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Fund for Armenian Relief
PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
Press Office
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
email: [email protected]
web:

Armenian Scientists Supported by FAR Project

HELPING ARMENIAN RESEARCHERS KEY TO DEVELOPING NATION

On February 5, 2009, 25 teams of Armenian scientists gathered in the
Yerevan office of the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) to receive
funding that will allow them to carry on their cutting-edge research
projects.

This is the ninth year that FAR’s Armenian National Science and
Education Fund (ANSEF) has provided aid to Armenia’s best and
brightest minds, and it awarded 25 grants.

This year, as in previous years, most of the grants are going to
teams of scientists engaged in physics research, with 12 grants.
Additional grants are funding four research teams in biology, two
teams each in chemistry and astronomy, and additional teams with
projects in mechanics, radio physics, zoology, ecology, and art.

Since its founding nine years ago in an effort to stop the brain drain
affecting the newly independent Republic of Armenia, 208 teams of
researchers (made up of 900 individual scientists and academics) have
received support from ANSEF. The financial aid has toped $1 million
over the years.

This year’s ANSEF grants were underwritten by a generous $100,000
donation from Armen Avanessians, a trained engineer who since 1994 has
been a partner at Goldman Sachs. This year’s donation, the first half
of a $200,000 pledge made by Mr. Avanessians to support ANSEF, allowed
the program to fully-fund 25 worthy projects.

Founded by a group of Armenian-American academics and scientists, led
by astrophysicist Dr. Yervant Terzian, ANSEF provides grants of up to
$5,000 to research teams chosen in a highly competitive, blind,
peer-reviewed process. This simple requirement fundamentally changed
the way the Armenian researchers sought funding, scrapping the
communist-era focus on connections and stressing competence and
relevancy.

The research teams include not just senior researchers but also young
scientists who are the next generation of Armenian thinkers. The
ANSEF grants forward their research but also keep the participants
from leaving Armenia in search of funding, allowing them to offer
guidence and direction to those younger researchers.

Each year, due to funding limitations, FAR is only able to provide
grants to a few dozen of the hundreds of project proposals. That is
why the support of Mr. Avanessians is so vital to the project.

"ANSEF is really a project of passion and devotion," said Dr. Yervant
Terzian. "All of ANSEF’s supporters – those supporting the project and
those working on the project to ensure the awards go to the most
worthy researchers – are involved because they are passionate about
science and research. Everybody is convinced that the creative
intellectual capital of Armenia is the nation’s most valuable
resource."

Further information on ANSEF, including a complete list of this year’s
recipients can be found on the ANSEF website:

# # #

About FAR
Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served
hundreds of thousands of people through more than 220 relief and
development programs in Armenia and Karabagh. It has channeled more
than $265 million in humanitarian assistance by implementing a wide
range of projects including emergency relief, construction, education,
medical aid, and economic development.

For more information on FAR or to send donations, contact us at 630
Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016; telephone (212) 889-5150; fax (212)
889-4849; ; e-mail [email protected].

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF HOVHANNES TUMANYAN’S TBILISI HOUSE

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2009 16:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hovhannes Tumanyan’s Museum in Yerevan doesn’t have
owner rights for the writer’s house in Tbilisi, Voznesenskaya 18,
Director of Hovhannes Tumanyan’s Museum in Yerevan, Narine Toukhikyan
told a news conference Thursday.

"Being an Armenian and great writer’s museum director, I’m very sorry
we’re facing this problem today," she noted.

The apartment located at Voznesenskaya street has belonged to Tumanyan
family since 1921, when Georgian authorities presented it to the
Armenian writer.

The apartment was Tumanyan’s family property and no one had a right
to confiscate it. In 1950s part of the apartment was turned into
library and carried Tumanyan’s name till its closure in 2008. Last
year Georgian authorities paid off their credit to private individuals
with a part of the house. Tumanyan’s great-grandson still lives in
another part of the house.

Armenian media published information that this story refers Vernatun
that served as a literary salon.

"For many years Hovhannes Tumanyan occupied this apartment located at
Asatryan Street, yet it did not belong to him. Today it’s the writer’s
house, and not Vernatun, that we’re speaking about," specified Narine
Tukhikyan.

