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EQUITY CAPITAL OF 11 INSURANCE COMPANIES IN ARMENIA UP 18% FOR THE
FIRST HALF OF 2009 TO $24.5 MILLION

ArmInfo 2009-08-12 17:16:00

ArmInfo. Summary equity capital of 11 insurance companies in Armenia
totaled
8.9 billion drams ($24.5 million) as of July 1 2009, which was 234% higher
than a year ago. The indicator grew 18% over the first half of 2009. The
share of authorized capital was 83% or 7.3 billion drams ($20.4 million).

Ranking of Armenian Insurance Companies prepared by the Agency of Rating
Marketing Information (ArmInfo) says the equity capital of Rosgosstrakh
-Armenia and INGO-Armenia exceeded 1 billion drams. ASG Company ensured the
lowest equity capital of 0.5 billion drams. Summary current liabilities of
11 insurance companies totaled 4.6 billion drams as of July 1 2009 growing
2% per year and 17% over the first half of 2009. The share of current
payables in the current liabilities totaled 45.4% or 2.1 billion drams
falling 5% per year and growing 13% over the first half. The share of
insurance reserves in current liabilities totaled 51% or 2.3 billion drams
($6.5 million) growing 10% per year and 7% over the first half. Leaders by
insurance reserves are Nairi Insurance (0.5 billion drams or $1/3 million)
and INGO Armenia (0.4 billion drams or $1.2 million).

ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM NEEDS FUNDS FOR URGENT RENOVATION OF CHURCHES

-patriarchate-of-jerusalem-needs-funds-for-urgent- renovation-of-churches/
Aug 07 2009

The magnificent St. James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter of the
Holy City of Jerusalem as well as the Armenian section of the Church
of Nativity in Bethlehem need urgent renovations and structural
improvements.

These priceless icons of Christianity are under care of the Brotherhood
of St. James of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

So far, thanks to the efforts of Ms. Anoush Berberian, $8,040.00
have been raised in the greater Los Angeles area for the renovation
projects of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

It is extremely important to all of us to realize the magnitude and
monumental importance of these amazing Christian Churches which by
the Grace of God have remained under the custody of the Armenian
Church for the last several centuries.

The Office of the Western Diocese has setup a fund to receive and
transfer donations immediately to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem from
our faithful community throughout the Diocese. Please make your
checks payable to "Western Diocese – Armenian Church" and write
"Jerusalem or Bethlehem" in the memo section of the check. Please
send your Checks to:

Western Diocese – Armenian Church 3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank,
CA 91504

ARMENIAN PRIZE-WINNERS OF 25TH WORLD STUDENT GAMES RECEIVE AWARDS AT MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

Noyan Tapan
Aug 11, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The sport delegation of Armenia
participated in the 25th World Student Games (Universiade) held in
Belgrade on July 1-12. The Armenian sportsmen competed in fencing,
taekwondo, fencing and table tennis. During the Universiade, the
Armenian national flag was raised three times.

During an event at the RA Ministry of Science and Education on
August 10, the prize-winners received ministry diplomas and monetary
prizes. Among them were Hambartsum Tonoyan (judoist, a silver medal
winner at the Universiade, graduate of Nalbandian State Pedagogical
Institute in the city of Gyumri), Arthur Srapian (judoist, a bronze
medal winner, third-year student of Nalbandian State Pedagogical
Institute), Arman Yeremian (taekwondo wrestler, a bronze medal winner,
fourth-year student of Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture),
Arthur Gevorgian (coach of the judo team of Armenia’s student sport
delegation, chief coach of the Armenian national team), and Gevorg
Danielian (coach of the taekwondo team of Armenia’s student sport
delegation, chief coach of the Armenian national team).

In the words of Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotian, the
Student Sport Federation still has much to do, but it is satisfactory
that Armenian students successfully combine their studies with sport
achievements. "Our national team was small, but it managed to win
three medals at the Universiade that has high rating," he stated. The
minister expressed a hope that the Armenian students will be well
prepared to compete in the 2011 Universiade in China.

GOVERNMENT OF ARMENIA READY TO ASSIST ACTIVITIES OF INTERSTATE BANK

ARKA
Aug 11, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, August 11. /ARKA/. Premier of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan
discussed cooperation issues with President of the Interstate Bank Igor
Suvorov, the press-service of the Government told ARKA News Agency.

Suvorov introduced the activities and strategy of the bank, as well
as the programs being implemented in Armenia to Sargsyan. The sides
touched upon programs in the energy sector, as well as the problems
and perspectives for development of the Armenian chemical giant
"Nairit" CJSC.

Sargsyan, in his turn, expressed his readiness to solve all the
problems concerning the activities of the bank in Armenia.

Agreement on establishing an International Bank and its Charter were
signed on January 22 1993 by heads of ten CIS countries: Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

States, their governments and central (national) banks are the founders
of the International Bank. G. S.

HAYK BABUKHANYAN: MATTHEW BRYZA SHOULD BE DECLARED PERSONA NON GRATA IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.08.2009 18:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I have long said that Matthew Bryza must be
declared persona non grata in Armenia", Hayk Babukhanyan , leader
of the Constitutional law union told a press conference in Yerevan
today. "When an Armenian politician criticizes his country, it is
one thing, but criticism of a foreigner is disrespect to the state",
Hayk Babukhanyan said. "Foreigners should not allow themselves extra
things" Babukhanyan said.

"According to Madrid principles, some land will be returned to
Azerbaijan, and we will receive the independence of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic instead, " Hayk Babukhanyan said, adding that if the parties
seek a peaceful settlement, they will have to make some concessions.

"Azerbaijan wants to get the regions and only then to hold a
referendum, but Armenia – vice versa. The final decision on the status
will be adopted by Karabakh ", Babukhanyan stressed. He mentioned,
that if the parties are imposed a certain model of behavior, then it
is more like a "road map" having all steps planned.

RUSSIA-TURKEY RELATIONS WILL HAVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON KARABAKH, SAYS DAVUTOGLU

Asbarez
10/russia-turkey-relations-will-have-positive-impa ct-on-karabakh-says-davutoglu/
Aug 10, 2009

ANKARA (Combined Sources)-The strengthening of relations between
Russia and Turkey will have a positive impact of the resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu in a television interview over the weekend.

During his visit to Turkey last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin said active steps were being taken to resolve the Karabakh
conflict.

"Serious work is being done to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and there is serious progress in this regard. Moscow is eager to see
quick resolution of the conflict," Putin added.

Davutoglu praised what he called positive steps taken by Russia in
the conflict resolution process.

During his visit to Turkey, Putin signed several energy agreements,
including an agreement to ensure Turkey’s participation in a planned
Russian oil and gas pipeline, known as the South Stream, which is
designed to rival the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline.

Turkey is also participating in the construction of the Nabucco
pipeline, which is a US and European venture, sidestepping Russia, to
ensure the flow Caspian natural resources to the West. Both proposed
projects side-step Armenia.

While on a weekend visit to his hometown of Konya, Davutoglu was
asked whether two major pipeline projects in which Turkey will play
an integral role, Nabucco and South Stream, were rivals.

"No. As we stressed several times before, we do not see such strategic
projects as rivaling each other but instead as complementary to
one another. We look at all developments in the fields of energy,
transportation, economy and trade with different perspectives,"
Davutoðlu was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency in response.

Earlier, Turkish officials and experts underlined that the natural gas
deals inked last week by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
and Putin will help make Turkey a regional energy hub but will not
change its commitment to the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline project.

"Turkey’s course and priorities have not changed," said a senior
Turkish official on Friday, responding to suspicions likely to arise
in the wake of Thursday’s deal, under which Turkey has allowed Russia
to carry out feasibility studies in its exclusive territorial waters
in the Black Sea for construction of the South Stream pipeline.

Russia’s South Stream pipeline rivals Nabucco, which has the backing
of the EU and the United States and would provide Europe a supply of
gas not subject to Russian control.

Furthermore, Davutoglu stressed that Turkey is not a place for
rival projects but complementary ones, while noting that Turkey will
serve as a secure energy route, strengthening both regional economic
integration and global economic structure. "Any cooperation with the
European Union and the Nabucco project, which connects the European
Union and Turkey, is a strategic priority for Turkey. It should
be assessed as a whole. The Nabucco project that we signed in July
demonstrated Turkey’s central importance for energy suppliers and
energy consumers between the East and West," Davutoglu said.

He then continued saying that in line with agreements with Russia, the
South Stream and the Samsun-Ceyhan energy routes illustrate Turkey’s
integral role, connecting the East and West. "Being the intersection
of the East-West and North-South energy corridor is a natural result
of Turkey’s geography," Davutoglu concluded.

"Turkey will enhance its increasing role in world economic politics,
participating in both transportation and trade in the East-West and
North-South energy routes for years," he said.

REANIMANIA IN YEREVAN

Lragir.am
php?id=society&pid=14890
18:38:20 – 10/08/2009

ReAnimania is the first International Animation Film Festival to take
place in Yerevan, Armenia. It will serve as a fresh stimulus for film
production in Armenia and the region in general, and will provide
ample opportunities for introducing examples of the world’s best
animated movies to the Armenian and foreign audience in Armenia. Our
goal is to facilitate the development of animation art, educate a
new generation of animators, and provide a prospect for presenting
the works of the Armenian animators in the international arena.

We are proud to announce that within the list of partners we have
the prestigious Annecy Film Festival, the well-known Stuttgart Film
Festival, the Aardman Studio, and are in talks with the Encounters
Film Festival of Bristol, UK. Our local partners include the "Golden
Apricot" International Film Festival of Yerevan, The National
Cinema Center of Armenia, "Shushi Rebirth" Foundation, "Calouste
Gulbenkian" Foundation, Cinema Moscow, KASSart Studio, as well as
we have full partnership of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. The
local Embassies of France, Germany, Norway, Brazil, USA and Italy
are readily cooperating with us in regards with foreign guests and
participants and other logistical issues.

The Retrospective Programs are also very interesting. This year we
are planning to feature a program dedicated to the 100th Anniversary
German animation, with all the materials provided by the Goethe
Institute. We are also doing a Retrospective Program celebrating world
renowned Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto’s lifetime achievements in
animation, with all the materials provided by the Bozzetto Studio. We
will be featuring the gems of International Animation from the 1960s
to nowadays, with all the materials provided by the Annecy Festival
official archives. An Armenian Animation Retrospective is also in
the process, dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of screening the first
Armenian animation film "The Dog and the Cat".

Our Workshop Program will be led by the world-renowned animator
Max Howard, (former president of Warner Bros. Feature Animation,
Executive producer for DreamWorks), who will conduct a 4-day master
class in Professional Coaching for Animation Film Production, as well
as will present his new animation film "Igor". Another workshop in 3D
will be led by famous animator Yoshi Tamura ("Hercules", "Tarzan 2",
"Shark Tale", "Igor", etc.).

We have also confirmed an additional Children’s Program, featuring
films by Michel Ocelot and Tomm Moore, to be conducted parallel to
the main Festival Program.

These achievements are proof that the ReAnimania International
Animation Film Festival of Yerevan is long overdue and will definitely
serve its purpose of catalyst to show the world that Armenia is
ready to present itself as a hub for animation professionals and
specialists, as well as become a business summit point to connect
the artistic East and the West, as it has done for ages, serving as
the crossroad for the Silk Road.

The festival will consist of the following programs:

Competition ·Best Short Film ·Best Feature Film ·Best Graduation
Film ·Best TV series ·Audience Award ·RA Ministry of Culture Award
·Children’s special notice Special Programs ·Festivals, Companies
and Schools ·Retrospectives Premieres ·"WALS WITH BASHIR" – dir. Ari
Folman /Israel/ ·"SITA SINGS THE BLUES" – dir. Nina Paley /USA/
·"IDIOTS AND ANGLES"- dir. Bill Plympton /USA/ ·"PERSEPOLIS" –
dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud /France/

Workshops ·Directing Animation ·2D Traditional Animation ·3D Animation
(not CGI) ·Storyboarding ·Animation Character Design Exhibitions
·Animation Art Examples ·Bande Dessinee

ReAnimania has already received Application entry forms from various
countries, such as France, Russia, USA, Great Britain, Germany, Norway,
Poland, Estonia, Lebanon, Belorussia, Georgia, Syria and Belgium.

Ani Gharabaghtsyan

Media representative ReAnimania International Animation Film Festival
of Yerevan

Hrachia Kochar 16, Suite 3 Yerevan – 0013, Armenia Tel: 010 27 36 99

IF EU TO WITHDRAW THEIR AMBASSADORS FROM IRAN?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
10.08.2009 13:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union is currently considering options
of its response to trial started in Tehran against Iranian employee
of the British Embassy, the worker of the French Embassy, who has
dual citizenship and a Frenchwoman, who taught foreign languages
in the Iranian capital. They are accused of espionage, organizing
anti-governmental actions and preparing the "velvet revolution".

As British BBC Radio service reports, simultaneous withdrawal of
ambassadors of EU member states from Tehran, as well as introduction
of new economic sanctions are among possible joint steps of the
EU. The formula of response is figured out by EU-chairing Sweden,
newsru.com reports.

