Author: Babajanian Karo

KARABAKH PRESIDENT BAKO SAHAKYAN VISITS METS SHEN

Tert.am
21:19 31.08.11

Bako Sahakyan, the President of the Republic of Artsakh
(Nagorno-Karabakh), visited the village of Mets Shen in the Martakert
region and partook at a number of solemn events.

According to a press release by the Karabakhi presidential
administration, Sahakyan attended the opening of the reconstructed
school, newly-built church, house of celebrations, village
administration building and a macaroni production enterprise.

Sahakyan referred to all these buildings as “pivotal components of
the village’s life” and underlined that they would give a new impetus
to the development of Mets Shen.

Bako Sahakyan also expressed gratitude to philanthropists Karlen
and Armen Yesayans for constant assistance to the native village,
noting that the state pays special attention to cooperation with the
philanthropists in the revival of villages in Artsakh.

Head of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Arthur
Tovmasyan, members of the NKR and RA parliaments and cabinets of
ministers, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Aghvan
Hovsepyan, guests from Armenia and Diaspora took part in the events.

ARMENIAN SINGER ANDRE’S WEBSITE HACKED

Tert.am
19:59 31.08.11

The personal website of the Karabakh-born Armenian singer Andre has
come under a hacker attack.

The website did not operate normally until 6pm on Wednesday.

Visitors would see the photo of Mubariz Ibrahimov – an Azerbaijani
soldier who was killed during a commando-style attack on an Armenian
outpost last year.

A short note above the photo read “We Never Forget Mubariz Ibrahimov”.

It is not known whether the cyber attack has been orchestrated by
Azerbaijani hackers.

JAVAKHETI STUDENTS IN ARMENIA – A SOURCE OF BRIBERY?

Aug 30, 2011, 02:12 pm

Social

A considerable part of university entrants in Georgia’s Armenian region
of Samtskhe-Javakheti prefer to continue their education in Tbilisi.

Only five out of the 28 graduates in one of Akhalkalak’s schools will
continue their studies in Yerevan. Another 13 graduates have applied
to higher educational establishments in Tbilisi.

Talking to A1+, Georgian citizen Lida Ayvazyan said that education
in Tbilisi is not only available but also promising.

“To work in Georgia you need to have a diploma of a local university.

Moreover, it will help you in your future career,” she said, adding
that children learning in Armenian universities encounter a major
problem as they are viewed as “a source of bribe” by professors.

In addition, Mrs. Ayvazyan noted that in Yerevan an apartment can
be rented at 70 000 drams while in Tbilisi rented apartments cost
150 laris (about 30 000 drams), let alone the money spent on food
and clothes.

Even drivers noted that the number of Georgian students has decreased
in Armenia in recent years.

“If things continue the way they are, I shall probably change the
route and transport students from Akhalkalak to Tbilisi,” said Jora
Ghazaryan, who has been transporting students from Akhalkalak to
Yerevan for eleven years.

We could not obtain any official information as to how many Armenian
students have applied to Georgian universities. Armine Kuroyan,
Secretary of “Educational Resource” Centre of Akhalkalak region,
said their number reaches 97.

“The number of Armenian students in Georgia has undoubtedly increased
as Georgia offers a number of privileges to them. For example, they
organize free course of the Georgian language for Armenian students,”
she said.

Amalya Kocharyan, a senior official at the RA Ministry of Diaspora,
assured us that the number of Javakheti Armenians studying in Armenian
universities has not changed: 281 Georgian citizens studied in Armenia
in 2009, their number was 280 in 2010 and 218 in 2011.

WHAT RULE OHANYAN BROKE

Lragir.am News

12:04:07 – 31/08/2011

Was the arrest of the chief of Traffic Police, Margar Ohanyan, for
abuse of his official authority or does the arrest of the high-ranking
police official have the same motive as in the case of Hovik Tamamyan?

In other words, the official remains in office as long as he does
not do anything that does not please the top government.

Serzh Sargsyan publicly questioned Tamamyan’s “morality” when the
latter tried to put up charges for murder against one of the relatives
of Sargsyan’s partners in the governmental system. The system did not
forgive him. But are there any citizens in Armenia who would doubt it
was the first case when Tamamyan put up charges against an innocent
person? Hardly anyone would doubt. However, Tamamyan was arrested as
soon as he broke the rule of the system.

