Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIA INTERESTED IN FREE TRADE ZONE

news.am
Dec 13 2010
Armenia

The Foreign Minister of the EU Eastern Partnership member-states held
a meeting in Brussels on December 13. An Armenian delegation led by
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the meeting.

The press service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed
NEWS.am that EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy Catherine Ashton chaired the meeting. The Foreign
Ministers of the EU member-states, six states participating in the
Eastern Partnership Project, as well as European Commission, CE and
European Parliament officials participated in the meeting.

Minister Edward Nalbandian made a speech at the meeting. He underlined
the importance of successful negotiations for an association
agreement. He pointed out that two rounds and seven video conferences
have been held since this July. The third round of negotiations is
to be held in Yerevan in two days.

Speaking of the visa requirements, Minister Nalbandian pointed out
that Armenia intends to sign a framework agreement on simplification
of visa requirements and repatriation and expects the documents to
be signed as soon as possible.

Minister Nalbadian addressed conflict settlement. He mentioned a
point incorporated in the declaration of the OSCE Summit in Astana
– conflicts must be settled within the current formats and on the
basis of international legal norms. Minister Nalbandian underlined
the fact the international agencies authorized to deal with conflicts
have the necessary experience and can act effectively.

From: A. Papazian

KAROTZ – IT’S NABAZTAG REBORN!

Stuff.tv

Dec 13 2010

Nabaztag will return as Karotz, the orange-hearted Wi-Fi bunny Anyone
remember Nabaztag, the French-Armenian web-connected rabbit gadget
that could read emails and deliver weather reports? Well, we liked
it so much we named it one of our “Best of 2006”, so the news that
it’s all set for a return has caused a buzz around Stuff Towers.

Now called Karotz, the bunny will relaunch in March 2011 with a
new design and new features. Those weather reports are still there,
but now there are Twitter and Facebook updates too.

He’ll play music and podcasts, and even remind you of friends’
birthdays, and keep an eye on your gear with its webcam – which can
even send pics directly to your smartphone.

We’ll get a chance to meet Karotz personally at CES in early January,
but in the meantime this video should give you an idea of what he’s
all about.

From: A. Papazian

STRONG BUT NOT PREDATORY: OPINION POLL REVEALS ARMENIAN PERCEPTION OF EU

ENPI Info Centre

Dec 13 2010

Strong but not predatory, like a bear: this was one of the recurring
associations made by opinion leaders in Armenia, when asked which
animal the European Union could be compared to, and why. This was just
one of the findings of a wide-ranging survey carried out as part of
the Opinion Polling and Research (OPPOL) project, funded under the
2007-2010 European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI)
regional information and communication programme.

The survey aimed to generate better information about awareness,
understanding and perception of the EU and the role it plays in
Armenia. The first phase was a baseline study, which interviewed
opinion leaders to evaluate their perception, knowledge and appraisal
of the EU. The second phase involved an opinion poll which questioned
members of the general public.

The overwhelming majority of respondents have a positive assessment
of the EU and its relations with Armenia. An impressive 98% of
opinion leaders for example say that Armenia has good or fairly good
relations with the EU. Most respondents also felt that the EU’s level
of involvement in Armenia is appropriate. (ENPI Info Centre)

Key findings and insights from the Armenian survey can be found at

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FM HOLDS MEETINGS IN ASHGABAT

news.am
Dec 13 2010
Armenia

The International Conference on Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan:
Cooperation for Peace, Security and Progress was held in Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan on Dec. 11-12. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedov, as well as delegations from Central Asia countries and
representatives of international and regional agencies, participated
in the conference.

The press service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed
NEWS.am that RA Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan represented Armenia
at the conference. The participants discussed regional problems and
steps to prevent conflicts.

Sh. Kocharyan held meetings with Turkmen Deputy FM Rashid Seredov,
Vice-Premier, Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Turkmen Intergovernmental
Commission Khyrdyr Saparliyev, Russian Deputy FM Grigory Karasin,
Tajik Deputy FM Mahmujan Sobirov, Georgian Deputy FM David Jalakhonia,
Kazakh Deputy FM Kairat Umarov.

From: A. Papazian

COURT REVIVES CLAIMS AGAINST INSURERS OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By STEVEN M. ELLIS, Staff Writer

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Dec 13 2010

A divided Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Friday reversed
its decision that federal law preempts a state statute extending the
limitations period for claims under life insurance policies issued
to victims of the Armenian Genocide.

The three-judge panel held that the state law was not in conflict
with federal law because there was no clearly-established, express
federal policy forbidding states from referring to the event.

The panel, in a 2009 ruling by Judge David R. Thompson, threw out a
class action by plaintiffs of Armenian descent who sued Germany~Rs
Victoria Insurance Company and others over the alleged wrongful
withholding of benefits from policies issued to victims of genocide at
the hands of Turks from 1915 to 1923 as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Prior Ruling

Judge Dorothy W. Nelson joined Thompson in that opinion, which found
preemption due to a conflict between Code of Civil Procedure Sec.
354.4 and an Executive Branch foreign policy preference declining
to provide official recognition to the Armenian Genocide. Enacted
in 2000 and modeled on a law passed to benefit Holocaust victims and
World War II slave laborers, the state law extended until the end of
this year the statute of limitations for claims arising from insurance
policies issued to ~SArmenian Genocide victim[s].~T

But on rehearing, Nelson cast her vote with Judge Harry Pregerson,
who had earlier dissented that no express federal policy prevented
the state from using the term.

Communications ~QCounterbalanced~R

Now writing for the majority, Pregerson wrote that three informal
presidential communications in the last 10 years rejecting
congressional resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide were
~Scounterbalanced, if not outweighed, by various statements from
the federal executive and legislative branches in favor of such
recognition.~T

The plaintiffs sued alleging unjust enrichment, constructive trust and
breaches of contract and the covenant of fair dealing. U.S. District
Judge Christina A. Snyder of the Central District of California granted
the defense~Rs motion to dismiss the former claims, but declined to
dismiss the breach claims.

Snyder also held that that the class members had standing and that
the named defendants were the proper defendants, and she rejected
the defense~Rs argument that Sec. 354.4 was unconstitutional on the
grounds that it violated due process and was preempted under the
foreign affairs doctrine.

The Ninth Circuit originally reversed Snyder~Rs latter decision,
but Pregerson noted Friday that the Executive Branch had used terms
~Svirtually indistinguishable~T to Armenian Genocide on a number of
other occasions.

He said the state~Rs effort to regulate the insurance industry was
~Swell within the realm of its traditional interests.~T He also pointed
out that the federal government has never expressed any opposition
to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by approximately 40 of
the states.

The judge rejected the defendants~R claims that two acts resolving
World War I-related claims between the United States and Germany
preempted Sec. 354.4, reasoning that neither the Claims Agreement
nor the War Claims Act had any application to policies issued to
citizens of the Ottoman Empire. He further opined that nothing in
the state law operated to limit the class of proper defendants or to
limit standing to any particular group.

Dissenting Opinion

Thompson dissented, writing that he still believed the Executive
Branch~Rs recent rejections of Congressional resolutions relating
to the genocide demonstrated an express federal policy, meaning that
the state statute was preempted for conflicting with federal policy
and because it dealt in a field~Wforeign policy~Wexpressly reserved
to the federal government.

Brian S. Kabateck of Kabateck Brown Kellner represented the plaintiffs
on appeal, while Neil Michael Soltman of Mayer Brown represented
the defendants.

The case is Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG, 07-56722.

From: A. Papazian

COURT REVIVES ARMENIANS’ SUIT FOR GENOCIDE BENEFITS
By TIM HULL

Courthouse News Service

Dec 13 2010

(CN) – The 9th Circuit revived a class action for insurance benefits
filed by survivors of the Armenian genocide, finding that there is
no federal policy that forbids California from recognizing the World
War I-era killing of more than 500,000 Armenians as a genocide.

In a rare reversal, the federal appeals panel in Pasadena on
Friday rejected its own 2009 opinion that the lawsuit was barred by
federal foreign policy. In that ruling, Judge David Thompson wrote for
the majority that the executive branch, by lobbying Congress against
making the term official, had “clearly establish[ed] a presidential
foreign policy preference against proving legislative recognition to an
‘Armenian genocide.'”

Now, with Thompson in the dissenting minority, the panel has
reached the opposite conclusion.

“Considering the number of expressions of federal executive and
legislative support for recognition of the Armenian genocide,
and federal inaction in the face of explicit state support for
such recognition, we cannot conclude that a clear, express federal
policy forbids the state of California from using the term ‘Armenian
genocide,'” Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the majority on Friday.
Pregerson wrote something similar in dissent last year.

In 2003, lead plaintiff Vazken Movsesian and other Californians
of Armenian descent sought damages for bad faith, breach of contract
and constructive trust from two German insurers owned by Munich Re.
The lawsuit relied on a California law that gave victims until the
end of 2010 to file insurance claims related to the mass extermination
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923.

The district court granted Munich Re’s motion to dismiss the
claims for unjust enrichment and constructive trust, but allowed the
breach of contract and bad-faith claims, finding that the California
law was not preempted under the foreign affairs doctrine.

On appeal in August 2009, the 9th Circuit voted 2-1 to dismiss
the plaintiffs’ claims for unjust enrichment and constructive trust,
but allowed them to sue for breach of contract.

On rehearing, however, the panel was not convinced by the
“informal presidential communications” that Munich Re presented
as evidence of an “express federal policy against use of the term
‘Armenian genocide.'”

Instead, the panel pointed to more than a decade of executive
branch commemorations and lobbying on behalf of Armenian victims.

“The executive branch has repeatedly used terms virtually
indistinguishable from ‘Armenian genocide.'” Pregerson wrote, citing
the use of the term by Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Obama.

“We conclude that there is no express federal policy forbidding
states to use the term ‘Armenian genocide,’ and we affirm the district
court,” Pregerson wrote.

In dissent, Thompson made substantially the same argument that he
made last year.

“Based on this undisputed evidence, which in my view is not
undermined by the federal government’s occasional efforts to
commemorate these tragic and horrific events, I would conclude that
there is an express foreign policy prohibiting legislative recognition
of the ‘Armenian genocide,’ as pronounced by the executive branch
and as acquiesced in by Congress,” Thompson wrote.

From: A. Papazian

WORLD STARS TO PLAY IN FILM ABOUT LOVE STORY OF ARMENIAN AND TURK

news.am
Dec 13 2010
Armenia

Turkish and French directors started getting ready for shooting of
a film telling a love story of an Armenian girl and Turkish soldier.

Jude Low, French star Vanessa Paradis and French actor of Turkish
origin Erik Kem will play leading roles, Pressturk reported.

The film will be shot in the Turkish provinces of Van and Erzincan
and French Marseille.

The producers point out idea of Armenian-Turkish friendship. The film
will tell a love story of Armenian girl Arpi and Turkish soldier Kerim.

From: A. Papazian

CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM TURKISH NEWLYWEDS ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY BRIDE’S BROTHER

Hurriyet
dec 13 2010
Turkey

A recently married, inter-religious couple was allegedly killed in
the center of Istanbul on Saturday by the wifeâ~@~Ys brother, news
agencies reported.

The woman, a Turkish Armenian, and the man, a Muslim Turk, had
reportedly married without the permission of the brideâ~@~Ys family.

Gönay Ã~V., the brother of murdered 26-year-old Sonay Vural, was
sent to court Monday for allegedly killing the newlywed couple.

â~@~They married despite us,â~@~] he said, adding that his family
had opposed the marriage due to cultural differences, DoÄ~_an news
agency reported.

Early media reports had said Sonay Vural was Syriac but the Hürriyet
Daily News & Economic Review has learned that she was Armenian. Her
funeral is expected to be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Surp Kevok
Armenian Church in Istanbul.

Media reports said her family had opposed the marriage because they
were Christian and the groom, a jeweler, was Muslim.

Sonay Vuralâ~@~Ys husband, Zekeriya Vural, was buried Monday in
a cemetery in the Sarıyer district, private news channel NTV
reported. The couple was married 11 days earlier.

The bodies of the couple were found in a car in the Seyitömer
neighborhood of Fatih district on Saturday night. An initial
investigation revealed that the couple had died from bullets wounds
to their heads and torsos.

Police reported that the couple had had dinner that evening with the
brideâ~@~Ys brother, who was detained later that evening.

The murder suspect told police that his sister told him that Zekeriya
Vural become a Christian and that they would have a wedding ceremony
in church, DoÄ~_an news agency reported.

According to his testimony, the suspected suggested a meeting between
himself and the couple to discuss the issue.

In the meeting, however, Zekeriya Vural said it was against his honor
to hold a wedding ceremony in a church and reportedly swore at the
suspect, leading the latter to commit the murder, according to the
testimony.

â~@~A difference of religions should not be a problem. They did not
approve of the marriage because our son was a Muslim. We struggled
so much for peace,â~@~] said Cemil Vural, Zekeriya Vuralâ~@~Ys uncle.

Cemil Vural said the couple loved each other very much and refused to
leave each other. Another relative of Zekeriya Vural said the couple
had married secretly. ,

â~@~The murder shows that they trapped our son,â~@~] said the
anonymous relative, DoÄ~_an news agency reported.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

SUNDAY SCHOOL STUDENTS CELEBRATE THE
“THE SUNDAY SCHOOL DAY” IN ANTELIAS

On Saturday 4 December 2010, on the feast of St. Thaddeus and Bartholomew
the two apostles who traveled through Armenia in AD 45 preached and
consequently, established numerous secret Christian communities. Recently,
His Holiness Aram I declared the day of the feast of the Apostles also as
the “Sunday School Day”.

The students first assisted in the Holy Liturgy celebrated by Rev. Ghevont
Pentezian, director of Sunday Schools Department of the Catholicosate. And
then after the Liturgy, the they met with His Holiness Aram I, and shared
with him the prayers and hymns they had learned. After thanking them for
their presentation, Catholicos Aram I encouraged the students to continue
loving the Armenian Church, the Sunday School and the Armenian Community
Schools. At the end every student greeted His Holiness Aram I and received
his blessing.

Celebrations were concluded by a general knowledge contest organized by the
director and teachers of Sunday school.

##
View the photos here:

*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
jurisdiction and the Christian Education activities in both the
Catholicosate and the dioceses, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

THE PRESIDENTS OF FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN FRANCE
AND A DELEGATION VISIT HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

On Saturday 11 December 2010, His Holiness Aram I received Claude Batty, the
President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in France and his
delegation including Yves Gounel of Action Chretiènne, Rev. Robert
Sarkissian, and other members of the Federation. In his welcome and
introductory remarks, Catholicos Aram I spoke of the Armenian Catholicosate
of Cilicia, its focus on ecumenical relations, and its efforts in interfaith
dialogue locally, regionally and internationally. He then described the
difficulties local churches are facing and the challenges to ecumenism in
the Middle East region.

The guests then discussed with His Holiness the projected activities of the
Federation in the Middle East, and shared with their findings as a result of
their conversations with other churches in the region during their travel.

##
View the photo here:

*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

From: A. Papazian