Month: February 2012

500 ARMENIAN PROVINCIAL SCHOOLS TO HOST OPEN LESSONS ON INTERNET SAFETY

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 24, 2012 – 13:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On February 7, Media Education Center NGO launched
Safe Internet Armenia 2012 project through support of Orange Armenia.

300 high school teachers have already been trained in the framework
of this project, with over 6000 schoolchildren having participated
in open lessons.

Since the launch of the project, website has had more than
7000 visits, the safe internet on-line game has been played over 5700
times, and the educational and parental materials have been downloaded
more than 3800 times.

The success of the project has led to the involvement of new partners,
namely National Center of Educational Technologies, the cooperation
contributing to the project extension especially in the provinces of
Armenia. Over 500 schools will host open lessons on internet safety,
involving more than 10,000 schoolchildren in Aragatsotn, Tavush,
Lori, Syunik and other provinces.

All those concerned over the nature and safety of the Internet
content can visit the website which provides all necessary
information on safe internet surfing in the Armenian language.

On January 19, 2012, through the initiative of the European Union, 25
companies representing the information and communications technology
sector signed a declaration on Safer Internet for Children expressing
their dedication to ensuring safe online environment, especially for
children. Along with France Telecom Orange, the declaration has been
signed by such companies as Google, Facebook, Deutsche Telekom, RIM,
Nokia, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and others.

OCCUPY MASHTOTS PARK ACTIVISTS EITHER ‘DIRECTED’ OR ‘IGNORANT,’ SAYS MP

epress.am
02.24.2012

Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP Manvel Badeyan managed to become
better informed of the issues surrounding Mashtots Park, so now he’s
in a position to express his views on the matter, Badeyan himself
told reporters at a press conference earlier today.

“That demonstration has a few layers: first, 90% of demonstrators
are directed. They have far-reaching political ambitions – they are
directed by forces not only in but also outside Armenia, who have an
interest in destabilizing the situation in Armenia,” he said.

The remaining 10% of demonstrators, according to Badeyan, are
“delusional”. In his opinion, this group of demonstrators are honest
strugglers, but at the same time, they’re “militantly ignorant”
because they don’t understand that they’re being taken advantage of.

According to the lawmaker, the issue isn’t environmental at all since,
according to him, no tree or branch has been harmed.

“There’s satanism among them – do we have to go after satanists or
[Yerevan] mayor Taron Margaryan, who with the path he’s taken, with
Avan [when he was Avan district mayor], proved that he won’t do any
harm?” he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IS UNSATISFACTORY

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:03:47 – 24/02/2012

“There is no intentional attitude towards the Diaspora investors in
Armenia. Local businessmen have the same problems”, said ARFD member
Ara Nranyan at today’s discussion of the Initiative group for the
protection of rights of Diaspora investors.

According to him, Armenia has a general economic field issue. “I am
not satisfied with the business environment. We need to improve it
to make it more attractive for foreign investors”, he said.

According to Nranyan, no one can say foreign investors are more
protected in Armenia than Diaspora Armenians. According to him, the
difference between local and foreign businessmen is that foreigners
run their business from abroad and have no connections in Armenia,
so this creates problems.

At the same time, Nranyan underlined that no large-scale investments
are made in Armenia. He added that there is almost no small and
midsize business on foreign investments in Armenia.

Member of the Heritage parliamentary group Styopa Safaryan noted
that if already non-Armenian U.S. Congressmen say that Armenia has no
favorable business environment that even Diaspora rich men don’t want
to run business here, then I think this is the result of defaming the
country by Armenians. According o Safaryan, the situation in Armenia
allows any local adventurer easily deceive the Diaspora investor.

Safaryan says that state circles and ordinary citizens see the
Diaspora Armenians as a pouch and this issue deepens because the
Diaspora investor does not understand the Armenian reality. In the
result, according to the MP, we have serious precedents here which
can badly influence on Armenia’s rating.

First deputy of the State Revenue Committee Armen Alaverdyan noted
that Diaspora Armenians have the same rights in Armenia as locals.

