Month: November 2009

99% of Turkish population comprised of Muslims, majority of them Sunnites
31.10.2009 15:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According US State Department annual report on
religious freedom, 99% of 70,5 million Turkish population are Muslims,
majority of them Sunnites. Over 10-20 million are Alevites.

`The country is populated by about 500 thousand Shiites, 65 thousand
Armenians, belonging to Armenian Gregorian church, 23 thousand
Israelites, 15 thousand Christian Jacobites, 5 thousand Yezidis, 3300
Jehovah witnesses, 3000 `other protestants’, 3000 orthodox Greeks, as
well as Bulgarians, Nestorians, Georgians, Gypsies, Catholics and
Maronites who’s number is unknown, the report says.

Aysor, Armenia
Oct 31 2009

The company commander arrested for getting a bribe

A charge was brought against company commander of the RA Police
Implementation of Veterinary, Anti-epidemic and Quarantine Measures
division Haroutyun Hovhannisyan for taking bribe in large amount on
the criminal case investigated by the RA Special Investigation Service
(SIS), informs the press office of the Public Prosecutor of the
Republic of Armenia.

The preliminary investigation found out that H. Hovhannisyan the
senior police officer of the 1st division demanded 961.700 drams (2500
USD) from A. Tovmasyan as a bribe to intercede and act within his
competence in order to appoint A. Tovmasyan the commander of the 2nd
division and confer him rank of officer. The money was given to H.
Hovhannisyan on October 26, 2009 at about 10 o’clock in A. Tovmasyan’s
office.

On the obtained evidence H. Hovhannisyan was charged according to the
RA Criminal Code Article 311, part 3, point 3. Pretrial arrest measure
was disposed against him.

The preliminary investigation is carried on in the SIS of the Republic
of Armenia.

news.am, Armenia
Oct 31 2009

Children of Armenia

11:52 / 10/31/2009`Children of Armenia’ by Michael Bobelian has been
just published by Simon & Schuster. Over 300-page long edition brings
forward the yet unresolved problem of Armenian Genocide.

`Like Native Americans, European Jews and Rwandan Tutsis, Turkish
Armenians seem to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
`Children of Armenia,’ Michael Bobelian’s first book, describes the
Ottoman Empire’s 1915 mass extermination of this Christian minority
without getting bogged down in `G-word’ histrionics,’ The Washington
Post reads Oct. 31.

`The purpose of this book is neither to prove the existence nor affirm
the veracity of the Genocide,’ Bobelian writes: The Armenian holocaust
is a historical fact.

`Children of Armenia’ focuses on the Turkish nationalism, world war
weariness, survivor psychology and Cold War squabbling that let the
world forget the unforgettable. Some will flinch at Bobelian’s
lionization of Gourgen Yanikian, an Armenian who shot two Turks in a
revenge plot hatched in the 1970s, but the author stumbles only when
he strays into Armenian exceptionalism, the idea that `no other people
have suffered such a warped fate ‘ a trivialization of their suffering
and a prolonged assault on the authenticity of their experience.’
Bobelian should know that if every culture insists on the supremacy of
its own suffering, the world will only grow more jaded about stopping
current horrors. Instead, any book about Armenia ‘ no, any exploration
of any genocide ‘ should pose questions relevant to today’s ethnic
cleansings. Otherwise, who will remember the Sudanese? ` reads The
Washington Post.

Heritage criticizes Armenian leadership’s policy again
31.10.2009 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Heritage faction MP Zaruhi Postanjyan has
disseminated a statement criticizing Armenian leadership’s policy
which is against the will and interests of people.

Touching on Armenian leadership’s domestic and foreign policy, MP
stressed that authorities are guided by `group interests’ and are not
capable of overcoming the challenges faced by the country. And the
proof, according to Postanjyan, is the absence of freedom of speech,
judiciary’s dependant status, falsified elections and existence of
political detainees.

Abovyan’s Orbeli University Honorary Doctor title bestowed on
VivaCell-MTS General Manager
31.10.2009 15:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On October 30, VivaCell-MTS General Manager, Ralph
Yirikian was hosted at Levon Orbeli University in Abovyan.
The meetings with the students of various universities stem from
VivaCell-MTS’s readiness to support the sphere of education. The
leading mobile operator of Armenia excludes any kind of
differentiation between the capital and the regions and pays equal
attention to the universities across the Republic, VivaCell-MTS press
service reported.

`Every aspect of social interaction – from the culture of delivering
services to environmental protection – should be within the focus of
attention of every company, who sees itself a Corporate Responsible
Citizen. The well-being and the progress of the country are directly
connected to that. The companies need to be ready to be consistent in
this matter. We have adopted this strategy and have been dedicated to
it from the very first day of the Company’s inception,’ VivaCell-MTS
General Manager mentioned during the meeting.

