Month: September 2013

ARMENIA’S INDEPENDENCE DAY EVENT TO BE HELD IN ALEPPO

15:30, 24 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS: An event dedicated to the 22nd
anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia will be
held at Aram Manukyan National Club in Aleppo on September 24.

This was reported to Armenpress by the Press Secretary of the National
Primacy of Aleppo Zhirayr Reyisyan.

According to him, in the framework of the event hospitality will be
held and congratulatory messages will be sound on the occasion of the
Independence Day. Zhirayr Reyisyan stated as well that the event will
be attended by about 50 people.

Concerning the current situation in Aleppo, the Press Secretary of
the National Primacy noted that the city continues to be surrounded
and the bombings continue. It is very dangerous to come out of the
city. The kidnappings have become more frequent.

By the UN data, during the two-year bloodshed in Syria since March
15 2011 more than 100 thousands of people have fallen victims.

Currently 4,5 million refugees live in Syria and 1,5 million – in the
neighboring countries. Several tens of Armenians have been killed in
the result of the collisions. Notwithstanding that difficult situation,
many Syrian Armenians continue leaving in Syria. The governmental
forces try to liberate Aleppo from the opposition.

Every day heated collisions and bombings are taking place, causing
sufferings of the peaceful population, the Armenians as well.

1520 HIV CASES REGISTERED IN ARMENIA AS GLOBAL INFECTIONS NUMBER FALLS

September 24, 2013 – 17:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The number of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths
has fallen dramatically, a UN report says, according to BBC News.

Death rates fell from 2.3 million during its peak in 2005 to 1.6
million last year, UNAIDS says.

The number of new HIV infections fell by a third since 2001 to 2.3
million. Among children, the drop was even steeper. In 2001 there
were more than half a million new infections. By 2012 the figure had
halved to just over a quarter of a million.

The authors put the fall in deaths and infection rates in children down
to better access to antiretroviral drugs which help suppress the virus.

Without treatment, people with HIV can go on to develop AIDS which
makes simple infections deadly. By the end of 2012 almost 10m people
in low and middle income countries, including South Africa, Uganda and
India, were accessing antiretroviral therapy, according to the report.

The improved access is being attributed to drugs being more affordable
and available in communities, as well as more people coming forward
for help.

According to UNAIDS, the world is “closing in” on its Millennium
Development Goals to stop and reverse the AIDS epidemic by 2015.

But it says the world can go beyond its target of getting 15 million
people on HIV treatment by 2015. The World Health Organization has now
revised its guidelines making even more people eligible for treatment.

The report also found that progress has been slow in providing HIV
services to people who are most at risk of infection, like those who
inject drugs.

And it highlights the need to do more to deal with sexual violence
against women and girls. They make up a key group of people vulnerable
to infection.

Bev Collins, Health Policy Advisor at Doctors without Borders said:
“Huge leaps forward have been made to make sure that millions of
people – especially in the developing world – can access lifesaving
HIV treatment at an affordable price.

“But this is no time for complacency. We need to keep on rolling out
access to better treatment strategies, expanding access to accurate,
cost-effective testing, and to care”

In March 2013, the Armenian government approved HIV/AIDS national
program for 2013-2016. The list of events, budget, monitoring plan
and assessment were also approved.

According to the Armenian National AIDS Center, 1520 HIV cases had
been registered in the country among the citizens of the Republic
of Armenia from 1988 to August 31, 2013, with 228 new cases of HIV
infection registered during 2012, which exceeds the number of HIV
cases registered annually in the previous years.

Males constitute a major part in the total number of HIV cases –
1066 cases (70.1%), females make up 454 cases (29.9%). 1520 reported
cases include 28 cases of HIV infection among children (1.8%). 55.5%
of the HIV-infected individuals belong to the age group of 25-39 at
the moment of the HIV diagnosis receipt.

In the Republic of Armenia the main modes of HIV transmission are
through heterosexual practices (58.1%) and injecting drug use (32.2%).

Additionally, there are also registered cases through homosexual
practices, as well as mother-to-child HIV transmission and transmission
through blood.

