Author: Andres-Papazian

BERD-CHAMBARAK ROAD AND SELIM MOUNTAIN PASS ARE IMPASSABLE

Monday,
March 05

On the March 5 the precipitation stopped in Armenia as of 17:30. All
interstate and republican roads and mountain passes are mainly passable
in the country.

Attention! Berd-Chambarak road and Selim Mountain Pass are impassable.

The heavy snowstorm and poor visibility have made Goris-Sisian and
Ashotsk-Bavra roads barely passable. Lusashogh-Lanjar sector of
Vosketap-Vedi-Lanjar road as well as Aragyugh-Buzhakan road are also
barely passable, Ministry of Transport and Communication reported.

Snow removal work is being implemented.

The RA Transport and Communication Ministry advises the drivers to
use winter tyres.

From: A. Papazian

FULLER CENTER OFFERS WORK VACATIONS IN ARMENIA

Published: Monday March 05, 2012

Mercer Service Scholars team standing in front of a homeowners’
dilapidated domik (right) and the new, completed home (left).

Yerevan – Armenia is a land of rich history, beautiful mountainous
scenery, and a fascinating cultural heritage. It is also a land of
great need, and one of its most challenging social issues is poverty
housing.

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia (FCHA) invites Armenians and
non-Armenians from the United States to embark on a volunteer vacation
and join its mission to help eliminate poverty housing in Armenia.

FCHA’s “Global Builders” is a short-term mission trip comprised of
international volunteers led by an experienced team leader. Teams
spend two weeks in Armenia working shoulder to shoulder with families
working hard to have a decent and safe place to live. More than only
volunteering, FCHA’s trips include extensive sightseeing, delicious
cuisine, and the total cultural experience. FCHA prides itself on
the high return rate of its volunteers – everyone who goes loves to
come back!

Reflecting on her trip to Armenia in 2011as a Mercer Service Scholar
from Macon, Georgia, Brittani Howell wrote:

“With the Fuller Center we had the privilege of working with, not for,
the people we had come to serve, and we came to admire their strength
and resilience. I don’t think any person on our team can express just
how grateful we are for what Armenia and her people have given us. If
you want to know what we mean-if you want to understand the amazing
country and people we encountered on our journey-then you will have
to go yourself.”

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia welcomes volunteers ages 14+ to
sign up for this unforgettable personal journey. Neither construction
experience nor knowledge of the Armenian language is necessary. A
guide who is fluent in English accompanies teams daily. Volunteers
stay at centrally located, comfortable hotels that provide generous
amenities with breakfast included each day. While the days are filled
with working or sightseeing, the evenings are spent enjoying the
local Armenian dining and nightlife. The cost for a two-week, Global
Builders trip ranges from $1,450-1,700, depending on the team’s plans.

The following dates are available, but space is filling up
quickly: In Yerevan, July 12-23 and August 11-25; in Vanadzor,
June 3-17 and June 14-29. To complete an application, go to

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia promotes collaborative and
innovative partnerships with individuals and organizations in
an unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for people in
need. Most recently, FCHA has teamed up with the Christian Youth
Mission to Armenia (CYMA) of the Western Diocese. In July 2012, CYMA
participants will spend three days building a home for a needy family
as a new component of CYMA’s Service Project. CYMA is a month-long
pilgrimage that gives young people from the Western Diocese the
opportunity to renew and reinvigorate their spiritual and cultural
identity through a variety of unique experiences. For more information,
please contact Fr. Avedis Abovian, Youth Director, at (818) 861-3725,
or [email protected], or go to

FCHA is also proud to partner with the United States Embassy,
Armenian Apostolic Church, International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Armenian Relief and
Development Association (ARDA), Birthright Armenia, Armenian Volunteer
Corps (AVC), Armenia Tree Project (ATP), Peace Corps, Marriott Hotel,
VivaCell-MTS mobile operator, Pricewaterhousecoopers, KPMG, Cascade
Insurance, International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), Heifer
Project International, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR),
Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX), and Knights and Daughters of
Vartan, among many others.

Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is a non-government, charitable
organization that supports community development in the Republic of
Armenia by assisting in building and renovating simple, decent and
affordable homes, as well as advocating the right to decent shelter
as a matter of conscience and action. FCHA provides long-term,
interest-free loans to low-income families. The monthly repayments
flow into a Revolving Fund, which is used to help more families,
thereby providing a financial foundation for a sustainable community
development effort. Since 2008, FCHA has built or renovated 184 homes
for needy families.

For more information and to sign up with a 2012 Global Builders
team, please visit or email
[email protected].

From: A. Papazian

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN: PUTIN’S VICTORY WON’T CHANGE MOSCOW’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS ARMENIA
Artak Barseghyan

“Radiolur”
05.03.2012 18:17

Radical, but not revolutionary developments are expected in Russia
after Vladimir Putin’s victory in the presidential elections, Director
of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan told a press conference
today.

According to him, Putin will lay the main emphasis on domestic
political and economic issues, and this will start early in May.

Iskandaryan believes Putin’s victory will not bring about any changes
in Russia’s position on Armenia and the South Caucasus. Moreover,
Russia is not about to exert direct influence on the forthcoming
parliamentary elections in our country and is ready to work with the
authorities formed as a result of elections.

From: A. Papazian

RUBEN HAKHVERDYAN’S SUMMER HOUSE BURGLED

04:58 pm | Today | Politics

Unknown people broke into the summer house of Armenian singer and
song-writer Ruben Hakhverdyan on Sunday, taking a TV set, a wall
clock and some dishes, Hakhverdyan told A1+.

The police are presently searching the house which is situated in
the village of Vanahovit.

“I did not want the police to conduct a search but I know that if
they find them [the burglars], that will be an advantage for them,”
the author of the song “Poets and Dogs” said adding that it was the
guard who reported the police about the break-in.

Mr Hakhverdyan thinks that the burglars were children from the nearby
village ‘who needed the robbed things.’

“They did not take valuable things,” said the song-writer who is
going to ask the law enforcers to have mercy on the guys.

From: A. Papazian

OSCE MILITARY EXPERTS DEVELOP MECHANISMS TO INVESTIGATE INCIDENTS ON THE LINE OF CONTACT IN KARABAKH

/ARKA/
March 5, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, March 5. / ARKA /. The OSCE military experts are engaged in
the development of mechanisms to investigate incidents on the line of
contact between Armenian forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, the
Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov , told reporters
in Stepanakert, after meeting with president of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic Bako Sahakyan .

The meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Robert Bradtke (USA),
Igor Popov (Russia) and Jacques Faure (France) took place on Saturday
in NKR capital Stepanakert.

According to Popov, the mediators presented the details of the latest
talks on the Karabakh conflict held in Russian Sochi involving the
residents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, who among other things,
discussed also creation of mechanisms to investigate incidents on
the contact line.

“We have transferred our ideas and plans to the military experts of
the OSCE and we hope that the initial results of their work will be
ready by the end of this month, Popov said.

‘Over the past few years we have been working on the proposed basic
principles for a settlement. The work is slower than we would like it
to be, but nevertheless, progress is evident, as was stated in Sochi,”
Popov said.

The American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, Robert Bradtke, described
the meeting with president Sahakyan useful.

“The meeting was useful. We discussed the situation on the contact
line, as well as recent developments around the resolution of conflict,
” Bradtke told reporters after talks with Sahakyan.

He said they would return to Yerevan on Sunday and then head for Baku
on Monday to meet with Azerbaijani president Ilham Alive and foreign
minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Bradtke expressed confidence that the new
French mediator Jacques Faure will make a great and useful contribution
to the mediation efforts.

Nagorno-Karabakh, populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Armenians,
broke away from Azerbaijan following a three-year war that left some
30,000 dead. A Russia-brokered ceasefire ended the hostilities in
1994, but peace has remained fragile since then. The current Minsk
Group-mediated negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have not
brought a peace agreement yet.

The latest peace plan of the international mediators calls for the
Armenian withdrawal from some of the territories held by the Karabakh
military, the return of displaced people, security guarantees for
Karabakh and its Armenian population and the possibility of a future
referendum to decide the area’s final legal status.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY MIGHT NOT INVITE FRANCE TO SYRIA SUMMIT

RFi

March 5 2012
France

Turkey is considering whether or not to invite France to the meeting
in Istanbul of the summit for “Friends of Syria” amid a souring
in the relationship between Paris and Ankara over a controversial
genocide bill.

Istanbul will host the second “Friends of Syria” conference in late
March after the first meeting in Tunis on February 24.

“We haven’t sent any invitation to any country yet but we are
considering whether to invite France,” said a Turkish diplomatic
source speaking on condition of anonymity.

The French parliament infuriated Turkey last year when it passed
a law making it a criminal offence to deny that the Ottoman empire
committed genocide against its Armenian population.

France had already recognised the killings as a genocide, but the new
law sought to go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up
to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros.

Last Tuesday, France’s highest legal body, the Constitutional Council
ruled the law “unconstitutional,” but President Nicolas Sarkozy
promptly ordered his government to draft a new bill.

“The ruling of the Constitutional Council is obvious but we don’t
know yet what’ll happen in the end,” said the diplomat.

Turkey suspended political and military cooperation with France over
the law and threatened to cut economic and cultural ties, but welcomed
the Constitutional Council ruling.

The Turkish diplomat said that if it is decided to invite France,
an invitation would be sent to Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, not to
Sarkozy, as the conference would be at ministerial level.

Juppe did not conceal his disapproval of the genocide legislation.

“But ultimately this would be a multilateral gathering, not a bilateral
one,” said the diplomat, implying that the French would probably be
invited in the end.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN AND ARMENIA TO WORK TOGETHER TO PROTECT ECOLOGY OF RIVER ARAKS

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 5 2012
Russia

Iran and Armenia have agreed to establish a joint working group to
study the pollution level of the River Araks, News.am reports.

The decision was made during a meeting in Tehran of the Head of
Environment of Iran, Mohammad Javad Mohamadizadeha, and the Minister
of Nature Protection, Aram Harutyunyan.

The parties agreed that a working group should identify and prevent
sources of pollution on both sides of the River Araks. .

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN BRUSSELS TO MEET NATO, EU AUTHORITIES

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 5 2012
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan arrived in Brussels today, NEWS.am
reports.

He will meet the Belgian Senate head and representatives of Armenian
organizations in Belgium today.

Sargsyan will attend the North-Atlantic Alliance + Armenia Session on
March 6 and make a speech at the Konrad Adenauer Fund. The Armenian
president will meet NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, President
of the Council of the European Union Herman von Rompuy. Sargsyan will
meet President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and President
of the European People’s Party Wilfried Martens on March 7.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES PUTIN ON POLL VICTORY

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 5 2012
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has sent a congratulation note to
Vladimir Putin, the new Russian President, News.am reports.

Sargsyan said that the victory proves support of the course for
development of Russia and its modernization, its rising role and
influence on global processes.

Armenia and Russia are allies based on proven brother-like relations.

Sargsyan expressed hope for further bilateral strategic partnership
for the sake of peace, security and stability in South Caucasus,
realization of long-term projects in economy, interregional
cooperation, cultural and humanitarian interaction.

Sargsyan invited Putin to visit Armenia to mark the 20th anniversary
of relations, which will be a boost to development of Armenian-Russian
ties in all spheres. The Armenian president wished Putin good health
and new achievements and prosperity and welfare to Russia.

From: A. Papazian

SARKOZY ET LA TURQUIE, LE FEUILLETON DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Ara

armenews.com
lundi 5 mars 2012

Le Conseil constitutionnel a retoque la loi penalisant la negation
du genocide armenien. Une decision applaudie a Ankara dont la presse
souligne que Sarkozy ” resiste ” puisqu’il travaille a une nouvelle
mouture du texte de loi. Tandis que Hollande s’engage a rouvrir le
debat, s’il est elu.

Le Conseil constitutionnel a retoque le 28 fevrier la loi penalisant
la negation du genocide armenien. Le feuilleton politico-juridique qui
oppose autorites francaises et autorites turques, diaspora armenienne
et population turque, ne serait donc pas pret de s’arreter. S’il
ne remporte pas la meme adhesion enthousiaste que Muhtesem Yuzyil
(Siècle Magnifique), une serie televisee recente a la gloire de
l’empire ottoman, ce feuilleton traite, lui aussi de l’empire, mais
de ses pages noires et dure depuis onze ans maintenant.

La suite sur : Slate.fr

From: A. Papazian