Now, which rule did Margar Ohanyan break, the state rule or the
system’s rule? It seems to be unimportant because it is important to
hold one of the most corrupt officials of the Armenian authorities
responsible. On the other hand, it is therefore even more important
what rules handle the destiny of government officials. Otherwise,
strict adherence to the rules of the system ensures freedom to violate
state laws, and as soon as the official violates the government rules,
the official is deprived of this freedom.It doesn’t mean that it is
necessary to launch a movement “Freedom to Ohanyan”. Not, of course.

It means that Armenia needs to launch a movement of monitoring of
all the corrupt, in accordance with the state law rather than the
government rules.

POLICE REPRESENTATIVES KEEPING MUM ON TRAFFIC POLICE CHIEF’S ARREST

epress.am
08.31.2011 14:35

Head of the public relations department at Yerevan’s Kentron
(“central”) police station Armen Malkhasyan, speaking to journalists
in the Armenian capital today, didn’t share any details regarding the
arrest of chief of Armenia’s traffic police, Colonel Margar Ohanyan,
saying only that the case is being examined by the RA Special
Investigative Service.

Considering that Ohanyan is being accused of embezzling fuel,
Epress.am asked Malkhasyan whether the police division didn’t receive
any complaints from officers.

The public relations chief responded in the negative, adding, “In any
case, the RA police press department has not received [complaints].”

RA Traffic Police Road Patrol Service Division Chief Norik Sargsyan
(pictured), also present at the press conference, said he was not
questioned in the Margar Ohanyan case.

Sargsyan didn’t wish to comment on unconfirmed reports that he will
be replacing Ohanyan as head of the RA Traffic Police.

“We are military servicemen. Who will serve where is decided by police
management. We carry out orders. If they decide that I have to serve
in Amasia, I will go and serve in Amasia. There’s been no such talk,
and as for what I wish, every man can have wishes [desires],” he said.

As previously reported, Colonel Margar Ohanyan was arrested on
Tuesday on suspicion of abuse of power and large-scale embezzlement
and charged under RA Criminal Code Article 308 Section 2 and Article
179 Section 3-1.

INITIATIVE OF YEREVAN ON NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS DISPELLED THE ILLUSIONS ABOUT NEW AND MODERN TURKEY – SARGSYAN

ARKA
Aug 30, 2011

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Initiative of Yerevan on normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations dispelled the illusions about a new and
modern Turkey, said President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in the meeting
with the central staff of Foreign Ministry and heads of diplomatic
missions of the country abroad.

Process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations started by the
initiative of the President of Armenian Serzh Sargsyan in autumn 2008.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandyan
and Ahmed Davutoghlu signed “Protocol on establishment of diplomatic
relations” and “Protocol on the development of mutual relations” on
October 10, 2009. These documents should be ratified by the parliaments
of both countries. However, on April 22, 2010 Sargsyan signed a decree
on the termination of ratification process of protocols announcing
that Turkey is not ready to continue the started process. Ratification
process of protocols by the Turkish Parliament is in a frozen state.

“It may seem that we have to regret in connection with the initiative
of Armenian-Turkish relations as Turkey abandoned its obligations
and we have squandered an enormous political potential. I think that
many of this audience understand that this initiative had raised the
international prestige of Armenia and dispelled the illusion of our
colleagues about a new and modern Turkey, identifying contemporary
demonstrations of policy familiar to the Armenians from historical
experience”, press-service of the President’s Office cited the words
of the president to the news agency “Novosti-Armenia”.

However, according to the president, Armenia remains committed to
its position and normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without
pre-conditions.

“Turkey must find strength to respect its commitments not making
demands which do not honor the country that considers itself a modern
regional state”, he said.

Sargsyan also noted that the Turkish side should understand that
Armenian-Turkish protocols are not open and open-ended opportunity.

On August 22, 2011 Armenian-Turkish protocols were removed from the
agenda of legislative body of Turkey. According to the regulations of
the Turkish Parliament, the draft documents are automatically excluded
from the agenda if they are not discussed during convocation and are
not forwarded to the Parliament by the Prime Minister of members of
the parliament. It is not clear whether the intention of the Prime
Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to submit the protocols
to the parliament.

“Many of our friends advised us to wait until the parliamentary
elections in Turkey. So, in the next few months we will see if
there is a change in the approach of Turkey after the elections,
despite the fact that, speaking honestly, the last two months have
not given a basis for optimism. In regard with these observations,
we will define our next steps regarding the protocols”, he said.

There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. The
border between two countries was closed since 1993 by the official
initiative of Ankara. Complicated relations between both countries
are due to a number of circumstances, particularly by the support
of Ankara to Azerbaijani position in Karabakh conflict and acute
reaction of Turkey on the process of international recognition of
Armenian Genocide in 1915 in Ottoman Empire.

GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY TO HOST CA AMERICAN ARMENIAN PAINTERS’ EXHIBIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 31, 2011 – 13:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Garboushian Gallery will present California Armenian
Pacific Standard Time, from September 15 to November 5.

Planned artworks include pieces by John Altoon, Charles Garabedian,
Leo Krikorian, Paul Sarkisian, Sam Tchakalian and writer/poet William
Saroyan, among others.

These artists are featured not only because they are California
Armenian Americans, but precisely because of the vital role they
played and some still continue to play in defining Californian art,
both at the aesthetic and institutional level, in the second half of
the 20th century. California Armenian Pacific Standard Time is part
of Pacific Standard Time, an unprecedented collaboration, initiated by
the Getty, which brings together more than sixty cultural institutions
from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011
to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene.

Garboushian Gallery’s California Armenian Pacific Standard
Time exhibition attempts to chronicle the post-war history of
Armenian American art making through an interconnection of these
individuals-some well known, some lesser known-and the exceptional
work they have produced.

THE HRAYR MAROUKHIAN FOUNDATION: SOCIAL DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE

Haytoug Magazine

Aug 30 2011

A new foundation that promises something new in Armenia

YEREVAN – The Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation (HMF), a social democratic
think tank founded in 2009 in the Republic of Armenia is a non-profit
Armenian foundation committed to the development and advancement
of public policy issues that espouse the basic values of social
democracy through education, training, research, and regional and
international cooperation.

Participants in the Hrayr Maroukhian Training, May 2011, Dilijan.

The aims of the foundation are to contribute to and actively promote
a comprehensive national, regional and international dialogue focusing
on current political, economic and social developments and challenges,
with a primary concentration on Armenia and the South Caucasus.

Among its many diverse projects, the Foundation produces academic
research papers to serve in political decision-making and policy,
organizes conferences and round tables, publishes studies on social
democracy and conducts trainings for young political leaders.

Since its creation, the HMF has initiated and executed several key
projects.

Presenting the findings from one of the working groups.

In order to address a number of deeply rooted problems in the Republic
of Armenia and ensure the development of social democracy, sufficient
policy research needs to be developed. For this reason the Hrayr
Maroukhian Foundation along with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of
Germany conducted a groundbreaking study on social reform in Armenia.

The purpose of this study is to present an alternative vision for
social reform in the country by developing feasible, financially
sustainable policy options in the areas of housing, unemployment and
health. Through a designated working group of experts focusing on each
specific policy area, this study aims to implement the populations’
right to quality housing, employment and accessible and affordable
health care. The Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation is currently in the final
phase of publishing the final policy paper in Armenian and English and
will present it to government officials, political parties, academics,
non-governmental organizations and foundations and international
organizations at a conference in November 2011 in Yerevan.

As an important means for the dissemination of social democratic
principles, the Foundation recently translated and published
“Foundations of Social Democracy.” This book, originally printed in
German, serves to provide individuals with a better understanding
of the values, goals and the meaning of social democracy in the
21st century. The book is available at the HMF offices in Yerevan
and a full electronic version will also be available on its website

Trainer Bjorn Kulp leading the discussion.

With the clear understanding that the youth have a key role to play
in the empowerment of the country, the HMF organized a comprehensive
three-day training seminar for twenty young political leaders in
Dilijan, Armenia in May 2011. The training encompassed three main
components for leadership building skills: Strategic Planning,
Future Search and World Cafe. The strategic planning session taught
participants how to define the goals and objectives of the youth
organizations they were active in, as well as finding the most
productive methods in implementing those goals. Later, the young
leaders took part in Future Search, which outlined methods to develop
alternative futures by finding diverse ways for solving problems. The
final component titled World Cafe aimed to foster problem solving
dialogue in unconventional settings such as coffee shops. After three
intensive days of training, participants left the seminar equipped
with innovative techniques and a clearer vision of how to effectively
work within their youth organizations.

Recently, HMF received a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to produce a six part mini-series about the problems,
challenges and achievements of Armenian women entitled “Women in
Armenia.” Through these six half hour segments, to be aired on Yerkir
Media in the fall, HMF plans to highlight the difficulties encountered
by women in private and public life while at the same time showcasing
the positive impact women have in the democratic development of their
society. The segment topics to be covered include, women in politics,
women in business, women in armed conflict, domestic violence against
women, sexual harassment against women and women and health care.

Seminar participants taking part in the World Cafe training.

In October 2011, the Foundation will be conducting a special training
on social democracy. This project will focus on the basics of social
democracy; European SD in the last two decades; debates about the
future of SD and its relevance for Armenia. One of the authors of the
book, “Foundations of Social Democracy,” Christian Krell will lead the
training with a co-trainer for political leaders in Yerevan. During
the training, the current political and economic situation in Armenia
will be discussed.

By conducting policy research, organizing training seminars and the
dissemination of information, along with other innovative projects in
the future, the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation will lay the foundations
for long-term, systematic solutions to social, political and economic
problems and will contribute to the development of more transparent,
accountable, equitable and prosperous societies.

For more information about the activities of the Hrayr Maroukhian
Foundation, please visit: or find us on
Facebook at Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation.

ARMENIAN SCHOOLCHILDREN WILL GET SCHOOL RECORD BOOKS PAINTED IN ARMENIAN TRICOLOUR

news.am
Aug 30 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – All schoolchildren in Armenia will start the new academic
year with school record books prepared on the occasion of 20th
anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

The record books will be painted in colors of the national flag
and will contain the logo and slogan of the 20th anniversary of
independence.

National anthem, Lord’s Prayer, short information about Armenian
Coat of Arms, National holidays, Commemoration days and Holidays of
Armenian Apostolic Church will be printed on the back pages of the
school record books.

“THERE IS A RED LINE WHICH WE’LL NEVER CROSS”, THE ARMENIAN PRESIDENT STATES

Mediamax
Aug 30 2011
Armenia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated today that “there is a red
line” in the issue of Karabakh settlement “that we’ll never cross”.

Speaking at the meeting of the Central Office of Foreign Ministry and
heads of Armenia’s diplomatic missions abroad, the President said that
“everybody saw how Southern Sudan gained independence this year after
decades of struggle”, Mediamax reports.

“The same outcome is unavoidable in case of Artsakh even though we
can’t say Azerbaijan has moderated its stance”, said Serzh Sargsyan.

He noted that “the sides reached an important line in the summer:
the mediator countries and international community expected us to
reach agreements on at least key principles of the settlement”.

“In this respect, the meeting in Kazan was a kind of a touchstone to
assess the sides’ determination and sincerity. We saw that Azerbaijan
made a step backward in Kazan by refusing to come to an agreement
and putting new obstacles into the process”, stressed the Armenian
President.

The Armenian leader said that “irrespective of Azerbaijan’s destructive
stance Armenia will keep on making efforts (as before) to settle the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in an exclusively peaceful way based on the
norms of international law and principles reflected in the UN Charter”.

“Nevertheless, let nobody doubt our determination: we have a red line
that we will never be able to cross. We spoke about these both in
public and during meetings with our partners. It is reflected in my
pre-election program and numerous statements. Baku is not ready for
peace as it’s impossible to set peace by advocating a war; to reconcile
societies by sowing Armenophobia; build trust by instigating race of
arms. Such behavior demonstrated by Azerbaijan is unacceptable and we
will make adequate steps. Be sure – in case of a new military adventure
Armenia will again coerce the rival to peace”, stated Serzh Sargsyan.