Month: June 2005

IRANIAN BUSINESS CENTER WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN YEREVAN AND ARMENIAN ONE IN TABRIZ
YEREVAN, JUNE 3. ARMINFO. As a result of an Armenian – Iranian Forum
of Businessmen recently held in Tabriz, an agreement has been reach
on establishment of an Iranian business center in Yerevan and an
Armenian one in Tabriz. Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Ali Reza
Khakikyan informed journalists today.
“The Iranian and Armenian parties have agreed on construction of
a high-voltage power transmission line. The sides are currently
discussing the technical issues,” the Ambassador said. He added that
the construction of the power transmission line and its putting into
exploitation will require some 2 years. Besides, technical and economic
parameters of the project of construction of a water power plant worth
$150 mln are studied. As regards the project of joint construction
of Kajaran tunnel, it was withdrawn from the agenda, as the Armenian
party decided to built an alternative road proceeding from economic
calculations. It should be noted that in 2004 the commodity turnover
between Armenia and Iran grew 8.8% totaling $100 mln.

Constitutional reforms may lead to government change – Armenian opposition MP
Yerkir website
4 Jun 05
Yerevan, 3 June: If the [ruling] coalition attempts to pass its draft
constitutional reforms in a referendum, this will be the beginning
of the change of power, the member of the Justice faction, MP Arshak
Sadoyan, told journalist during a news conference at the Armenian
National Assembly today.
He said that the deputy speaker of the Armenian National Assembly,
Tigran Torosyan, has always prevented him from meeting members of the
Council of Europe Venice Commission. The draft constitutional reforms
submitted by Sadoyan have not been sent to the Venice Commission in
full as a result of which the commission considered an incomplete
bill prepared by Sadoyan or did not schedule a meeting with him.
Commenting on the Venice Commission’s meetings and conclusions, Sadoyan
said that the members of the commission are greatly disappointed.
Asked why the Justice faction supports the draft constitutional
reforms submitted by the National Democratic Bloc [NDB], not the
bill submitted by Sadoyan, who is a member of the Justice faction,
he expressed his confidence that the members of the Justice faction
have not read his draft law.
At the end, he pointed out that 30-40 proposals made by the Venice
Commission will be included in their bill and sent to the Council of
Europe Venice Commission.

LUFTHANSA ENTERS ARMENIA’S AVIATION MARKET
YEREVAN, JUNE 3. ARMINFO. The first flight Munich-Yerevan-Munich
(DLH 3256/3257) will be carried out by Lufthansa June 3.
Regional Director for Russia and CIS Gunter Ott sats that the flight
will be carried out three time a week – Monday, Wednesday and Sunday
by Eirbus A319-320.
Ott says that Lufthansa has “shared” the German market with Armenia’s
national air carrier Armavia who will fly to Frankfurt. He says
that Lufthansa entering the Armenian market is due to the dynamic
development of the Armenian economy. Armenia is a poor country but it
is showing a promising development rate, says Ott noting that Lufhansa
coming into Armenia is a political, step too as this project was
lobbied by Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and German Chancellor
Gerhard Schreuder.
This year Lufthansa will increase the number of flights to the CIS
to 16. June 5 the company is starting to fly from Muchin to Tbilisi.
It should be noted that flying to Europe from Armenia are Armavia,
Austrian Airlines and British Airways.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OIL PRODUCTS PUT UP FOR SALES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JUNE 3. ARMINFO. The first in Armenia auction of oil products
was held at the Adamand commodity exchange today. The client was the
biggest Armenian oil trader Flash company.
120,000 liters of Regular-91 petrol and 170,000 liters of Diesel fuel
have been sold. The demand was higher than the supply. As a result
only 44,000 liters of petrol and 60,000 liters of Diesel fuel was
sold at higher than the initial price. 6 entities took part in the
sale with 2 of them brokers. They say that the price was lower than
on the market by 10 AMD per liter.
Attending the auction was Deputy Director of Flash Musheg Elchyan
who bought 2 lots of 10 tons each and 1 lot of 20 tons.
The auction has proved successful. Elchyan says that the prices on
the commodity exchange were lower than those on Flash’s oil bases and
he hopes to sell the purchases lots at profit in the coming weeks.
Elchyan says that given growing world prices today it is more
profitable to invest money in oil than in gold. He says that Flash’s
oil reserves total 8 mln liters with the republican ones being 10
mln liters.
President of Adamand Grigor Vardikyan says that the sale of oil
products on the commodity exchange will raise the transparency of
pricing and cut the market prices.

60% OF ARMENIANS HAVE EXCESS WEIGHT AND 26% – ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION
YEREVAN, JUNE 3. ARMINFO. According to recent investigations conducted
by the Armenian Medical Association (AMA), 26% of Armenian citizens
have arterial hypertension.
Chief of the AMA Parunak Zelveyan informed at today’s press-conference
that the investigations were conducted in Yerevan, 800 people of
various ages were questioned. According to the questioning, 60% of
respondents had the excess weight, 90% noted that they do not realize
or do not take into consideration the information about the harm of
cholesterol excess in blood. 50% of questioned hypertensive patients
noted that they received medical treatment only a week. In Zalveyan’s
opinion, short treatment is worse than not receive treatment at all.
Zalveyan noted that Armenia’s government should take measures for
precautions of hypertension and to enter to the state order patients
with arterial hypertension as most of them give up the treatment
because of the inaccessibility of drug prices.

Los Angeles Daily News
June 5 2005
‘A new church will soon rise up’
Armenian cleric visits, blesses building site
By Lisa M. Sodders, Staff Writer
BURBANK — Nearly 1,000 people came Saturday to see the leader of the
Armenian Apostolic Church bless the foundation stones for a planned
$6 million cathedral in Burbank.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All
Armenians, anointed the dozen or so flat, rectangular stones with
holy oil in a solemn yet joyful two-hour ceremony filled with song
and prayer. He was assisted by Armenian priests and other church
officials from all over Southern California.
“Wherever our people settled, due to the difficult circumstances of
the times, alongside the building of our homes, we built the houses
of God, because we believe that our church is the birthplace of the
Armenian soul,” Karekin II said in Armenian.
“A new church will soon rise up to the heights of heaven and will be
a light between holy Etchmiadzin (the Holy See in Armenia) and all
of our churches dispersed around the world.”
Karekin II, who arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday, will spend
nearly three weeks traveling in California, Arizona and Nevada,
blessing churches, holding youth rallies and visiting hospitals and
schools. This is his second visit to the Western Diocese; the first
was in 2001.
He also will perform a service at 3 p.m. today at the Cathedral of
Our Lady of Angels. On Monday, Karekin II will meet with Cardinal
Roger Mahony, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles,
and visit the Glendale Adventist Hospital and Glendale High School.
Saturday’s ceremony featured a solemn procession of deacons and church
“godfathers” bearing shovels, along with a robed choir and gold-robed
priests, followed by the catholicos, all under a purple canopy. He wore
a diamond cross on his black veghar, a kind of hood or cowl, and smiled
happily at the crowd as the scent of incense wafted through the air.
“We’re so proud today,” said a beaming Edelina Chorbagian, 73, of
Glendale. “He’s so young! (Karekin II is 54.) But he’s gorgeous!”
Lorig Kalaydjian, 23, of Los Angeles said she got goose bumps just
seeing Karekin II and hearing him speak.
“The catholicos represents us as a people and our culture,” she said.
“The Armenian religion and our faith is part of our identity. And
having our figurehead here is a momentous occasion.”
State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, said it was a “great honor,”
to have the catholicos visit.
Armenia, a country of about 3 million that lies east of Turkey and
is slightly smaller in area than the state of Maryland, has been a
Christian country since 301 A.D. The catholicos is the head of the
Armenian Apostolic Church — related to the Oriental Orthodox Church,
but separate. Karekin II, church leader since 1999, is the 142nd
supreme patriarch and catholicos.

