Month: April 2007

AMERICAN DIPLOMAT URGES ARMENIAN CITIZENS TO CHECK THEIR REGISTRATION

Panorama.am
19:29 25/04/2007

The Central Election Committee received 10 computers as a gift
from U.S. government 17 days before the elections. While signing a
memorandum on cooperation with CEC, Anthony Godfrey, charge d’affairs
of U.S. ambassador in Armenia, said, "All necessary conditions
are created to conduct elections in compliance with international
standards." Moreover, the U.S. diplomats urged the Armenian citizens
"to go to election communities and check their registration."

Armenian prime minister, Serzh Sargsyan, also present at signing of
the memorandum, underscored technical capacities for "normal process
of elections."

Garegin Azaryan, CEC chairman showed the computers to the prime
minister and the foreign diplomat. The prime minister saw the packs
in which the protocols will be brought to CEC. "If you try to open,
it will change its color and will obviously show that the pack
was opened," CEC chairman explained to the prime minister. "Are we
guaranteed that no one can open the packs?" the prime minister asked.

Anthony Godfrey asked if it is possible for the reporters and observers
to know what is going on at election night in the communities from
CEC, to which the chairman said, "Of coarse, we will be working whole
night. I will work in my office and the employees will be in front
of the monitor."

INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR OF WWF ARMENIA – MR. KAREN MANVELYAN

Panorama.am
17:38 25/04/2007

-Mr. Manvelyan, most of our readers are not well informed about what
WWF abbreviation stands for. Could you please briefly present what
WWF is, when and how it was established and what are the main goals
of the organization ?

-Established in 1961, WWF-World Wildlife Fund is one the largest
environmental conservation organization with an extensive experience
in carrying out field projects related to sustainable nature resources
management and protection of biodiversity. WWF currently runs about
700 field projects in close to 100 countries and employs over 5,000
people worldwide. WWF headquarters are located in Glend, Switzerland.

WWF’s overall mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s
natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in
harmony with nature by: ~U Conserving the world’s biological diversity
~U Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
~U Promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

-When did WWF start its activities in Armenia?

-The secretariat for WWF’s global conservation organization began its
activities in the Caucasus in 1992 and extended its conservation work
by establishing a local office in Yerevan, Armenia in 2001.

As of November 2006, WWF-Armenia has been registered as an official
branch of WWF and currently implements and coordinates more than 20
projects focused on environmental issues, and contributing to solution
of socio-economic problems in rural areas.

The vision of WWF-Armenia is to Keep Armenia Healthy and Beautiful
for now and for generations to come.

-Solving of regional ecological problems requires coordinated approach,
in this respect how does WWF manage to implement unified regional
environmental policy?

-WWF initiated and coordinated the development of an Ecoregional
Conservation Plan (ECP) for the Caucasus, a comprehensive strategy
for the region that was endorsed by the Environmental Ministers of
the South Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) during
the Ministerial Conference (Berlin, 2006).

-At present, various parts of the World face different challenges in
the area of eco-systems preservation, what are the specific issues
that are urgent for Armenia and what are the conditions that caused
emergence of those problems.

-Armenia has a unique natural heritage, found in its rich biodiversity
and picturesque landscapes. Our country is our national treasure that
must be protected for present and coming generations. This is the
responsibility of all Armenians to keep Armenia healthy and beautiful.

The major threats to biodiversity in Armenia are tied to three broad
root causes – socio-economic, political and institutional. These
include mining, illegal logging, poaching and illegal wildlife trade,
overgrazing and over fishing, infrastructure development (pipelines,
road construction, etc.), and pollution of rivers and wetlands. These
threats lead to habitat degradation, decline of species populations,
and disruption of ecological processes – all contributing to an
overall loss of biodiversity.

WWF-Armenia strives to mitigate the impact of these threats in order
to conserve rich biodiversity of Armenia. It has been carrying out
projects such as promotion of sustainable resource use among local
communities, conservation of Caucasian Leopard, recovery of Bezoar
Goat in its natural range and others.

-You mentioned several problems that are related to various areas of
human life, which area is considered a priority for WWF Armenia?

