Month: November 2009

NATO representative defends the opening of Turkish-Armenian border

YEREVAN, November 7, /ARKA/. A senior NATO representative said today
in Yerevan that the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border will have a
positive impact on the economic situation in Armenia not only in terms
of bilateral trade but also in terms of new markets for Armenia to
export its goods and services.

Speaking at a news conference Robert Simmons, a special representative
of NATO Secretary General for the South Caucasus and Central Asia,
said despite the closed border there is nevertheless a very active
Armenian-Turkish trade.

`If Armenia and Turkey normalize their relations not only their
bilateral trade will surge but Armenia will have more opportunities to
sell its goods and services beyond Turkey,’ he said.

According to official figures of Armenia’s National Statistical
Service, Armenian-Turkish trade slashed by 34.7% in January-September
2009 to $120.7 million.

On October 10 Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers signed in Zurich,
Switzerland, two protocols on the establishment of diplomatic
relations and development of bilateral ties, which need to be ratified
by both countries parliaments.

The two neighbouring countries have no diplomatic ties, the border was
closed by Turkey in 1993 and there is a history of animosity that
stems from the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman
Empire. -0-

Armenian president to pay a three-day working visit to Hungary

2009-11-07 16:19:00

ArmInfo. On November 8 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will leave
for Hungary on a three-day state visit.

The Armenian presidential press-service told ArmInfo that the
delegation headed by the president includes Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian, Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan, Diaspora
Minister Hranush Hakobyan, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan,
Agriculture Minister Gerasim Alaverdyan, Head of Armenia-Hungary
Parliamentary Friendship Group Gagik Melikyan and other officials.

November 8 evening Serzh Sargsyan will arrive at Budapest. On November
9 the official ceremony of greeting of the Armenian president will
take place at the Hungarian presidential residence. The greeting
ceremony will be followed by a face-to-face meeting of Armenian and
Hungarian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Laszlo Solyom, which, in its
turn, will be followed by an enlarged meeting. The two countries’
governments will sign a number of cooperation agreements. Afterwards
both presidents will make a statement for the mass media. The same day
the Armenian president will meet with Speaker of Hungarian Parliament
Bela Katona.

In Budapest Sargsyan will visit the Square of Heroes and lay a wreath
of flowers at the memorial, he will also lay a wreath at the khachkar
(cross-stone) dedicated to the memory of Armenian Genocide victims.
Then, on Laszlo Solyom’s behalf, an official dinner party will be held
in Serzh Sargsyan’s honor. On November 10 President Sargsyan will meet
with Peter Cardinal Erdo, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai and
participants in the Armenian-Hungarian business forum. Serzh Sargsyan
will also visit the places of interest of Budapest. The two presidents
will pay a visit to the Military Institute Museum of Budapest.

The same day Sargsyan will pay a short-term working visit to
Kaliningrad region of Russia on the invitation of Governor of
Kaliningrad Georgy Boos. In Kaliningrad the Armenian president will
meet with Boos, as well as with representatives of the Armenian
community of the region. Sargsyan will also participate in the
ribbon-cutting ceremony of an Armenian cultural center and lay a
wreath at an Armenian khachkar (cross-stone).

President Sargsyan will return to Yerevan on November 11.

Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to meet before the end of November

2009-11-07 16:10:00

ArmInfo. Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham
Aliyev have agreed to organize their next bilateral meeting, the sixth
such meeting this year, before the end of November, the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs’ statement says.

"The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov, the
Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier, France; Ambassador
Robert Bradtke, United States) visited Azerbaijan and Armenia November
4-6. They met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev November 5 in Baku
before traveling to Yerevan November 6 to meet Armenian President
Serzh Sargsian. They returned to Baku November 6 for a second meeting
with President Aliyev.