AIDS diagnosis was made to 777 patients with HIV, of whom 199 are women
and 14 are children. 133 of all the AIDS cases have been registered
during 2012. From the beginning of the epidemic 340 death cases
have been registered among HIV/AIDS patients (including 58 women and
6 children).

Almost all the individuals infected via injecting drug use were men.

As a matter of fact, the majority of them temporarily inhabited in the
Russian Federation and the Ukraine and was probably infected with HIV
there. In addition, 46% of all the HIV-infected males are individuals
who practice injecting drug usage, while almost all the women (97.5%)
were infected through sexual contacts.

The maximum number of HIV cases was reported in Yerevan, the capital:
573 cases, which constitute 37.7% of all the registered cases. Shirak
province follows next – 168 cases, which constitute 11.1% of all the
registered cases. The estimation of HIV registered cases per 100 000
population shows the highest rate in Shirak province – 66.9, followed
by Lori province, Yerevan, Armavir province with the rates of 61.8,
53.7 and 47.5 respectively.

EDB: 67% OF ARMENIAN CITIZENS FAVOR JOINING CUSTOMS UNION

September 24, 2013 – 16:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A total of 72% of the population of Kyrgyzstan, 75%
of Tajikistan and 67% of Armenia advocate this decision. In Ukraine
the level of support reaches 50% and in Moldova 54%. These are the
results of EDB’s annual research The Integration Barometer.

St. Petersburg, 24 September 2013. In Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia
public support for the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space
(SES) remains high at 65%, 73% and 67% respectively, as shown by the
second survey of public preferences in the CIS with respect to various
issues of Eurasian integration undertaken by Eurasian Development
Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies and the Eurasian Monitor
international research agency. More than 14,000 people in eleven CIS
countries and Georgia were polled – between 1,000 and 2,000 in each
of the countries.

As compared to 2012, the survey has shown that public support for
the Customs Union and the SES reduced by 7% in Kazakhstan and 5% in
Russia. This happened, largely, because of the increase in the number
of respondents who stated they were indifferent to the participation
of their countries in the Customs Union and the SES. In Belarus the
level of support for its membership of the Customs Union and the SES
grew from 60% to 65%.

Among non-members, the highest level of public support for possible
joining these two structures was expressed in Uzbekistan (77%),
Tajikistan (75%), Kyrgyzstan (72%) and Armenia (67%). An interesting
fact is that Georgian citizens also express significant support for the
country’s joining the Customs Union and the SES: the share of positive
answers has doubled over a year to 59%. This suggests that cooperation
between Georgia and the Customs Union countries should be stepped up.

In Ukraine and Moldova 50% and 54% of the public respectively support
the Customs Union. However, compared to 2012, the share of negative
attitudes to the Customs Union has grown from 7% to 24% in Moldova
and from 5% to 28% in Ukraine.

Azerbaijan has demonstrated the lowest level of support for joining
the Customs Union and the SES (37%). At the same time the country’s
population has shown the record high level of negative attitudes to
both unions (53%).

However, along with predominantly high assessment of the Customs Union,
The Integration Barometer has also fixed troubling signs in the area
of investment attractiveness, research cooperation and education.

In particular, the most attractive source of foreign capital is the
countries “of the rest of the world” (beyond the European Union and
the CIS region). The highest contributions to this result were made
by Tajikistan (66%, although this figure decreased by 9% year-on-year,
and the priority for it is China), Georgia (60%, the U.S.), Uzbekistan
(62%, Japan) and Azerbaijan (56%, Turkey). The EU capital attracts
predominantly the citizens of Moldova (58%, up 7% year-on-year),
Ukraine (55%, up 15%) and Russia (43%).

Investments from the former Soviet countries are mainly preferred by
respondents from the Central Asian region: Kyrgyzstan (71%), Tajikistan
(63%) and Uzbekistan (60%). The interest in CIS investments is growing
in Georgia (+13% compared to 2012) and Uzbekistan (+11%).

In terms of attractiveness, Russia remains the leading CIS country. In
Tajikistan the economic attraction of the CIS countries has weakened.

Among key partners in the area of research, the leading countries
are again those beyond the CIS and EU (primarily Japan and the U.S.).

These received the highest ratings in Tajikistan (70%), Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan (67% in each), Azerbaijan (62%) and Georgia and Russia
(61% in each), followed closely by Kazakhstan (59%), Ukraine (57%) and
Belarus (56%). The EU cluster is preferred by the citizens of Moldova
(55%), Ukraine (53%, up 9% year-on-year) and Georgia. The former
Soviet Union group was the most popular in Kyrgyzstan only (63%).

The CIS region is characterized by low competitiveness in the area of
education. The most attractive countries in terms of education are
the EU member states (preferred by 58% of respondents in Georgia,
47% in Armenia, 45% in Ukraine and 34% in Russia) and these figures
are growing.

A separate issue is the demand for goods supplied from neighboring
countries. The Belarusian products are obviously popular. In terms
of competitiveness, Ukraine’s citizens have ranked Belarusian goods
(20%) second after Russian supplies and in Russia Belarusian goods
are the most preferred supplies (20% of responses as well).

If to combine three factors – economy, politics and culture – the
priority vector for a relative majority of the respondent countries is
the post-Soviet space and the key factor for this choice is political.

Respondents from seven countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) expressed their
orientation to the post-Soviet space in 2013.

In terms of integration preferences, respondents from Russia, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine predominantly favor the European Union (the U.S.

in Georgia and Russia in Moldova are comparable preferences). In
Azerbaijan third countries, primarily Turkey, are mostly preferred.

The autonomy indicator (“no attraction for any country”) is at the
same time high in Russia and Ukraine and, with respect to certain
questions, in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The Integration Barometer has proven Azerbaijan’s predominant
orientation to Turkey. In Georgia a noticeable positive dynamics of
preferences for the CIS region in many areas and in particular with
respect to the Customs Union and the SES was recorded.

Moldova, Ukraine and, in part, Uzbekistan demonstrate multi-vectored
integration preferences among their citizens. At the same time, the
population of Russia, which remains a centre of attraction for many
former Soviet countries, does not show an apparent inclination for
integration, preferring autonomy instead.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GOLDEN POMEGRANATE EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN GOODS HELD IN MOSCOW

16:23 ~U 24.09.13

The 5th exhibition of Armenian products Golden Pomegranate was held
in Moscow, Russia, on September 21-22.

The event was organized with the sponsorship of the Moscow Foreign
Economic and International Relations Department on the occasion of
Armenia’s Independence marked on September 21.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition in Moscow’s Revolution Square
was accompanied by Armenian folk music, songs and dances performed by
groups from Yerevan and Moscow. About a hundred industrial enterprises
and companies participated in the exhibition by displaying their
foodstuffs, carpets and other goods.

An Armenian delegation headed by Yerevan Vice-Mayor Aram Sukiasyan,
Moscow government members and other officials participated in the
opening ceremony.

Deputy Head of the Moscow Foreign Economic and International Relations
Department Andrey Chizhov said that the Golden Pomegranate exhibition
is a striking example of the revival of traditions of such events
organized by Armenia in the Russian capital.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ARMENIA’S PREMIER AND ACTOR VARDAN PETROSYAN ONLY PERSONS JOKING ABOUT EMIGRATION

15:36 24.09.13

Actor Vardan Petrosyan has confessed that he finds it quite difficult
to show emigration and poverty in his performances. But he considers
it his duty to cheer people up.

“It is most difficult to joke about emigration. Our premier can do it,
and I too. I joke about emigration for fifteen minutes, people laugh,
but my heart is bleeding. I will cheer them up as much as I can,”
Petrosyan said.

The actor is not calling for a revolution in his performances. Rather,
it is a call for unity.

“Art does not call for revolutions. Quite another thing is that I
praise and encourage young people. I am proud of our young people
who struggled. They must be encouraged. This is a call for spiritual
unity. Nothing can be spoken of without spiritual unity. As a rule,
each one pursues his own interests during revolutions, but individual
interests are out of the question in this case,” the actor said.

Petrosyan knows that the fare rise is on the agenda. Speaking of
the rising prices, he said it must not be “through skinning old men
and women.”