-WWF Armenia carries out its work in several directions. One of
them is pure environmental protection, In this respect our Fund
carries works aimed at restoring degraded ecosystems, enhancing the
habitat of flora and fauna, conserving priority biomes (forests, high
mountains, wetlands), conserving threatened species (Caucasian Leopard,
Armenian Mouflon, Bezoar Goat, etc.); We carry out also institutional
development activities such as assisting the Government of Armenia to
establish new protected areas and develop a protected area network
(Econet) including reserves, national parks and others; Providing
support for institutional strengthening and capacity building via
consultancy and technical assistance to protected areas; Promoting
alternative livelihood through sustainable use of natural resources
and ecotourism development, thus contributing to income generation and
poverty reduction and mitigation of threats to biodiversity; Promoting
public awareness on environmental issues through environmental
education, mass media and communications among all Armenians.

Currently WWF-Armenia is also coordinating CEPF/WWF Grants Program
designed to ensure that civil society is engaged in efforts to conserve
biodiversity in the hotspots of the Caucasus region.

-What organizations and Government Bodies are WWF’s primary partners
here in Armenia, Could you call those partnerships efficient ?

-WWF-Armenia actively and efficiently collaborates with national
authorities (Ministry of Nature Protection and Ministry of
Agriculture), local administrations and communities, NGOs,
scientific institutions, the international donor community, and other
partners. Working from the grassroots to the governmental level
assures that collaborative projects will yield the best solutions
for nature conservation.

– How do you see a role of business in environment preservation ?

WWF believes that business, trade, and industry have a crucial role
to play in supporting conservation efforts and promoting greater
environmental responsibility for our planet. WWF strives to build
environmental awareness by working with businesses to help improve
their environmental performance, as well as boost their economic
bottom line. Governed by the principle Good for the Earth, Good for
Business, WWF-Armenia is committed to partnering with companies who
are willing to become a WWF Conservation Partner.

AMERICAN GRADUATE ASSOCIATOIN HOLDS ITS FIRST ANNUAL TOPCAREERS EXHIBITION IN ARMENIA

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 12:30

The American Graduates Association, in partnership with IREX, the
United States Embassy in Armenia, and the Union of Manufacturers,
will hold its first annual TopCareers Armenia Exhibition/Fair
in Yerevan on April 26. The TopCareers Exhibition will present
an excellent opportunity for Armenian professionals to directly
meet with prospective employers and hiring managers, and will allow
companies to meet the best professionals available in the country’s
job market. Attendance at the event will enable job seekers to get
information on various companies, build networks, apply for jobs and
internships, and participate in different trainings and career-related
activities.

Approximately 2,500 professionals, mid-level managers and graduate
students from US, European and Armenian universities looking for new
careers are expected to attend the event. TopCareers exhibitors will
be provided with free-of-charge exposition stands, as well as with
an opportunity to directly contact and interview applicants with
relevant experience in corresponding sectors.

The companies will also be given opportunities to present their
activities in specially designed spaces and through online profiles
posted on The fair will introduce a number of
quality events, including workshops on various topics to help aspiring
professionals learn more about respective industries and their specific
business requirements, and to assist managers in targeting specialized
employee groups.

GUIDEBOOK FOR JOURNALISTS TO BE PRESENTED

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 10:27

A guidebook for journalists "How to Receive Electoral Information"
will be presented on 27 April, 2007.

The publication has been prepared by Freedom of Information (FOI)
Centre NGO with financial support from the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ms.
Shushan Doydoyan, President of the FOI Centre NGO, and Ms. Marine
Hakobyan, co-author and expert of the FOI Centre and the National
Assembly will present the publication.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MINISTER OSKANIAN MET WITH PETER SEMNEBY

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 10:53

RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who is paying a working visit
to Belgium, had a meeting with the EU Special Representative for the
South Caucasus Peter Semneby.

Press and Information Department of RA MFA informs that during the
meeting the parties discussed regional issues and Armenian-Turkish
relations.

Reference was made to the GUAM initiative in the UN General Assembly
and RA Foreign Minister reconfirmed Armenia’s position on the issue.

Later the interlocutors turned to the parliamentary elections in
Armenia.

The EU Special Representative underlined that EU countries and the
European Commission always emphasize the importance of holding the
elections in compliance with international standards, and urged the
Armenian authorities to undertake all measures in this direction.

Minister Oskanian assured that all the preconditions exist for holding
free and fair elections. The interlocutors also discussed issues
connected with the execution of the Armenia-EU Action Plan. Views were
exchanged on the results of the Belgrade talks between the Foreign
Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

CENTER FOR GENOCIDE STUDIES CALLS ON SPEAKER PELOSI AND CHAIRMAN LANTOS TO ENSURE PASSAGE OF H. RES. 106

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 11:03

On the occasion of the 92nd Anniversary Commemorating the Armenian
Genocide, Dr. Samuel M. Edelman, Ph. D., Co-Director of the State
of California Center of Excellence for the Study of the Holocaust,
Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance, sent a letter, urging key Members
of the United States House of Representatives to ensure passage of
H. Res. 106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Dr. Edelman addressed the letter to three Members in the House of
Representatives. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA-29), who authored
H. Res. 106, Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA-12), who is the Chairman
of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where H. Res. 106 currently
sits, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-08).

The first letter, addressed to Speaker Pelosi asks that "[Speaker
Pelosi] support this resolution and, as Speaker of the House,
ensure its speedy passage by the U.S. House." The second letter,
addressed to Representative Schiff, thanks the Congressman for
authoring H. Res. 106, which is entitled " Affirmation of the United
States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution." The second letter,
addressed to Chairman Lantos, asks that "[Chairman Lantos] support this
resolution and, as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
ensure its passage by your committee and its speedy referral to
the House."

In each letter, Dr. Edelman notes the United States’ international
humanitarian relief effort in response to the Armenian Genocide and
that comparatively, this effort was one of the greatest relief efforts
of all time. Additionally , he discusses the gravity of the crime
of genocide and the United States’ historical record documenting the
Armenian Genocide which is "all the more poignant given the current
genocide in Darfur."

"These letters demonstrate that the California Center of Excellence
for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide stands in solidarity with
people of good conscience all over the world in calling the Armenian
Genocide what it is – the first genocide of the 20th Century,"
remarked Andrew Kzirian, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR. "As
Jefferson stated, ‘in matters of style, swim with the current; in
matters of principle, stand like a rock,’" he added.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest
and most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns
of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE GOLDEN APRICOT

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 12:18

For the first time a French Film Festival will be held within the
framework of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival to be
held July 9-14 in Yerevan.

President of the Festival Harutyun Khachatryan told Armenpress that
due to the new festival Armenian spectators will have the opportunity
to watch 7-10 new French films. Applications for 16 films have already
been submitted. The French Film Festival is expected to become annual.

Head of the Golden Apricot programmes Mikhael Stamboltsyan
said about 180 films of different genres have been presented to
participate in the festival. " Although the deadline for submission
of applications was April 15, but sometimes "late" films are brought,"
he said. Mr. Stamboltsyan expects that all in all about 250-270 films
will be presented.

Currently the preparation works are underway. There will be a new
poster and catalogue.

Last year 120 films from 43 countries were presented at the
festival. It was covered by 60 media, including 3 foreign TV companies
and 13 magazines. It had a bout 50 thousand spectators.

MINKS GROUP CO-CHAIRS PREPARING THE NEXT MEETING OF FMS

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 13:06

The OSCE Minks Group Co-Chairs are preparing the next meeting of the
Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Co-Chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov told "Trend" agency.

He reminded that the previous meeting of Vartan Oskanian and Elmar
Mammadyarov was organized April 18-19. "Now we are searching for an
opportunity to arrange another meeting," Merzlyakov said. He did not
rule out that the recurrent consultations of the Foreign Ministers
may be held either in May or later.

The Russian diplomat informed that the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
are planning to visit Madrid on May 10 to meet with the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, the Foreign Minister of Spain Miguel Angel
Moratinos. Later in May the mediators are planning to visit the
conflict zone.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE HADROUT HOSPITAL, SCHOOLS, GAS AND WATER PIPELINES STARTED

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 13:33

Starting from 2007, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has been
implementing large-scale projects in Hadrout region of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic, Public Relations Department of the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund informs.

Tenders have been announced for construction of the Togh-Hadrout
gas pipeline, the Mets Taghlar-Azokh-Drakhtik water pipeline and the
Hakaku village school. Reconstruction of the Togh village school and
the Hadrout regional hospital are in a tender preparation stage.

The repair of the Hadrout potable water supply system is well
underway. From the Archi spring catchments a 21.8 km pipeline will
deliver potable water to the city of Hadrout. The city wells and the
daily water distribution reservoir will also be repaired. Also, the
Ishkhanaket river water will be treated and filtered in settler to
insure gravity flow water distribution to villages of Mets Taghlar,
Azokh and Drakhtik. Thus, more than 2700 people from three villages
will have regular water supply.