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
June 5 2005
Feeling that click with culture
Ethnic dating sites expanding
By Naush Boghossian , Staff Writer
Talin Aintablian never really “clicked’ on the dating scene with guys
who shared her cultural background.
But when her brother met his fiancee on HyeSingles.com – an online
dating site for Armenians – she decided to give it a try. Much to
her surprise, she says, she met “the one.’
“If I had been dating someone when I met Patrick, I would have dumped
him right away because I knew this guy had to be the one,’ Aintablian,
32, said of her boyfriend of three months, Patrick Tourian.
While general online personals and dating sites have been around for
years, a new online dating niche has emerged and is seeing surging
growth in the Los Angeles area: Sites catering to ethnic groups.
With an estimated 600,000 Iranians and 400,000 Armenians in Los Angeles
– the largest populations outside those countries – the sheer size
of the communities is fueling much of the growth.
“These sites are especially popular in the Los Angeles area because
of the huge concentrations of people there from other countries and
cultures who are seeking similar people so they can pair up more
successfully and outside of their tight family circle,’ said Judith
Meskill, editorial director of Weblogs Inc., the largest online
publisher of weblogs.
“These services allow people restrained by religious or familial
responsibilities to find more people with their backgrounds.’
Julie Albright, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at USC, said
the sites also help those facing the same issues as larger society –
including busy schedules and few places to gather – to meet in an
easy and relatively inexpensive way.
“It opens a wide pool of availables to you while dating. You can walk
to the local Armenian cafe and meet one person, but online you can
meet 30. It increases your odds for a love match,’ said Albright,
who researched attraction online and is studying attraction and
deception on the Internet.
“What’s beautiful about the Internet for these ethnic communities
is it enables people to sort through a lot of people and focus in on
those types of qualities they desire,’ she said.
Aintablian, a Hollywood resident, said the online site helped her
find not only a culturally compatible partner but somebody with whom
she had a lot in common.
“You’re running them through some kind of screening process so it makes
it easier to have a potential date with somebody that has the same
interests and desires,’ she said. “He’s like me. He’s American but not
really Americanized because he hasn’t lost his culture and traditions.’
For his part, the 36-year-old Tourian said he turned to the Internet
to find an Armenian girl because his options were limited in Arizona.
“I found this to be a great way to try to find Armenians,’ the business
owner said. “It brings the whole community together.’
That’s the philosophy of Said Amin, CEO and founder of World Singles,
the leading online dating company for ethnic communities that runs
IranianPersonals.com , HyeSingles.com and ArabLounge.com .
Since its founding four years ago, the company has expanded to include
14 niche sites. And membership is growing.
IranianPersonals now has more than 120,000 members, nearly a quarter
of them from the Los Angeles area; HyeSingles has 16,000 members,
nearly two- thirds of them from the Los Angeles area.
“Birds of a feather flock together. As the database grows, it will
draw more people,’ said the 32-year-old Amin.
One 28-year-old local high-tech industry worker who used
IranianPersonals.com said she not only met somebody who speaks her
language and shares her culture, but somebody who has even more
specific traits in common.
She said the site’s open-ended questions like “How important is it
that your children learn to read and write Farsi?’ and “How do you feel
about the Israeli-Palestinian crisis … and what do you suggest as a
solution?’ gave her a glimpse into her potential partner’s character
and outlook on life.
She and her architect fiance plan to get married next year.
Analysts of the nearly $500 million online dating industry agree
that such successes will help propel these types of sites to continue
to proliferate.
“I think you’ll see more and more of it. In theory, if there was a
market shakeout because so many people are launching these types of
communities, I think you’ll find niche-oriented sites will find more
attraction,’ said Michael Jones, president of Idea Oasis, Internet
Dating Executive Alliance/Online Association for Social Industry
Standards.
One site that has continued to attract attention is JDate, the Jewish
dating site launched in 1997 that is considered the leader of ethnic
online dating.
JDate accounted for nearly 25 percent of its parent company Spark
Networks’ $65.1 million in revenues in 2004, and its online dating
service has grown so large that it is rolling out premiere offerings
to try to continue to attract and retain customers.
In early May, it launched Joe’s Club in Los Angeles in which,
for a yearly membership fee, the company will provide personalized
matchmaking and bring together at a local restaurant eight people
from the site that they believe are compatible.
“The reason for that success, whether they’re Armenians or Jews who
are sharing a common ethnicity or a religion, is they’re looking for
long-term partners who share their values and traditions,’ said Gail
Laguna, spokeswoman for Spark Networks.
But while niche sites continue to flourish they have not been immune
from some of the same problems that plague general dating sites.
Teni Khachatourian of Los Angeles decided to give HyeSingles.com
a try. But while she may have expected run-ins with online losers
and dorks, she never expected to meet a man, date him for a month,
then find out he was married.
“I don’t think anyone ever expects to meet a married guy in a singles
arena. But in an Armenian site where the community is so small and
everyone knows each other, it would be so risky, so I would think
that’s the last place a married guy would put up a profile with a
photograph,’ said the 27-year- old film publicist at Columbia Pictures.
“The lesson is that it’s not different if you’re online or at a bar
or at a singles event. Being single, you have to be aware and as
cautious as possible.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Orange County Regsiter, CA
June 5 2005
Sowell’s ethnic wisdom
Alan Bock
Sr. editorial writer
The trouble with reviewing a book by Tom Sowell is that it is usually
packed with so much startling information and analysis that you’re
tempted simply to make your review nothing but long quotes. His new
book, which sums up much of what Sowell, a senior fellow at
Stanford’s Hoover Institution, has learned over several decades of
unrelentingly honest research into issues of race and ethnicity, in
the process shattering cherished myths, is no exception.
The present book consists of six extended essays on related but not
necessarily directly connected topics. The longest, from which the
book takes its title, should spur debate for years to come.
In it Sowell argues that present-day black people in much of urban
America are carriers of some less attractive aspects of Southern
culture they absorbed during the long period of slavery and living in
the South after slavery ended.
“More is involved here than a mere parallel between blacks and
Southern whites,” he writes. “What is involved is a common subculture
that goes back for centuries, which encompassed everything from ways
of talking to attitudes toward education, violence and sex – and
which originated not in the South, but in those parts of the British
Isles from which white Southerners came. That culture long ago died
out where it originated in Britain, while surviving in the American
South. Then it largely died out among both white and black
Southerners, while still surviving today in the poorest and worst of
the urban black ghettos.”
The tragedy is that the culture, created in British borderlands that
were chaotic for centuries and including exaggerated manliness, a
willingness to fight at a hint of disrespect and a disdain for books,
business and long- range planning, is now considered “authentically
black” and not to be tampered with, however self-defeating it might
be.
The chapter titled “Are Jews Generic?” notes that Jews are not the
only minority hated for economic success. A range of ethnicities –
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, overseas Indians and Chinese,
Lebanese in Africa – have served as what Sowell calls “middleman
minorities,” intermediaries between producers and consumers, either
as retailers or lenders. Typically they start with little capital,
put the whole family to work and eventually prosper – only to be
resented by others in the society whose functioning they have done so
much to facilitate. Sowell suggests that this economic role, more
than other factors, accounts for much historic anti-Semitism.
The chapter on slavery notes that it was not a unique imposition of
Western whites on blacks, but existed in every culture, society and
ethnicity from the dawn of recorded history – and was ended because a
consensus developed in Western civilization in the 1700s that it was
wrong. A chapter on Germans in history suggests that it was not
something inherent in German culture that made them ripe for Nazism,
but rather that the totalitarian temptation can afflict even a
generally civilized and tolerant society.
Sowell’s chapter on black education shatters numerous misconceptions.
He describes a number of schools, like Dunbar in Washington, D.C.,
that took poor blacks and sent them to college and professional
careers in disproportionate numbers. But such successful models are
ignored by modern education bureaucrats.
If you’re attracted to independent thought and open to learning some
new things, you’ll love this book.

