Your Namak for Wednesday, August 23
First case of death by starvation recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh, transgender woman killed in Yerevan, and Armenian soldier fatally wounded by Azerbaijani gunfire in Gegharkunik.
Hi there, here’s your weekly briefing of Armenian news in English, curated, reported and fact-checked by journalists Astrig Agopian and Maral Tavitian.
First Case of Death by Starvation Recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh
On August 15, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan reported the first case of death by starvation of a person in blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh. According to a forensic medical examination, a 40-year-old Stepanakert man died of “chronic malnutrition, protein and energy deficiency.” Stepanyan warned that the risk of widespread famine in the region is imminent, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and elderly. “The catastrophic food situation caused by the blockade and especially the two-month-long complete siege, leading to the malnutrition of people and the threat of hunger, the lack of necessary medicines and the inability of the full functioning of the healthcare system, create direct and undeniable threats to the 120,000 population of Artsakh,” he said.
Transgender Woman Killed in Yerevan
On August 20, a transgender woman was brutally killed inside her apartment in Yerevan, in what LGBTQ+ rights groups have identified as a possible hate crime. The police arrested a 26-year-old suspect as he attempted to cross the border with Georgia in the early morning hours of August 21. In a statement, GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society called on all Armenians to speak out against such acts of violence, saying, “LGBTQ+ Armenian communities, whether in Armenia, U.S., or around the world, are continuously subjected to transphobia and homophobia from the larger Armenian community, painfully enduring injustices for simply existing and embodying our authentic selves.”
Armenian Soldier Fatally Wounded by Azerbaijani Gunfire in Gegharkunik
On August 21, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported that Azerbaijani troops opened fire on military positions near the village of Akhpradzor in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik region, killing 19-year-old serviceman Vanik Ghazaryan. Following the ceasefire and transfer of territories that ended the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, fatalities of Armenian soldiers have become an almost weekly occurrence along the country’s borders with Azerbaijan.
Armenia Wins One Silver, One Bronze at International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad
Armenia’s team won one silver and one bronze medal at the 16th International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Silesia, Poland this week, in which 241 high school students from 50 countries competed. The team took home three bronze medals at last year’s competition.
Vincent Pirimian: Meet the “smallest cobbler” of Paris
In lieu of a new profile this week, we would like to bring back a favorite story from our archives. Vincent Pirimian, or “Monsieur Vincent” as his customers affectionately know him, was the first person we profiled in Namak. From renowned models and fashion designers to ordinary Parisians in need of shoe repair, this charismatic cobbler charms everyone who visits his tiny stall on Rue Duphot.
“You think something is impossible to fix? With me it’s possible.”
From a distance, you can spot the tiny extravagant boutique under the arch that leads to the Chanel office on 12 Duphot street in Paris.
“Monsieur Vincent” as his customers call him, made sure you would –– he used all the magazine pictures he could find to cover his workplace. Bystanders love stopping and admiring all the models, politician portraits, art and personal travel pictures that Vincent has accumulated over the years.
Vincent Pirimian likes to call himself the “smallest cobbler” of Paris, not because of his height, but because of the size of his atelier: two square meters in which he makes his magic happen. He began honing his trade as a shoemaker and craftsman in Beirut, where he owned a small boutique that attracted the city’s most exclusive clientele.
“The name of my shop was Misé. All the princesses of the Arab world came there,” Vincent says. “Oh, I made beautiful things. Even all the Riyadh girls, they loved me!”
Vincent left his native Beirut in 1980 to flee the Lebanese Civil War with his wife. When he arrived in the French capital, the streets were full of shoemakers. You do not need to speak perfect French to do the job, and since many Armenians are shoemakers, French customers tend to trust them. Vincent started working right away.
It is impossible not to smile while having a conversation with Monsieur Vincent. He has a warm Lebanese-Armenian accent in French and loves being the center of attention. Behind his little glasses, you can just see his mischievous glance as he is planning his next joke.
“The entire neighborhood knows me. All the fashion people, the hotels… You think something is impossible to fix? With me it’s possible,” Vincent says.
He also likes to brag about all the famous people he knows. Vincent is not affiliated with Chanel, but the French luxury and fashion house loves having him in the neighborhood and promoting traditional craftsmanship.
“Karl Lagerfeld used to come here, all the Chanel models, French actors,” Vincent says. “They come, I fix their shoes and bags, I do my jokes, I tell them about Lebanon, we have coffee, so they come back!”
He starts speaking Arabic with the security guard working next door, joking about how he has gained weight. A second later he’s talking religion in Russian with one of his customers. He says hello in Armenian to a friend passing by, before helping a client in Italian, and reading out an article in English. Vincent then shares his analysis of the yellow vest movement and Napoléon’s war tactics in French.
“Is there anything he cannot do?” says the security guard, smiling.
When will he retire? Never!
“Work is health! I will work until I die,” Vincent says. “I might be over 80 years old, but in my head, I am 26! And I look younger, right?”
Vincent has no computer or phone. If you would like to meet him, just go to Duphot street on a weekday between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and ask for “Monsieur Vincent.”
To read: Queues for bread and no formula milk: Motherhood in blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh, an article in openDemocracy detailing the unique plight of pregnant women in blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh, where the rate of miscarriages has tripled and new mothers struggle to feed their infants.
To listen: Country of Dust, a captivating and artfully produced podcast series about the stories of a changing Armenia. Each episode dives into the challenges and possibilities that define the country today, centering the experiences of real people who live there.
To read: My Armenianness is queer, an essay in the Armenian Weekly by Lilian Avedian, who describes the powerful intersection between her Armenian and queer identities.
That’s it for today, see you next week!
Questions? Story ideas? An urge to say barev/parev? You can send us a secure email at namaknews@protonmail.com.