Author: Antonian Lara

RA PRESIDENT AND EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSS EXPANDING AGENDA OF ARMENIA-EU RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Jan 21, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan and
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby, at
a January 21 meeting, discussed the expanding agenda of Armenia-EU
relations.

According to RA President’s Press Office, P. Semneby said that
currently EU is at the stage of active changes.

The interlocutors also exchanged thoughts over regional developments,
in particular, the Nagorno Karabakh settlement negotiations process
and normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

"AN ORDINARY GENOCIDE: BAKU, JANUARY 1990" DOCUMENTARY SCREENED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.01.2010 17:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Ordinary Genocide: Baku, January 1990" documentary
was screened in Yerevan on Tuesday.

Ordinary Genocide film series was launched by the public relations
and information department at the RA presidential administration with
a purpose to provide true information on 1988-92 developments which
resulted in the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

Featuring the true story of the Armenian genocide in Azerbaijan, this
film doesn’t aim to instill hatred for Azeris, said Marina Grigoryan,
the film author.

At the end of the current week, the documentary will be screened by
Armenian Public Television.

In January 1990, Azerbaijani authorities instigated the Armenian
pogroms in Baku. Some 400 Armenians were killed and 200 thousand
were exiled in the period of January 13-19, 1990. The exact number
of those killed was never determined, as no investigation was carried
out into the crimes.

On January 13, a crowd numbering 50 thousand people divided into
groups and started "cleaning" the city of Armenians. On January 17,
the European Parliament called on EU Council of Foreign Ministers
and European Council to protect Armenians and render assistance to
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. On January 18, a group of U.S. Senators
sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev to express concerns over the
violence against the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and called
for unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia.

TURKEY’S INTERNET LAW NEEDS TO BE REFORMED OR ABOLISHED, SAYS OSCE MEDIA FREEDOM REPRESENTATIVE

armradio.am
19.01.2010 11:32

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,
asked the Turkish authorities to bring Turkey’s internet law in line
with OSCE commitments and other international standards on freedom
of expression.

"In its current form, Law 5651, commonly known as the Internet Law of
Turkey, not only limits freedom of expression, but severely restricts
the citizens’ right to access information," said Haraszti, commenting
on a new report commissioned by his office on the blocking measures
provided by the law.

"At present, 3,700 Internet sites are blocked in Turkey, including
YouTube, GeoCities, and Google sites. Even as some of the content
that is deemed ‘bad’, such as child pornography, must be sanctioned,
the law is unfit to achieve this. Instead, by blocking access to
entire websites from Turkey, it paralyzes access to numerous modern
file sharing or social networks," said Haraszti.

ARMENIA MUST CONTINUE TO WORK IN AGREEMENT WITH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT’S DECISION: MANOYAN

Tert.am
17:50 ~U 19.01.10

"Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has truly understood the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia’s decision and with
its stance, basically, it makes it known that the Protocols as Armenia
understands them are not the way it understands them.

"Furthermore, Turkey, with its announcement, shows that it not only
doesn’t perceive the Protocols the way Armenia does, but also finds
Armenia’s way of perceiving the Protocols unacceptable," said Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashntaktsutyun) Political Affairs and
Armenian Cause ("Hay Dat") Bureau Director Giro Manoyan to Tert.am
today, commenting on the announcement by Turkey’s foreign ministry
made earlier today.

The Dashnaktsutyun representative said that after this statement by
Turkey, Armenia’s leadership shouldn’t take steps that will belittle
the Constitutional Court’s decision.

"It’s necessary that Armenia’s governing authorities not take any
measures that will belittle the RA Constitutional Court’s decision.

That is, Armenia’s leadership must continue its steps, in keeping
with the decision by the RA Constitutional Court," said Manoyan.

DECLINE IN NABUCCO’S RELEVANCE WEAKENS REGIONAL ROLE OF AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.01.2010 18:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Upon Russia’s purchasing gas stocks of Central Asian
region, specifically Turkmenistan, the relevance of Nabucco project,
bypassing Russia, declined, RPA parliamentary group member Gagik
Minasyan said.

As he told a news conference in Yerevan, decline in Nabucco’s relevance
is quite natural, as Azerbaijan’s gas resources can’t fill the gas
pipe, and Central Asian stocks are already purchased by Russia. "Thus,
decline in Nabucco’s relevance weakens regional role of Azerbaijan,"
the parliamentarian noted.

RPA representative also noted that after the possible victory of
candidate Victor Yanukochich in Ukraine’s presidential elections,
gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia will be settled. "Which will,
in turn, decrease the relevance of Russian "Blue stream" pipeline,
as gas export to Europe through Ukraine is less expensive," the MP
noted, adding that non-implementation of "Blue stream" project will
automatically decrease the role of Turkey, as a transit country for
transportation of Russian gas to Europe.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline from Turkey to
Baumgarten an der March in Austria diversifying the current natural
gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The pipeline attempts to
lessen European dependence on Russian energy. The project is backed
by several European Union states and the United States and is seen as
rival to the planned Gazprom-led South Stream pipeline project. At the
same time there are some doubts concerning viability of supplies. The
main supplier is expected to be Azerbaijan in cooperation with
Turkmenistan, Iraq and Egypt.

Preparations for the Nabucco project started in 2002 and the
intergovernmental agreement between Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
and Austria was signedon 13 July 2009. The project is developed by
the consortium of six companies. The pipeline is expected to be
operational by 2015 and it will carry 31 billion cubic meters of
natural gas per year.

In 2006, Gazprom proposed an alternative project, in competition with
the Nabucco Pipeline, that would involve constructing a second section
of the Blue Stream pipeline beneath the Black Sea to Turkey, and
extending this up through Bulgaria and Serbia to western Hungary. In
2007, the South Stream project through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and
Slovenia to Austria and Italy was proposed. It is seen as a rival to
the Nabucco pipeline. Ukraine has proposed the White Stream pipeline,
connecting Georgia to the Ukrainian gas transport network. Also the
Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy
projects are seen as competing projects.

Hollywood for Haiti Earthquake Relief

Tert.am
15:23 – 16.01.10

A number of Hollywood actors are stepping up to support quake-stricken
Haiti by making donations to international charities.

George Clooney skipped the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s
Critics Choice Awards ceremony to work on the planned MTV Networks
telethon to help the victims of the magnitude 7.0 Haiti earthquake
that struck the capital on Tuesday.

On Friday, Sandra Bullock said in an statement that she donated $1
million USD to help the Haitian earthquake relief, while Madonna
announced she gave $250,000 USD. According to reports, Bullock’s
contribution went to Doctors Without Borders` emergency operations in
Port-Au-Prince; Madonna’s went to Partners in Health.

"I wanted to ensure that my donation would be used immediately to meet
the needs of the Haitian people affected by this catastrophic event,"
said Bullock in a statement.

In addition, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reported donated $1
million USD to Doctors Without Borders.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Jan 16 2010

Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia presents protest note to Russian FM

16.01.2010 11:56
Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 16 / Trend News S.Agayeva /

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia has submitted a protest note to the
Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with State Duma Deputy Speaker
Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s statement, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
Spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Trend News.

In his interview to the Latvian newspaper Neatkarigas Rita Avize,
Zhirinovsky said that "if the Nagorno-Karabakh proclaims its
independence, Russia should recognize it."

The Azerbaijani embassy’s note expresses protests against the Vice
Speaker’s such calls and states such statements counteracts the spirit
of relations between the two countries, Polukhov said.

CONVERSE BANK ENABLES ITS CLIENTS TO ORDER PLASTIC CARDS WITH PERSONAL DESIGN

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.01.2010 18:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On January 15, 2010, Converse Bank launched "Card
with holder’s personal design" service which is available on the
bank’s official Web site.

An unprecedented initiative in Transcaucasus, the service will enable
clients to order VISA CLASSIC plastic cards with their personal design.

Converse Bank was established in 1993 as a "North Armenian"
shareholding bank. In 1997 it was reorganized into "Converse Bank"
CJSC.

It has 25 branches, with 10 operating in Yerevan and 15 – in Armenia’s
regions.

The bank’s shareholders are: "Advanced Global Investments" LLC
(President/CEO: Eduardo Eurnekian) – 95%, Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin
Catholicosate H.H. Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, Director
– 5%.

RUSTAMIAN: IT’S A POSITIVE DEVELOPING TO NOTE PROPOSALS BY ARFD

Aysor
Jan 12 2010
Armenia

"Closed-door hearings go with the Law, though the Constitutional
Court could choose non-closed and non-logged version for hearings,
as there rather often were held closed-door discussions in this
process," said member of ARFD, Armen Rustamian keeping in view the
decision by the Constitutional Court to hold closed-door hearings on
Armenian-Turkish protocols.

Armenia’s Constitutional Court is exactly that body which is able
to keep in view all various opinions on protocols and from the law
basis to arrange points, according to a politician who pointed that
these were exactly his expectations.

A positive color was added to the process as the Court had made a
decision to take into account a letter with proposals by ARFD, said
the politician.

"I hope, all the arguments will be taken into account at the closed
meeting and it will be made a decision corresponding to the interests
of the people. This matter needs a very serious touch and attitude,"
he said.

Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
Press Office
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849

email: [email protected]
web:
blog: farusa.wordpress.com
photos: 0bec15b4d23ff71f939238a&id=62c0a1f417&e=69 95756940

Armenia can be a Champion of Medical Care

Throughout his two decades of working in alliance with the Armenian people,
Dr. Edgar Housepian’s faith in their strength and resilience has grown. A
retired Columbia University neurosurgeon, Dr. Housepian is a co-founder of
the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), vice chairman of the organization’s
Board of Directors, and chair of its Medical Committee.

On January 15, FAR will honor this great man with a gala at Cipriani Wall
Street in New York City. And while the evening will indeed pay homage to Dr.
Housepian’s incredible life achievements, it will also focus on his vision
of the nation of Armenia one day being an international center for medicine,
medical education, and research. Through FAR’s Dr. Edgar Housepian Medical
Education Fund, it is indeed possible to make this hope a reality.

Each of FAR’s medical education projects ` many of which Dr. Housepian
pioneered ` specifically target areas that are essential to not only
Armenia’s success as an international center for medical care, but also to
the success of the nation as a whole.

Dr. Housepian was an inspiration behind the founding of the FAR Fellowship
Alumni Association, a non-governmental organization of medical professionals
who are aimed at improving the healthcare system of the community and
advancing medical sciences in Armenia. This group has not only helped to
develop a culture of volunteerism and philanthropy in Armenia, but it also
established the Continuing Medical Education (CME) program.

Through CME, doctors from all over Armenia have an opportunity to advance
their medical training under the mentorship of leading medical experts in
Yerevan, and establish partnerships and networks that can guide them into
the future. Since many of Armenia’s doctors work in rural and isolated
settings and have not had a chance to advance their skills since medical
school, learn the latest discoveries in the field, or work with the latest
equipment, this program is often the only opportunity these physicians have
to make changes and save more lives.

Dr. Housepian advocates the expansion of the CME program, as it helps to
elevate the level of medical practice in Armenia to international standards.

Dr. Housepian and FAR have also greatly improved Armenia’s National Medical
Library. It now serves as a medical center with course offerings, computer
training opportunities, research programs, and partnerships with other
medical institutions around the world. With further support, the library
will become a regional showcase for medical education, research, and
training.

He has been actively supporting Dr. Aram Chobanian and his colleagues from
around the World in the International Board of Advisors of the Yerevan State
Medical University, to reform the entire medical education system of
Armenia.

As a man with passion to education and science, Dr. Housepian was
instrumental in creating the Armenian National Science and Education Fund
(ANSEF), which provides research grants to Armenia’s top scientists,
engineers and scholars, giving them the opportunity to pursue major steps of
their groundbreaking research within their own borders.

Each of these programs has the potential to make groundbreaking change in
the Armenian healthcare system and the overall health of the Armenian
people. Together, these initiatives can change the nation as a whole, and
make it leader on the international stage.

###

About FAR

Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served
hundreds of thousands of people through more than 220 relief and development
programs in Armenia and Karabagh. It has channeled more than $265 million in
humanitarian assistance by implementing a wide range of projects including
emergency relief, construction, education, medical aid, and economic
development.

Fund for Armenian Relief
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Phone (212) 889-5150

[email protected]

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