Month: November 2006

UN SECRETARY GENERAL MET WITH PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD ARMENIAN CONGRESS
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 11:43
Yesterday in Moscow the newly appointed UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon met with the President of the World Armenian Congress Ara
Abrahamyan, who is also UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. The interlocutors
exchanged views on the maintenance of the cultural legacy of peoples,
increase of the role of UN and its structures in the development of
education and science, ITAR-TASS reports.

RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN: EVEN THROUGH FORTIFYING THE ARMY, AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT COME OUT VICTOR
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 12:41
Even through fortifying the army, Azerbaijan will not come out victor
from the Karabakh conflict, since official Baku is not inclined to
make concessions, said political analyst Richard Giragosian, who
has been invited to Armenia to participate in the international on
“New Threats and Global Challenges in the 21st Century” organized by
the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
In his words, in ten years Azerbaijan’s strategy on reinforcement
of its own army will make the world face the fact that the balance
of military forces in the region will change. “In the future it
will become clear for everyone that the break of balance comes from
Azerbaijan, not Armenia, and this factor is a good reason for Armenia
to undertake corresponding steps today,” the expert noted.
Richard Giragosian mentioned also that one of the failures of Baku
in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict is the attempt
to transfer the discussion of the issue from the OSCE to the UN. The
analyst welcomed the resumption of negotiations in the OSCE Minsk Group
framework, noting that through freezing the process, the Azeri side is
trying to focus on everything that exceeds the negotiation framework.

CANADIAN ARMENIAN PRELACY RELIGEOUS COUNCIL MET IN TORONTO
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 13:32
Under the Auspices of His Eminence, Archbishop Khajag Hagopian,
Prelate, the Religious Council of the Armenian Prelacy of Canada and
church pastors held a meeting at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic on
the afternoon of October 31, 2006, Armenian Prelacy of Canada informs.
During the extensive meeting, the major points of discussion were
the upcoming youth gathering with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of
the Armenian Catholicosate, in Dearborn, Michigan from December 1-3,
2006, this year’s Armenian Religious Education Council Youth Seminar,
next year’s Church Choir Seminar and the Canadian Armenian National
Assembly Representatives (CANAR) meeting in Cambridge.
The meeting was succeeded with a special Divine Liturgy service at
St. Mary’ s Church served by Archpriest Hrair Nicolian, under the
Auspices of His Eminence Hagopian. His Eminence, Archbishop Souren
Kataroyan, concluded the evening with a sermon.
Church pastors across the country attended the meeting, as well
as Divine Liturgy, including His Eminence, Prelate Hagopian, His
Eminence, Archbishop Kataroyan, Very Rev. Fr. Meghrig Parikian, Very
Rev. Fr. Housig Mardirossian, Archpriest Armen Ishkhanian, Archpriest
Hrair Nicolian, Rev. Fr. Gomidas Panossian and Rev. Fr. Karnig
Koyounian.

ARMENIANS OF HOLLAND INTEND TO INVOLVE THEME OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN TEXT BOOKS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Nov 02 2006
ISTANBUL. NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Turkish
Hurriyet newspaper wrote that Armenians of Holland intend to involve
the theme of the Armenian Genocide in text-books. As Marmara informs,
Rita Verdonk, the Minister on National Minorities Issuess of Holland,
who is famous for her firm policy towards foreigners, proposes with
the Armenian organizations of Holland that the theme of the Armenian
Genocide is involved in text-books and punishments are defined against
those internet sites which will deny the fact of the Genocide.

RA NAS CHAIRMANSHIP AFFIRMS CANDIDATURES FOR DIRECTORS OF 4 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Candidatures for directors of 4
scientific research organizations were affirmed at the November
1 sitting of the chairmanship of the RA National Academy of
Sciences. Aram Papoyan was affirmed on the post of the RA NAS Physical
Researches Institute Director, Arsen Hakhumian – on the post of the
Radiophysics and Electronics Institute Director, Artak Mkrtchian – on
the Director’s post of the Institute of Applied Problems of Physics,
Hayk Haroutiunian was appointed on the post of the V.Hambardzumian
Byurakan Observatory Director. To recap, 23 directors of the RA NAS
scientific research organizations were discharged on the occasion
of their becoming 65. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA NAS
Information Services, candidatures for directors of other institutes
will be discussed at the NAS chairmanship soon.

U.S. AND UNDP WILLING TO SHOW FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO NATIONAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Though the RA Government
intends to work out a new national program against trafficking,
but practical steps were not taken yet, as no financial resources
were allocated for it from the state budget. Anthony Godfrey, the
U.S. Charge d’Affaires to the RA mentioned about it at the November
1 meeting with Hranush Hakobian, the Chairwoman of the RA National
Assembly Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth
Issues. The Charge d’Affaires assured that the U.S. is interested
in this issue, and if Armenia allocates from the state budget some
money for solution of the mentioned problem, the U.S. and UNDP are
willing to show active financial assistance to the program. H.Hakobian
agreed that this defective phenomenon exists in our reality, so steps
must be taken to uproot it. In her words, the national program must
successively be brought to life, it is necesaary to join international
agreements regulating the sphere, to regulate the legislative field,
to establish close ties with international organizations engaged in
this issue. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by
the RA NA Public Relations Department, it was decided at the meeting
to make the cooperation continuous and to take practical steps to
implement the program.

ANALYSIS: EU GIVES TURKEY BAD GRADES
By Stefan Nicola – UPI Germany Correspondent
United Press International
Nov 2 2006
BERLIN, Nov. 1 (UPI) — A new European Union report is set to give
Turkey low grades on its democratic reforms and further delay the
country’s EU accession, a process already under scrutiny by most
of Europe.
An unnamed EU official told the Financial Times Germany newspaper
he was surprised that Turkey was so significantly behind in its
democratization process.
“We would have hoped that Turkey would have delivered a lot more during
the past 18 months, certainly since the beginning of negotiations in
October last year,” the official said. “If Turkey had been moving
more, if there was greater freedom of expression, if there wasn’t
any torture, things would be a lot more promising.”
The official report, which the newspaper said it has seen, will be
presented next week. It said “prosecutions and convictions for the
expression of non-violent opinion … are a cause for serious concern,”
although on the weekend, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said he has no plans to change the penal code for such cases, the
newspaper reported.
Such bad grades for Turkey are by no means a surprise, experts say.
“Since the beginning of the accession negotiations, Turkey and the EU
have constantly distanced themselves from each other,” Heinz Kramer,
Turkey expert at the German Institute for International and Security
Affairs, a Berlin-based think tank, told United Press International.
“That’s also because the accession process within the EU has not much
or only half-hearted backing.”
Public support for Turkey’s EU membership is at an all time low,
with less than one in three Europeans supporting it.
“Large parts of the population and — mostly conservative — political
elites feel that Turkey does not belong to Europe,” Kramer said.
A country with unsolved regional conflicts and roughly 70 million
citizens, nearly all of them Muslims, Turkey is seen by many European
governments as a burden, rather than an asset to the EU.
France, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Slovakia are among
the most outspoken opponents, with Paris speaking loudest. In
what observers say was a bid to bank on anti-Turkey sentiments,
France earlier this month adopted a bill that makes it a crime to
deny that an Armenian genocide occurred in Turkey during World War
I, a move that was criticized in most of Europe. France is home to
roughly 500,000 people whose families came from Armenia, many of them
descendants of families that experienced the 1915-1923 violence that
killed some 1.5 million people. Turkey denies that genocide took place.
Another unresolved issue involves the Republic of Cyprus.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently said that if Turkey wants
to be accepted into the EU, Ankara would have to open its ports to
Cypriots and recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member.
Cyprus, a popular Mediterranean tourist destination, has been
divided into a Republic of Cyprus — the Greek Cypriot south —
and a Turkish-occupied north since a 1974 Turkish invasion.
Merkel has been critical of Turkey’s EU accession and favors the
model of a “privileged partnership” instead, although her coalition
government officially endorses the accession process.
Finland, which currently holds the rotating the EU presidency, has
been beefing up efforts to prevent a possible escalation of the Cyprus
crisis, wanted by “neither the EU nor Turkey,” Kramer said.
Within the EU, the supporters of a Turkey membership, including Spain
and Britain, argue Turkey could serve as a bridge to the Islamic world,
and fuel democratization efforts in the region. Most EU governments,
however, feel the enlargement process, with Croatia becoming a
member soon, has reached its limits, and pointing to Turkey’s reform
shortcomings is an easy way out of a quick accession.
But the EU, with its half-hearted support of the Turkish accession
process, is also to blame for the lack of reforms in Turkey, Kramer
said.
“In Ankara, politicians think: ‘Why should we make all these efforts
if in the end, nothing comes out of it,'” he told UPI. “From how it
looks now, it may only be a question of time until the whole process
becomes deadlocked.”

