Month: April 2010

AZERBAIJAN CONSTANTLY DERANGES OSCE MONITORING

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 11:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE mission holds a planned monitoring of
the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces near the
village of Berkaber, Tavush region.

"Azeri servicemen have developed a habit of firing upon the Armenian
territory from large-caliber weapons," said Armen Ghularyan, governor
of Tavush region of Armenia. "We take no notice of Kalashnikov gun
fire. It’s like throwing stones. But the caliber of Azeri-used weapons
is constantly growing."

As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reported from Tavush, the
Azeri side continually frustrates OSCE monitoring of the frontline
alleging incapability to ensure officers’ security. "The Armenian
side guarantees not 100% but 1000% security," he quoted Mr. Ghularyan
as saying.

For his part, frontier commissioner Andranik Mkrtumyan reminded that
Azerbaijan rejected the proposal on withdrawal of snipers put forward
during last year’s OSCE Summit in Helsinki.

AKP: PROCESS OF NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA HAS NOT DIED

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 12:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) Suat Kinikoglu said that he may meet with
Armenian diaspora representatives in Washington during his visit to
the United States in April.

"We need to work for ‘honest recollections’. Armenian resolutions
that are passed by the parliaments of some countries weaken the will
for normalization of relations," he told Star newspaper.

The process of normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia
‘has not died but there is a need for confirmation of trust between
two countries through a cultural dialogue, according to Kinikoglu.

"I am thinking of meeting with Armenian diaspora in United States
during my visit to Washington. In the end, they are the sons of our
land too. We have many things in common," he said, adding that the
U.S. understands Turkey’s concerns.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SOCIAL ISSUES IN GOVERNMENT’S FOCUS, RA FINANCE MINISTER SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 13:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian government implements various social
programs in accordance with the national budget potential, RA Minister
of Finance said.

"We try our utmost to maximally alleviate the pressure on the
vulnerable strata of the population but no country can fully obviate
the needs of the poor," Tigran Davtyan told reporters on Wednesday.

On March 25, 2010, the government approved 11% and 15% rise in pensions
and allowances respectively to compensate the rise in gas prices.

"Social issues are always in the government’s focus," Minister Davtyan
said. "A special working group was formed to develop a package of
measures to be taken to assist the needy families."

According to him, monthly gas expenses will increase by AMD 2500 from
April 1.

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan said for
his part that "social hardships are temporary and the government will
exert every effort to make social allowances consistent."

GENOCIDE LEAVES ITS TRACE ON NEXT GENERATIONS AND DEVELOPS COMPLEXES

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 13:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Member of the Republican Party of Armenia
parliamentary group Hovhannes Sahakyan said that genocide is a tragic
phenomenon, which leaves its trace on next generations, develops
complexes and requires a long time for recovery.

"I don’t know what forced the Azerbaijani authorities to concoct
"the Azerbaijani genocide", probably, their wish not to drop behind
Armenians, to position themselves as victims or "enrich" themselves
with black pages, because this nation doesn’t have its own history.

Maybe, there is a need to add a commemoration day of non-existent
earthquake victims to use it for propagandistic purposes," he said,
adding that one can nothing but feel sorry for the Azerbaijani people
having such "genocidal" authorities.

OSCE MONITORING HELD WITHOUT VIOLATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 13:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE monitoring of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border near Berkaber village of Tavush region took place without
violations. As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reported from Tavush,
the monitoring lasted 10 minutes. The Azerbaijani side provided
security guarantees for the OSCE officers, though asked to take the
observers away from the frontline in half an hour.

ALLAN GREEN: DIRRELL COULD SIMULATE KNOCKOUT TO AVOID CONTINUATION OF FIGHT VS. ABRAHAM

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 13:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Participant of Super Six World Boxing Classic
tournament Allan Green (US), who was present at the fight between
Arthur Abraham (Germany) and Andre Dirrell (US), thinks at the time of
the incident it wasn’t looking good for Dirrell and he could simulate
the knockdown to avoid the fight continuation.

"I think he could have continued or could have taken five minutes,"
Green told BoxingScene.com. "The last four minutes would have been
interesting to see. I thought Dirrell could have continued and kept
fighting. He laid there for a second and everything was fine and
then he started shaking. Then he got up and said he was knocked out
and didn’t know what happened. If you didn’t know what happened,
then how can you say you got knocked out."

Green thinks that if a boxer gets knocked down from a punch, and
starts shaking…..there is something really wrong. "If you get hit
like that, where you down and start shaking, you are going to be in
the hospital for a few days and you are not fighting for a while. You
are not going to get up and start walking around. I wanted Darrel to
win. I just would have liked to see what would have happened in the
last few rounds if he would have continued," Green noted.

Green also disagreed with the referee’s ruling on the tenth round
knockdown. "If you go down after getting hit, it’s a knockdown. The
punch was the cause. If he didn’t take that punch, he probably wouldn’t
have gone down. He wasn’t the same when he got up and he continued
to get hit after that," Green said.

Arthur Abraham was disqualified during the fight vs. Andre Dirrell in
the middle of the 11th round. Dirrell went down from Abraham’s punch,
and the Armenian boxer hit him from the right, after which Dirrell
fell down and managed to stand up only in several minutes after a
medical aid.

PROCEEDS FROM IAN GILLAN’S CHARITY CONCERTS TOTAL AMD 18 MLN 327 THOUSAND

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 13:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Proceeds from Ian Gillan’s charity concerts with the
Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia totaled AMD 18 mln 327 thousand. The
entire sum will be spent on construction of the building for Gyumri
N6 music school, which is hosted in temporary shelters. The amount
was ensured thanks to sponsorship of VivaCell-MTS mobile operator,
which covered organizational expenses, and partnership with bmi.

The concerts, organized by Mediamax and Do Something in the framework
of Rock Aid Armenia/Armenia Grateful 2 Rock project took place in
Aram Khachaturian concert hall on March 26 and 27. A number of other
projects will be realized in 2010 and 2011, aimed at raising funds
for Gyumri music school.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA’S ECONOMY RECOVERY EXPECTED BY END OF 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 14:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan said that
Armenia’s economy is at the final stage of stabilization and its
recovery is already expected.

"Today, our basic goal is to restore our pre-crisis potential as soon
as possible," Mr. Davtyan told a press conference on March 31.

Besides, according to the Minister, the economy’s recovery shall be
accompanied by its simultaneous restructuring. He added that this
process will require huge efforts by the Armenian authorities.

"I believe that the current growth rates will be preserved and,
taking into consideration other facts, 1-1.5 year will be required
for Armenia’s economy recovery, while we will be able to speak about
return to previous growth index by the end of 2011," added Mr.

Davtyan.

As for the inflation index, according to the Minister, the Armenian
government and Central Bank will apply the available mechanisms to
decrease its rates, specifically, reduction of the state budget
deficit, improvement of the legislative field and competition
environment, increase of the refunding rate, etc. "We will have an
inflation index close to the planned one at the year-end," he stated.

Referring to the national currency exchange rate, the Minister noted
that it will keep fluctuating during a year, while the RA Central
Bank will undertake all measures to avoid its sharp fluctuations.

N1 SCHOOL OPENING CEREMONY HELD IN STEPANAKERT

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 14:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
took part Wednesday in the opening ceremony of the new building of
Stepanakert N1 school, constructed by Save the Children organization in
collaboration with the NKR government. Primate of the Artsakh Diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan,
NKR National Assembly chairman Ashot Ghulyan, Prime Minister Ara
Harutyunyan and other officials were present at the ceremony.

Mr. Sahakyan handed the Gratitude Medal to Harut Sassounian, the
President of the United Armenian Fund of humanitarian assistance to
Armenia and Vice Chairman of the Lincy Foundation .

"It’s my first visit to Artsakh and I’m glad to see that the work
carried out is in compliance with the standards we have set. Now,
the school can host 1000 pupils," Mr. Sassounian said.

"I’m hopeful that generations of independent Arstakh will be educated
in this building," Archbishop Martirosyan added, for his part.

ARTAK SHAKARYAN: TURKEY SEEKS A CONVENIENT LEADER FOR ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2010 14:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minster needed to restore his image
after the shameful interview to BBC, an Armenian expert said.

"The meeting with head of the Armenian community Bedros Sirinoglu was
a PR action, which, by the way, arouse discontent of the community,"
Artak Shakaryan told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The events of 1915 generated a conflict between our nations, which
had lived in peace before. We should forget this conflict and look
into the future. The Armenian President is of a similar opinion,"
TRT quoted Sirinoglu as saying on March 26.

"Turkey seeks a convenient leader for Armenian community, which already
feels hostage to the government. Ankara wants to secure itself against
appearance of a new Hrant Dink," Mr. Shakaryan noted

Asked by a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter to comment on the forthcoming
election of co-Patriarch of Constantinople, the expert said that
the Armenian community has split, some supporting Patriarchal Locum
Tenens Aram Ateshyan, the others speaking out for AAC Gugark Diocese
head Sepuh