"Several years ago Armenian authorities were negotiating library
territory purchase with Tbilisi, yet negotiations were suspended. At
my last year’s visit to Tbilisi I failed to find library transmittal
documents. Conflicts around the issue intensified, yet Armenian
authorities have to approach the matter seriously till it’s too late,"
emphasized the Museum Director.

VI INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM BRIGDE-2009 TO TAKE PLACE IN TSAKHKADZOR ARMENIAN RESORT ON FEB 20-23

ARKA
Feb 12, 2009

YEREVAN, February 12. /ARKA/. The sixth International Economic Forum
BRIDGE will take place in Armenian ski resort city of Tsakhkadzor on
February 20-23 2009.

The theme of the forum in 2009 will be "International economic
collaboration: priorities, trends, opportunities", and will be aimed
at introducing Armenian economic potential to business and political
circles of the West and Middle East.

Forum will include sectional and plenary sessions, presentations and
round table discussions on "Armenian export potential: analysis and
assessment", "Perspective of Armenia’s development into regional
financial center", "New opportunities of development of regional
transport system" and "Electronic community: utopia or reality".

Participants of the conference will also discuss "UNIDO Program
on private sector development", "Construction and real estate:
today’s requirements", "Bulgaria – investment solution", "Competitive
advantages for stable development", "Tourism in Armenia: experience
and perspectives", "Business-training: luxury or necessity" and
"Presentation of Sverdlov region".

Over 300 businessmen are expected to participate to the event this
year.

Justifying "Armenian Davos" title, BRIDGE forum is t he place where
politicians, reps of government bodies, manufacturers and businessmen,
scientists and public figures form Armenia and abroad meet and have
discussions.

Organizators оf Forum are Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen
(Employers) of Armenia and Center of International Integration Support
MASTER by the official support of RA Ministry of Economy, RA Foreign
Ministry and Central Bank of Armenia.

The first International Economic Forum BRIDGE took place in
Tsakhkadzor, Armenia on July 23-26 2004. Over 70 businessmen from
Armenia, Russia, Georgia and Iran took part in it.

The fifth International Economic Forum BRIDGE 2008 took place in
Tsakhkadzor on February 15-18, 2008. Over 300 businessmen from Armenia,
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Austria and Iran
took part in it.
–Boundary_(ID_5x4MVozMsWa/YVryBJBCpQ)–

AZNAVOUR TO BECOME AN AMBASSADOR
By Chris Green

Independent.co.uk
Friday, 13 February 2009

The French singer Charles Aznavour has agreed to become an ambassador
to Switzerland for his ancestral homeland of Armenia.

Aznavour, 84, who has been dubbed the French Frank Sinatra, was born
in France of Armenian parents. He was granted Armenian citizenship
in December last year in recognition of his humanitarian work in the
country, but lives in Switzerland.

In an interview broadcast on Armenian television, the singer said:
"At first I hesitated, as I thought that this is no easy matter. But
then I thought that, in the end, what is important for Armenia must
be important for all of us. I accepted this proposal with pleasure,
joy and a deep feeling of honour."

Aznavour has always maintained close links with his parents’ country,
learning the language despite growing up in France. After an earthquake
in 1988 which killed 25,000 people, he set up the Aznavour for
Armenia committee to help victims. The following year he wrote and
recorded a charity single, "Pour toi Armenie", which sold more than
a million copies.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: IT IS IN INTERESTS OF ARMENIA TO INTRODUCE THE REGIONAL CURRENCY AMONG CIS COUNTRIES

Regnum
ml
Feb 10 2009
Russia

Armenia is committed in introduction of the regional currency among CIS
countries, said Tigran Sargsyan, the Armenian Prime-minister in program
"Together" on MIR TV. "We have a whole package of suggestions on this
subject, in particular, how it can be done. And what is interesting,
that the Central Bank of Armenia proposed this amendment three years
ago", — stressed the Armenian premier.

Sargsyan underlined, that a project is on the table of the CIS
Intergovernmental Bank. According to him, this bank, where are
represented all CIS countries’ Central Banks could be an appropriate
instrument.

"In case the Central Banks will use these currencies and consider
them as own reserve currencies, it will be the first step towards
calculations in rubles between CIS countries, and in its turn,
it means, that the Central Bank of Armenia will have to recognize
ruble as its reserve currency. Hereinafter, our commercial banks can
maintaine a ruble accounts in Armenian Central Bank and so on. It
is quite a logical scheme, and Armenia is very interested ruble to
become a currency, to carry out a transaction not only with Russia
but also with CIS other countries. We will make every effort to turn
it to reality", — said Sargsyan.

