Month: February 2012

ARMENIAN ACTRESS’ PORNOGRAPHIC PHOTOS ARE ON INTERNET AGAIN – NEWSPAPER

news.am
February 15, 2012 | 09:21

YEREVAN. – Armenian actress Anzhela Sargsyan’s pornographic photos
were posted on the Internet again on Tuesday, Zhoghovurd daily writes.

“This time, however, [they] are not on the .am domain, but rather on
.com, which means the photos were posted from a foreign server. [And]
This coincided with the closed-door trial of Karen Arayan, who is
accused of posting the actress’ [nude] photographs on the Internet.

When these photos were posted on the Internet, [Armenian] Police
Force’s Cyber Crime Division had shut all the [corresponding]
websites. This website will be shut, too, but this will take some
time,” Zhoghovurd writes.

REAR ADMIRAL MARK C. MONTGOMERY THANKS ARMENIA FOR CONTRIBUTING TO INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING EFFORT

armradio.am
15.02.2012 14:15

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan received Rear Admiral Mark C.
Montgomery, Deputy Director for Plans, Policy, and Strategy at the
United States European Command.

The Armenian Defense Minister hailed the level of cooperation between
the US European Command and the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

Rear Admiral Mark C. Montgomery expressed gratitude to Armenia for
participation for the support provided to the peacekeeping missions
in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

During the meeting the parties discussed issues related to the
organization of joint military exercises and implementation of
military-educational programs.

Rear Admiral Mark C. Montgomery met also with Stephan Galstyan,
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

Discussed were issues related to the participation of Armenian
peacekeepers in international missions.

ARMENIAN PEOPLE MUST DECIDE WHICH ELECTORAL SYSTEM THEY WANT – RULING COALITION PARTY MP

news.am
February 15, 2012 | 13:37

YEREVAN. – The need to discuss electoral systems could not have
been raised in stable, democratic countries, the ruling coalition’s
Prosperous Armenia Party MP Naira Zohrabyan said during the National
Assembly hearings devoted to passing to a 100-percent proportional
election system in the country.

“The European colleagues therefore react with surprise when we
raise such issue,” Zohrabyan noted and added: “After all, both the
proportional and the majority election systems have plus points;
what’s important is to hold fair and transparent elections.”

As per the MP, it is easier to commit voting fraud with the majority
system. “The people must be asked to find out which electoral system
they want the elections to be held with,” Naira Zohrabyan stated.

SCR DIRECTOR GENERAL AWARDED FORMER HEAD OF “BANK VTB (ARMENIA)” FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION OF DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN BUSINESS IN ARMENIA

/ARKA/
FEBRUARY 15, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, February 14. /ARKA/. By the decree of former CEO of
“South-Caucasian Railways” (SCR) Shevket Shaydullin, former General
Director-Chairman of Board of Directorate of “Bank VTB (Armenia)
Valeri Ovsyannikov was awarded an honored certificate, press-service
of SCR informed on Tuesday.

Ovsyannikov was awarded a certificate for his large contribution in
the development of interstate relations and Russian business in the
Republic of Armenia.

During the awarding ceremony Shaydullin thanked Ovsyannikov for
fruitful cooperation, as well as joint work in the financial market
and strengthening of Armenian-Russian business relations.

Valeri Ovsyannikov was appointed on the post of General
Director-Chairman of Board of Directorate of “Bank VTB (Armenia)
in March 2007.

During his management was carried out a serious work on modernization
of the “Armenian” daughter of VTB and its transformation into a modern
universal bank. The branch network of the Bank was also optimized and
radically changed (over 100 branches throughout the territory of the
country inherited to the Bank VTB by “Armsavingsbank”).

During the last four years of its activity, assets of the “Bank VTB
(Armenia) increased 2.6 times and by the end of December 2011 made
179.1 billion drams, liabilities increased 3.1 times – to more than
152 billion drams, and the capital increased 1.5 times to 30.5 billion
drams. Profit of the Bank in 2011 exceeded 4.5 billion drams which
is 5.7 times more than the indicator in 2007.

The Bank actively participated in very important social events in
Armenia, also under the auspices of the Embassy of Russian Federation
in Armenia, targeted at the support of Russian language, culture and
art. The Bank traditionally provides sponsorship and charity support
to orphanages, Russian Theater and Russian school in Yerevan. The
sport team of the Bank has achieved success many times in all the
Spartakiads of VTB Group.

