4 ARMENIAN GYMNASTS TO PERFORM IN MIKHAIL VORONIN COMMEMORATIVE TOURNAMENT
Noyan Tapan
Nov 16, 2009
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The Traditional International
Tournament dedicated to memory of Olympic Champion in Gymnastics
Mikhail Voronin is being held between November 15 to 19 in Moscow.
Vahagn Stepanian, Artur Davtian, David Avetisian, and Vahan Vardanian
will represent Armenia in the tournament.
URENI RYGBY CLUB FOUNDED IN ASHTARAK
Noyan Tapan
Nov 16, 2009
ASHTARAK, NOVEMBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The presentation of the Ureni
rygby club took place on November 15 in the town sports ground of
Ashtarak. More than 120 young people from the town of Ashtarak and
neighboring villages have already joined the Ureni club. Six teams, in
which young people of different ages are involved, held demonstrative
competitions on the presentation day, and different sport fans were
present at the competitions.
Robert Melkumian, one of rygby founders in Armenia, informed Noyan
Tapan correspondent that it occurred to him to found the club this
January when with his former pupil, currently businessman Gegham
Haroutiunian he watched the World Cup Tournament in Dubai, and
Armenia’s national team was not among the participants.
SITTING OF NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS FUND’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES TAKES PLACE
Noyan Tapan
16.11.2009
YEREVAN. Issues related to the current developments in Armenia’s
economy and the global economy were addressed at the November 14
sitting of the Board of Trustees of the National Competitiveness Fund.
The sitting was conducted by Armenian Prime Minister, Chairman of
the Fund’s Board of Trustees Tigran Sargsyan.
As NT was informed by the RA Government Information and PR Department,
the participants discussed the strategy of cooperation with the
Diaspora and the opportunities of forming the respective sports as a
new tourism product in the mountainous conditions of Sevan. Reports
were given by Prof. Rob Kitchin and Prof. Mark Boyle of the National
University of Ireland and the guests from Munich – sport and tourism
experts Peter Gottwald and Frank Daniel Ehrsam.
Among other issues on the agenda were working planning of the
all-Armenian network’s design and the presentation of reports on the
program of the all-Armenian bank, also issues related to current work
of the Fund.
THE PRESENTATION OF HAKOB TERZIAN’S BOOK ENTITLED "CILICIA 1909: THE MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS" WAS HELD IN FRESNO
Noyan Tapan
16.11.2009
FRESNO: The London-based "Komitas" Institute published the new edited
English version of Hakob Terzian’s book entitled "Cilicia 1909:
The Massacres of Armenians". The book was published in Istanbul in
1912 and was later confiscated by the Ottoman government. The author
describes the massacres of Armenians in Adana in 1909 through his
eyewitness accounts.
As reported by "Aztag", the presentation of the book was held at the
Fresno State University in light of the events dedicated to the 100th
anniversary of the massacres of Adana.
According to information from the book, 21,000 Armenians were killed
in the last two weeks of the massacres alone and Armenians suffered
material damage worth nearly 5.4 million Turkish gold.
During the translation, Stepan Melkonyan and Ara Sarafyan viewed
the book not only as documental evidence of the massacres of Adana,
but a way to tell the story of the horrors to the coming generations,
writes "Aztag".
THE UNION OF IRANIAN-ARMENIAN WRITERS CELEBRATED THE 140TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEVON SHANT
Noyan Tapan
16.11.2009
TEHRAN: The Union of Iranian-Armenian Writers organized the evening
dedicated to the 140th anniversary of writer, literary critic,
theater critic, political figure Levon Shant (Seghbosyan).
As reported by "Alik", president of the Union of Iranian-Armenian
Writers, Varand, touched upon the life and career of Shant, while
speaker of the day, theater critic, editor-in-chief of the "Handes"
magazine, Varuzh Surenyan, talked about the plays by Shant and recalled
their linguistic characteristics and subject-matter.
In the end, the president of the Union of Iranian-Armenian writers
mentioned that the union has new members.
ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA EXPECTING HIS RESIGNATION
ArmInfo
2009-11-16 16:44:00
ArmInfo. "I have been waiting for my resignation for a long
time",- Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan said to ArmInfo
correspondent when commenting on media’s information about his possible
resignation from the post Armenian ambassador to Russia.
Smbatyan said that he had been holding the ambassador’s post for a
long time, and his mission is nearing completion.
To note, Smbatyan has been the Armenian ambassador to Russia since
2002.
FIXED DEPOSITS OF UNIBANK HAS DOUBLED
ArmInfo
2009-11-16 18:21:00
ArmInfo. As of 1 November 2009 the fixed deposits of Unibank almost
doubled as compared with the same period of 2008 and exceeded 76.3
bln AMD.
The Unibank press-service told ArmInfo that over the period under
review the volume of individuals’ fixed deposits in the bank amounted
to 50 bln AMD. Thus, the bank continues maintaining the position of
the leader in the market of banking deposits, the source says. In 2009
the volume of legal entities’ fixed deposits also considerably grew.
As compared with Jan-Oct 2008, the legal entities’ fixed deposits
grew 5.4 times and totalled 26.7 bln AMD by the end of October. Today
Unibank offers such deposits as "Uni- Champion", "Uni-accumulative",
"Unistream-Expr ess", "Stability" and "On demand-Privileged". The
deposits have been worked out according to the results of surveys of
the population’s needs and maximally meet the current demands of the
clients. At Unibank the maximal annual interest rate for AMD deposits
is 10%, for foreign exchange deposits – 9%.