AZERBAIJAN AIR FORCE CHIEF SHOT DEAD

Agence France Presse
Feb 11 2009
France

BAKU (AFP) — The chief of Azerbaijan’s air force was shot dead outside
his home early Wednesday, the highest ranking military official to
be killed in the oil-rich republic wedged between Russia and Iran.

Lieutenant-General Rail Rzayev, 64, was gunned down outside his home
in the capital Baku as he left for work, interior ministry spokesman
Sadiq Gozalov told AFP.

"The general was shot and received a heavy wound to the head. He was
sent to the military hospital in Baku, where he died," Gozalov said.

Gozalov said police were investigating and that military prosecutors
would be handling the case. He said he had no information regarding
a possible motive for the shooting.

A funeral was held several hours after his death, in accordance with
Muslim tradition. ANS television showed images of Rzayev’s coffin,
draped in an Azerbaijani flag, being carried by an honour guard
of soldiers.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev condemned the killing and hinted
it may have been aimed at sowing political instability.

"Those who committed and those who ordered this terrible crime must be
promptly exposed and detained," Aliyev told law-enforcement officials
in televised remarks.

"At various times there have been attempts to destabilise the political
situation in the country, but the public knows that law enforcement
bodies have always dealt with such attempts," he said.

Azerbaijan suffered from a string of high-profile assassinations
in the early 1990s, including the killings of the deputy speaker of
parliament and the presidential security chief in 1994.

Experts said the killing may have been a contract hit linked with
Rzayev’s role in large-scale military acquisitions Azerbaijan has
made in recent years as government coffers surged from oil revenues.

"This is the most serious murder in the history of Azerbaijan’s
defence ministry," Baku-based military analyst Uzeir Jafarov said.

"Rzayev was the focal point for air force and air defence military
acquisitions and the largest part of (Azerbaijan’s) military budget
is being allocated for acquisitions in these spheres."

He said he was unaware of any personal problems that may have been
behind the killing.

Jafarov also said Rzayev had no ambitions outside his role as air
force chief and doubted whether the killing was linked to an internal
struggle within Azerbaijan’s military.

Azerbaijan has more than quadrupled its military budget in the last
five years thanks to soaring oil revenues.

But in a report last year, the Brussels-based International
Crisis Group said Azerbaijan’s military is plagued by "widespread
inefficiency, corruption and mistreatment."

Azerbaijan is in the strategic Caucasus region, where Russia and the
United States are vying for influence. The energy-rich, mainly Muslim
republic is also a major energy exporter and transit hub for oil and
gas from the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan remains technically at war with neighbouring Armenia over
the separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh, which ethnic Armenian
separatists wrested from Baku’s control during a war in the early
1990s.

Azerbaijan has also claimed it faces a threat from radical Islamic
groups and has arrested dozens of alleged extremists in recent years
on charges of plotting attacks.

In 2007, Azerbaijani authorities said they had foiled a major
"terrorist" attack planned against government facilities and diplomatic
missions, including the US embassy.

ANS television reported that Rzayev had been the head of Azerbaijan’s
air force and air defence forces since 1992.

Rzayev was Azerbaijan’s pointman in negotiations between Russia
and the United States over the use of the Gabala radar station in
northern Azerbaijan.

Russia in 2007 offered to share the Gabala station, which it leases
from Azerbaijan, in exchange for the US dropping plans to deploy
a radar station in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in
Poland as part of its missile defence systems.

GEERT WILDERS REFUSED UK ENTRY VISA

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.02.2009 14:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Dutch member of parliament facing prosecution
because of his anti-Islam remarks said on Tuesday that Britain had
refused him entry to the country as a threat to public security.

Geert Wilders had wanted to show a short film, "Fitna," which accuses
the Koran of inciting violence, in the British parliament, but said
the British authorities had told him he was excluded from the country.

"The secretary of state (minister) is satisfied that your statements
about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film "Fitna"
and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public
security in the United Kingdom," Wilders told Dutch television a
letter he had received from the British government said.

Wilders faces prosecution by an Amsterdam court for inciting hatred
and discrimination.