CJSC “South-Caucasus Railway” is a 100% subsidiary of OJSC “Russian
Railways” implementing concession management of CJSC “Armenian
Railways” according to the Concession Agreement signed on February 13,
2008. Term of the concession is 30 years with the right of extension
for another 10 years.

From: Baghdasarian

HUNGER DEFEATED CITIZEN

Lragir.am

Published: 13:07:50 – 15/02/2012

The chairman of the Board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement Aram
Manukyan said in a February 15 press conference following the Hrazdan
mayoral elections where the Congress candidate was defeated by the
Republican candidate according to the official results, that he saw
the aftermaths of emigration and poverty.

He said the authorities of Armenia are unable to conduct good
elections. Aram Manukyan said several thousands of people have
emigrated from the districts where he followed the elections. He also
said that 120 people did not have their birth date in their passports.

According to Aram Manukyan, these people are mainly refugees from Iran.

Manukyan also said there were elderly people who came to the polling
stations and asked where their money was. According to Aram Manukyan,
in Hrazdan, “hunger defeated the citizen”.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TURKEY: TURKISH PUBLISHER WILL APPLY TO THE ECHR

15.02.12, 11:15

Arrested publisher Ragip Zarakolu’s lawyers have filed a suit at
the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the prosecutor’s
orders that led to his arrest on Nov. 1, 2011, as part of the Kurdish
Communities Union (KCK) trials. Turkish Hurriyet Daily News writes
about this.

“The KCK probe is a politically motivated case filed by the AKP
(Justice and Development Party) government, and the combination of
the prosecutors’ and judges’ lack of independence and impartiality
makes it difficult for a just and lawful verdict to be reached,”
Zarakolu’s lawyer Ozcan Kilic told the Hurriyet Daily News.

The suit filed at the European court pertains to such matters as
treatment in detention, the legal and material basis for the arrest
and access to case files and evidence, rather than the trial process
itself, in accordance with the requirements prescribed in the fifth
article of the European Convention on Human Rights, which established
the court, according to Kilic.

“The KCK trial is going to be the case with the largest number of
suspects in Istanbul since the military coup of 1980. It is still
too early to comment on the course of the trial,” Kilic said.

Tuncay Ozkan, another suspect in the ongoing Ergenekon trials,
had already applied to the European court last week on the grounds
that his right to a fair trial had been violated and that he had
been detained for an extensive period. The European court, however,
rejected his complaint regarding the right to a fair trial but gave an
interim decision addressing claims regarding the period of his arrest,
indicating that the charge would be examined later.

“We are going to cite as the preamble our inability to access the
documents and information in the file due to the ‘order of secrecy,’
the basing of the evidence and the accusations on slippery facts,
the refusal of objections to the arrest without citing any serious
and reasonable justification and the fact that no suit has yet been
filed despite the passage of more than three months,” Kilic said.

Cem Halavurt, one of the lawyers in the high-profile case of Hrant
Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin murdered in 2007,
also said the European court’s ruling on Ozkan did not constitute a
precedent because the court examines each file separately.

Domestic judiciary processes have to be completely exhausted before
a file can be brought before the European court. Some 180 suspects
will stand trial in the KCK probe, including Zarakolu, who continues
to remain behind bars at a high-security prison in the northwestern
province of Kocaeli.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

J. HEFFERN: “ARMENIA AND THE USA HAVE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP ECONOMICAL RELATIONS”

15.02.12, 14:12

Today a five-year program financed by United State Aid International
Development (USAID) started officially in Armenia. The program is
named “Enterprise Development and market competition”. US Ambassador
to Armenia John Heffern attended the event. As he noted in his speech
the USA had serious aims to work with Armenia.

According to him the US mission in Armenia has three main directions:
regional programs, elections and the economy.

“Armenia and the USA have good potential to develop the relations, but
today the volume of trade between Armenia and the USA is really small.

Even with close border Armenia has bigger trade volume with Turkey
that it has with the USA”, the Ambassador said ensuring that Armenia
and the USA may do more in trade-economical sphere.

So, according to him the situation must be changed. As he noted every
time with the meeting of Armenian Ministry of Economy they underline
the importance of foreign investments. US official also rated the
existence of the economical competition in Armenia.

