DAYS OF CULTURE OF UKRAINE IN ARMENIA
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 20, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS: Days of Culture of Ukraine will be
conducted in Yerevan and provinces of Armenia March 21-28.
The series of cultural events will be held within the frameworks of
Armenian-Ukrainian cultural cooperation, Culture Ministry”s press
service told Armenpress.
Ukrainian cultural and official delegation has arrived in Armenia on
this occasion.
From: A. Papazian
ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN WORLD SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2012
news.am
March 21, 2012 | 18:25
YEREVAN. – Armenia will participate in the World Shakespeare Festival,
which is scheduled for April-May and will be held within the frameworks
of London Cultural Olympiad.
The Sundukyan State Academic Theatre of Yerevan will represent Armenia
with ‘The Life and Death of King John’ play along with other theater
groups from 37 states.
Azerbaijan will not participate in the festival, while Turkey will
be represented by an actor Gevorg Malikian, who is of Armenian descent.
From: A. Papazian
VAHAGN KHACHATRYAN: EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE QUALITY OF ELECTIONS
Alisa Gevorgyan
“Radiolur”
21.03.2012 17:54
“Our wish to come to power through snap elections did not come true,
but now we have an opportunity to do it through regular elections,”
member of the Armenian National Congress, ex-Mayor of Yerevan Vahagn
Khachatryan told a press conference today.
He believes that the decision of the Congress to run for parliament
is quite logical and does not share the opinion that the street is
the only venue for the meeting of the radical opposition.
The Congress has not set any quotas, but it expects the maximum from
the elections, he said.
Will they refuse from the mandates if the Congress fails to hold a
majority in the National Assembly? Vahagn Khachatryan does not rule out
anything, saying that “everything depends on the quality of elections.”
From: A. Papazian
BDO ENTERS ARMENIAN MARKET: NEW MEMBER FIRM, NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Business | 21.03.12 | 09:58
BDO (Binder Dijker Otte & Co), the fifth largest audit firm worldwide,
launches a new local member firm. The company bought Ameria Audit
CJSC, an Armenian audit firm, with full consent of the owner. This
is the first investment of BDO in Armenia but it has ambitious plans
to grow up local business by further acquisitions.
Established in 1996, Ameria Audit CJSC has grown rapidly since then.
Ameria Audit CJSC is among the top five audit, tax and consulting
firms in Armenia. Joining with a world-renowned brand creates unique
opportunities for Ameria Audit to expand its activity and introduce
the best international practice in Armenia.
Represented in 135 countries, with appointment of an Armenian member
firm BDO will help shift the development of local business entities
and individuals to a qualitatively new level. Using its vast expertise
combined with local professional’s skills, BDO Armenia’s primary aim
is to contribute to development of Armenia’s business environment
by means of providing quality assuranse and advisory services. Fast
growing, outward looking and ambitious business are supposed to get
most advantages in cooperating with BDO.
The services offered by BDO Armenia cover audit and related services,
professional expertise, financial reporting in compliance with IFRS,
comprehensive tax services, accounting, tax and customs planning,
business and property valuation, accounting, financial, tax and
management advisory, IT consulting. BDO Armenia’s services are
available for commercial and non-commercial entities from various
industries, entities from public sector and private entrepreneurs as
well as tax-paying individuals.
From: A. Papazian
IN ARMENIA SURROGATE MOTHERS PROHIBITED FROM ACTING SIMULTANEOUSLY AS AN EGG DONOR
arminfo
Wednesday, March 21, 15:46
Parliament of Armenia amended the Law On Reproductive Health and
Reproductive Rights in the second and final reading, Wednesday.
One of the authors of the bill, parliamentarian Ara Babloyan says
the amendments provide for defining abortion as not only medical but
also surgical procedure. It is connected with the fact that not only
surgical but also medicative method of termination of pregnancy are
applied, which is not mentioned in the effective law.
The second and third articles of the bill suggest removing the
provisions allowing a surrogate mother to act as an egg donor
simultaneously since in such case a surrogate mother becomes the
biological mother of the child she carries. This contradicts the
provision saying that a surrogate mother is the mother that carries
a donor embryo and the child born does not bear her genotype.
From: A. Papazian
MENENDEZ AND KIRK INTRODUCE SENATE GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
asbarez
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
Sen. Robert Menendez
Bipartisan Drive for S.Res.399 Aims to End Turkey’s Gag Rule
WASHINGTON, DC -Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL)
introduced legislation, S.Res.399, today calling upon the U.S.
government to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide and to use the
lessons of this atrocity to prevent future crimes against humanity,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“It is time for the United States to join the nineteen nations
including Belgium, Canada, France, Italy and the European Union
that have formally recognized the actions carried out by the Ottoman
Empire from 1915 to 1923 as genocide,” Senator Menendez said. “The
Armenian Genocide is a historical fact and was one of the incidents
upon which the Genocide Convention was predicated. Only by accurately
acknowledging the crimes of the past can we ever hope to move forward
in a legitimate manner and prevent such human rights crimes from
happening in the future.”
“The Armenian Genocide is well-documented and formally recognized by
11 NATO allies and the European Union. This resolution accurately
characterizes the events of 1915-1923 as a genocide, honors the
memory of the victims, and strengthens America’s moral leadership on
human rights and the prevention of mass atrocities around the world,”
said a spokesman for Senator Kirk.
Joining Senators Menendez and Kirk as original cosponsors of the
bipartisan measure were Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Human Rights and Chairman of the
Senate Environment Committee and Public Works Committee, Michael
Bennet (D-CO), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence, Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Chairman
of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,
Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee
on Seapower, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. Senator Chuck Schumer
(D-NY), the Vice-Chairman of the Democratic Conference, has also
joined S.Res.399 as a cosponsor.
“We join with Armenians from New Jersey, Illinois, and around the
country in thanking Senators Menendez and Kirk for their many years
of leadership in pressing for an end to Turkey’s gag-rule on American
condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “Turkey has no right to hold
America hostage to its willful refusal as a state to accept a truthful,
just, and comprehensive resolution of this crime against all humanity.”
Parallel to this effort, Reps. Robert Dold (R-IL) and Adam Schiff
(D-CA) have offered a nearly identical measure, H.Res.304, in the U.S.
House. Senators Scott Brown (R-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Mark
Kirk have introduced S.Res.392, the Senate version of a religious
freedom measure that was adopted last December, in the U.S. House
calling upon Turkey to return stolen Christian church properties to
their rightful owners.
Turkey continues to prosecute writers, for simply speaking about
the Armenian Genocide, and threatens retaliation against countries
around the world, including the United States and Armenia, that dare
to honor the victims of this crime.
Armenian Americans and anti-genocide activists are urged to contact
their Senators to cosponsor and work for the adoption of this
legislation.
From: A. Papazian
ARMENIA’S KURDISH COMMUNITY CELEBRATES NOVRUZ
news.am
March 21, 2012 | 14:54
YEREVAN. – Kurdish community in Armenia is grateful to the Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan for his congratulation on Novruz (New Year),
head of the community Kniaz Hasanov said on Wednesday.
“We are grateful to Sargsyan for his congratulations on Novruz. It
testifies to centuries-old friendship between the Armenians and Kurds,”
Hasanov said.
He stressed that the Turkish President even banned to celebrate Novruz
in Turkey where over 40 million Kurds live. The Kurds celebrate the
New Year and the coming of spring burning a fire. Novruz is not only
a day of wealth and power but also a symbol of peace and friendship.
Novruz is a Muslim holiday also widely referred to as the Persian
New Year.
From: A. Papazian
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES “STATE OF EMERGENCY” BILL
Grisha Balasanyan
hetq
13:30, March 21, 2012
With 68 Armenian MP’s voting in favour, the “Emergency Situation
Legal Regime” bill passed in parliament earlier today.
ARF and Heritage Party MP’s boycotted the vote in a sign of protest.
Heritage Party MP Armen Martirosyan told the parliament that public
opinion was overlooked during the entire process.
ARF MP Vahan Hovhannisyan had also requested a twenty minute recess
before the vote.
Once signed into law, the bill will allow for the intervention of
the army when a state of emergency is declared by the president.
Opposition MPs say they would like to challenge the bill in the
Constitutional Court but need 27 MP’s to back the move, which is
considered unlikely.
The ARF holds 16 seats in the RA National Assembly and Heritage, 7.
From: A. Papazian
ROBERT BRADTKE: THE SIDES ARE CLOSER TO AN AGREEMENT THAN THEY THINK THEY ARE
armradio.am
21.03.2012 13:05
As the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe is going to mark the 20th anniversary, US Co-Chair Robert
Bradtke summed up the progress made and the obstacles that exist.
“I think the Minsk Group has done three important things. First of
all, it has helped be a factor for stability. It has helped defuse
tensions. It has helped prevent the outbreak of another war, and
when cease-fire violations occur – and they have occurred throughout
this period, since 1994 – it has helped ensure that those cease-fire
violations do not escalate into something more serious,” Bradtke said.
“The second thing the Minsk Group has done is be a channel for
communication between and among the parties. And the third thing
that was part of our mandate that we have done in this period is
to develop a common basis for negotiation. In the past 5 years in
particular, that has been the focus of the work of the co-chairs –
to develop this framework document, called the Basic Principles, which
include the return of lands surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh; the right of
return for displaced persons; interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh with
security and self-governance guarantees; a corridor linking Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh; and an agreement to determine Karabakh’s final
legal status at some point in the future,” the US Co-Chair said.
“We’ve worked very hard with the parties to try to develop this
framework document. We haven’t succeeded yet, he said, adding that
“there’s no question we’re closer today than we were 20 years ago.”
Touching upon the Kazan meeting, Bradtke said: “Obviously, we had
hoped to see more progress at Kazan and we regret the fact that there
was not more progress. But that doesn’t mean that everything is lost.
It doesn’t mean we don’t have areas where the sides agree or that we
can’t still move forward from the work that has been done. It means
we take a deep breath and look for ways to move forward.”
“The sides are closer to an agreement than they think they are.
Because of the lack of trust, it makes it harder for them to see this.
One of the crucial things in any peace process, I’ve learned, is that
the sides come to see themselves as partners – that they recognize
they will not make progress unless they see the other as someone whose
problems they have to help solve. It’s not a question of, ‘How do I
get everything I want and he gets nothing he wants?’ If that’s the
approach there will be no progress. They need to see this process as,
‘There won’t be peace unless he gets something and I get something,
and how can I get him something that he needs and how can he give me
something that I need?'” Bradtke stated.
From: A. Papazian
ARMAVIA PAYS OFF DEBTS TO ROSAVIATSIA
Panorama.am
20/03/2012
Armenia national air carrier “Armavia” has discharged debts to the
Federal Russian Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), Russian news agency
“Ria Novosti” reported. Alexander Rosaviatsia, manager of Rosaviatsia,
has said Armavia will continue carrying out flights in the territory
of Russia.
The Federal Russian Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) banned
Armavia’s flights to Russia on March 6 as long as the company would
pay off debts.
However, Rosaviatsia allowed the flights noting that the agency
received a letter of guarantees dated March 6 from Armavia, pledging
to repay part of the debt for last December at the amount of USD 178
those by March 20, 2012.
Then Armavia appeared in talks with Zvartnots Airport demanding new
pricing policy for the air company.
From: A. Papazian