In Baku and Yerevan, both presidents reiterated their commitment to
continue their discussions, with the objective to make further
progress toward reaching an agreement on the basic principles for the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They accepted
the proposal of the Co-Chairs to organize their next bilateral
meeting, the sixth such meeting this year, before the end of November
at a time and place to be confirmed",- the statement says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Over 7.9 bln AMD to be budgeted for Armenian Culture Ministry in 2010

2009-11-07 16:12:00

ArmInfo. Over 7.9 bln AMD will be budgeted for Armenian Culture
Ministry in 2010 as against 8.3 bln AMD in 2009.

Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said at today’s
press-conference that the budget reduction will not affect
implementation of a number of big projects. In particular, the project
on reconstruction and re-equipment of libraries in Yerevan and regions
of Armenia will be continued. A total of 360 mln AMD will be allocated
for the overhaul of the National Library and the Children’s Library
after Khnko Aper. In 2010 technical re-equipment of theaters will be
in the focus of Culture Ministry’s attention. Certain funds will be
spent on the performance of the opera "Aida". Over 612 mln AMD will be
allocated for film- making. The decline in budgetary funds mostly
affected protection and restoration of cultural and art monuments. A
total of 318.9 mln AMD are budgeted for this sphere. Despite the
decline in means, private organizations’ projects on studying Armenian
cultural and art monuments abroad will be financed by the state budget
2010. Moreover, the monuments being in a critical state will also be
in the focus of the Ministry’s attention. According to the minister,
over the previous years there were some problems with elaboration of
projects on restoration of monuments, as well as with organization of
the restoration work. To remove these shortcomings, an organization
headed by the former director of Erebuni Museum Ashot Piliposyan has
been set up to retrain personnel and work out projects on restoration
of monuments.

Work on creation of a School of Restoration in Armenia to start in 2010

2009-11-07 16:14:00

ArmInfo. The work on creation of a School of Restoration in Armenia
will start in 2010.

Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said at today’s
press-conference that Italy has already officially confirmed its
willingness to provide its support in this matter. France is expected
to join this project in 2010.

Poghosyan said that today it is necessary to pay much attention to
training of a new generation of specialists who will not yield to
their foreign colleagues in this respect. The best pupils of the
School will receive an opportunity to be retrained in Italy. The
project on creation of the School of Restoration will be implemented
within 2 years.

Armenian Culture Minister suggests that UNESCO should assess real
situation with protection of cultural monuments of other nations in
Armenia

2009-11-07 16:13:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan suggests that
UNESCO should assess real situation with protection of cultural
monuments of other nations in Armenia "I myself have recently offered
the UNESCO representative to familiarized himself with the real
situation. We have been waiting for the visit of the monitoring group
for several years, which is especially important against the
background of Azerbaijani statements",- Poghosyan said. To recall, on
October 13 Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said at the fourth conference
of Islamic countries’ culture ministers that "Armenia is destroying
mosques and cultural values in the occupied territories". For his
part, the culture minister of Sudan said that "the destroyed" objects
are the monuments of the whole Islamic culture, and called on Islamic
countries to take part in the work of protection and restoration of
monuments. Poghosyan stressed that a couple of days ago the US
Department of State pointed out that Armenia is conducting a correct
state policy in restoration of cultural and art monuments of other
nations. She also recalled that in 2008 a Jewish cemetery of the 11th
century in Yeghegis village was restored in Armenia. Furthermore, the
"Blue Mosque" was renovated in Yerevan in 2001.

Poghosyan attaches much significance to normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, which will considerably contribute to
protection of Armenian cultural monuments in Turkey. She doesn’t rule
out the probability that Armenian specialists will participate in the
discussion of the project on restoration of Ani. Poghosyan said that
the cooperation with the Turkish party is mostly carried out via
various organizations.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Europe to mark 500th anniversary of Armenian book printing

2009-11-07 16:11:00

ArmInfo. Europe is going to mark the 500th anniversary of Armenian
book printing.

Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said at today’s
press-conference that Armenian will shortly considers all the
proposals received from European countries concerning organization of
exhibitions of Armenian books. For example, Zurich expressed
willingness to completely dedicate its international fair to Armenia.
The minister pointed out that according to preliminary data, Armenia
will be able to participate in foreign activities on marking the
Armenian book printing anniversary. As regards the insurance of works
of culture and art, which is an important component of such guest
exhibitions, Poghosyan said that various sponsors, including an
insurance company, are providing their support. Moreover, sometimes
the hosting country covers most of insurance costs.

Director General of ArmenTel: Orange tariffs are not dumping and are
no threat for us

2009-11-06 16:34:00

ArmInfo. Orange tariffs are not dumping and are no threat for
ArmenTel, Director General of ArmenTel Igor Klimko told journalists,
Friday, when commenting on yesterday’s launch of services of Orange,
the third cellular operator of Armenia. "The expectations for
ultra-low prices from the new operator have fallen short. If you
attentively look at the tariffs offered by our competitor, you’ll see
that they are not dumping, but on the contrary, reasonable with
respect to the other two operators. But I wouldn’t be mistaken if I
say that ArmenTel has been the trendsetter in the field of mobile
communication for a long time. I think the tariff plans "For you" and
"For you – exclusive" offered by us are the most interesting tariff
plans for each consumer today",- Klimko said.

"As for the prices for internet offered by Orange, I don’t think they
seriously threaten our position in the market. Just compare our
pricing facilities. Our new competitor offers a USB-modem for 1 AMD,
one-time fee for connection is 35 thsd AMD, monthly payment is 9 thsd
AMD. ArmenTel’s internet costs 12.5 thsd AMD, and the modem costs 18
thsd AMD. I think our offer is quite attractive",- Klimko said.

ArmenTel (Beeline trademark) is a subsidiary of VimpelCom OJSC. The
company is an operator of fixed and cellular communication and
provider of broadband internet. Orange Armenia is a subsidiary of
France Telecom. The official entry of the company to the Armenian
market took place on November 5. The company provides mobile
communication and broadband internet.

ArmenTel opens 10 sales and service offices in Armenia

2009-11-06 16:19:00

ArmInfo. ArmenTel (trade mark Beeline) has opened 10 sales and service
offices in all over Armenia. Director General of ArmenTel Igor
Klimenko was present at the opening ceremony of one of the offices in
Yerevan, Khudyakov street 165/15 in Avan district. The rest offices
were opened at Koryun str, 7b, Raffi 33/5, Paruyr Sevak 51, Nubarashen
22/1. The rest 5 new offices were opened in the regions – Armavir,
Abovyan, Byuregavan, Razdan and Bagradashen village. Another 10
offices will be opened by the end of the year. ‘In these new offices
we are creating all the conditions to give maximally comfortable
services to our present and potential clients’, – Klimenko said and
added that at present the company studies effectiveness of opening new
offices for giving service to the corporative clients, just the same
way as it was done in September, at the Northern Avenue in the center
of Yerevan. At present Beeline has 72 offices in Armenia, 21 of which
are in Yerevan.

Taner Akcam lectures on the Armenian Genocide at La Salle University

LOS ANGELES, NOVEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Before a
standing-room only audience at La Salle University (Philadelphia),
Taner Akcam, the first scholar of Turkish origin to publish on the
heretofore-taboo topic of the Armenian Genocide, explained the
historical background and causes of the genocide.

Dr. Cornelia Tsakiridou, an associate professor of philosophy at the
university, explained that the idea of bringing Dr. Akcam there was to
expose students to the historical arguments of the case and do so by
inviting a prominent historian who has specialized on this subject.

Akcam is an associate professor of history at Clark University in
Worcester, Mass. Since 1990, he has focused his research on Turkish
nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, with 11 books and numerous
articles to his credit, starting with his first book, Turk Ulusal
Kimligi ve Ermeni Sorunu (The Armenian Question and Turkish National
Identity), published in 1992.