MosJan Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 Mass Wedding in Karabakh Results in Baby Boom http://www.asbarez.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/0820wedding-300x199.jpgA view from last year's mass wedding in Karabakh YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Medical services in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are struggling to cope with a surge in child births more than nine months after a mass wedding that was organized and sponsored by a Moscow-based Armenian businessman. The Karabakh-born entrepreneur, Levon Hayrapetian, had 678 local couples marry in a single open-air ceremony on October 16, 2008 to assist in a government policy that seeks to boost Karabakh’s population. Hayrapetian covered their wedding expenses and paid each couple $2,500 as a bonus. The results of the extraordinary event can be observed at the sole maternity hospital in the Karabakh capital Stepanakert which is grappling with a higher-than-usual influx of women preparing to give birth. Doctors there had to cram extra beds into hospital wards and draw up waiting lists for delivery. “We may now have as many as 14 to 15 births a day,” the hospital director, Gohar Hakobjanian, told RFE/RL. “Last month we had a total of 192 births. We are experiencing difficulties.” “Pregnant women are complaining about waiting lines,” she said. “We are coping with that with extreme strains.” The number of children born in Karabakh already rose by 16 percent to 1,306 in the first half of this year. “The tough war years are gone, life has improved and people want to have more kids,” said Hakobjanian. Material incentives offered by the Karabakh government to newlyweds are also a key factor behind the baby boom. The government pays 100,000 drams ($270) for a first and second child born in every family in addition to a one-off payment of 300,000 drams made to a newlywed couple. Families having a third child get 500,000 drams from the state. “Judging from the indicators of the first seven months of 2009, the results of our policy have been satisfactory,” said Samvel Dadayan, head of the family department at the Karabakh Ministry of Social Security. Official statistics show the number of marriages in the Armenian-populated region nearly doubling in the first half of 2009 after reaching the highest level in 20 years in 2008. The authorities in Stepanakert also reported a 29 percent drop in divorces during the same period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted June 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 http://www.hayojax.ru/load/tv_shows/ashxarhi_hayere/ashxarhi_hayere_levon_hayrapetyan/104-1-0-10818 http://www.hayojax.ru/load/tv_shows/ashxarhi_hayere/ashxarhi_hayere_levon_hayrapetyan/104-1-0-10818 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 THE STAR: NAGORNO KARABAKH STAKES ITS FUTURE ON BABIES19:32 11/06/2015 Â" SOCIETYNagorno Karabakh's "big wedding" -- involving nearly 700 couples --was organized to encourage population growth. When Gayaneh and AvanesGrigoryan said "I do," they were declaring far more than their lovefor each other. By taking their vows simultaneously with some 1,300fellow citizens of Nagorno Karabakh, they were also making a strongstatement of devotion and fidelity to their homeland, Mary Bolandwrites in an article titled "Unrecognized republic Nagorno-Karabakhstakes its future on babies" published on online edition of The Star."I'm a great patriot. I adore my homeland. The worst thing in theworld will be if we will be made to leave Karabakh," Gayaneh says.The author writes that sandwiched between the former Soviet statesof Armenia and Azerbaijan, the de facto autonomous statelet is runby ethnic Armenians.Almost seven years after the wedding, Gayaneh, now a mother of two,personifies the enclave's nation-building strategy. Sitting in herliving room in the capital, Stepanakert, she shows her 5-year-old son,Valerie, the magazine photographs of his parents as bride and groom.She works in a government ministry and is on leave following thebirth of Tigran, now 17 months old. Her husband Avanes is too shy tofeature in a newspaper, and has disappeared for the afternoon.As the article has it, in the photos, rows of smiling couples areseated at long tables in Stepanakert's sports stadium, destroyedduring the 1991-94 war and rebuilt for the occasion. Newlyweds posewith Levon Hayrapetyan, who is behind the many projects aimed athelping the region's struggling economy."Hayrapetyan offered $2,000 to each pair to marry, and a further$2,000 on the birth of their first child. The scale increasesright up to $100,000 for child number seven, and locals say coupleswho have twins will get an apartment. Those living in rural areasreceived a cow. The payments are in addition to lower grants fromthe government, available to everyone, to marry and have children,"the author highlights. The population has since risen -- from 139,000in 2008 to some 147,000 today.The article also reads that Nagorno Karabakh holds elections and hasa national flag, a government with a full complement of ministries,universities and public institutions. It also has a $20-millionairport that boasts the latest technology and 120 full-time staff --but sits idle due to threats by Azerbaijan to shoot down aircraft."Our primary goal is to be integrated into the civilized andinternational community," de facto president Bako Sahakyan says.Whether Gayaneh and Avanes would like to continue to have children, andperhaps even hit the $100,000 jackpot, is complicated by the conflictwith Azerbaijan. "Some people say maybe, in some part of the world,there are places where life is easy and there is no danger of war. Itdoesn't matter. The best place to be is Karabakh," she said.Related:The National Interest: Strategic advantage and favorable defensibleterrain in Nagorno Karabakh are under Armenian controlhttp://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/06/10/unrecognized-republic-nagorno-karabakh-stakes-its-future-on-babies.htmlhttp://www.panorama.am/en/miscellaneous/2015/06/11/karabakh-star/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted December 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/118753/solemn-ceremony-of-opening-the-bust-of-philanthropist-levon-hayrapetyan-took-place-in-stepanakert.html Solemn ceremony of opening the bust of philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan took place in Stepanakert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted October 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted October 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2023 RIP Good friend, true Armenian May God Bless your Soul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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