Author: Andres-Papazian

IT IDEA GRANT CONTEST ANNOUNCED UNDER ESTABLISHMENT OF MIC IN ARMENIA PROJECT

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 26, 2010 – 21:00 AMT 17:00 GMT

The RA Ministry of Economy and Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF)
in partnership with USAID/Armenia and Microsoft RA announced anIT Idea
Grant Contestunder the Establishment of Microsoft Innovation Center
(MIC) in Armenia Project.

The goalof the contestis to develop and apply innovative IT
solutions that will help in addressing Armenia-specific as well as
global development issues.The proposed programs can be designed for
any sector and propose IT solutions for increasing effectiveness and
productivity in all sectors of economy, including but not limited to
government, business, social sectors and community development.Special
attention will be given to proposals presented in the framework of
the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The contest eligibility criteriainclude teamwork, while each team
can have up to five members, including the team leader, below 35.

The deadline for submitting Applications is December 3, 2010.

Final presentations, evaluation and awards ceremony will be held on
December 20, 2010.

The best three teams will receive monetary prizes up to AMD 500,000
each.

From: A. Papazian

TWO WEB COMPETITIONS TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA IN DECEMBER 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 26, 2010 – 19:17 AMT 15:17 GMT

Two web competitions – E-content and ArmNet Awards sponsored by
VivaCell-MTS and Orange Armenia respectively – will be held in
December 2010.

President of the Armenian Association of Electronic Content Garegin
Chookaszian welcomed organization of ArmNet Awards, which stimulates
the development of Internet. However, Chookaszian told a press
conference dedicated to the launch of E-content competition that the
organizers should have displayed respect towards their work and refrain
from organizing their competition simultaneously with E-content.

Head of ArmNet Awards project Zhirayr Terzyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter that E-content competition involves a wide spectrum of the
electronic content – not only websites, but also software, CD and
video materials, etc.

“Meanwhile, we have chosen a narrow direction – web technologies
development. Thus, we intersect only at a small section,” said Terzyan.

As for coincidence of the dates, Terzyan said that organization of
E-content in 2010 was questioned at the moment, when the decision on
establishment of ArmNet Awards was adopted.

“We wanted to hold ArmNet Awards in November, but as jury members from
Russia were participating in Runet Prize competition, we were forced
to postpone the competition’s organization until December,” he said.

The competitions also differ by the voting system. ArmNet Awards is
held in two stages – Internet users select the finalists through voting
for the best websites during the first stage, while an international
jury defines the winners during the second stage.

As for E-content, its winners are defined in three stages by a jury
consisting of leading IT specialists of Armenia, representatives
of international organizations, state institutions and Armenia’s
business sector.

The results of ArmNet Awards and E-content will be summarized on
December 4 and 25 respectively.

From: A. Papazian

PRESIDENT GUL IN SWITZERLAND TO HOLD TALKS, STRENGTHEN BILATERAL TIES

Today’s Zaman
Nov 26 2010
Turkey

President Abdullah Gul has said he believes his first
presidential-level visit to Switzerland will fortify bilateral ties
between the two countries.

Gul told reporters in Ankara ahead of his departure to Switzerland
on Thursday morning that then-Swiss President Pascal Couchepin’s
visit to Turkey in 2008 was the first time that a Swiss president
had visited Turkey. Noting that his visit will also be the first
presidential-level visit to Bern, Gul said bilateral ties between
the two countries have accelerated in recent years and the role of
mutual visits is important in this.

Interior Minister BeÅ~_ir Atalay, Environment Minister Veysel Eroglu
and some deputies are accompanying Gul on his two-day visit.

Gul was also expected to meet with Erika Forster-Vannini, the head
of the Swiss Council of States, to discuss bilateral relations,
cooperation in international organizations and other regional and
international affairs that concern both Turkey and Switzerland.

Switzerland has previously facilitated Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
talks aimed at normalization between the two estranged neighbors, which
was concluded by the signing of twin protocols on the normalization
of relations and the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkey
and Armenia. But the process has currently stalled, and Switzerland
has recently called on both sides to rescue the process.

Gul will also address the Swiss National Assembly and will participate
in a high-level business meeting where officials and businessmen
will discuss economic cooperation opportunities between Turkey and
Switzerland.

Gul said he will attend the opening ceremony of the Cleantech Forum,
which features “technologies friendly with the environment,” with
Swiss President Doris Leuthard.

President Gul said the Turkish and Swiss economies are complementary
and there are cooperative opportunities for the two nations. “We could
provide peace, stability and prosperity to a large region through
joint works regarding our shared values and interests,” Gul said.

Saying that he attaches special importance in meeting with Turkish
communities in the countries he visits, Gul said he will also meet
with the Turkish community, numbering nearly 120,000, in Zurich.

The Turkish president also added that he believes his visit will
further advance and strengthen cooperation the two countries shoulder
both at a bilateral level and multilateral level in various platforms.

President Leuthard welcomed Gul and his wife at the Zurich airport
with a ceremony, and both presidents then proceeded to the capital
Bern by train, where they had lunch together.

Gul’s office said on Wednesday through a written statement that
relations between Switzerland and Turkey have picked up momentum in
recent years and there is a strong will and determination on both
sides to further mature relations and cooperation between the two
countries in the upcoming term.

From: A. Papazian

8% GROWTH RECORDED IN VOLUME OF NON-CASH PAYMENTS IN ARMENIA IN THIRD QUARTER OF 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 26, 2010

The amount of non-cash payments (number – 1977716) through Armenia’s
banking system totaled AMD 4,810bln in the third quarter of 2010.

The volume of payments (number – 860929) implemented through the
payment system of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) totaled AMD
3,969bln, the CBA press service reported.

8% and 20% growth was recorded in non-cash payments’ volume and number
respectively in the third quarter of 2010 compared to the same period
in 2009.

Besides, 30% increase was recorded in the volume of payments through
the CBA payment system, while their number grew by 6%.

Meanwhile, the average daily volume of money transfers through the CBA
payment system totaled AMD 62bln that is AMD 4.4bln higher compared
to the third quarter of 2009.

Besides, the volume of average daily transfers related to
stock-exchange deals amounted to AMD 146bln.

From: A. Papazian

‘OCCUPATION OF AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIES MAY LEAD TO UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS’

news.az
Nov 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Abdullah Gul A part of territories of Azerbaijan is under occupation.

The occupation of Azerbaijani territories may lead to unexpected
problems, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said at a joint press
conference with Doris Leuthard, President of Swiss Confederation,
in Bern on Thursday, Anadolu agency reports.

“There are some problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as
between Turkey and Armenia. A part of territories of Azerbaijan is
under occupation. Many people have become refugees. If this matter is
not resolved, some unexpected problems may appear. Everyone should
work for solution of the problem”, Gul said, replying to a question
on Turkish-Armenian relations.

From: A. Papazian

‘NATO SUMMIT DECLARATION MEANS OF PRESSURE ON ARMENIA’

news.az
Nov 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Presidential official Novruz Mammadov stressed the importance to
support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by NATO.

‘The NATO summit in Lisbon is a very important international event
since today NATO is one of the strongest military and political
structures on the plant, uniting such a superpower as the United
States and the leading European countries.

The declaration adopted on this summit on the support to the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is naturally the success of our
country’, chief of department for international relations of the
presidential administration Novruz Mammadov told the website of the
ruling New Azerbaijan party.

He said, on the one hand, the summit declaration is the success
of Azerbaijani diplomacy and on the other hand, it is the means of
pressure on Armenia.

‘The adopted declaration is also the success of the activity of our
president who attaches a great importance to the peaceful resolution
of the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the territorial
integrity of our country through negotiations and this position of
NATO is a logical result of the policy of our president and the state’,
Mammadov said.

Mammadov said the foreign policy of the country is the sphere where
the results of any step cannot be seen in short terms.

‘They can be seen in 3,5,10 and sometimes even 20 years. Therefore,
the wrong steps of Armenia will be obvious in some time’, he said.

According to Mammadov, the Armenian leadership and Armenian people
should realize that they lived at Azerbaijan’s expense in the USSR
period.

From: A. Papazian

‘KARABAKH CONFLICT MUST BE SETTLED THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS’

news.az
Nov 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Alberto D’Alotto Alberto D’Alotto, Deputy Foreign Minister of
Argentine, the country which was among first to recognize mythical
genocide of Armenia is visiting Baku.

Diplomat has responded to journalists’ questions after the meeting
with rector of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy Hafiz Pashayev.

As for Argentine’s position on the ‘Armenian genocide’, Alberto
D’Alotto said that the issue is regulated by the law, adopted by the
Argentine parliament: ‘This bill expresses interests of a definite
part of the population and respectively people voted for its adoption.

And we must follow it’, he explained.

As for the Karabakh conflict, the diplomat, in particular, said:
‘Nagorno Karabakh conflict must be solved through negotiations within
the framework of international law and UN resolutions’, D’Alotto said.

From: A. Papazian

LEBANESE ARMENIANS RIOT IN BEIRUT OVER ERDOGAN VISIT

By The Associated Press
Published 21:57 25.11.10

Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians who harbor deep animosity toward the
Turks over the 1915 killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians.

Hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent clashed with army troops
during a protest Thursday over a visit to Beirut by the Turkish
prime minister.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the
inauguration ceremony of a Turkish Trauma and Emergency hospital in
the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a two day trip
during which he met with officials and visited the north and south
of the country. He was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port
city of Sidon on Thursday as hundreds of protesters gathered in the
capital’s Martyrs’ Square to denounce his visit.

Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, or nearly 4 percent of its population,
whom harbor deep animosity toward the Turks over the 1915 killing of
up to 1.5 million Armenians.

When demonstrators tore up a large poster of Erdogan and pelted troops
with rocks, security responded by beating up a number of them.

There were no reports of major injuries.

Erdogan, who also attended a business conference Thursday, warned
Israel his country will not keep silent in case it attacks Lebanon
or Gaza again.

They invade Lebanon with the most modern warplanes and tanks, they
kill children and destroy schools and hospitals, and they expect us
to remain silent? he asked.

We will not keep silent and we will stand with all our capabilities
with what is right, he said.

Once close allies, ties between Israel and Turkey worsened in the
wake of the Gaza war and have practically broken down since Israel’s
deadly commando raid in May on a Turkish-led flotilla trying to breach
the blockade in Gaza. Nine Turks were killed in the raid.

During his visit to Lebanon, Erdogan repeatedly demanded an Israeli
apology for the incident.

From: A. Papazian

PERSONAL EXHIBITION OF VARDGES SURENYANTS TO OPEN IN MUNICH

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 26, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: ‘There are great individualities,
which must not be remembered only during anniversary years. One of
such great individualities was Vardges Surenyants, famous Armenian
painter and architect. We ought to remember and speak about such
great people every day,’ RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said
today in an interview with Armenpress.

The Minister says Armenian researchers have a serious mission to
accomplish: they must help the future generations know about those
names.

‘Vardges Surenyants was such an individuality, which created in various
states of the world – Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia. The fact that
we do not manage to put his art into a proper format and circulation
abroad is unacceptable and unpardonable,’ Hasmik Poghosyan said.

The Minister informed that an exhibition of the works of Vardges
Surenyants will open 2011 in Munich. Hasmik Poghosyan added that the
RA Culture Ministry, RA National Academy of Sciences, Matenadaran
and the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin held a scientific conference,
dedicated to the painter, in accordance with the program by the
governmental ad-hoc committee on preparation of celebration of
Surenyants’s anniversary.

The RA Culture Ministry ordered a film on Vardges Surenyants. The film
was shot by ‘Shoghakat’ TV company. ‘Surenyants 150’ commemorative
coin and a stamp were issued as well.

From: A. Papazian

EXHIBITION ON 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF BENIK PETROSYAN OPENS

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 26, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: The posthumous personal exhibition
of Benik Petrosyan – famous Armenian sculptor – opened today at the
Union of Painters of Armenia. RA Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan,
RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, a number of cultural figures
and art lovers were present at the opening ceremony of the exhibition,
which is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the sculptor.

Karen Aghamyan, chairman of the RA Union of Painters and the
sculptor’s friend, said Benik Petrosyan’s sculptures have lightness
and delicate humor. ‘He is a great master of miniatures,’ Karen
Aghamyan said. ‘Benik Petrosyan’s creations must be preserved and
handed down to the next generations,’ RA Diaspora Minister Hranush
Hakobyan said. Benik Petrosyan’s sculptures were exhibited in Armenia,
states of the former Soviet Union, as well as in Romania, Canada,
Japan, Syria, Poland, Germany, Holland, France and the US.

From: A. Papazian