Britain’s Home Office (Interior Ministry) declined to comment on
Wilders’ exclusion, but a spokeswoman said the government opposed
all forms of extremism.

"It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent
messages in our communities from coming to our country," she said.

Wilders, whose film urged Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses
from the Koran and who has compared Islam to Nazism, said on his
party’s website Britain had sacrificed freedom of speech.

"This is something you expect in Saudi Arabia but not in Britain. I
think this cowardly position of Britain is very bad," he wrote.

The Netherlands has complained to Britain about Wilders’ exclusion on
the ground that Dutch members of parliament should be able to travel
freely in the European Union, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime
Verhagen said in a statement.

The Netherlands has condemned the film, which was aired over the
Internet last March, and distanced itself from its content, saying
the film served no other purpose than causing offence, Reuters reports.

17-minute Fitna wishes to demonstrate that the Koran, and the Islamic
culture in general, motivates its followers to hate all who violate
the Islamic teachings. Consequently, the film argues, Islam encourages,
among others, acts of terrorism, anti-Semitism, violence against women,
and Islamic universalism. A large part of the movie deals with the
influence of Islam on the Netherlands.

On March 27, 2008, Fitna was released to the Internet on the video
sharing website Liveleak in Dutch and English versions.

NEW AMBASSADOR OF ISRAEL PRESENTS COPY OF HIS CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Noyan Tapan

Feb 11, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian foreign minister Edward
Nalbandian on February 11 received the newly-appointed ambassador of
Israel to Armenia Shemi Tzur (residence in Jerusalem), who presented
a copy of his credentials to E. Nalbandian. During a talk, the sides
attached importance to the activation of political dialog between
the two countries, the extension of the legal and contractual field
and deepening the trade and economic relations.

NT was informed by the RA MFA Press and Information Department that
the interlocutors discussed the February 10 parliamentary election
in Israel, the situation in the Middle East, the Artsakh problem
settlement process, and the prospects of regulating Armenian-Turkish
relations.

JAVAKHETI WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER KARABAKH – BAIBURT

The Messenger
Feb 11 2009
Georgia

Official Baku is sure that Russia and Armenia plan to create a military
provocation in Nagorno- Karabakh, Akhali Taoba reports. Georgian
experts don’t exclude that this provocation will also be aimed
at Georgia.

Van Baiburt, an ethnic Armenian member of the Georgian Parliament,
has said that this statement has been made by certain powers to create
panic in Georgia. "That happened in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and will
not be repeated. No one can make Georgians and Armenians confront
each other. Moscow risks everything to create some provocations
in Javakheti. Turkish-Meskhetians don’t want to return to either
Akhalkalaki or Ninotsminda," he says.

NONE OF THE ACCUSED HAVE COMMITTED MURDER

A1+
[05:19 pm] 10 February, 2009

What impact will the amendments of articles 225 and 300 have on
the "Case of Seven" and representatives of the opposition charged
with these articles? Candidate of juridical sciences, expert Hrair
Toghmasyan was not able to give an answer to "A1+".

"The amendments must have an impact on most of the prisoners, if not
everyone. The prisoners of the "Case of Seven" will feel the impact
of the amendments, if the corpus delicti are omitted, charges are
dropped and the Prosecutor General’s office finds that there should
be an extenuation," said Hrair Tovmasyan who is a member of the NA
Working Group created for making amendments to articles 225 and 300
of the Criminal Code.

According to him, the name of article 300 of the RA Criminal Code
"Usurpation of the state" contradicts the content of the article.

"The title of the article is usurpation of power and the article is
about the actions taken to usurp that power."

According to the candidate of juridical sciences, article 225 of the
Criminal Code entitled "Mass murders" is also uncertain.

None of the accused of the "Case of Seven" has committed murder. The
third part of article 225 states the murders that were committed
during the disorder. The charges pressed against the prisoners after
the events of March 1 are legally uncertain. Article 225 doesn’t
define what riots are and it only mentions the types of disturbances,
such as assaults, massacre and murders."

Thus, the murders on March 1 don’t fit in the "Case of Seven" and
articles 225 and 300 that the political prisoners are charged with.

What surprises Hrair Toghmasyan is that the CE Venice Commission has
praised articles 225 and 300. "These articles contradict one another
and they are complex."