Author: Andres-Papazian

MINISTER NALBANDIAN MEETS ITALIAN SENATORS

armradio.am
21.10.2011 15:05

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today the delegation of
the Italian Senate, members of the Committee on EU Policies Rosana
Baldi and Cristano de Eccher and Chairman of the Armenia-Italy Deputy
Friendship Group Albertina Soliani.

Greeting the guests, Minister Nalbandian noted that “Armenia is
interested in the development of relations with Italy both in bilateral
format and within the framework of international organizations” and
emphasized the importance of parliamentary ties for the development
of inter-state cooperation.

The Italian Senators said they have arrived in Armenia to promote
the development of relations with the Armenian National Assembly,
discuss the current state and perspectives of Armenia-EU cooperation
and familiarize with the reforms implemented in Armenia. The guests
assured they would continue to contribute to the deepening of friendly
ties between Armenia and Italy.

The parties discussed issues related to the further reinforcement of
Armenian-Italian relations, the Armenia-EU cooperation and settlement
of regional problems.

From: A. Papazian

LEAVE FOR WAR TO WIN AND NOT TO DIE

Aysor.am
Friday,October 21

Leaving for war and dying for the sake of the fatherland is the
undividable part of the Armenian’s psychology.

However, Avik Isahakyan, the head of the Literature institute said
that we should omit from our psychology of martyring in war.

“We do not realize since Avarayr war that we shouldn’t fight in a
war to die, but to win,” he said.

It was during Artsakh war only when the Armenians left for war with
the intention to win. “They left for war singing songs about their
fatherland,” A. Isahakyan recalled. He also added that one of the good
sides of the Armenian national psychology is the ability to unify in
dangerous situations. “We become like one fist when we are in danger,
but when the danger is gone we get parted.”

From: A. Papazian

LE PRESIDENT ALIEV ASSURE QUE L’INTEGRITE TERRITORIAL DE L’AZERBAIDJAN SERA RESTAUREE
Gari

armenews.com
vendredi 21 octobre 2011

L’Azerbaïdjan saura restaurer son integrite territoriale, a martele
le president azeri Ilham Aliev lors d’une reception officielle a
l’occasion du 20e anniversaire de l’accession a l’independance du
pays. “Nous avons reussi a montrer au monde que le Haut Karabagh
est un territoire historique de l’Azerbaïdjan, tant au regard
de l’Histoire que de la legislation international, a declare le
president azeri. “Notre diplomatie active porte ses fruits. Je suis
convaincu que ce problème trouvera sa solution juste en conformite
avec la legislation internationale, et que l’Azerbaïdjan restaurera
son integrite territorial”, a precise M. Aliev. L’Azerbaïdjan a ete
guide par plusieurs principes dans son developpement”, a poursuivi
M. Aliev, en ajoutant avec emphase : “Nous savons tous pertinemment que
l’Azerbaïdjan independant n’a fait que ses tous premiers pas. L’Etat
independant d’Azerbaïdjan a toute l’eternite devant lui. Nous decidons
par nous-memes des règles fondamentales qui le regiront. Les fondations
jetees aujourd’hui – les principes d’independance, de souverainete,
de democratie, d’economie de marche et de justice sociale – sont
le socle de notre système d’Etat. Une ideologie nationale forte,
et les principes de dignite et d’honneur national, nous indiquent
la voie a suivre”, a indique M. Aliev. Le Parlement azeri a adopte
l’Acte d’Independance de l’Etat d’Azerbaïdjan le 18 octobre 1991.

From: A. Papazian

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT WRITERS WHO ARRIVED IN ARMENIA WITHIN “LITERATURE ARK” PROJECT?

Mediamax
Oct 20 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The launch of “Literature Ark 2011: 10 years later”
project was announced in Yerevan October 19, within the framework of
which European writers have arrived in Armenia.

The guests will travel across Armenia for 10 days and then write about
their impressions, which will be published as a separate collection.

The participants of the project are:

Herbert Maurer (Austria), Geert van Istendael and Filip Van
Zandycke (Belgium), Peeter Sauter and Vahur Afanasjev (Estonia),
Serge Venturini (France), Christiane Lange and Swantje Lichtenstein
(Germany), David Magradze (Georgia), Arlette van Laar and Serge van
Duijnhoven (Holland), Claudio Pozzani (Italy), Leo Butnaru (Moldova),
Jacek Pacocha (Poland), Bejan Matur (Turkey).

Mediamax decide to gather information about some of these writers.

French poet Serge Venturini visited Armenia back in 1987-1990. He is
famous for his “poetry of destiny”. He has also contributed to making
the Armenian literature more popular: Serge Venturini translated the
works of Charents and Sayat-Nova into French.

Georgian poet David Magradze wrote the text of the Georgian anthem,
where he used quotations from poems of Georgian classical poets. He is
also the leader of “Protect Georgia” NGO. Early this year he presented
the conception called “New Georgian Conservatism”.

Leo Butnaru- a poet, prose writer, essayist and translator, arrived
in Armenia from Moldova. He made his first translation – a poem
by Yesenin, when he was in 10th grade at school. Leo Buntaru is
specialized in translating Vladimir Mayakovski. He also composed
and published some anthologies, particularly the anthology “Russian
avant-garde”.

Austrian writer Herbert Maurer perfectly knows Armenian – both the
modern and the old (Grabar) one. He studied Armenian in Vienna and
later improved his knowledge in Venice and Armenia. He has been
recently translating contemporary Armenian literature into German.

Herbert Maurer works on the second volume of translations of
contemporary Armenian literature. He is also famous for translating
medieval Armenian literature.

A writer from Turkey, Bejan Matur, also arrived in Armenia within the
framework of the project. She often writes articles about the problem
of Kurds and urges to make amendments to the Turkish Constitution to
solve this problem.

From: A. Papazian

BAKU URGES FAST WORK ON COMPREHENSIVE AGREEMENT ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

ITAR-TASS
October 19, 2011 Wednesday 01:32 PM EST
Russia

The parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should start drafting a
comprehensive peace agreement without any delay, Azerbaijan’s Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov told a news conference in Baku following
his talks with Ecuadorian counterpart Ricardo Armando Patino Aroca.

“Without wasting any time the drafting must be started of a
comprehensive peace agreement (on Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement)
on the basis of the already coordinated issues,” the Azerbaijani
foreign minister said. At the same time he pointed to the need for
further work on the remaining points of disagreement.

Mamedyarov said that in the course of next week’s visit to the region
by the co-chairs of the Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh the state of
affairs at the negotiations will be discussed and the work continued on
“the questions that remain open.”

“We’ve got to proceed at a faster pace,” Mamedyarov said.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN READY TO START WORK ON PEACE AGREEMENT WITH ARMENIA – BAKU

Interfax
Oct 19 2011
Russia

The leadership of Azerbaijan at the Baku talks with cochairmen of the
OSCE Minsk group intends to discuss the drafting of a large-scale
peace agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov has said.

“We are prepared to start work on the large-scale peace agreement on
the basis of the settled issues [with Armenia] and intend to mull over
the matter with the cochairmen,” he said at a briefing on Wednesday.

According to the minister, during the next tour of the conflict region
at the beginning of next week, the cochairmen will visit Baku. Their
main purpose will be to finalize outstanding issues and the further
direction of joint work.

Mamedyarov spoke of the need for intensive work on coordinating
outstanding issues, but stressed that they should not obstruct the
beginning of work on the peace treaty.

“It is a big document and we must not lose time on resolving issues
that should work out one way or another,” he said.

Mamedyarov said that on Tuesday Baku saw a thorough discussion of
ways of settling the Karabakh conflict with U.S. Deputy Secretary of
State William Burns.

From: A. Papazian

EXPORT GROWTH IN ARMENIA MAKES 30.6% IN SEPTEMBER 2011

Mediamax
Oct 20 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. External trade turnover in Armenia made USD
525.3mln or AMD 195.4bln as of September 2011, having increased by
26.7% against the same period of 2010.

As of September, export volume increased by 48.8% having made AMD
53.2bln or USD 142.9mln in the accounting period. Import increased
by 20.1% against the same period of 2010, having made AMD 142.2bln
or USD 382.4mln, Mediamax was informed in the National Statistical
Service of Armenia.

External trade turnover deficit made AMD 89bln or USD239.5mln as
of September.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH STATUS QUO ‘NOT SUSTAINABLE,’ SAYS TOP U.S. OFFICIAL

Armenialiberty.org

Oct 20 2011

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns urged a greater “sense
of urgency” for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on
Thursday, saying that continued deadlock in Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks would be fraught with serious security risks.

Ending a visit to Yerevan, Burns also said that the United States is
continuing to press Turkey to normalize its relations with Armenia.

“It’s obvious to all of us that there is no military solution to this
[Karabakh] conflict,” he told journalists. “And it’s also obvious,
it seems to me, that the status quo is not sustainable.”

“Therefore it’s important to approach this challenge with a sense of
urgency,” he said.

Burns gave no indications that Washington will now seek a larger role
in the negotiating peace and push harder for an Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace deal. “I would simply re-emphasize the commitment of the United
States to doing everything that we can to help bring about a lasting
peaceful settlement,” he said.

Russia, which co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group with the U.S. and France,
has been the most active player in the Karabakh conflict mediation
in recent years. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has hosted about
a dozen meetings between his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts.

But the latter have so far failed to iron out their differences on the
basic principles of a peaceful settlement put forward by the three
mediating powers. The impasse is fuelling growing fears of another
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

Karabakh was high on the agenda of what Burns called “excellent and
productive” talks with President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian held on Wednesday. The U.S. official discussed the
unresolved dispute with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Baku
on Tuesday.

Burns said he also discussed with the Armenian leaders the stalled
process of normalizing Armenia’s relations with Turkey. “We appreciate
Armenia’s commitment to normalization of relations with Turkey,”
he said. “We support the Turkey-Armenia protocols [signed in 2009]
and hope that they will be ratified, creating a better future for
both countries.”

Burns declined to comment on Yerevan’s threats to formally annul the
protocols if Ankara continues to make their parliamentary ratification
contingent on Karabakh peace. He said only that Washington believes
both sides should implement the normalization deal “as quickly as
possible.”

“We continue to encourage our partners in Turkey to move in that
direction,” he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly pressed the Turkish
leaders to drop the Karabakh linkage when she visited Istanbul in
July. However, the Turkish government remains adamant in linking the
two issues.

Echoing statements by other U.S. diplomats, Burns further stressed
the importance of the proper conduct of Armenia’s next parliamentary
and presidential elections due in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

“Since 2012 is an election year, we discussed [with Sarkisian] the
importance of establishing an electoral environment conducive to
free and fair elections,” he said. “This means not only what happens
on election day but what happens in the wider democratic process,
including encouraging vibrant and diverse media so that citizens can
make well-informed independent choices.”

From: A. Papazian

MALARIA INFECTION RATES DECLINING WORLDWIDE, WHO SAYS

Deutsche Welle
,,15473631,00.html
Oct 20 2011
Germany

Author: Cyrus Farivar (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Sean Sinico

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Millions of people
are affected by malaria worldwideThe World Health Organization declares
Armenia as “malaria-free,” while a new vaccine shows promise.

A Ghanaian malaria expert says results are “remarkable.”

Public health experts announced two major breakthroughs in malaria
research and eradication this week. The World Health Organization
declared Armenia malaria-free and a new trial in a malaria vaccine
had cut infection rates by 50 percent.

The WHO also said global malaria infection rates have dropped by
20 percent over the last decade, adding that there were 225 million
cases of malaria and an estimated 781,000 deaths in 2009.

The WHO announced on Monday that malaria had been eliminated in the
Caucasus nation.

“I have great pleasure in announcing that Armenia has been certified
by WHO as malaria-free,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, the head of the WHO,
in a speech in Seattle. “This happens only when a country has excellent
surveillance and response capacity, able to detect every imported case
and ensure that it does not ignite a re-establishment of transmission.”

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO’s director, spoke in Seattle this week She
added that significant progress has been made in eradicating malaria
from Europe and its periphery.

“The malaria map is shrinking,” she said. “In 2009, for the first time,
not a single case of falciparum malaria was reported in the European
Region, and this trend continues. WHO procedures for certifying a
country as malaria-free, abandoned in the 1980s, were reinstated in
2004. Since 2007, Morocco, Turkmenistan, and United Arab Emirates
have been certified as malaria-free.”

According to the WHO, malaria was prevalent in Armenia until the
1950s, and was thought ot have been eradicated in 1963. The disease
resurfaced in the 1990s, but now has been since eliminated due to
control intervention, long-lasting insecticidal nets, insecticides,
and better diagnostic techniques.

New clinical trial

The public health community has been very encouraged by the first
results of a large-scale trial on an advanced malaria vaccine candidate
drug, known officially as RTS,S/AS01. The drug was first created in
a Belgian lab in 1987 by the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and
entered smaller-scale testing in the United States and Africa in the
subsequent years.

Malaria is caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes. The new
vaccine is designed to take effect once the parasite enters the human
bloodstream by forcing the body’s own immune system to react. Then,
the activated immune system prevents the parasite from maturing and
reproducing in the body.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
GlaxoSmithKline was the company that originally developed this
vaccine candidate The WHO reported that in its preliminary results,
it reduced malaria infections by 55 percent when given to children
under the age of 17 months. The trial tested over 15,000 infants in
seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso,
Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

“This is remarkable when you consider that there has never been
a successful vaccine against a human parasite,” Tsiri Agbenyega,
chair of the RTS,S Clinical Trials Partnership and head of malaria
research at Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, told
the AFP news agency.

The results of the study were published Tuesday in the New England
Journal of Medicine and were presented at the Malaria Forum conference
in Seattle.

The public health and medical community have embraced these promising
results so far.

“It’s been a long time coming, and indeed we are still not there
yet, but it is becoming increasingly clear that we really do have
the first effective vaccine against a parasitic disease in humans,”
wrote Nicholas White of Thailand’s Mahidol University in an editorial
in the New England Journal of Medicine, noting that he expected the
drug treatment to be available in “just over three years.”

From: A. Papazian

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF YOUNG HISTORIANS DEDICATED TO 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIA’S INDEPENDENCE

ARMENPRESS
October 19, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS: International scientific conference
dedicated to 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence will be held
November 6-8 on the initiative of the Armenian Youth Foundation,
undertaking team of young historians and State Pedagogical University
after Khachatur Abovyan. Executive Director of the Armenian Youth
Foundation Alexander Ter-Hovakimyan told a news conference that the
foundation has been established on the initiative of Serzh Sargsyan and
is called to support young people, youth programs and organizations.

“During 2011 the foundation has already funded and jointly implemented
90 programs. The programs are implemented in 5 directions – education
and science, healthy lifestyle, social-economic and employment
issues, spiritual, patriotic, cultural upbringing, international and
all-Armenian cooperation,” Mr. Ter-Hovakimyan said.

Specialists from the NKR, US, Russia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Italy
have submitted applications for participation in the scientific
conference. The presented articles concern Armenian studies, the
ideas of nation and state, church-nation relations.

From: A. Papazian