other cultures and appreciative of the environment and life in general. Travel remains a passion for her and has given her the opportunity to visit many museums and art galleries, serving as a kind of continuous tutorial for Art History.
From a young age Pepi was passionate about drawing/painting and loved art classes at high school. She later continued her studies at Vahramian’s Art Studio in her hometown Tabriz and at the Cultural Foundation Art Workshop in Abu Dhabi. In Qatar from 2011 to 2016 Pepi set up her own studio, working independently and allowing her thoughts, emotions and knowledge to become her Master. Solitude gave her the space to work diligently and produce many paintings. And further study of her finished paintings has led her to compose a number of poems; she loves this newfound and supportive activity, with subjects concerning both her particular paintings and more general observations on life and people. Upon arriving in Cyprus she started to take her artwork more seriously and continued exploring her artistic expression with tutors such as Helene Black and Marilena Aristotelou.
Pepi’s paintings are in private collections in Cyprus, England, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, the UAE and the USA.

Duration 5-17 March 2018

Working Hours:
Monday 17.00-20.00
Tuesday-Friday 10.30-12.30 & 17.00-20.00
Saturday 10:30 - 12.30
21 Kimonos, Strovolos 2006, Nicosia
Τel/Fax 22424983
Email: mango2@cablenet.com.cy

THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
OF PAPHOS PRESENTS

Throughout history, art smugglers, war profiteers, and terrorists have stolen countless icons, frescos, mosaics and cultural artifacts from vulnerable, war-torn countries – and continue to do so today in places like Syria and Iraq. One woman has made it her life’s work to retrieve them.
In a powerful memoir, Tasoula Hadjitofi—refugee, Icon Hunter, and culture crime watcher—reveals her perilous journey from refugee to orchestrating “The Munich Case,” one of the largest European art trafficking stings since WWII. THE ICON HUNTER (Pegasus Books; April 11, 2017; Hardcover; 400 pages) is the story of the pursuit of justice and Tasoula’s riveting adventure into the underworld of art trafficking.
In 1974, Tasoula and her family were forced to flee their home after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Tasoula eventually settled in The Netherlands and became Honorary Consul to Cyprus. Approached by a notorious art dealer with information about stolen sacred artifacts looted during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, she spends the next ten years convincing the art dealer to inform on his former partner. Tasoula places everything on the line to repatriate her country’s sacred treasures.
With the Bavarian police in place, the Cypriots on their way, seventy under-cover agents bust into the Munich apartment of a notorious Turkish smuggler to recover 5,000 ancient artifacts from Cyprus and around the world. The icons are not just masterpieces—they are artistic manifestations of faith and a gateway to the divine. Unaware of the treacherous lies in the shadow of her success and even as unspeakable personal tragedy strikes, she never gives up her search knowing the special place these antiquities hold in the hearts of Orthodox Christians.
Following the Munich case, Hadjitofi creates the non-profit organization, Walk of Truth, which works to locate sacred artifacts looted from conflict areas and restore the cultural identity of those countries to their people.
In her own words, “my gift to my country, Cyprus, my gift to 65 million refugees worldwide, my gift to every immigrant who struggles to integrate in a foreign country, my gift to every one of you who struggles with being a mother, wife, professional and all of you who live the principles of Human Rights.” Inspiring and empowering, THE ICON HUNTER is a gripping story by a remarkable woman that will captivate readers, educate them on the importance of cultural artifacts, and inspire them to take action.

ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY'S (HOM)
MICHINK ON SUNDAY 11 MARCH

DASHNAKTSOUTIUN'S YOUTH AT THE
SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL

VISIT ARTSAKANK www.artsakank.com.cy

Established in 1981, now in its 36th year, Artsakank newspaper brings to
your home free of charge, Armenian news and happenings, promoting
and protecting at the same time the Western Armenian language
through the volunteer work of dedicated editors.

Framed 1827 original map of Armenia, Cilicia and Cyprus mounted and framed
with acid-free paper for eternal preservation.
Contact the collector Dr. Yiorghos Leventis on 99658694 and on yiorghos.leventis@gmail.com

► "These camel drivers should go off to where they belong: far, far beyond the Bospurus to their mud huts and polygamy,” Poggenburg told party members, calling Turks living in Germany “camel traders” and an “unpatriotic rabble”. The association representing Germany’s Turkish community said it would bring charges against Poggenburg for inciting hatred, with its leader Gokay Sofuoglu noting that the Constitution prohibits incitement, defamation and discrimination.
► Turkey warned on Wednesday that pro-Damascus forces would face “serious consequences” for entering Syria’s Afrin region to help Kurdish fighters repel a Turkish offensive.
► EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, signed the EU-Armenia Partnership Priorities in Brussels.
► President of Lebanon Michel Aoun last week arrived on an official visit in Yerevan at the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. During his stay, the President of the Republic of Lebanon will meet with Armenia’s top leadership – the President, the Chairman of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister.
► The parliamentary factions of the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation jointly nominated Armen Sarkissian for the post of president of Armenia on Friday. The voting will take place on March 2 at the National Assembly of Armenia.
► 20 year-old Artsakh Defense Army soldier Grigor Yeghoyan was killed as a result of Azerbaijani fire when on duty at one of the military posts located in the north-eastern direction of the Defense Army of the Artsakh Republic.
► Russian figure skater of Armenian origin Evgenia Medvedeva (Babasyan) set a new world record, having scored 81.06 in the short program in team competition in the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.

THE TURKISH-OCCUPIED MAGARAVANK
by Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

The Sourp Magar (Saint Makarios) monastery - also known as Armenomonastero (Greek), Magaravank (Armenian), Armenian Monastery (English) or Ermeni Manastirı (Turkish) - is the only surviving Armenian monastery in Cyprus, holding a particular historical, religious and sentimental value to the Armenian-Cypriot community. It is situated in a picturesque location, at an altitude of 530 m. within the dense Eastern Plataniotissa Forest, about 1 ½ Km to the west of Halevga on the eastern part of the Turkish-occupied Pentadhaktylos range.

Its vast land (nearly 8.500 donums = 11,37 Km²) extends up to the seashore and includes about 30.000 olive and carob trees. From the idyllic site of the monastery, one can gaze the Taurus mountain range in Cilicia, especially during winter when there is little humidity and snow is covering the mountains. The monastery is dedicated to Saint Makarios the Hermit of Alexandria († 395 AD), who according to tradition had spent some time in the caves of the region as an ascetic. His memory is celebrated on the first Sunday of May, although the monastery equally celebrated the memory of Saint Makarios the Elder of Egypt (300-391 AD) in December. The original establishment of the monastery took place at around the year 1000 AD. By the year 1425 it had already come to the possession of the Armenian Apostolic Church: the exact date and other circumstances of this transfer are unclear to us, but we do know that its monks followed very strict rules of ascetic life and religious penitence.

HOMENETMEN - AYMA HONOURS THE ATHLETES THAT BROUGHT BACK 10 GOLD MEDALS

Homenetmen-AYMA honoured its athletes, Marie Somakian Georgiou (Swimming), Edmond Aynedjian (Tennis) and Mikela Aynedjian (Track), who brought back 10 Gold Medals from the 10th Pan-Homenetmen Games that took place in Armenia from 20-29 July, 2017.
Team Cyprus that participated with only three athletes was the smallest of teams in the Games, that attracted 1,200 athletes from Australia, Middle East, Russia, Europe, North & South America.
Marie Somakian Georgiou won seven Gold medals out of seven events, Mikela Aynedjian won two Gold medals out of two in 800 and 1,500 meters, while Edmond Aynedjian won the Gold in the only event he participated in winning the Gold in the Men's Singles tennis event.
A victory event in honour of the Gold Team of Cyprus took place on Friday 15 December, 2017 at Homenetmen – AYMA, in the presence of Cyprus sports representatives and community members.
During the same day veteran tennis champion Haig Ashdjian was also honoured for his contribution to sports.

CYPRUS TENNIS LEGEND
HAIG ASHDJIAN HONOURED
DURING HAGHTANAGI YEREGO

Presenting ARTZARD

Interview with ArtZard's Maral Assilian

Q: What is your background and why did you start Artzard?
MARAL: I was raised in Lebanon in an Armenian family that fled during the Genocide and I have lived in Cyprus (my mother’s country of birth) since 2004.
Being of Western-Armenian origin in the Diaspora, I did not visit Armenia until May 2015, then finally I did with my Dutch husband. We toured Yerevan and parts of the country with a local driver. Seven days, morning till evening we saw places in Armenia; and we enjoyed it. We saw the very good and beautiful, and we became aware of how further you are removed from Yerevan centre, the more you see the level of the economy drop. This sparked my decision to revisit, this time alone, as a volunteer, trying to be both useful to our homeland.

In October 2016 I worked there for two weeks, through the Armenian Volunteer Corps, as close to my professional background in logistics & international business, as possible. I could have stayed in a hotel, but I wanted to live with a local family, sharing part of their daily life. So, I started to understand how people live there. Go to work early in the morning and in the evening, I came home with some shopping as I would do at home. The daughter of the family, is a young (soprano) singer who studied for her masters and the son a psychologist, but having difficulty in earning a good income in that profession.

The last evening, after dinner, I received a present as a token of friendship of the family; it was a lovely handmade silver pendant of the Armenian bird letter “M”.

I asked how the son created such pendant, and he said his father taught him the craft and this was a fine art that he enjoys doing. The letter was all handmade with the motifs taken from Armenian heritage and culture including the alphabet;

After I returned to Cyprus, friends and acquaintances kept asking about the ornament (Zard in Armenian), everybody found it very beautiful. This generated the idea: why not help developing such skill into business with micro financing, so that more of these handmade pendants can be produced and help make a living;

With a relatively small amount of money my host was able to begin producing these beautiful ornaments. My son prepared a website for us to exhibit and sell these products to anyone who appreciates fine and delicate artwork. My husband created videos for the website, the YouTube channel and Gibrahayer (Armenian e-magazine/newsletter dispatched from Cyprus)
So in quite a short time, a project was up and running.

Facebook account: Artzardhandmade
Instragam : @Artzardarmenia
Order-online : www.artzard.com

Together we are stronger

The Armenian language is thousands of years old but the Alphabet script was developed in the 5th century by Mesrob Mashdots (considered as a Saint).

Terchnakir - means bird letter, and is considered to be the artistic representation of Armenian calligraphy.

Enjoy wearing this scarf, designed with love and passion!

Your enquiries at shovart@hotmail.com
To view more images of our collection on
Facebook, please click here

TEAM CYPRUS FLIES TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC

ARARAT BRANDY NOW IN CYPRUS

Available now in Cyprus:
Award-winning 3* Year-old Ararat Armenian Brandy at €19.35
Email: info@gibrahayer.com

Grape Variety: Voskehat, Chilar, Banants, Kangun, Rkaziteli, Mshkali and Garandmak
Winery: ArArAt Yerevan Brandy Factory
Region: Ararat Valley
Alcohol: 40%
Capacity: 500ml
Distillation: Double
Aging: 3 years in oak barrels

Characteristics:
Mount Ararat is over five thousand meters tall and it towers over the meadows in the Ararat Valley and dominates the horizon of the Armenian capital Yerevan. Shrouded in legends of love, friendship, generosity and courage, Ararat fascinates with its power, timeless beauty and elegant austerity. As the national symbol of the nation, the legendary Ararat is proudly depicted in the center of the State Emblem of the Republic of Armenia.

Pairing:
Aroma – lively, zesty and bright with floral, fruity undertones and hints of virgin oil and oak. Taste – strong and intense, slightly piquant at the onset, finishing with a touch of dryness.

SUPPORT GIBRAHAYER E-MAGAZINE

Nicosia, Monday 26 February 2018

Dear Subscribers,
This month we passed 21,000 Fans on Facebook and with your support we have been alive for 18 years.
To ensure continuity of Gibrahayer E-Magazine's website and social media platform, you can make a contribution the following account:
The Bank of Cyprus - Account Number: 357010047760 - IBAN: CY39002001950000357010047760 - SWIFT / BIC: BCYPCY2N

With thanks,
Simon Aynedjian - Editor - Gibrahayer E-Magazine.
Click here to make a contribution through PayPal

The fourth shipment of Premium Armenia-manufactured Award Winning KARAS White and Red Wines arrive in Cyprus this week.
In cooperation with Daniel Apikian of Quality Wines of Greece, Gibrahayer e-magazine, are distributing these Armenian products to Cyprus.
To acquire more information or to place your order, email us on info@gibrahayer.com or call us on 99437073.

KARAS White Dry Wine - Price: €13.80 (price includes VAT)
KARAS Red Dry Wine - Price:€15.40 (price includes VAT)

The first Melikian school football team in 1925:
(Diran Der Avedissian photo archive)

MANE' COCKTAIL BAR
for a memorable outing in Yerevan - click here