HAGEL: CONFLICTS IN SOUTH CAUCASUS SHOULD BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY
Pan Armenian News
04.06.2005 03:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Conflicts available in the Nagorno Karabakh
region, Abkhazia and South Ossetia should be settled peacefully,”
Nebraska State Senator Chuck Hagel, who visited Georgia within the
framework of a tour of the South Caucasian countries, stated at a
press conference in Tbilisi. At the same time Chuck Hagel noted that
“the US will naturally continue playing its role in the matter and
will continue assistance to states, which have to find ways and
forms of peaceful coexistence on their own.” “Our participation is
rather limited, thus we cannot impose our will over another state,”
the Senator noted, reported Novosti-Gruzia.

JadranSport.org, Serbia and Montenegro
June 5 2005
WC 2006 qualifier Armenia vs. FYR Macedonia 1:2 Report: Lazio’s
striker Pandev scores a double for Macedonian victory
04.06.2005
by Damir Jovanovic
Serbian coach Slobodan Santrac (Slobodan Santraè) had a reason or
two to cheer this evening as his team FYR Macedonia scored twice and
held off Armenian attacks throughout the 90 minutes in Yerevan by
what they finished the match with a 2:1 score in their favor.
The scorer of both goals for Macedonians was 21 year old Lazio’s
forward Goran Pandev who first given his team advantage in 29th minute
from the penalty spot and then just one minute after the interval
the lad who was considered the biggest talent of this Balkan country
football made a run through the Armenian defense taking advantage
of Sargis Hovsepyan’s error and successfully delivered the ball past
the home side goalkeeper.
In 54th minute Armenia succeeded to pull one back through Edgar
Manucharyan but they weren’t able to find a way to sign in an equalizer
in the remaining part of the game.
Macedonia is now 6th in Group 1 with 8 points but probably with no
chance to go up on the ladder as most of the top teams in the group
have one or two matches played less than them. Netherlands currently
holds the leader’s place, Czech Republic is second, Romania third
and Finland is fourth. Armenia has four points less than Macedonia
and so does Andorra.
Armenia – FYR Macedonia 1:2 Goals: Manucharyan 54′ – Pandev 29′
penalty, 46′.
Line ups
Armenia: Berezovsky, Dokhoyan, Hovsepyan, Khachatryan, Tadevosyan,
Lazarian, Aleksanyan (from 76′ Jenebyan), Sarkisyan (from 51′
Manucharyan), Mkhitaryan, Shahgeldyan, Voskanyan (from 67′ Hakobyan).
Macedonia: Madzovski, Lazarevski, Petrov, Sedloski, Vasoski, Popov
(from 57′ Krstev), Mitreski, Sumulikoski (from 83′ Kralevski), Maznov
(from 66′ Ismaili), Pandev, Grozdanovski. Bookings: Popov Mitreski
(FYR Macedonia). Referee: Tomasz Mikulski from Poland.
–Boundary_(ID_43Qko8+/MA+MyEWdT9NG6A)–