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MET WITH SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC AND EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 16:00
His Holiness Aram I met with the spiritual leaders of the Armenian
Catholic and Evangelical Churches in two separate meetings on
October 30. V. Rev. Fr. Norayr Ashekian, V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian
and Mr. Tsolag Tutelian from the Central Executive Council of the
Catholicosate accompanied His Holiness, Office of Communication of
the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia informs.
The meeting with Patriarch Nerses Bedros Tarmouni XIX was held in
the presence of several Armenian Catholic Bishops and priests. His
Holiness then met Rev. Meguerditch Karageozian, President of Armenian
Evangelical Churches in the Near East. The President of Haigazian
University, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian as well as several Evangelical
pastors and community leaders also attended.
The main focus of the talks was the relationship between Armenia
and the Diaspora particularly in light of the Third Armenia-Diaspora
conference held this summer in Yerevan. The three spiritual leaders
also discussed the importance of strengthening the Diaspora and
reviving Armenian schools in particular.
They reiterated the crucial importance of preserving the internal
unity of the Armenian community of Lebanon.
On these and other issues, all three highlighted the role of close
cooperation between the Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical
Churches and the adoption of united stands towards issues of national
concern.
Following these two meetings, His Holiness made the following
statement: “The main purpose of our meetings was the reinforcement
of our internal national unity. There might be difference in
our approaches and evaluations, but we consider that a natural
phenomenon in the life of any nation. However, it is essential that
our communities, our nation become united in basic issues affecting
our life. Today more than ever, it is imperative that we gather around
pan-national projects and visions.”
“The Armenian community of Lebanon should concretely prove that it
has a unique role and place in the life of our nation in general
and the Diaspora in particular. Therefore, the energizing of our
institutions and in this context the revival of the Armenian school,
the backbone of the Armenian community of Lebanon, should become
a priority for all of us. The stronger an Armenian school becomes,
the stronger an Armenian community becomes.”
“The Catholicosate of Cilicia and We personally in cooperation with
the ” Gulbenkian”, “Lincy” and “Khatchig Babikian” Foundations,
are striving to keep the Armenian school strong in its educational
mission. Financial assistance alone, however, is not enough. It is
our expectation that Armenian parents send their children to Armenian
schools. An Armenian school becomes truly an Armenian School when it is
filled with Armenian students; when it conveys the Armenian language,
religion and history as a spirit, faith and commitment to Armenian
students, making them the pillar of Christian Armenian formation.
Therefore, Christian education and Armenian education for us, are
closely interconnected; they are two dimensions of one process”,
said His Holiness Aram I.
The Pontiff concluded by calling on the Lebanese Armenian Members
of Par liament, parties and community leaders to work together for
safeguarding the rights of the Lebanese Armenian community and for
preserving the integrity and independence of Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“INTERFOOD 2006” EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN TBILISI
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 16:31
November 16-18 the third international “InterFood 2006″ exhibition
of food production will be held in Tbilisi, Black Sea Press reports,
referring to ” ITECA Kavkasia” Company – organizer of the event.
Companies like “Arkolad CJSC” (Armenia), “Akvatekhavtomatika”
(Armenia), ” Animex Sp.zo.o” (Poland), “Ashtarak-Kat CJSC” (Armenia),
“JCS Bagrationi 1882” (Georgia), “Castel-Sakartvelo LTD” (Georgia),
“DGS S.A.” (Poland), ” Dustr Marianna LLC” (Armenia), “Elita LLC”
(Armenia), “Elola CJSC” (Armeniaa), “Glass World Company” (Armenia),
“Trading Company HA LLC” (Georgia-Azerbaijan), “Brewery Natakhtary”
(Georgia), “SIS Natural LLC” (Armenia), “UCS” (Georgia-Azerbaijan),
“Zanetti SPA” (Italy) and others will participate in the exhibition.

AUDITORIUM AFTER WRITER-PUBLICIST ARTASHES KALANTARIAN OPENS IN YSU
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The ceremony of opening an auditorium
after famous journalist, writer-publicist Artashes Kalantarian took
place on November 2 at the Journalism Department of the Yerevan State
University. As YSU Rector Aram Simonian mentioned, this auditorium
will be a subject of care of both Journalism Department and all
students and lecturers of the University.
The auditorium, opened on the initiative of Alexander Kalantarian,
A.Kalantarian’s son, will soon be equiped with computers, and on
his initiative, scholarship after A.Kalantarian will be fixed at the
department from the next year.
“A.Kalantarian is the first graduate of the YSU Journalist Department,
and his name is inseparably connected with the Armenian journalism
history of the 2nd half of the 20th century,” department Dean
Garnik Ananian mentioned. In his words, A.Kalantarian was a
man of inexhaustible humour and gifted with satirical gift:
it is not accidental that he started his journalism activity with
feuilletons. “Everbody waited for Kalantarian’s feuilletons, novels and
stories impatiently, and it seemed an atom exploded after publication
of his “Marathon” book, and some of Soviet high-ranking officials left
their posts after publication of the book,” G.Ananian said. In words of
Astghik Gevorgian, the Chairwoman of the Journalists’ Union of Armenia,
“A.Kalantarian’s name will be written in history of Armenian press
with gold letters.” “His eye was very sharp and he saw everything
there was around him. A.Kalantarian’s every feuilleton used to become
a material for discussion for the Central Committee bureau. And as
a result of that discussion, the official often left its chair,”
A.Gevorgian mentioned. It’s a pity, today the JUA Chairperson’s
status changed: publications of the Armenian press remain unanswered,
no one respond them.