J. Heffern underlined that there were some positive points as
Armenia has improved its place with 6 points according to the Doing
Business 2012 list by the World Bank. Now Armenia is the 55th among
183 countries. “This is not an excellent index but the progress in
obvious”, the Ambassador said.

Note that the “Enterprise Development and market competition” program
by the USAID will be fulfilled jointly by the Armenian Ministry of
Economics and Pragma Corporation. The project aims to create better
conditions for Armenian middle business, assist market competition
and push the innovations.

VOTE 2012: ANALYSTS EXPECT CENTRIST OPPOSITION TO EMERGE IN ARMENIA AFTER OSKANIAN COMEBACK
By Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
15.02.12 | 13:06

Photo:

Former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian’s joining Armenia’s second
most important governing party may be an indication that a centrist
opposition is emerging in the country.

The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) recently issued a statement jointly
with its two coalition partners – the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) and Orinats Yerkir – that the coalition will not be
contesting the May parliamentary elections with a single list. The
three political parties only announced their agreement around
“civilized competition”.

Enlarge Photo

Analysts are divided in their assessments of this latest coalition
agreement: some say that the governing parties simply decided to
divide their functions and get as many protest votes as they could.

Others argue that current President Serzh Sargsyan and former President
Robert Kocharyan, who is believed to patronize the PAP, were unable
to agree, and Kocharyan intends to return to active politics in a
stance of an opponent.

However, one can hardly expect the PAP’s assuming a radical
opposition stance, rather it is likely to occupy the vacant niche of
a centrist opposition party, without forming an alliance with the
radical opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC). First, there
is the factor of irreconcilable hostility between Kocharyan and his
predecessor Levon Ter-Petrosyan (who now leads the ANC). Secondly,
the PAP will avoid direct confrontation with the current president,
preferring to “prove” that the situation in the country during
Kocharyan’s presidency was better.

The fact that the PAP does not intend to become an active opposition
was also testified during last Sunday’s competitive election in
the town of Hrazdan where RPA and ANC representatives were battling
it out for the mayoral post. The PAP displayed a neutral position,
refusing to support the opposition candidate who was supported by
the parliamentary opposition parties, Dashnaktsutyun and Heritage.

PAP lawmaker Naira Zohrabyan only said the party would “hail if all
candidates participating in the mayoral election in Hrazdan aspired
to hold free and fair elections and respected the voter’s will.”

Some also expect the PAP to form an electoral bloc with Dashnaktsutyun,
which is also loyal to the second president. Chances of both parties
in such a bloc will grow, especially after Oskanian joins the PAP
to provide it with more substantial ideology. The thing is that the
PAP has routinely been accused of lacking ideology and a program and
that its leader, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan, earns political dividends
exclusively through charity. But with the financial resource underlying
Oskanian’s moderately critical ideology, the PAP may just as well
emerge as a reliable centrist force.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BENEFICIAL BARGAIN?: ARMENIA’S EX FOREIGN MINISTER JOINS THE PROSPEROUS ARMENIA
By Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
15.02.12 | 13:19

Former Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian’s statement on
membership to Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) made public on Tuesday,
caused discussions over the new configuration of political forces.

Oskanian’s decision is viewed as “a mutually beneficial deal”, which
accommodates space for second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan’s
return (to big politics).

Many people are sure that Oskanian has not made this decision alone,
moreover remembering the assessments made by Oskanian and Civilitas
Foundation (headed by him) about Armenia’s present economic and
political situation and voiced for several years.

“Most probably, this is a self-sacrifice for his [Oskanian’s] chief –
Kocharyan,” says political analyst Anush Sedrakyan ironically.

Stepan Safaryan, head of Heritage parliamentary faction, believes that
Oskanian’s membership to PAP confirms the widely-spread viewpoint
that PAP is Kocharyan’s political support base and a party that was
de-facto created by the then president.

However, it is hard to forecast what influence the strengthening of
this viewpoint, as well as Oskanina’s membership to PAP would have
upon PAP’s rating; some believe that it will fall, judging by the
mere assumption that “people have not forgiven Kocharyan yet.”

Political technologies expert Armen Badalyan, however, is sure that PAP
needs political figures, and Oskanian is one of the best well-educated
political figures among them.