By universities’ academic council decision, Honorary Doctor title was
bestowed on Ralph Yirikian. In anticipation of lectures on issues
related to the concept of the management culture, the audience at the
university expressed willingness to make meetings with students
regular.

Classical youth and children’s films no longer in demand
31.10.2009 16:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `There are definitely parallels between present-day
and Soviet-time culture. Likewise ancient culture which serves as
feeding source for contemporary art over the course of centuries,
Soviet culture too, acquires new unique national forms, and it’s very
difficult to move away from that,’ film critic Armen Medvedev told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Yerevan.

«Yerevan International Children’s and Youth Festival is about films
and people. For us it was not as significant as it was for the town
and children. Children acquire a lot of information from such events.
First of all the learn the culture of communication. I think the fifth
creative jubilee was quite a success,» he said.

Film critic also expressed regret that classical youth and children’s
films are no longer in demand although they still remain as important.

«Yeralash newsreel is still alive in Russia as a series of children’s
films, so to say. It continues communicating with children in the same
language as it did 20 years ago. That’s why it is now important to
study children’s demand and search for a new form of children’s film,»
Medvedev said.

Struggle for international recognition of Armenian Genocide has to continue
31.10.2009 16:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Antilias is hosting a conference on 100th
anniversary of Armenians’ massacres in Adana. The conference is held
under the aegis of Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I .
The conference focused on consequences of Armenians’ massacres in
Adana and Cilicia.

In his statement, Aram I noted that such discussions are of major
importance in terms of appraisal of the past. The Catolicos emphasized
the necessity to continue struggle for international recognition of
Armenian Genocide. `It’s time for Armenian nation to raise
compensation issue,’ Aram I stated, Catholicosate of the Great House
of Cilicia press service reported.

Nabucco pipeline will not become operational in absence of Iran?
31.10.2009 16:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A senior Iranian energy official said Tehran was
holding "unofficial" talks with some European firms about its
participation in the 7.9 billion euro Nabucco gas pipeline project, a
news agency reported on Saturday.

Iran sits on the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after
Russia but has been slow to develop exports, partly because of U.S.
sanctions hindering access to needed technology.

Turkey has said Iranian gas can help the planned Nabucco pipeline,
which is backed by the European Union, to supply Europe and lessen the
continent’s dependence on Russian deliveries.

"Definitely, the Nabucco pipeline will not become operational in the
absence of Iran," said Reza Kasaeizadeh, managing director of the
state National Iranian Gas Export Company.

"Unofficial negotiations between some European companies and Iran on
the pipeline have begun," the semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted
him as saying. He did not name any of the countries.

Any such discussions may cause concern in Washington, which is
embroiled in a long-running row with Tehran over the Islamic
Republic’s disputed nuclear program.

Nabucco’s current shareholders include Austria’s OMV (OMVV.VI),
Hungary’s MOL MOLB.BU, Romania’s Transgaz TGNM.BX, Bulgaria’s
Bulgargaz, Turkey’s Botas and Germany’s RWE (RWEG.DE), Reuters
reported.

The statement of ARFD-Movement 88 NKR Parliamentary Faction Leader
unlikely to gain legal force
31.10.2009 16:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Until NKR status issue is resolved, concessions are
out of question in NKR conflict settlement process,’ RA Republican
Party MP Karen Avagyan stated.

Commenting on the statement of ARFD-Movement 88 NKR Parliamentary
Faction Leader Armen Sargsyan on imposing legal charges on those
questioning NKR’s territorial integrity, Karen Avagyan noted the
statement is unlikely to gain legal force.

Regardless of whether the statement will be accepted as a law, NKR
conflict settlement negotiations will continue within OSCE MG
frameworks, Karen Avagyan concluded.

Serzh Sargsyan: We’re interested in conducting 2010 Greco Roman
Wrestling WC in Armenia
31.10.2009 17:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA President Serzh Sargsyan met the President of
International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Rafael
Martinetti.

At the meeting, the parties focused on development of wrestling in
Armenia. RA Leader expressed his confidence that Rafael Martinetti’s
visit will further stimulate collaboration in the sphere of sports.

FILA President, in his turn, gave high assessment to sporting
achievements of Armenian wrestlers, noting that an issue on creation
of trainers’ school in Armenia was discussed at recent meetings.

The parties also touched upon the issue of conducting 2010 Greco Roman
Wrestling World Championship in Armenia, with RA President expressing
his support for the idea and readiness to organize the championship at
an appropriate level.

In conclusion, Rafael Martinetti stated that he is closely following
the development of RA-Turkey relations. `Being a Swiss citizen, I’m
glad my country managed to contribute to Armenia-Turkey
rapprochement,’ FILA President noted.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress