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"THANKS, COME HOME," "THIS IS THE WAY ARMENIANS REALLY BECOME FRIENDS AND A UNITED NATION…"

Noyan Tapan
Aug 14, 2009

The first stage participants of the Come Home program and their
parents share their impressions and opinions

YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Parents of the
Georgian Armenian young people participating in the 1st stage of the
Come Home 2009 program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora sent letters
of congratulation to the Ministry on the occasion of successful
implementation of the program. Parts of the letters characterizing
the young peoples’ impressions and the parents’ feelings are presented
below with insignificant editorship.

Nodar Ter-Baghdasarov and Tsovinar Ter-Baghdasarova-Badalian from
Georgia, particularly, write: "We are thankful to the Ministry of
Diaspora for the Come Home program, especially to Minister Hranush
Hakobian, program manager Zhenia Azizian, members of the family showing
hospitality: Silva, Razmik, Garnik and Anna Yeghiazarians. They warmly
received the children and granted their expensive time to them. The
children were really in their house, surrounded by relatives’ warmth
and love. We are grateful for all the seconds that You granted to
our children…

When we met the children they were full of love and warmth towards
the Homeland. Your initiative is very important for us as similar
events make the young people living out of the borders of the Homeland
closer to each other and to the Homeland and assist preservation of
the Armenian spirit."

Mother of one of the young people, Nelli Grigorian sent the following
letter: "Dear Mrs. Hranush. Dear employees of the Ministry of
Diaspora. How highflown it seems, but for the Armenian young people
from different countries of the world the program implemented by
You is a Great Armenian Deed for uniting our people round Armenia
Homeland… The family showed hospitality to my daughter became
relative during 15 days of the program.

They gave warmth and love to my daughter, feeling of relationship of
our Armenian souls. This is the way Armenians become real relatives,
a united nation…"

Mother of another young people from Georgia participated in the
program, Anzhela Shahdinarian expressed her deep gratitude for
"implementation of this wonderful idea." In her words, "this project
helped our children to know the Homeland better. They participated in
the courses on the Armenian dances, Armenian language and history,
got acquainted with the Armenian culture. I hope that the ties with
the Homeland will more strengthen.

Special thanks to the family showing hospitality, too…"

Georgian Armenian children participated in the first stage of the Come
Home – 2009 program Gohar Trchunian and Anaida Poghosova presented
the impressions got in Armenia in the odnoklassniki.ru public
site. G. Trchunian wrote: "I am deeply grateful to the organizers,
especially to Hranush Hakobian for the most wonderful and interesting
two weeks in my life. It was a real tale. Owing to that program I
newly saw my Homeland and loved it with a new inexhaustible love. I
have got many new friends and got to know many things about Armenia
as well as about other countries and Armenian Diaspora.

Special thanks to Zhenia Azizian and the young people of the staff
accompanying us… I love You. I am proud that I am an Armenian. I
love my Armenia."

"Oh, my God, what bright memories, what unforgettable days, what
places of interest," Anaida Poghosova writes. – "It is difficult to
find words to characterize the 15 fairy days I passed in Yerevan. I
feel crying when I remember all these. Those wonderful memories will
always remain in my heart.

I love you, Armenia. I want to express deep gratitude on behalf of the
children from Georgia to the Ministry of Diaspora, Hranush Hakobian
and the whole staff."

Three young people arrived in Armenia from Turkey within the f ramework
of the program expressed their impressions from the days passed in
Armenia on the pages of the Agos newspaper.

Karen Emirgeloghli, particularly, writes: "It was very impressive for
me to see Armenia, get acquainted with the history, geography, culture
and family life. In my opinion, every Armenian should see Armenia…"

Lara Tarakchea says: "As it is my first travel to Armenia, I created
different countries in my mind before going there. But the reality
is that it is much better than I imangined. We all were very excited
before going.

We did not know the families where we were to live and were going
to a strange country. We stayed with completely strange people. They
were very hospitable. We got friends from other countries, different
cultures during 17 days. It was rather amusing. During the recent days
the most difficult thing for many of us was to leave the families, for
many was to leave the friends. If we passed the first days studying
everything, we did not understand how the last days passed. When we
review, we see that we had only nice and funny memories."

According to Melisa Yilderim "it was a pleasure to be in Armenia and
get acquainted with the people living here. People are hot-tempered
and hospitable. I have had a better time here owing to it. I want to
againt visit it as soon as possible."

Chairman of the Union of Armenians in the region of Altay Vladimir
Farashian also expressed his gratitude on behalf of all the children
from that territory of Russia participated in the first stage of
the Come Home -2009 program. He wrote in the letter addressed to the
RA Ministry of Diaspora: "Dear friends, our children are delighted,
very thankful for the warm reception and organization of their visit
to the Homeland."

U.S. NOT SEEKING KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE – RUSSIAN EXPERT

RIA Novosti
18:3714/08/2009

MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian analyst dismissed on
Friday as "exaggerated" speculation that Washington would support
independence for a disputed Azerbaijani region after appointing a
senior administration official skilled at conflict settlement.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government
and is de facto independent.

"Some took it as a signal that the United States is likely to support
the independence of Nagorny Karabakh – I think this is an exaggerated
expectation," said Mikhail Alexandrov, chief expert on the Caucasus
at the Institute for CIS Studies, commenting on the replacement of
Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs.

Bryza, who also co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group, announced in Tbilisi
on Monday that U.S. diplomat Tina S. Kaidanow would replace him at
the post.

Kaidanow worked for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Kosovo for two
years before being appointed as the U.S. ambassador in Kosovo.

Alexandrov said it was a U.S. goal to have both Armenia and Azerbaijan
in NATO, which will mean finding a resolution to Nagorny Karabakh
first.

"They will impose a staged settlement plan which will include returning
the seven occupied territories, without determining the status, of
Nagorny Karabakh by deploying peacekeeping forces there, preferably
not Russian,…to smother Nagorny Karabakh and force it to submit,"
the Russian expert said.

He said it would be unnecessary for Washington to edge Russia out
of the disputed region to ensure that the area remained a part of
Azerbaijan.

"We took part in the Kosovo settlement, but who took us into account?

Nobody, and the United States wants a repetition of the scenario,
and Tina knows only too well how to do this," Alexandrov said.

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA REGISTERS NEW BRANCH OF AMERIABANK – "KENTRON"

ARKA
Aug 13, 2009

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
registered a new branch – "Kentron" – of Armenian Ameriabank, the
CBA Press Service reported. The respective decision was adopted by
CBA Chairman Artur Javadyan on August 7. The new branch office is
located at V. Sargsyan str. 2 and V. Sargsyan 4, Yerevan.

Ameriabank (former Armimpexbank) was established in July 1992 on the
basis of the Armenian branch of the USSR Vnesheconombank. On September
8, 1992, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a license to the bank.

TDA Holdings Limited, affiliate of the Russian Troika Dialog Investment
Company, became the bank’s shareholder in August 2007.

Ruben Vardanyan is the Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors and
Artak Anesyan is the Chairman of Directorate and the General Director.

Before the bank had one branch in Stepanakert; another branch –
"Kajaran" – was opened on August 5.

NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SECURE ROAD TRAFFIC ADOPTED

Panorama.am
17:32 13/08/2009

The Government of Armenia has ratified the national strategy of
secure road traffic of Armenia and Yerevan in its today’s meeting. The
Government has also ratified action plan for upcoming five years and
the schedule of events contributing to the security of traffic for
2009, Government’s press service reports.

It is supposed that the figure of road accidents having fatal outcomes
will be reduced in the aftermath of the implementation of the project.

"This document supposes that all the departments should pay serious
attention on it, as the condition of road traffic in Armenia is
far from being successful. We have held parallels with the figures
of international statistics and came to a conclusion that we have
the worst results in this aspect. We overdraw the figure of fatal
outcomes several times compared with other countries. And the basic
reason is that we ignore road traffic guidance," Armenian PM Tigran
Sargsyan said.

PM stressed that the police officers themselves should hold sitting
belts to encourage others to do that. "Holding security belt reduces
the number of deaths several times during the accidents. This is
elementary civil guidance following which we will cut the number of
death and other serious injuries. It’s not shameful to carry belts
but to brag," Tigran Sargsyan said.

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ARMENIA INDIGNANT BY STATEMENT THAT ARMENIA ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN ARM TRANSIT FOR HEZBOLLAH

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.08.2009 17:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We are outraged by that provocation – a statement
that Armenia is allegedly transit for arms to Hezbollah," Rimma
Varzhapetyan , chair of the Jewish Community of Armenia said in an
interview with a PanARMENIAN.Net, commenting on the latest statement
of Israeli political analyst Alex Veksler. According to her, Veksler
is from Baku, respectively, he is lobbying the interests of Azerbaijan.

"This is a regular provocation on the part of Azerbaijan," Rima
Varzhapetyan said. She stressed that during her visit to Armenia,
Ambassador of Israel has also commented on Veksler’s statement, saying
that neither the government nor the state pay any attention to it.

"There is no need to unwind and discuss the issue. This is another
attempt to create a conflict with Azerbaijan," the chair of the Jewish
community in Armenia said.

LAWYER DETAINED?

ountry&pid=14930
15:04:35 – 14/08/2009

Head of the Helsinki association, Mikael Danielyan and member of the
Chamber of Advocates, Gayane Khachatryan presented the details of
the case of the lawyer Arshaluys Hakobyan.

The case concerns the member of the Helsinki association, Arshaluys
Khachatryan, who was an observer at the May 31 election. The latter
was accused of violence against police officials. The lawyer Gayane
Khachatryan noted that Arshaluys Hakobyan was detained on June 5. And
several days ago, the court of first instance prolonged the term of
the arrest by 1 month.

Two officials of the Kentron police department brought a notification
for an examination to Hakobyan’s house. In accordance with the law,
the police officials have to hand the notification to the recipient
or to a member of their family. Arshaluys’s wife told the officials,
that her husband was sleeping. Nevertheless, they entered the house,
woke Arshaluys up, and demanded to sign the notification. Because
of bad vision, Arshaluys signed in a wrong place, after which the
police officials started to threaten him. Afterwards, Hakobyan asked
the officials to leave the apartment after which the officials
used violence against him. But it is noted in the criminal case
that Hakobyan used violence against the police officials. Only the
testimonies of the officials are included in the case, which is a
violation of the law, stated Gayane Khachatryan.

According to Khachatryan, the decision to detain Hakobyan was wrong. it
was appealed in the court of appeal, but was rejected.

NUMBER OF AIRLINES OPERATING TRANSIT FLIGHTS VIA BELARUS RISES FIVE TIMES

National Legal Internet Portal
13/08/2009 06:01 PM
Minsk

MINSK, 13 August (BelTA) – In the recent years the number of air
companies operating transit flights via Belarus has soared five times,
BelTA learnt from director of the aviation department of the Ministry
of Transport and Communications of Belarus Vadim Melnik.

"The transit flow in Belarus is not as heavy as in the major
international airports. The transit flights via Belarus were launched
in large part due to Belavia. There are transit flights from Baku,
Yerevan, Tbilisi via Minsk to Prague and Frankfurt. Apart from that,
Belavia operates joint flights with other air carriers which number
has grown from four to over 20," Vadim Melnik said.

"Of course, it is hard to compete with such companies as Lufthansa,
Czech Airlines and Austrian Airlines, but this competition encourages
us to improve our technologies and services (by introducing more
convenient schedules and connecting flights), Belavia Director General
Anatoly Gusarov said. "Some flights are operated by Belavia alone,
but there are destinations where Belavia faces a tough competition
with other air companies. However, we are seeking partnership with
them. This cooperation helps pull the prices down and save time for
passengers," he said. The cooperation with such companies as LOT,
Aeroflot and Israeli EL-Al enables Belavia to provide an excellent
level of customer service.

Talking about the transit zone in the National Airport Minsk, Vadim
Melnik said that it requires modernization and expansion. "We are
considering it. This issue has been taken to the Council of Ministers
and the Ministry of Transport and Communications. We want to expand
transit lounges as there is a real need for that. However before we
start, we have to make sure that we can afford it as it will require
considerable resources," he added.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

14 August, 2009

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund begins reconstruction of Noyemberyan Hospital

Yerevan, August 14 2009 – In July of this year the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund launched a major development project to rebuild the Noyemberyan
Hospital, in Armenia’s Tavush Region. The initiative is co-sponsored by the
fund’s German, Australian, Swiss, and Lebanese affiliates. Additional
support, in the form of medical equipment, will be provided by the Union of
Armenian Physicians and Healthcare Professionals of Germany.

Currently crews are working on the first phase of the reconstruction
project, demolishing the existing building and laying the foundations of the
future structure, which will comprise an area of 2,600 meters square. Slated
to be completed in the fall of 2010, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s
ambitious initiative will result in an outstanding, state-of-the-art
healthcare facility offering a broad range of medical services.

"I think it’s wonderful that our compatriots in the diaspora continue to
make a concerted and decisive effort in helping secure the ongoing progress
of our homeland, which hinges to a great degree on the physical health of
the Armenian public," said Ara Vardanyan, executive director of the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund. "The reconstruction of the Noyemberyan Hospital is an
important step toward that goal."

Commenting on the project, Henrik Harutyunyan, chief physician at the
Noyemberyan Hospital, said that the facility serves some 1,400 individuals
per year, admitting patients from not only throughout Tavush but the
neighboring Lori Region as well. Dr. Harutyunyan added that the Noyemberyan
Hospital has long been in a state of disrepair and the need for major
renovations had reached a critical stage. "Thanks to the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund project, we expect to have a first-class facility," he
said.

Hayastan All Armenian Fund

SWEARING-IN CEREMONY OF U.S. PEACE CORPS

News.am
16:21 / 08/13/2009

Today in Charentsavan (Armenia) U.S. Peace Corps Armenia conducted a
swearing-in ceremony for the seventeenth group of volunteers serving
in Armenia. U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch presided over
the ceremony, which has become an annual event. During the event,
44 Peace Corps Trainees demonstrated their knowledge of Armenian
language and culture learned during their training program. They
performed Armenian songs and shared their experiences with their host
families during these first weeks.

Before moving to their permanent sites, Peace Corps volunteers
completed eleven weeks of Armenian language, cultural, technical,
and safety and security training to prepare them for two years of
service in towns and villages throughout Armenia. Volunteers will
collaborate with Armenian counterpart organizations in the areas
of English language education, business and community development,
health education, and environmental education.

Peace Corps Armenia was established in 1992 at the invitation of
the Government of Armenia. Since that time, more then 600 Peace Corps
volunteers have served in Armenia. With the addition of this new group,
there will be total of 80 volunteers working in schools, universities,
NGOs, and health facilities throughout Armenia.

FOREIGN STUDENTS WATCH IRANIAN PLAY "DOGLEG" IN TEHRAN

Tehran Times
August 13, 2009

TEHRAN — A group of foreign students visiting Iran watched the
Iranian play "Dogleg" at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Tuesday.

Twenty five students from Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Armenia
and Georgia sat to watch the play director Katayun Feiz Marandi.

The students who are studying Persian history and literature in
their countries regarded the play a good example of oriental plays,
the Persian service of Fars reported on Wednesday.

Victor from Hungary believed that the play was an interesting one,
saying that he was fascinated by acting but the actors were speaking
fast making it hard for him to understand the dialogue.

Iliana Bourgeois from Bulgaria said that she is traveling to Iran for
the first time and that the play gave her a good feeling since she
had no idea how good Iranian plays would be. In her idea, the play
"Dogleg" was a modern work.

Asma Zengin from Turkey called the play a beautiful work and said
that in her idea the actors played very well. She was also surprised
why such a beautiful complex like City Theater has such a small hall
like Sayeh.

Tatia who is studying Persian language at the Tbilisi State University
of Georgia said that she enjoyed the play, its good acting, and
wonderful music.

Written by Arash Abbasi, "Dogleg" narrates the events happening in a
Christian family in Iran after the Iran-Iraq war. Their son is lost
in the war, and their married daughter is back home having problems
in her married life and is insisting to get divorced.

The play went onstage on August 9 at the Sayeh Hall. Ali Sarabi,
Nahid Moslemi, Roya Bakhtiari, and Elham Kordad are some of the actors.