To recall, Unibank shareholders are Asset Management (50%) and EVA
Invest (50%). Uniastrumbank is the strategic partner of the bank.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
NUMBER OF ECONOMIC CRIMES IN ARMENIA INCREASED 2.1 TIMES DURING JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2009
ARKA
Nov 16, 2009
YEREVAN, November 16. /ARKA/. In Armenia during January-September
2009, 652 economic crimes were registered compared with the same
period of 2008, informed National Statistic Service of Armenia based
on the data provided by the Police Department of Armenia.
During the reporting period in 2009, 280 cases from the number of
registered economic crimes were keeping or realization of false
money or securities which is 4.7 times more than the indicator
of January-September 2008. Another 372 cases were crimes against
economic activity which is by 46.5% more than the indicator of
January-September 2008.
TURKEY AND RUSSIA COULD FORM ‘AXIS OF THE EXCLUDED’ IN EURASIA: CHATHAM HOUSE
News.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia
Problems in relations with the United States, and the lack of progress
in Turkey’s efforts to secure membership of the EU, led commentators
to speculate that Turkey and Russia could form an ‘axis of the
excluded’ in Eurasia," reads the report by British Royal Institute
of International Affairs Chatham House, titled "Turkey, Russia and
the Caucasus".
According to the report, Russian-Georgian conflict in 2008 made
Turkish authorities "to reassess" policy towards Russian and the
Caucasus. "Turkey had developed burgeoning economic and political ties
with Russia and maintained close links with neighbouring Georgia,"
the report says. NEWS.am posts the passages from the report concerning
Armenia.
"The conflict raised questions over whether Turkey would become a key
energy transit state given the deteriorating security situation in the
South Caucasus. Relations between Ankara and Moscow were challenged
as both had previously stressed their common interests in preserving
regional stability.
However, the conflict opened up possibilities for Turkey to normalize
relations with Armenia, although this could upset Ankara’s close ties
with Baku.
Concerning the North Caucasus, an initial sympathy in Turkey for the
plight of the Chechens caused friction between Ankara and Moscow.
Turkey was grouped with Azerbaijan and Georgia in a bloc supportive
of the emerging interests of NATO and the EU in the South Caucasus
and aligned against the policies of Armenia and Russia.
Turkey’s official position has been that the land frontier would
only be reopened and diplomatic relations established with Yerevan
after Armenia openly acknowledged Turkey’s borders, abandoned its
international campaign for recognition of the events of 1915 as
Genocide, and resolved the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to the
satisfaction of Azerbaijan.
With little prospect for a peaceful solution over Nagorno-Karabakh
and feeling threatened by Baku, Yerevan has developed close economic,
political and military ties with Moscow.
After the events of August 2008 President Gul accepted an invitation
from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan to attend a World Cup
qualifying football match between the Turkish and Armenian national
teams in Yerevan on 6 September. The Russo-Georgian conflict gave an
added impetus, and in the wake of Gul’s visit there were a number of
high-level contacts between Turkish and Armenian politicians. Ankara
was also being pressured by the new Obama administration, which
was seriously considering officially recognizing the events of 1915
as Genocide.
After further Swiss mediation, on 31 August 2009 a statement
was released noting that Ankara and Yerevan had initialled two
Protocols to establish diplomatic relations, open the land border
and develop bilateral relations. The intention was for both parties
to complete internal political consultations within six weeks,
sign the Protocols, and then submit them to their parliaments for
ratification. According to an agreed timetable, the land border
would be open within two months after the Protocols entered into
force. Various sub-commissions would also then be formed to develop
relations, including most controversially a sub-commission to work
on the ‘historical dimension’. The two Protocols were signed by the
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers in Switzerland on 10 October
and a few days later Sargsyan visited Turkey to attend the second
match between the Turkish and Armenian national football teams.
Expectations have been raised that relations between Turkey and
Armenia will be fully normalized in the next months. Both the EU and
the United States have warmly welcomed this turn of events."
ARMENIAN LOBBY IN WASHINGTON WILL KEEP TURKEY IN LINE: JEWISH TRIBUNE
news.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia
Eli Shaked, Israeli Former Ambassador to Turkey, is not alarmed with
"Worrisome trend of Turkey’s souring relationship with Israel,"
Jewish Tribune article as of Nov 12. reads.
According to him, "Turkey’s anger at Israel and its embracing Syria
and Iran is a tactical, not a strategic, move. Nonetheless, on the
very day that Shaked made his observations, a Turkish mob threw eggs
at the present ambassador, Gabi Levy. A few days before, Turkey signed
a US $10 million oil refinement deal with Iran, in defiance of the
US call for sanctions," the source reads.
Shaked explained that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is
backing neo-Ottomanism which "favors a common market with its Muslim
neighbors."
The paper quotes Shaked saying that Davutoglu "aspires to transform
Turkey into a superpower and enhance its military and economic
strengths while avoiding conflict with its neighbors."
"Turkey recently restored diplomatic ties with Armenia, its eastern
neighbor and century-old enemy. This in turn upset Turkey’s cordial
relationship with Azerbaijan, which disputes territory occupied by
its Armenian neighbor. In the past, Turkey performed joint military
exercises with the Jewish state. However, Turkey’s Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes during its Cast
Lead operations in Gaza. Yet Ankara never condemned Hamas for firing
rockets into Israel’s south," Jewish Tribune says.
Shaked maintained that Turkey’s thrashing over Israel "is merely a
way of expressing its frustration at not being admitted to the EU."
He also underlined that "whether the Turkish PM is an antisemite is
less significant. What is more important is whether Erdogan will
restore its economic and military ties with Israel. Other Turkish
leaders were anti-Semitic but knew how to hide it," the source
quotes Shaked.
The paper concludes saying that "despite Turkey’s dampened relations
with Israel, Shaked feels that Europe’s castigating Turkey for
its human rights violations, along with a strong Armenian lobby in
Washington, will keep Turkey in line."