“Moreover, there are privileges in our legislation for Diaspora
Armenians. There are examples of successful investments by Diaspora
representatives. Issues occur when the Diaspora representatives come
out unable to protect their rights the reason of which is that they
don’t know the legislation”, says Alaverdyan. He called to distinguish
charity from investment.

From: Baghdasarian

INGO ARMENIA, CASCADE INSURANCE MERGE

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 24, 2012 – 14:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Ingo Armenia and Cascade Insurance have announced
the launch of merging process.

“With our deal, insurance market acquires a large company with vast
professional potential providing insurance services on a global level,”
Ingo Armenia CEO said.

Refraining from announcing ‘price’ of the deal, Levon Altunyan noted
that it is expected to be finalized by the end of 2012 first quarter.

He further said that as a result of the merger a solid financial base
will be established, as well as a broad agency network of professionals
will be formed providing quality service.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST TO APPLY TO EUROPEAN COURT

Tert.am
24.02.12

Free movement is almost always restricted in Armenia, especially
during rallies.

The Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly intends to
apply to the European Court of Human Rights and lodge a complaint
about the violations, Artur Sakunts, Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’
Assembly-Vanadzor, told journalists on Friday as he presented the
2011 report on free movement in Armenia.

The restrictions are not only a political tendency, but also a
civil one. “The restrictions were reported not only during the
rallies organized by the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC),
especially during the sit-in, but also during the protests by owners
of cars with Georgian plates,” he said.

According to the report, monitoring was conducted in the bus terminals
in Vanadzor, Alaverdi, Stepanavan, Tashir and Spitak, as well as along
the Vanadzor-Yerevan highway. Last year’s monitoring registered 79
cases of restrictions in 30 settlements in eight Armenian regions.

“Police and passenger transportation companies committed violations,”
Sakunts said. Without any legal grounds, policemen stopped and searched
taxis and fixed-run taxis and made them turn back.

Restrictions can only be imposed in conformity with law. However,
the restrictions in question were accompanied by gross violations.

The human rights activist noted that, at a meeting with journalists,
the ex-chief of Armenia’s police Alik Sargsyan had refuted the
restrictions on free movement though he admitted “limited posts”
had been set.

Besides registering violations of law, the Helsinki Citizens’
Assembly-Vanadzor, took steps. “We sent three reports, two statements
and one complaint to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Two of the three
reports were sent to the Lori investigation department,” Sakunts said.

In both cases the complaints were rejected.

The office appealed against the law-enforcement agencies’ decision,
but did not succeed. So the organization intends to lodge a complaint
with the European Court of Human Rights.

Sakunts also urges all the political forces not only report violations,
but also demand legal actions on them during the forthcoming elections.

ARMENIAN DIPLOMAT URGES AZERBAIJAN TO REFRAIN FROM SPECULATIONS

Tert.am
24.02.12

Armenian Ambassador to the United Nations Karen Nazaryan has called
upon the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from undue speculations
in the current efforts towards settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Speaking at the UN Security Council’s recent discussion, Women, Peace
and Security, the diplomat said that instead of resorting to dirty
policies, Azerbaijani authorities would better focus on the Minsk
Group-mediated peace settlement process and take measures towards
the implementation of the agreements signed at the recent trilateral
presidential-level meetings.

Addressing the key topic on the agenda – violence against women and
girls during conflicts – Nazaryan called for taking action towards
resolving such crimes and holding those guilty accountable to avoid
new victims in future. In that context, he stressed the importance
of launching fundamental institutional reforms and raising public
awareness.

“In just a few days, we will be commemorating the innocent victims
of Sumgayit, who were killed and subjected to violence just because
they were Armenians,” he said.

As for the Azerbaijani representative’s statement on the Khojalu
massacres, the ambassador considered his remarks pointless, noting
that the issues in the discussion agenda concerned only the violence
and atrocities committed during conflicts.

Nazaryan added that Azerbaijan continues breaching the Security
Council resolutions calling for adherence to the OSCE Minsk Group
format. He noted that Azerbaijan’s refusal to negotiate with the
elected authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is the
main obstacle to the conflict settlement efforts.