Gas supply in the region will start with the construction of the
Togh-Hadrout gas pipeline. The about 21 km pipeline will supply gas
to villages of Jrakous, Hosher, Aknaghbyur, Kyuratagh, Ukhtadzor,
Tsaghkavank, Pletonts, Melikashen and Aygestan, and will later connect
these villages to the main gas network in the republic.

On funds raised during the 2006 telethon and on donations from the
Fund’s US-western region affiliate a school will be constructed
for the Hakaku village. 2006 telethon donations will be spent for
construction and heating of the Togh village school. Its furnishing
will be supported by the Fund’s Argentina affiliate.

The Hadrout regional hospital project is of utmost importance when
it comes to healthcare in the region. The run-down hospital building
will be renovated, the hospital’s drinking and sewage pipelines,
the roof and the electric wiring will be repaired, a heating system
will be installed.

Project C.U.R.E, in coordination with the US western region affiliate
of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund will donate medical equipment to
the Hadrout regional hospital, which will be great support for the
only regional hospital that currently is in a deplorable state.

The Fund’s US western region affiliate has already donated three
ambulances to the hospital. There used to be one ambulance attending
to 12 thousand people living in the region. Another ambulance was
donated to the Togh village health care center by the Argentina
affiliate of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.

Projects to help boost agriculture are also primary for the development
of the Hadrout region. Agricultural technologies have been already
ordered.

Agricultural developmental projects in Hadrout region in Karabakh
will be implemented following the Mardakert agricultural project model.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sunday, April 22, 2007
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WANTED: A MESSIAH
**********************************
Those who see the best in themselves will tend to see the worst in others. We all need scapegoats. Turks are ours, and we are theirs. Naregatsi – our Dante and Shakespeare combined – saw the worst in himself but the best in God, who, he said, would forgive all his sins not because he deserved His forgiveness but because His love knew no bounds. And then there are those who say, we all swim in the same soup; there is good and evil in all of us. It’s all a question of perspective. Talaat is a statesman of vision to them and the worst villain that ever crawled between heaven and earth to us. Or, as the African chieftain is quoted as having said to C.G. Jung: “When my enemy steals my wives, it’s bad. When I steal his, it’s good.”
Sometimes I am told I am on the wrong path, my efforts are misguided. I should change my style, way of thinking, and attitude towards my fellow Armenians. Instead of seeing the worst in them I should see the best, emphasize the good, stress the positive, ignore the negative. I find it hard to believe that we have failed as a nation because our writers failed in their mission. The history of our literature goes back 1500 years during which we have produced an astonishing variety of writers, some of whom, like Khorenatsi, pointed out our shortcomings, others saw the best in us (Abovian), still others (like Baronian and Odian) saw the worst; and then there is Raffi, who saw the best as well as the worst. Even more revealing is the case of Zarian, who began his brilliant literary career by calling us the real chosen people and concluded it by saying we survive by cannibalizing one another.
Do we really need a messianic figure with a new style and belief system that will set us on the right path? Speaking for myself, I don’t believe in messiahs and quick fixes. I believe in self-criticism more than in criticism. This may explain why sometimes I am perceived as anti-Armenian and pro-Turkish. To be misunderstood, rejected, silenced, and ignored: so what else is new?
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Monday, April 23, 2007
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A BATTLE ON TWO FRONTS
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Questions that I ask myself whenever I sit down to write: “Why bother? What’s the use? Why go on? To what end? What have I accomplished so far?” And the tentative answer that I come up with: “I am not sure. I have no idea…unless it is to let those in power know that they may fool most of the people most of the time, but there will always be one or two who will refuse to be taken in by their nonsense, even if the two happen to be a minor scribbler and his mother living in the middle of nowhere.”
*
My mother has known all along that writing is a waste of time. In retrospect, I have to agree with her. I know now I would have been more useful to my fellow men had I been a carpenter or a bus driver. Or a travel agent. That’s what my mother wanted me to be, a pilot or a travel agent. She loves going places and I don’t even drive. The only two places that I visit regularly are the library and the church – both within walking distance. I go to church not to pray but to carry on a love affair with the organ works of J.S. Bach.
*
There are some things that one is destined to understand only at the end of one’s life. Youth is a time for daydreams and megalomania. I know now that a writer doesn’t have much of a chance because his war is a battle on two fronts: (one) against those in power, their hirelings, and dupes; and (two) the philistines in whose eyes writers, poets, philosophers, and intellectuals in general are at best daydreamers and at worst mental masturbators.
*
Who is to blame for World War II and the Holocaust? Most people will say, Hitler and the Nazis. Strangely enough, Thomas Mann put part of the blame on German literature. Unlike their French counterparts, German writers, he said, had spent more time exploring their inner life and less time on social issues. As a result, the German people had lacked the sophistication and political awareness to see the Nazis for what they were – not the future saviors of the nation but its destroyers. True or false? False, according to a French contemporary of Mann, who concluded his memoirs with the words: “Literature saves no one,” and “…no man is ever anything but a swindle.” (See Jean-Paul Sartre, THE WORDS.)
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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
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THE TRIUMPH OF MEDIOCRITY
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Nothing can be more misleading than to approach reality with received or preconceived notions, especially notions cunningly and carefully chosen by those in power to flatter our collective ego and to cover up their mediocrity. If you want to understand your fellow Armenians or, for that matter, your fellow men, begin with yourself and forget what you were taught as a child. The first step in all learning is unlearning.
Instead of bragging about being the first nation to convert to Christianity, ask yourself: “How good a Christian am I?” Next question to ask: if our ruling classes saw the light and converted to Christianity at the beginning of the 4th Century, they just as readily saw the darkness and converted to atheism in the 20th. What are we to make of that?
By teaching us to brag, our leaders hope to convince us we are in good hands and we have nothing to worry about, when the exact opposite is the case.
We brag about our survival in order to forget that most of us, including the best and the brightest, did not survive.
If we assume the invisible and hostile forces of history (assuming of course such forces are not within us but in a realm beyond our reach and control), had targeted us for extinction but only a few of us managed to survive, we could just as easily assume that, with less mediocre, corrupt, incompetent, and divided leaders not seven but seventy million of us could have survived. Very probably there are more than seventy million Armenians today, but most of them prefer to identify themselves as Americans, Hungarians, Italians, Bulgarians, Russians, even Kurds and Turks.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying there is something fundamentally wrong with our DNA. We are people like any other people. We have produced many great leaders, even leaders of mighty empires, and I don’t mean Dikran, the so-called,“Great” and his Mickey Mouse ephemeral empire. Oswald Spengler, one of the greatest historians of the 20th century has called such an Armenian leader (Basil I, founder of the greatest dynasty in the Byzantine Empire) “a Napoleonic figure.” And Toynbee, the other great historian of our time, has written a huge scholarly biography of Basil’s son and successor, Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
What I am saying here is that, where mediocrities are in charge, excellence will be persecuted; where crooks are in charge, honesty will be anathema; where fascists are in charge, the rule of law and accountability will be seen as unpatriotic; and where the unprincipled are in charge, opportunism will be the norm.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
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IDEAS IN HISTORY
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Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were Greeks; the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus were Jewish. And yet, the history of Greeks and Jews has been a concatenation of defeats, tragedies, and oppression. Now then, go ahead and blame Khorenatsi and Naregatsi, or Raffi, Baronian, and Zarian for all our problems.
*
Trying to change a situation without first understanding it is like trying to put out a forest fire with a bottle of soda water.
*
Some people have been traveling on the road of dishonesty for such a long time that honesty appears to them as cynicism, objectivity as charlatanism, and straight talk as venom.
*
If Turkish denialists question the reality of the Genocide, we deny the depth of our malaise. There are those who think, if a handful of dedicated individuals with good intentions get busy within our communities, we have an excellent chance to extricate ourselves from the abyss. Inevitably, they reach the conclusion that things are not as easy as they thought they would be and they give up in disgust. Their line of thinking goes something like this: If I can be more useful to my fellow men in an alien environment, why bother with a bunch of ingrates who, in Zarian’s assessment, “survive by cannibalizing one another”?
*
Instead of saying my assessment of our present situation is inaccurate, they call me, at best, a pessimist, and, at worst, a charlatan.
*
The trouble with being brainwashed is that you become fixed in your thinking; you cannot move ahead or go beyond of what you think you think, and when it comes to thinking, what matters above all is going beyond and moving ahead.
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