“We had a huge gas price rise, and let no one try to plead economic
problems. Even economists say that the gas price may not be raised
so much. I am sure the Yerevan Municipality was able to procure funds
for subsidies,” Petrosyan said.

He also addressed Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union. With
humor typical of him, the actor said that he is sorry for Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan rather than for Armenia because of Armenian
immigrants there.

“It reminds me of the turn of the 20th century, when both in Western
Armenia and here we were trying to find our bearings. When you study
history, you see we were only treated as a plaything,” the actor said.

Armenia is not a state capable of playing games Turkey is playing.

As regards Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia will suffer too. “A checkpoint
will be set up between Armenia and Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh]. Who
needs it? Even if an honest Russian customs officer will not allow
an Armenian citizen take anything to or bring anything from Artsakh,
what are we speaking about?”

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA AND GREECE TO SIGN DEFENSE COOPERATION PROGRAM FOR 2014

September 24, 2013 | 15:43

YEREVAN. – Armenia and Greece will sign a defense cooperation program
for 2014 during the ceremony in Yerevan on Wednesday.

The delegation headed by Chief of General Staff of the Greek Armed
Forces, General Mikhail Kostarakos will be welcomed at the Armenian
Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

Later Mikhail Kostarakos is expected to meet with the Chief of the
Armenian Armed Forces, Major General Yuri Khachaturov. The sides will
issue a joint statement.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIAN ATHLETES WIN 2 GOLD MEDALS

September 24, 2013

YEREVAN. – The Armenian national powerlifting team competed in the
World Powerlifting & Benchpress Championships 2013 being held in
Eger, Hungary.

In the 67.5 kilogram category, Sevak Manukyan became first, with a
result of 157.5 kilograms.

In the 75 kilogram category, Sergey Asaturov likewise captured first
place, with a result of 167.5 kilograms, informs the Powerlifting
Federation of Armenia.

NEWS.am Spor

From: A. Papazian

RESPONSE TO E. AZADIAN’S ‘ANARCHY IN THE HIERARCHY’

17 September 2013

I have read Mr. Azadian’s above inappropriately titled article. The
author has injected poisonous nonsense into the debate about the
governance of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church by circumventing
all the serious issues and resorting to fatally-flawed cliches. In
a stampede to retrieve the situation, Mr. Azadian has pushed all the
wrong and worn out arguments – the Genocide, ‘Cold War’ sentiments,
and the Antelias-Etchmiadzin crisis.

The reason why the Armenian people have raised their voices is because
the only unifying institution based on moral foundations is being
governed by the Catholicos, and not by the Episcopal Synod according
to the long held canons of the church. The hierarchy of the Church
is not the soul of the Armenian people. The soul of the Armenian
nation is its Church, Holy, Apostolic and Orthodox, upon which the
hierarchies of Holy Etchmiadzin, Cilicia/Antelias, Jerusalem and
Constantinople/Istanbul were founded on to protect and preserve
“without blemish in spiritual love and one accord”.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem and its Brotherhood have been a principal
source of our faith for nearly 1,500 years. Over the centuries,
countless Armenians have made pilgrimages to the Holy City, prayed
and renewed their Christian vows on the shrine of St James, Brother of
Our Lord. During the most critical times in the history of our Church
the noble clergy (Patriarchs Yeghishe Turian, Torkom Koushagian,
Guregh Israelian) have kept the flame of St. Gregory’s lantern alight.

When the late locum tenens of the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin, the
Patriarch of Jerusalem Torkom Manoogian passed away, the Catholicos
did not attend his funeral. Failure to attend was disrespectful to the
members of the Jerusalem Brotherhood, who hold high and responsible
positions in the west. He also failed to attend the enthronement of
Nourhan Manougian the present Patriarch of Jerusalem. The latter needs
the visible support of Holy Etchmiadzin. His absence also diminished
the status of the Patriarchate in the eyes of the hostile Israeli
government.

His Grace Archbishop Mesrop Moutafian, Patriarch of Constantinople
succumbed to his present state due to his spending several years in
prison for his stance against the Turkish government, and not because
of being a “political tool in the hands of” that government as Azadian
alleges. Likewise, the antagonism of the Israeli government toward
the Patriarch of Jerusalem arises from the courageous stance he has
taken on the question of the Armenian Genocide.

There is no tradition of a newly- elected Patriarch of Jerusalem making
a pilgrimage to Holy Etchmiadzin to renew his vows at the throne of
St Gregory, as Mr. Azadian suggests. The Patriarch takes and renews
his vows at the shrine of the Apostle St. James, Brother of Our Lord.

No serious observer believes that the survival of an individual
is much more important than the integrity of our Church, the oldest
institution of the Armenian nation. The cavalier approach of Karekin II
is unraveling and the conspiracy theories expounded by Mr. Azadian to
defend the Catholicos are disingenuous. There is obvious cronyism on
the part of Mr. Azadian, a lifelong beneficiary of the organization
he represents who defends his patron and ally rather than heed the
cry of the people, who for the first time, after 75 years, have come
together in defense of their Mother Church.

Political conformity has for long been the cause of ill-health for the
Armenian Church. Even before the Russian Revolution, the Church and
the State in Armenia existed in a sort of unified harmony, which was
not always pleasing to the church. After the Revolution, the Church
fell silent. During the time of repression and extreme persecution
nobody expressed political views. To start to think politically,
and to speak of politics from within the Church, will require a long
and deep period of learning. The Church cannot belong to one party
or another. It must be the voice of conscience, permeated with the
light of God. Ideally, the Church must be in a position to speak for
every party, for every point of view, to say, ‘this is worthy of Man
and God, and this is not worthy of Man and God’.

It is not the Catholicos who imparts prestige and authority to the
Catholicosate. But the Catholicosate, with its 1,700 years of heritage
and 131 Catholicoi, whose witness has been tested by sweat and blood
that imparts authority and prestige to the Holy See. It is the sacred
oath of every new Catholicos to uphold and enrich that heritage.

Rev. Dr. V. Nerses Nersessian, London UK, 17 September 2013

[email protected]

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIANS IN LITERATURE BOOK IS PUBLISHED IN TURKEY

September 24, 2013 | 15:15

Turkish writer and university lecturer Murat Belge’s book, titled
Armenians in Literature, is published in Turkey.

The new work by Belge, who is known for his studies on the Armenian
Genocide, is devoted to the Armenians that lived in the Ottoman Empire.

The book looks into what role the Armenians had in which period and
in which novel, how the Armenians–who were a part of the Ottoman
society–became enemies, and how the Armenians are portrayed in the
post-Genocide novels.

Armenians in Literature was published by Yayýn Ýletiþim publishing
house and it is 256 pages.

To note, Murat Belge was a friend of Hrant Dink, founder and chief
editor of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly, who was gunned
down in 2007 in front of his office building. During a discussion
in Armenia, Belge had stressed that Turkey should recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

STRAIGHT WAY TO DISMANTLING CSTO

The mass media reported that Serzh Sargsyan criticized statements by
CSTO member states on the Karabakh issue, as well as their supply of
arms to Azerbaijan. However, the Russian-Israeli news agency Regnum
thinks that Sargsyan meant Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,
which support Azerbaijan in international and regional organizations.

But why these states? First, Tajikistan has never joined such
statements and has always refrained from attempts of anti-Armenian
actions. And the most important and significant one stating the
integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as the main supplier of arms to
Azerbaijan is Russia.

Certainly, now that the sovereignty of Armenia has been yielded
to Russia, there is an illusion that one can ask for more from the
Russians. Meanwhile, Armenia is not driven into the Customs Union to
allow it to express its own opinion.

However, if Armenia really means to have a critical position on
its “partners”, this path straightly leads to destruction of the
pro-Russian military and economic block.

At the same time, there are more significant factors for destroying
CSTO, namely the forthcoming developments in Central Asia after the
reduced presence of NATO in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan left CSTO due to
threats from south.

Now it is not time for goodwill. Now everyone thinks for themselves.

Why should the Central Asians collecting rubbish in Moscow fight for
the interests and security of Russian oligarchs? When serious things
come up, buddies get to have more claims to one another. The work
has started. Who will continue? The Godfather will decide.

Igor Muradyan 17:00 24/09/2013 Story from Lragir.am News: