Author: Babajanian Karo

OBITUARIES: VASILY ALEKSANYAN

Monday, 10 October 2011

Human rights activists said the former Yukos vice-president Vasily
Aleksanyan, who died on 3 October of Aids-related illnesses at the
age of 39, would have lived longer if the authorities had not kept
him in prison for nearly three years on trumped-up charges.

Aleksanyan fought a protracted legal battle with the authorities
before being freed on bail in 2009 to seek medical treatment. “It was
practically a murder,” the activist Valery Borshchyov said. Supporters
of Aleksanyan and his former boss at the oil company Yukos, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, believed that charges of embezzlement and tax evasion
against Aleksanyan amounted to punishment by the Kremlin for
Khodorkovsky’s political and commercial ambitions.

Aleksanyan, who had served as Yukos’s head lawyer, left the
company after Khodorkovsky’s arrest in 2003 but returned in 2006
as an executive vice president to work with Yukos’s court-appointed
bankruptcy manager. A month later, he was arrested, and a few months
after his detention, he learned he was HIV-positive. He also began
to lose eyesight in his one good eye; he had been blind in the other
since a childhood accident.

Aleksanyan and his lawyers said the authorities used his illness as a
bargaining chip, threatening to withhold treatment unless he testified
against Khodorkovsky and his jailed business partner Platon Lebedev.

“I was put in frightful cells, that recall the time of Stalin’s
jailers,” he told a Moscow court in 2008. “They are damp and filthy
and these people know my immune system is dead.”

Born on 15 December 1971, Aleksanyan graduated from Moscow State
University before going to Harvard law school. He worked for the
American law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and in 1995 became
head of the legal department for the British investment firm Sun Group,
leaving a year later to head Yukos’s legal department.

Following his arrest in 2006, international pressure grew to release
him on bail for health reasons – in addition to full-blown Aids and
his fading eyesight, he suffered from liver cancer, lymphoma and
tuberculosis. The Russian authorities three times ignored rulings
by the European Court of Human Rights, but finally, in 2008, he was
released with bail set at 50 million rubles but he was repeatedly
summoned to court, where he wore a face mask and could barely stand
up. The case against him was only dropped last year when the statute
of limitations ran out.

Aleksanyan “lived as if on a volcano” during his final years, Yury
Shmidt,a lawyer for Khodorkovsky, said. “He lived all the time in
such a state that if the slightest infection occured, he could die
in a second.” A Yukos statement said that “Vasily was very talented,
one of the best persons in all regards, as a professional, leader
and as a friend.”

OPEN LETTER TO UEFA PRESIDENT

yerkir.am
17:22 – 12.10.2011

Dear Mr. President,

During Euro-2012 Ireland-Armenia football game, on the 26th minute
referee Gonzales gave a red card to Armenian goalkeeper Roman
Berezovsky thinking that the latter had broken the rules and touched
the ball with hands.

The rules of the game were broken by Irish attacker Simon Cox,
when he stopped the ball with hands. He later admitted during his
interview with BBC that he really did brake the rules, while the
Armenian goalkeeper didn~Rt even touch the ball.

The fact that Cox had played with hands and Berezovsky didn~Rt touch
the ball, we became confident after re-watching the recording of
the game.

Armenia was battling for Euro-2012 for the first time and because of
the referee lost that opportunity.

As a world famous football player and a social figure we expect your
interference. UEFA must punish referee Gonzales and deprive him the
opportunity to continue his practice.

ARMENIA SHIFTS TO WINTER TIME ON OCTOBER 30

armradio.am
12.10.2011 16:16

Armenia shifts to winter time on October 30 in accordance with the
Law on Calculation of Time on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia.

The pointers of the clock should be moved an hour back at 3 a.m. local
time, the Ministry of Economy reminds.

IMPROVING CUSTOMS LEGISLATION WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIA, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY

ARKA
Oct 12, 2011

YEREVAN, October 12. / ARKA /. Improving customs legislation will
contribute to economic development of Armenia, National Security
Council secretary Arthur Baghdasaryan said today at a meeting convened
to look into the pace of implementation of customs reforms.

He said the approved program of reforms in tax and customs systems for
2011-2013 will enable to promote and coordinate the ongoing changes.

He said the program was developed in collaboration with experts and
consultants from EU calling for enforcement of 118 measures in 18
directions. According to him, the implementation of these reforms
will help register positive developments as well as make progress
in negotiations on concluding an agreement on deep and comprehensive
free trade agreement with EU.

Baghdasaryan said eliminating red tape will significantly increase
the efficiency of the sphere.

The program of reforms provides for bringing the national tax and
customs legislation with conformity with EU standards, introduction of
a risk management system, a unified system of electronic declaration
and payment, facilitation of customs control, formation of Dog Training
Center, modernization of border checkpoints, introduction of unified
customs declarations for neighboring countries.

FIRST GLOBAL ARMENIAN AGRICULTURAL FORUM WILL BE HELD OCTOBER 14-16

ARKA
Oct 12, 2011

YEREVAN, October 12. /ARKA /. The first global Armenian agricultural
forum will be held October 14-16 in Armenia as part of events designed
to mark the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, agriculture
minister Sergo Karapetyan said today.

“For the first time in the history of Armenia October 16 will be
marked as the day of agricultural workers and it is symbolic because
it coincides with World Food Day,” the minister said.

The forum will bring together 1200 farmers from Armenia and Diaspora.

Also 40 farmers from nine countries – Russia, Ukraine, Georgia,
Lebanon, Iran, Poland, Latvia, USA and France have confirmed their
participation. Nagorno-Karabakh will also send a delegation to Yerevan.

The minister said the idea is to organize a lavish celebration,
since the agricultural sector has registered a strong growth this
year. He said the forum will provide an unprecedented opportunity
to entrepreneurs from Armenia, the Diaspora and other countries to
present their products and to look into Armenia’s agriculture’s
potential. He said there is a plan to establish a Pan-Armenian
association of farmers.

On 15 October the participants will take part in Harvest Festival in
Ararat and meet with people from local processing enterprises and on
October 16 North Avenue, in downtown Yerevan will celebrate the Day
of agricultural workers.

CATHERINE ASHTON CONCERNED OVER HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN AZERBAIJAN

Tert.am
14:10 ~U 12.10.11

Following the arrest of 14 peaceful demonstrators in Azerbaijan,
Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the
Commission, issued a statement, expressing concerns over the human
rights situation in the country.

The EU official particularly voiced alarm over violations of
fundamental freedoms of assembly freedom of expression.

The full text of her statement is below.

“The High Representative recalls the previous statements made by
the EU on the convictions of several participants in the peaceful
demonstration of April 2, 2011 in Azerbaijan (on August 26 and October
8), and the repeated expressions of concern by the EU regarding
the human rights situation in Azerbaijan in Spring 2011. In spite
of these, four more participants in the peaceful demonstrations of
April 2011 were convicted on October 10, bringing the total number
of convictions to 14.

The High Representative wishes to reiterate the importance the EU
attaches to fundamental freedoms, including freedom of assembly and
freedom of expression, in its relations with partner countries. These
are core values at the heart of the Eastern Partnership and the ongoing
negotiation of an Association Agreement with Azerbaijan. The rule of
law in the country must ensure that those principles are respected,
that court proceedings are free of political interference and that
independent lawyers work with no impediments. The High Representative
therefore calls on Azerbaijan to provide for a fair and transparent
appeal process.

The EU is ready to assist Azerbaijan in the implementation of
democratic reforms guided by the values of OSCE, the Council of Europe
and the EU.”

A QUEST TO BECOME AN EXEMPLARY ARMENIAN-AMERICAN
Harry Nadjarian

asbarez
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

>From the outset, the story of this highly accomplished, yet humble
philanthropist is much like many others while at the same time
extraordinary.

The first thing you notice about Harry Nadjarian is how impeccably
well dressed, poised and thoughtful he is. His words are measured,
he listens and speaks as only a wise man with a wealth of experience
and knowledge can. Born in Beirut into a loving Lebanese-Armenian
family, he is the son of a master tailor who credits his father for
his appreciation and taste for the finest. In 1975, he immigrated to
California following the start of the Lebanese civil war.

In 1977 Harry entered the diesel engine and parts rebuilding industry.

In 2000, he founded Industrial Motor Power Corporation. Today,
IMP Corporation is considered one of the largest privately owned
industrial power equipment trading companies in the world.

Headquartered in Burbank, California, the company supplies generators
from 500 Kilowatts to 200 Megawatt power plants, and provides
substantial power resources within the United States, Africa, the
Russian Federation, the Middle East, and South America.

Harry is a humble yet determined man on the move who, despite his
access to an abundance of resources, powerful relationships, and the
recipient of countless honors and accolades, maintains himself in a
consciously measured manner. He is a keen gentleman, whose generosity
is curiously proportionate to his successes. However, above all of
this, he takes the most pride in what he considers the greatest of
his accomplishments, being a loving husband to his wife Cheryl and
devoted father to their children, Nicholas and Alexandra. This is
evidenced clearly as his face lights up when he shares each of their
pictures, which are displayed throughout his elegant offices. There is
no doubt that Mr. Nadjarian is a proud Armenian-American with a deep
sense of duty who is always ready to help whenever and wherever the
need arises, such as he did when he was asked to Chair the Earthquake
relief fund for Armenia. He has a profound love for America, Armenia,
the Armenian Church, the Armenian service organizations and Armenians
in general. “There are certainly many far more successful people than
me out there, but so long as I can do my share, I find fulfillment and
contentment in that,” he states. The Nadjarians continuously donate
to many Armenian and American charitable organizations, schools,
and churches.

Recently Mr. and Mrs. Nadjarian pledged a generous contribution of
$250,000 to the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
America, in honor of the historic Pontifical Visit of His Holiness
Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. The majority of
this contribution will be allocated to Prelacy Schools in California.

ALBANIE, ARMENIE, AZERBAIDJAN ET GEORGIE DOIVENT ENQUETER SUR LES RAISONS DES SEXE-RATIOS ASYMETRIQUES A LA NAISSANCE
Stephane ©armenews.com

armenews.com
mercredi 12 octobre 2011

CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE

Tout en soulignant que la selection prenatale en fonction du sexe
atteint des ” proportions inquietantes ” en Albanie, Armenie,
Azerbaïdjan et Georgie, l’Assemblee parlementaire du Conseil de
l’Europe (APCE) a demande aujourd’hui aux autorites de ces pays ”
d’enqueter sur les causes et les raisons des sexe-ratios asymetriques
a la naissance “. Face a un sexe-ratio naturel qui est en moyenne
de 105 garcons pour 100 filles, ce taux est de 112 garcons pour 100
filles en Albanie, Armenie, Azerbaïdjan et de 111 garcons pour 100
filles, en Georgie. La resolution adoptee, basee sur le rapport de
Doris Stump (Suisse, SOC), demande aux autorites de ces pays de ”
soutenir la formation du personnel medical concernant la selection
prenatale en fonction du sexe et ses consequences pernicieuses “, ainsi
que redoubler d’efforts pour ” relever le statut des femmes dans la
societe “. Ces gouvernements devraient collecter des donnees fiables
sur les sex-ratios a la naissance, y compris dans diverses regions
d’un meme pays. L’Assemblee a appele l’ensemble des Etats membres du
Conseil de l’Europe ” a introduire des mesures legislatives en vue
d’interdire la selection du sexe dans le contexte des technologies
de procreation assistee et de l’avortement legal, sauf lorsque la
prevention d’une maladie hereditaire grave le justifie “.

FIVE FAMOUS ARMENIANS
By Sean Nolan

Joe.ie, Ireland
Oct 11 2011

Thought you knew nothing about Armenia? Think again – here are five
of their most famous people (Note: includes two fictitious characters).

Armenia, a country that almost nobody in Ireland could pick out on
a map, is causing grown men to fret about the fate of our football
team tonight. With a population of less than three million, we should
be crushing them under our Adidas Predators but instead we have them
built up as a combination of Barcelona and Brazil circa 1970.

In the mood of optimism we are trying to cling onto today, we decided
to look at some famous Armenians, to gauge the strength of the nation.

The fact that two are fictional tells you all you need to know.

Armin Tamzarian

Better known to you and me as Principal Skinner, Bart Simpson~Rs arch
enemy was born Armin Tamzarian, a street punk of Armenian descent,
but after returning from Vietnam he borrowed his former commander~Rs
name and life and went on to teach at Springfield Elementary. Some
have pegged this episode, The Principal and the Pauper, first aired
in 1997, as the beginning of the end for The Simpsons. The fact it is
still around, and with at least two more years to go proves otherwise.

Capt. John Joseph Yossarian

The central character in Joseph Heller~Rs Catch 22, Yossarian is an
Armenian-American fighter pilot in World War II who is desperate to
get out of the war as he is convinced he is going to be killed either
by the enemy or his own incompetent commanders, and his attempts to
avoid both these fates is forever channeled into impossible situations,
or Catch-22s. The book, 50 years old this week, is based on Heller~Rs
own experiences in the war, and is a brilliant examination of the
pointlessness and waste of war.

Cher

Almost a fictional character at this stage due to the amount of
surgery she has undergone, Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in 1946.

Her dad was Armenian American but she soon dropped everything and
became known as just Cher. Most interesting thing about Cher? She is
just a Tony award away from completing the EGOT, Tracy Jordan~Rs goal
in 30 Rock. Cher has an Emmy, an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Kim Kardashian

Another Armenian-American, the reality star and model is somehow
a global superstar. Without any discernible talent, bar a larger
than average arse, Kardashian is estimated to be worth more than
$50million. It all started, as all good stories do, with a sex
tape released in 2007. Her surname means ~Qson of a stonemason~R in
Armenian .

Henrik Mkhitaryan

Maybe not that well known but he is the Armenian dangerman tonight.

Playing for Shakhtar Donetsk, the 22-year-old is very talented forward
who likes to drop off the front and probe defences. He has five goals
in this campaign so far and his speed and skill could cause problems.

It is up to the Irish defence to ensure he remains unknown for a
little longer tonight.

AZERBAIJAN DESCRIBES CONDITIONS OF ITS CONSENT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NPP IN ARMENIA

Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2011

Azerbaijan may give consent for construction of a new nuclear reactor
in Armenia, director of the Radiation Problems Institute of Azerbaijan
National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Adil Garibov said.

According to him, to get Azerbaijan’s consent for construction of the
reactor, Armenia must necessarily develop and submit to Azerbaijan
the environmental impact assessment of the reactor’s operation.

At the same time, Armenia has to inform the Azerbaijani side of
all details of the reactor’s operation: from where it will take
water for reactor’s operation, how it will purify water, at what
temperature the water will drain back into the river, how safety
will be ensured. The Armenian side will have to answer to some other
questions of Azerbaijan.

According to Garibov, before building a new reactor, it is necessary
to prepare environmental impact assessment and submit to countries
of region a report on this issue.

The results of environmental impact assessment of the reactor may
be not to be reported to Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan may not to accept
them, said Garibov. According to him, Armenia may explain its refusal
to submit assessment to Azerbaijan with that it is in condition of
war the country.

Azerbaijan also can not to accept the results of assessment if the
Armenian side does not follow certain rules for the organization
of reactor.

“At the annual meeting of the IAEA, ANAS President Mahmud Kerimov said
that Armenia is weak from an economic point of view, it may not to
be able to contain the reactor with a capacity of 1,000 MW. So, this
issue should be on the focus of international attention,” said Garibov.

Armenia plans to build a new nuclear power plant more powerful than
Metsamor NPP. Presumably, the project will cost $1 billion.

The service period of Metsamor NPP expired in 2010. However, Armenia
and IAEA experts have agreed to continue operating the plant until
2016.