“As a political force PAP has problems, there are no political figures
there, and in this respect, Oskanian’s membership can be viewed as
an important achievement,” Badalyan says.

The issue of PAP’s not being a political force has been voiced since
last week, when three parliamentary parties – Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA), Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party, and Heritage
Party were elected members of the European People’s Party, whereas
PAP’s membership was declined reasoning that it is not a party but
is rather a political platform which serves its leader.

“In this respect, no matter how strange it may seem, involving
political figures in PAP this party tries to be a political force,
and it will only benefit by this achievement,” says public relations
specialist Karen Kocharyan.

Political analysts are sure that Oskanian will also benefit, getting an
opportunity to finally realize his Rural Development Program presented
yet since 2007, which caused suspects that Oskanian has ambitions to
become either a prime minister or a president.

THE GREAT TEACHER: NEW FILM “PASTOR” ON BIG SCREEN TO INTRODUCE NAREKATSI’S GENIUS TO THE WORLD
By Gohar Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
15.02.12 | 12:28

(From left to right) Artak Avdalyan, Rafayel Minasyan and Artur
Karapetyan

The first film telling about prominent Medieval Armenian monk, poet,
and mystical philosopher Grigor Narekatsi will be on the big screen
in Yerevan on Wednesday; authors say the main purpose is to introduce
the canonized Armenian Saint, a man of God, to the whole world and
present him as “Ecumenical Teacher [vardapet]”.

The 90-minute feature film titled Shepherd (or Pastor) has been
produced on the initiative of leader of Armenian Katoghikeh (cathedral)
Church Archbishop Rafayel Minasyan and due to the efforts of a number
of filmmakers.

“The idea of producing such a film was born from the desire to
proclaim Narekatsi Ecumenical Teacher, just like years ago Saint
Nerses Shnorhalli was recognized as such (this is an order by which
three of the biggest Christian churches – orthodox, apostolic,
and catholic – recognize the given saint as Ecumenical Teacher ),”
says the archbishop adding that “Narekatsi to us as Armenians does
not need introduction, because in all Armenian families he lives as
a poet, pastor, theologian; but we want the whole world, all people
[not only clergymen] to know Narekatsi”.

Narekatsi (around 951-1003), considered to be a leading figure of
Armenian renaissance, is the author of mystical interpretation on the
Song of Songs (977) and numerous poetic writings. Narekatsi’s poetry
is deeply biblical, penetrated with images, themes and realities of
sacred history. The prayers of St. Gregory of Narek have long been
recognized as gems of Christian literature. He called his book an
“encyclopedia of prayer for all nations.”

His masterpiece is the 95-page Book of Lamentations, in which he
tried to answer the question: what can one offer to God, our creator,
who already has everything and knows everything better than we could
ever express it? He gives a humble answer – the sighs of the heart,
drawing on the exquisite potential of the Classical Armenian language
to translate the pure sighs of the broken and contrite heart into an
offering of words pleasing to God.

He speaks about the grief and pain, doubts and convictions,
sins and repenting of humanity, striving for perfection through
self-condemnation and self-purification. The result is an edifice
of faith for the ages, unique in Christian literature for its rich
imagery, its subtle theology, its Biblical erudition, and the sincere
immediacy of its communication with God. (People have called his book
simply Narek and attribute great healing power to it). The book has
been translated into many languages.

The film featuring Narekatsi’s life has been directed and produced
by Artak Avdalyan who says that it doesn’t have a plot typical of
classic films, because it is based on folklore.

“As there is very little information about Narekatsi, whereas people
remember and preserve many folk tales, we tried to present Narekatsi
based on those tales,” says Avdalyan, adding that the film did not
have a definite budget, there weren’t mighty sponsors and benefactors
involved and no big investments made.

Part of the two-year shooting was done in Turkey, right at the caves
where Narekatsi and other monks led ascetic lives, and the rest in
modern-day Armenia.

Narekatsi is embodied by actor Artur Karapetyan, who almost gave
up the role for the challenging complexity of the character he had
to personate.

“Narekatsi was above everything, higher than everything, and no
simple mortal can possibly personify his genius to the utmost,”
says the actor.

The film has been translated into Italian and will soon have its
English version ready as well. Yerevan’s Moscow cinema will present
it to the audience during a week starting Wednesday. It will further
be shown in the USA, Lebanon and a number of European countries.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress