Author: Andres-Papazian

MKHITARYAN, L’ARMENO SCOPERTO DA LUCESCU

Corriere dello Sport
2 ottobre 2012
Italia

E’ la grande sorpresa dello Shakhtar, che stasera affronta la Juventus:
ha 23 anni, è una mezzapunta, ha segnato tredici gol in dieci gare
nel campionato ucraino e due reti in Champions League contro i danesi
del Nordsjaelland. Dal Pyunik Yerevan alla chiamata di Mircea Lucescu:
così ha stregato l’Europa

ROMA – A Donetsk non ha trovato solo un ricco ingaggio, ma anche
l’ambiente ideale: Mircea Lucescu non si era mai fermato così a lungo
nella stessa citta, dopo aver cominciato nel 1979 la sua carriera di
allenatore nel Corvinul Hunedoara, serie B romena. Sono otto anni che
si è legato allo Shakhtar: ha costruito una squadra che ha piantato
le tende in Champions e si è fatta conoscere in Europa, spezzando in
Ucraina la storica egemonia della Dinamo Kiev, abituata a dominare
la scena da una vita, prima ai tempi dell’attaccante Oleh Blokhin
e poi di Valery Lobanovsky, passato dalla divisa di colonnello alla
panchina. Lucescu ha segnato la differenza, cambiando le prospettive
dello Shakhtar: ha vinto sei scudetti (gli ultimi di tre di fila),
quattro Coppe dell’Ucraina e una Coppa Uefa. Si divide tra schemi
e scrivania. E’ un manager con pieni poteri: gestisce un budget,
segue da vicino ogni trattativa, firma gli acquisti. Lucescu proviene
dalla scuola di Romeo Anconetani, l’ex presidente del Pisa che nel
1990 lo fece sbarcare in Italia, dopo averlo visto al timone della
Dinamo Bucarest.

OTTO BRASILIANI – Nella scelta dei giovani talenti ha sempre dimostrato
uno straordinario istinto. Lanciò Andrea Pirlo nel Brescia, quando il
centrocampista giocava negli Allievi e aveva appena compiuto sedici
anni (era il 21 maggio del 1995, 0-2 con la Reggiana). Lucescu ha
aiutato lo Shakhtar a farsi largo nel panorama europeo e a diventare
una splendida multinazionale: ecco il suo biglietto da visita,
aspettando la sfida di stasera in Champions con la Juventus.

Sono otto i brasiliani di Lucescu, tutti in grado di richiamare
l’attenzione dei club di prima fascia. Il più corteggiato è Douglas
Costa, classe 1990, mezzapunta, ex Gremio: è costato cinque milioni
di dollari nel 2010 e nella scorsa estate è stato studiato dal Napoli.

Douglas Costa guida la colonia verdeoro: dal terzino Ilsinho (1985, ex
San Paolo) ai centrocampisti Fernandinho (1985, cresciuto nell’Atletico
Paranaense), Willian (1988, lanciato dal Corinthians) e Alan Patrick
(1991, pescato da Lucescu nel Santos). Il blocco dei brasiliano è
completato dal centravanti Luiz Adriano (1987, arrivato in Ucraina
dall’Internacional di Porto Alegre) e dall’esterno sinistro Dentinho
(1989, altro prodotto del Corinthians).

QUINDICI GOL – Lucescu ha trascorso la sua vita in viaggio. E la sua
ultima intuizione è sbocciata in Armenia. Henrikh Mkhitaryan è il
nuovo gioiello dello Shakhtar. Ha ventitre anni, è un trequartista e
si è presentato con una doppietta nel debutto stagionale in Champions
League contro i danesi del Nordsjaelland (2-0). Un bilancio d’oro:
ha segnato quindici gol in undici partite, convincendo Lucescu a
ritagliargli un posto da titolare nel 4-2-3-1. Si muove alle spalle
di Luiz Adriano, bravo nelle sponde e in grado di scavare varchi per
l’inserimento a rotazione di Willian, Douglas Costa, Fernandinho e di
Mkhitaryan. Cambi di marcia, colpi eleganti, buona visione di gioco:
è un numero dieci che si trasforma in seconda punta.Cerca lo spazio
e ha i tempi giusti per proporsi in area di rigore. Si è avvicinato
al calcio da bambino ammirando Zinedine Zidane. Ha iniziato nelle
giovanili del Pyunik Yerevan, che in Armenia ha il fascino e la
bacheca della Juventus, avendo conquistato dieci scudetti consecutivi.

Dal vivaio al professionismo: settanta presenze e trenta gol con il
Pyunik e nel 2009 il passaggio al Metalurh, l’altro club di Donetsk.

Una stagione brillante: trentasette gare e dodici reti, prima della
chiamata di Lucescu.

IL PROFILO – E’ il simbolo della nazionale armena, guidata dal ct
Vardan Minasyan. E’ alto un metro e 78, pesa 72 chili, è nato a Yerevan
il 21 gennaio del 1989. Lo Shakhtar l’ha blindato con un contratto
che scade il 30 giugno del 2015. Mkhitaryan ha una valutazione di
mercato che si aggira intorno ai dieci milioni di euro.

Nella “Premier Liga” ucraina ha segnato tredici gol in dieci partite.

Tre le doppiette: contro l’Arsenal Kiev, il Volyn Lutsk e il Vorskla,
più una tripletta al Chernomorets. Cinque gli assist. E’ stato
decisivo anche nell’ultimo impegno in campionato contro il Dnipro:
Mkhitaryan ha sbloccato il risultato e trascinato lo Shakhtar (2-1).

,+l%E2%80%99armeno+scoperto+da+Lucescu

From: A. Papazian

LE PRESIDENT ARMENIEN MARQUE LA JOURNEE NATIONALE DE LA CHINE

Quotidien du Peuple
4 oct 2012
La Chine

Le president armenien Serge Sarkissian a visite l’ambassade de Chine
lundi a Erevan pour marquer le 63e anniversaire de la fondation de
la Republique populaire de Chine.

M. Sarkissian a precise que le peuple chinois a tourne une nouvelle
page il y a 63 ans, et l’Armenie accorde beaucoup d’ importance a ses
relations amicales avec la Chine. Il a declare que son pays espère
maintenir un developpement durable des relations bilaterales.

Le president a declare que les deux pays ont mene une cooperation
fructueuse dans le secteur economique ces dernières annees avec
l’augmentation du volume des echanges bilateraux, qui devrait atteindre
500 millions de dollars en 2013.

Tian Changchun, l’ ambassadeur de la Chine en Armenie, a souligne que
les deux pays ont maintenu de bonnes relations depuis l’etablissement
de leurs relations diplomatiques il y a 20 ans.

Selon M. Tian, le gouvernement et le peuple chinois, sont
heureux d’avoir un bon partenaire comme l’Armenie et apprecient le
gouvernement armenien et son peuple pour leur rôle dans les affaires
internationales.

Entre temps, les deux pays ont egalement mene des vifs echanges entre
les peuples. Les Journees de la culture chinoise auront lieu en Armenie
en octobre, ce qui renforcera la comprehension entre les deux peuples,
a ajoute M. Tian.

L’Armenie et la Chine ont etabli des relations diplomatiques le 6
avril 1992.

From: A. Papazian

MEET THE NEW KID IN TOWN
By Kate Molleson

The Herald (Glasgow)
October 3, 2012 Wednesday
Scotland

by Peter Oundjian gets ready to conduct the RSNO for the first time.

The orchestral season is officially upon us. The Scottish Chamber
Orchestra gives complete performances of Cosi fan tutte tomorrow
and Friday, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra delivered its first
instalments of Tristan und Isolde last week. But even alongside these
heavyweight programmes, it s the Royal Scottish National Orchestra s
opening night of Glinka, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich s 11th Symphony
that s the big event on Scotland s classical calendar.

Why? In his own words, there s a new kid in town . Tomorrow Peter
Oundjian conducts the RSNO for the first time as its new music
director. We ve had fleeting visits from him as a guest conductor and
music-director designate. Now the real work begins: the long-term
technical building blocks, the search for that crucial, mysterious
chemistry between conductor, orchestra and audience.

Posters have been up all over Glasgow for months: the bright smile,
trim figure, crisp concert gear and bushy grey crop. A quick skim of
his biography tells you Oundjian was born in Canada to an Armenian
father and a mother from Newcastle; his family returned to England
when he was five and he was educated there; his siblings are Olympic
skaters and sailors, and his cousin is Eric Idle. Oundjian s first
career was as a violinist, and a rather good one at that: he led
the Tokyo String Quartet for 14 years before developing repetitive
strain injury and turning his attention to conducting. He s been music
director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and will juggle
that role and others alongside his post in Scotland.

In person Oundjian is just as the pictures show him. We meet late on
Monday afternoon; he s flown in on a red-eye that morning, attended
a full day of meetings and is still suave and chipper. He s cheerful
with our photographer I ve spent a lot of hours in front of the camera
after so many years, he says. His accent is classic mid-Atlantic:
English at its core, softened by years in the US and Canada (he
tellingly pronounces Toronto like a local, a kind of slurred Trna).

Oundjian seems, above all, a nice guy. He s courteous and laughs
easily. He reciprocates my questions in a way most interviewees would
never think to do.

The horror of losing muscle control in the hands would break the spirit
of many musicians. Over the course of our conversation Oundjian does
refer to the experience as terrifying and acknowledges friends and
colleagues whose advice helped him through. He talks about various
difficult aspects of his career, but always with a breezy silver
lining. For example, he doesn t sleep well. My body is quite used to
sleeping sporadically, he says and that s a handy way of operating for
someone who spends his life travelling. The mind operates quite well
in the middle of the night. There s nothing to interrupt it. Nocturnal
thoughts can be a bit alarming He laughs. So then you just go back
to sleep. Problem solved.

Or there was the time when he found himself performing Ravel s String
Quartet for the 100th time. I was so tired. It was a little town in
Iowa, the last place I wanted to be. But then I noticed a woman in the
second row looking at us with such anticipation. I can still see her
face. She d probably been looking forward to this concert for a year.

She d probably driven 150 miles to get there from some lonely farm. My
attitude turned a complete 180 in that moment.

During his time with the Tokyos, Oundjian performed in 130 cities
a year. After 14 years you ve really seen the world. You d get very
homesick if you didn t make yourself feel at home wherever you found
yourself. Now I feel comfortable pretty much anywhere. But he does
have a special feel for the UK, especially Scotland: his grandfather
was Scottish a Sanderson but died when his mother was eight. When
I left England at the age of 19 I made New York my home. I married
a girl from there, my kids are American. I lost my connection with
the UK and started redeveloping my connection with Canada. So when
I started coming to conduct in Scotland it felt right. There was a
magnetism for me to fill the void I d left at 19.

If Oundjian feels comfortable working in most countries, the same is
true when it comes to music. He is, by admission, a generalist. I ask
whether there s any particular repertoire he d like to develop with
the RSNO. Not really, he says, and describes his programming as a good
eclectic balance that challenges listeners to hear new things but also
gives spontaneous renditions of the classics. What repertoire does he
feel most at home with himself? The cheap answer is that old cliche:
the piece I like most is the piece I m playing at the moment. To be
honest I don t really know. I ve played so much music all my life.

He goes on to describe Brahms as a composer whose language I adore
beyond description. But I could say the same about Beethoven and
Mozart and Haydn and Shostakovich and Bartok and Janacek We re doing
some American music with the orchestra this year, (two all-American
programmes include a pops selection of Gershwin, Barber, Copland,
Bernstein and Adams) and some Vaughan Williams (The Lark Ascending
and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis).

He promises more contemporary music in forthcoming seasons, and
more rarities. But we have to find ways of programming this music so
people feel comfortable. What audiences can be assured of when they
buy an RSNO ticket, he says, is commitment, emotional engagement,
a lot of excitement, something that s visceral. Fine goals, but
surely applicable to every orchestra. Does it matter? Can a conductor
stand out as an all-rounder? That s what we ll begin to find out this
week and over the course of this season. Certainly Oundjian radiates
optimism about the relationship he s taken on. This orchestra has a
fantastic character, he says. There s no barrier between the podium
and the musicians. That much is probably helped by the fact he was
a musician for so long, but the power shift can be tricky.

Still, Oundjian starts his new job keen to be a buddy rather than a
boss. In rehearsals I ve taken to saying things like: That series of
chords needs a bit of work so I ll leave it with you . Why should I
single out an individual in front of 100 colleagues and tell them
they re messing up? Like in life, I figure out how I d like to be
treated if I was one of the musicians. Of course I ve got to demand
the results. But with sensitivity.

Peter Oundjian conducts Shostakovich at Music Hall, Aberdeen, tomorrow;
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on Friday; and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
on Saturday.

From: A. Papazian

STATUE OF AZERBAIJAN’S STRONGMAN THE STRING ATTACHED TO FOREIGN AID

Washington Times
Oct 3 2012

MEXICO CITY – The appearance of a life-size statue of Azerbaijan’s
“founder of the nation” on Mexico City’s elegant Reforma Avenue,
not far from Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Mexico’s national
heroes, is raising eyebrows and protests.

The Stalin-esque, bronze statue of Geidar Aliyev, the late
authoritarian leader of the Caucasus republic, carries a plaque calling
him “a brilliant example of infinite devotion to the motherland,
loyal to the universal ideals of world peace.”

The monument erected in late August shows Aliyev sitting in a bronze
chair in front of what appears to be an enormous, white marble map
of Azerbaijan.

“It is really out of place,” said Miguel Angel Mendoza, an 18-year-old
high school student who was walking past the monument to the longtime
ruler, who led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party boss during Soviet
times and then as president from 1993 to 2003. “Why couldn’t they
put up a monument to somebody who did something good?”

It turns out that Azerbaijan contributed much of the $5 million it
cost to renovate not one, but two Mexico City parks, allowing it to
put monuments in both.

Critics say that Aliyev, who stifled dissent, shouldn’t be on a
boulevard decorated with statues to Mexican and foreign heroes.

“They probably have a warehouse full of these things somewhere” in
Azerbaijan, said Daniel Gershenson, human rights activist who was
one of about a dozen protesters who demonstrated last week in front
of the monument, holding banners that read “Get rid of the dictator!”

“It’s like a personality cult, transferred to Mexico,” said writer and
activist Homero Aridjis, who described the style as “social realism
from the Soviet era.

“It’s as if they brought a dictator from Mars,” Mr. Aridjis said. “Are
we going to be a center for monuments to dead dictators? Who’s next?

Hitler? Stalin?”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Azerbaijani PR efforts have
drawn criticism. Rights groups protested Azerbaijan’s hosting of
the Eurovision song contest, and the radical feminist group Femen
protested its hosting this year’s European Cup soccer championship.

Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov, wrote that
Azerbaijan has lavished attention on Mexico because it was one of
the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan after the breakup of the
Soviet Union.

“This monument is not intended to improve anybody’s reputation,
because the world’s perception of Heydar [Geidar] Aliyev does not
require any rescuing,” Mr. Mukhatarov said.

Aliyev’s monument is surrounded by a manicured lawn and flower beds,
and many people like the new park.

Brenda Torres, a 33-year-old architect, was relaxing on one of the
four benches installed in front of the monument.

“The people who come here, they like it, right, but they don’t know
who he is,” said Ms. Torres.

And that’s the secret to Aliyev’s success – nobody really knows who
he is.

A second Azerbaijani statue appears in the other park they paid to
renovate, Tlaxcoaque park in downtown Mexico City.

It depicts a woman, her arms uplifted in mourning, commemorating
Khojaly, a village where hundreds of Azerbaijanis reportedly were
killed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Advocates say a monument to Mexican suffering would have been more
appropriate for a site once used as a police interrogation and
torture center.

The office of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who accepted the
donations and attended the inauguration of both sites, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.

But at the inauguration of the first monument, Mr. Ebrard said
“we are very thankful to the Republic of Azerbaijan, because the
truth is we haven’t received an investment this big” from a foreign
government before.

From: A. Papazian

GEORGIA AFTER SAAKASHVILI: BETTER LIFE FOR ALL ITS NEIGHBORS
by Dmitry Babich

The Voice of Russia
Oct 3 2012

What effect will the defeat of president Saakashvili’s “party of
power” at recent parliamentary elections in Georgia have on Georgia’s
immediate neighbors? By neighbors one should mean not only Russia,
but also Turkey and Georgia’s fellow former Soviet republics –
Armenia and Azerbaidjan?

Experts suggest not to hasten with optimistic predictions. First, a
“change of guard” in Tbilisi still has to happen. Saakashvili still
has several months of unlimited power before the “anti-presidential”
constitutional amendments take effect, transferring power from the
president to the newly elected parliament. Second, characterizations
of the leader of the election’s victors – Bidzina Ivanishvili – as
“Moscow’s man,” although widespread in Western press, are at best
simplifications. At worst, they are simply not true.

Bidzina Ivanishvili during his electoral campaign promised to move
Georgia further into the EU and NATO (something Mr. Saakashvili
also promises to deliver). But Ivanishvili also promises to improve
relations with Russia (something Mr. Saakashvili is unable to deliver
after the war of 2008). These promises do not make Ivanishvili “the
Kremlin’s stooge,” as Le Figaro or The Wall Street Journal portray
him. In fact, they reflect common sense – something Russo-Georgian
relations have been lacking for an long time. However, some analysts
dismiss this “contradictory” promise of Bidzina Ivanishvili as
electoral posturing. But isn’t this pessimism just a reflection of
anti-Russian stereotypes?

Russia did not hamper the movement of the former members of the
pro-Soviet Warsaw Pact into the EU during the 1990s and raised no
objection to it in 2004, when the EU’s biggest expansion took place.

Russia objected to NATO membership for countries like Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Slovakia or Hungary. However, while voicing its concerns,
Moscow never drew any “red lines” for these countries. In fact their
integration into NATO, when it did happen, didn’t prevent Russia from
seeking (and largely achieving) good relations with these countries.

Other stories (like relations with a new NATO member Poland) were less
rosy – but Russia can hardly be faulted for that. Of course, under
the aggressively pro-American and anti-Russian regime of Mikhail
Saakashvili, Georgia’s membership in NATO could pose a threat to
Russia’s security, and Russia will most likely oppose Georgia’s
membership in military blocs. But Russia never objected to having
a peaceful and friendly Georgia in the EU. In fact, during a short
“detente” in Russo-Georgian relations in 1994-1996 Georgia already
had European integration as one of the chief objectives of Georgian
foreign policy, and Moscow never had problem with it.

In fact, a confrontational view of Georgian election (seeing it as a
fight between the pro-Western forces of “good” and “old Soviet” forces
of “evil”) was most typical for Saakashvili and his cronies, and not
for the majority of Georgian people. Saakashvili’s foreign policy was
a reflection of this simplified world view: he opens Georgia’s borders
and markets to neighboring Turkey and aggressively seeks confrontation
with Russia. This policy led to the flooding of Georgia’s markets
with cheap merchandise from Turkey coupled with numerous hurdles on
the Georgian-Russian border, which hampered trade and movement of
people between the two Orthodox Christian countries. In fact, Georgian
Orthodox church, frustrated with Mr. Saakashvili’s divisive policies,
became one of the main electoral allies of Mr. Ivanishvili.

In fact, the confrontational policy of Mr. Saakashvili did not profit
any of Georgia’s neighbors, Christians and Moslems combined. Armenia
became an indirect victim of the sealing of Russo-Georgian borders,
since most of Armenia’s trade with Russia and other European countries
was done via Georgian territory. So, the shutting of Verkhny Lars,
a border pass between Russia and Georgia, immediately stopped the
movement of goods between Armenia and Europe. In fact, it forced
Yerevan to rely on its trade with neighboring Iran, which is itself
under international sanctions now. As for Azerbaijan, it had a dispute
with Saakashvili’s Georgia over a territory on the border where the
famous Georgian monastery David Garedji is located.

Turkey, a seemingly obvious beneficiary of Saakashvili’s policy,
is also not interested in viewing Georgia by Saakashvili’s eyes –
as a battleground between Russia and NATO countries. This kind of
vision moulds Russia and Turkey in a nineteenth or even eighteenth
century paradigm – as two antagonistic imperial powers vying for the
sympathies of sly Georgian rulers, who pit one side against the other.

In the twentieth century, Turkey renounced this imperial tradition –
and it will not return to it for pragmatic reasons.

One of these reasons is that this kind of vision would make Georgia a
natural competitor for Turkey in a tricky business of hosting American
bases in case of new tensions in the Middle East. (Saakashvili granted
American citizens and especially the military the right of free access
to Georgian territory). Also, Georgia’s NATO membership would oblige
Turkey to provide its “ally” in Tbilisi with military assistance in
case Tbilisi gets embroiled in one or two more local wars (Georgia
already got embroiled in 5 wars during the last 22 years).

So, Mr. Ivanishvili’s promised vision of Georgia as a territory
of peace, not confrontation, may be much closer to the hearts of
Turks, Russians and Armenians than Saakashvili’s continued crude
confrontation with Russia. The difference would be all the more obvious
if Mr. Ivanishvili backed up his words with some steps towards Moscow’s
legitimate concerns in the spheres of security and economy.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA-EU AGREEMENTS SHOULD GRADUALLY BECOME A REALITY. RAINER MOREL

ARMENPRESS
3 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3, ARMENPRESS: Armenia is one of the six countries
which try to integrate with European Union. Referring to Armenian
euro integration issue noted FRG Ambassador to Armenia Rainer Morel.

“The Republic of Armenia cooperates with European Union in the
framework of European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). Both sides have come
to a certain agreement and now the time has come to gradually realize
what is delivered in the paper” highlighted Morel.

On the request of the journalists Ambassador referred to the events
concerning Vartan Oskanian. Rainer Morel mentioned that this case is
a special one and they were going to see the case “very attentively”.

“I don’t know whether Oskanian has done something wrong or not,
prosecution is responsible for that” said the Ambassador adding the
version of the innocence presumption.

From: A. Papazian

HUFFINGTON POST: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT THREATENS FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER

2012-10-02 14:09:20

An attack on a former foreign minister of Armenia is threatening to
shut down one of the country’s most active and innovative non-profit
organizations.

Vartan Oskanian, a U.S.-educated Armenian who served as foreign
minister from 1998 to 2008, is being accused by the Armenian government
of money laundering for a donation he accepted from the father (an
American businessman and philanthropist) of former U.S. presidential
candidate Jon Huntsman Jr..

After leaving his post as foreign minister, Oskanian established The
Civilitas Foundation in 2008 in order to strengthen Armenia’s civil
society. Since its creation, the foundation has received funding
from several Western governments, as well as the OSCE, a number of
international non-governmental organizations, and individual donors
from around the world. Jon Huntsman Sr. was one of these donors.

On Tuesday, the Armenian Parliament will vote to seek removal
of Oskanian’s parliamentary immunity, in order to charge him with
expropriating funds and money laundering. If convicted, Oskanian could
face four to 12 years in prison. With or without Oskanian’s immunity
being removed and whether or not he is put on trial, the Armenian
government can also, at any time, freeze the Civilitas bank account
and office resources, essentially shutting down the foundation,
putting over 60 people out of work, and putting an end to the many
successful development projects they have started in the country.

From: A. Papazian

THE SITUATION IN ALEPPO ARMENIAN DISTRICTS IS PEACEFUL IN THE LAST DAYS

ARMENPRESS
2 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS: No grave changes have been orchestrated
in the course of the last days in Aleppo Armenian districts and
the overall situation is peaceful. As Aleppo National Primacy press
secretary Jirayr Reisyan told in the briefing with Armenpress, the
residents are gradually returning to their everyday life, trying to
clean up and restore the damaged areas.

Reisyan also noted the clashes between Government loyal forces and
rebels are still continuing in the nearby territories of Close market.

What refers to the situation prevailing in Qamishli and Kessab,
in the words of the interlocutor situation is peaceful there too.

Arab mass media report that the clashes in the old market areas are
ongoing, yet there are no data about the victims.Earlier information
was received that 500 stores and shopping centers have been burnt
down in the old market nearby territories.

As a result of 18 months ongoing clashes 30 thousand people have been
killed, including more than two dozen Syrian Armenians.

From: A. Papazian

SOCCER: MKHITARYAN IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS SHAKHTAR PREPARE TO TAKE ON JUVENTUS

Soccer | 02.10.12 | 13:18

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan is reportedly seeing increased
media attention in Italy where his side, Shakhtar Donetsk, is playing
against Juventus in the second round of the UEFA Champions League
group stage tonight.

The 23-year attacking midfielder helped his Ukrainian side get a 2-0
victory, scoring both goals, in the tournament’s opening match in
Donetsk against Denmark’s FC Nordsjælland two weeks ago. So far in
this season Mkhitaryan has also scored 13 goals on his 12 appearances
for Shakhtar domestically.

UEFA’s official website praised the “deadly form” of the player in
its accounts of Shakhtar’s previous Champions League game, giving an
occasion to international media to set eyes on the young Armenian
talent. Some European media headlined on Mkhitaryan performance,
wondering if Shakhtar’s midfielder could be the continent’s ‘Next
Big Superstar’.

According to Ukrainian media, Italian reporters were greatly
interested in Mkhitaryan during a pre-match press conference in Turin
on Monday. There was even a question asked to Shakhtar’s head coach
Mircea Lucescu whether he thought the team’s rising star possessed
what it takes to play in Serie A, arguably the world’s best league.

The veteran coach effectively ducked the question, but, according to
Shakhtar’s official website, said the following: “I have long been
aware of Mkhitaryan’s game – for five or six years. He is a very strong
player; he scores a lot of goals and can play anywhere. Besides the
fact that Shakhtar are a team of high European level, it is also a
very young side. We have many players aged 22-23. And almost everyone
has grown with me in the last few years… The team are young, but
they have the experience of playing in European tournaments.”

Tonight’s Juventus v Shakhtar kickoff is at 10:45 pm Yerevan time
(8:45 pm CET).

From: A. Papazian

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY DEMANDS PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S RESIGNATION

news.am
October 02, 2012 | 12:24

YEREVAN. – The Prosperous Armenia Party’s (PAP) National Assembly
(NA) Faction demands the resignation of Prosecutor General Aghvan
Hovsepyan, PAP MP Stepan Margaryan stated at the NA.

To note, the NA on Tuesday continues its special hearing on Hovsepyan’s
formal petition to include The Civilitas Foundation founder, former
FM, and currently PAP MP Vartan Oskanian as a defendant in a criminal
lawsuit.

In Margaryan’s words, if the aforementioned petition is not aimed
against PAP, the Parliament needs to refuse voting on this matter. The
MP noted that this petition is an attempt to deal a political blow
to PAP. “And if the petition is not aimed against us, the parliament
must reject it,” Stepan Margaryan stated.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, on May 25 the National
Security Service (NSS) Department of Investigation filed a criminal
lawsuit on charges of money laundering with respect to The Civilitas
Foundation.

The NSS Press Center had informed that an investigation is underway
in connection with selling the 100-percent shares of the Huntsman
Building Products Company for around $2 million, but not informing
Armenia’s tax authorities about this business deal; not using for
charitable purposes $1,135,000 of that amount envisioned for charity;
transferring this amount to the bank accounts opened under the names
of the Civilitas Foundation’s founder Vartan Oskanian, and of the
Foundation’s Board of Trustees member Tigran Karapetyan; and using
some of this amount for private purposes.

In addition, as per the NSS Press Center, The Civilitas Foundation
had not presented a report on the $2 million allocated for charitable
purposes.

From: A. Papazian