Gather.com
Aug 7 2009

The Genocide of Iraqi Christians

August 07, 2009 12:01 AM EDT

The oppression of the Iraqi Christians started when Arabs occupied the
land in the seventh century. Their method of wiping out Christianity
from the region involved the implementation of a simple rule; either
convert and follow the Islamic banner, or pay heavy taxes (which many
Christians could not afford) or war.

Looking at more modern history, the first genocide of the 20th century
began on April 24, 1915. By 1918, 2.65 million Christians including
750,000 Assyrians, 1.5 million Armenians, and 400,000 Greeks were
killed by the Ottoman Empire and the Kurds. The Assyrians called this
genocide â??seyfoâ?? which means sword. In 1933, the
massacre of Semel, in Northern Iraq resulted in the death of 3000
Christians at the hands of Kurds and the Iraqi Army. This was the
first atrocity committed by the new Iraqi state under Prime Minister
Bakir Sidqi, after gaining independence from the British in 1932. My
village Tin, in Northern Iraq, shared a similar fate in 1961.

The American occupation in Iraq did not end the struggles of the
native Christians. Under the watch of our Democratic government and
the newly established Iraqi government, Christians continue to face
persecution. Here is a list of some of the acts f violence committed
as reported by the Assyrian News Agency:

-A two month infant was kidnapped, beheaded, roasted, and returned to
his parents.

-14 year old Ayad Tariq was considered a â??dirty Christian
sinnerâ?? and decapitated.

-Fr. Paulos Iskander (Paul Alexander) was kidnapped, beheaded and
dismembered.

-Five priests were kidnapped and released after ransom was paid. Five
other priests and three deacons were murdered.

-59 churches were attacked or bombed since June 2004: 40 in Baghdad,
13 in Mosul, 5 in Kirkuk and 1 in Ramadi.

-At least 13 young women were abducted and raped, causing some of them
to commit suicide.

-Female students were targeted in Basra and Mosul for not wearing
veils; some had nitric acid squirted onto their faces. Elders of a
village in Mosul were warned not to send females to universities.

-Mahdi Army circulated a letter warning all Christian women to veil
themselves.

-Christian businesses were targeted. 95% of liquor stores were
attacked, defaced or bombed. 500 Assyrian shops in a Dora market were
burned in one night

-Children were kidnapped and forcibly transferred to Arabs and Kurdish
families.

Property was confiscated by Kurds in the North and in the south by
Shiites and Sunnis.

-Kurdish authorities forced public works projects to divert water and
other vital resources from Assyrian Villages to Kurdish villages.

-While the Arabs protest for one Muslim killed in Europe, they are
silent for what happen to the Christians of Iraq, the people of
Darfur, or the Coptic in Egypt.

Yes Mr. President, I did like your message to the Arab world in
Cairo. I am not against your action of praising Islam or the Quran,
but you failed to address their oppression against non-Arabs or
non-Muslims who live in the Middle East. We build 12,000 Mosques in
the United States, and many thousands more in Europe, yet not one
church is allowed in Saudi Arabia. Mr. President , you failed to ask
why. I know the answer, because we are infidels and forbidden in their
land.

I know we are a democratic and civilized nation and they are not. I
know we are strong and forgiving while they are weak and loud. We
should not have to improve our image to the Middle East, for we have
freedom that millions of Arabs and Muslims enjoy and take advantage
of. I have lived in Iraq for 33 years; I know how they treat their
people in the streets and in the prisons. Their prisons are many times
worse than what occurred in Abu Ghraib. In your message you try to
build a bridge to the Islamic world, but you left the non-Muslims in
the middle easy angry and alone. They deserve your support, they love
freedom as much as we do, and now they face extinction. Fifty percent
of the Christian population has left Iraq with the other half face the
continuation of a long bitter genocide and it will be under our
watch. An Islamic nation without Christians, a Middle East without
diversity will only become more radical.

www.mylastthoughtsab outiraq.com.

tion?grpId=3659174697241980&articleId=28147497 7765874

VAFA GULUZADE: RUSSIA DREAMS OF SETTING AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA AT LOGGERHEADS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 16:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri political scientist Vafa Guluzade doesn’t
think that Russia will change its policy in the South Caucasus.

"Russia needs tensions to prevent delivery of gas from Central Asia
to Europe bypassing its territory. Moreover, it dreams of causing
a new clash between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We should not yield to
provocation. Islam teaches us to be patient and wait for the hour of
triumph to come," he said.

"However, we should develop diplomatic activities. We should strengthen
ties with Turkey, Israel, Pakistan and NATO and build an efficient
army to enable it at the right time. Waging a war would be incorrect
now," Guluzade said.