Urartian antiquities found in a truck in Hungary

Some objects in a trove of Persian, Sumerian, Assyrian and other antiquities found last year in a truck could be from as early as 900 B.C., and the whole collection may be worth up to $690,000, Hungarian police said on February 8, Associated Press reported.

Bronze artifacts, including a helmet, small bells and horse tack, were likely from the grave of a high-ranking military officer from Urartu, also called the Kingdom of Van, corresponding mostly to parts of modern Armenia and Turkey, the Bacs-Kiskun County police department said in a statement.(*)

The Accidental Historian: Balint Kovacs and the Transylvanian Armenian Diaspora

Ronald Grigor Suny

“No, young man, you cannot see the library,” the old woman told the eager student.  “I am the only one with the key.  Even I do not allow the archbishop into the library.”  This was the second time that Balint Kovacs, a Hungarian student, had tried to find materials on Armenians in Transylvania. He had hitchhiked from Budapest across the border to the mountain town of Gherla in Transylvania, Romania, only to be turned away by the elders who guarded the Armenian Church in the colony that had been known as Armenopolis or Hayakaghak in the 17^th and 18^th century.  They had sent him on to Elisabethopolis, now Dumbraveni, where he was confronted by the stubborn old woman who refused to let him see the library.  But Balint would not give in or give up.  Perhaps something could be worked out.  The determined woman, whom Balint would later call Marish neni, mentioned that she needed medication for her eyes, and Balint promised to bring it to her from Hungary.  A nephew was called; the key appeared; and Balint Kovacs’ life and work changed in an instant.

The Safarov Affair and the Hungarian Version

On Friday, September 14, Sarkis Assadourian, former member of the Canadian Parliament (1993-2004) and former Citizenship Judge of Canada (2005-2008), met in Ottawa with the Ambassador of Hungary in Canada, Laszlo Pordany. In a note to "Loussapatz" weekly (September 22, 2012), Assadourian remarked: "The discussion lasted 45 minutes. In private conversation, we discussed the current situation between Armenia and Hungary. The Ambassador was very forthcoming and honest in his assessment of the events. I would like to thank him and share his point of view with you. I am sure you will appreciate his insight." Here is the text of the Hungarian Ambassador's letter:

Armenia Suspends Relations With Hungary Following Extradition and Pardon of Azeri Criminal

The official reaction of Armenia to the extradition by Hungary of an Azerbaijani criminal condemned to life prison and subsequent pardon of the President of Azerbaijan is the unavoidable follow-up to a diplomatic defeat against the double standards showed by the international community in the interplay between material interests and moral responsibilities. Similar actions to repeal criminal attitudes are also needed to prevent intolerable legal charades within the frontiers of Armenia.