RUSSIA TO EXPORT 10 SUKHOI SUPERJET 100S IN 2012

RIA NOVOSTI
Bebruary 24, 2012

Russia will export 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100 airplanes in 2012, United
Aircraft Corporation CEO Mikhail Pogosyan said on Friday.

The planes will be delivered to Mexico, Indonesia, and Laos in the
second half of the year, he added.

So far, only one plane has been exported and that was to Armenia.

Another 10 SSJ 100s will be delivered to domestic airlines Aeroflot
and Armavia.

The Superjet 100 is a medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by
Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations,
including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace
and Honeywell.

The aircraft is capable of carrying up to 100 passengers for up to
4,500 kilometers.

In early February SSJ 100 received the Type Certificate from the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Sukhoi has received over 200 firm orders for Superjet 100 airliners
so far.

ARMENIAN, SOUTH KOREAN FMS DISCUSS KARABAKH ISSUE

February 24, 2012 – 14:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – In the framework of a working visit to South Korea,
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with his counterpart,
Kim Sung-Hwan.

Welcoming Minister Nalbandian, Korean FM noted that “in 2012 Armenia
and Korea will celebrate the 20th anniversary of establishment of
bilateral diplomatic relations, which will become a good reason for
discussing their further development.”

Kim Sung-Hwan hailed Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s possible
participation in oncoming summit on nuclear security.

During the meeting Minister Nalbandian briefed his counterpart on
RA foreign policy issues, as well as development of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict resolution.

Discussion of cooperation on the fields of Information technology
(IT), tourism, culture and visa facilitation was also in focus of
the meeting, Armenian MFA press service reported.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION BLOC HOPES TO FORM MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT

NEWS.AM
February 24, 2012 | 15:39

YEREVAN. – The opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (ANC)
represents an entire nationwide movement, and therefore the matter of
forming its proportional election list, for the upcoming parliamentary
elections, will have to be more complicated than that of any other
political party, the ANC-member Armenian National Movement (ANM)
Vice Chairman Samvel Abrahamyan said during Friday’s discussions on
the political forces’ election lists.

In his words, these are not merely National Assembly (NA) elections for
them. “We observe the electoral process as a means, an opportunity to
restore the constitutional order in Armenia and to achieve [President]
Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation,” he noted.

And to the query as to the avenues for achieving Sargsyan’s
resignation, ANM Vice Chairman responded: “Option one: The Congress
gains the majority of NA votes and launches the impeachment process.

Option two: The Congress, together with other political forces,
forms majority at NA and commences the impeachment process.

And option three: The Congress organizes such social movement-before
the elections-which organizes Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation prior to
the elections. And if the process does not end before the NA elections,
the process will continue at NA.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PUBLIC COUNCIL: STOP PARK CONSTRUCTION UNTIL MORE CLARITY
Narek Sargsyan, Vazgen Manukyan

Society | 24.02.12 | 12:50

Armenia’s Public Council chairman Vazgen Manukyan on Thursday called
on the Yerevan Municipality to stop construction in Mashtots Park,
until the legality of the controversial work can be clarified.

For two weeks, the park in the center of the capital has been the
scene of protests as environmentalists are angry that the area green
space is being filled with small shops that had been removed from
Abovian Street and placed in the park as part of an agreement that
never had a public hearing.

At Thursday’s Council meeting, chief architect of Yerevan Narek
Sargsyan said an agreement had been reached to relocate the boutiques
to the park, where they would remain up to three years. “We have
discussed many alternative variants. Not all the shops of Abovian
street will be taken to the park. Till now it is not clear where the
others will be placed,” he said.

Environmental activists Karine Danielyan spoke on behalf of protesters
and said the authorities have lost the trust of young people, who
were deceived. She argued that the green areas of the park must be
preserved, especially as the park is home to one of the city’s busiest
maternity hospitals.

Manukyan said that the Council will hold discussions on the issue
with the Government and with President Serzh Sargsyan.

From: Baghdasarian