Author: Babajanian Karo

CARNEGIE FOUNDATION MIGHT SUPPORT ARMENIAN EDUCATION SECTOR

Thursday 16 October 2014 16:26
Photo: PAN Photo

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen
Ashotyan received President of Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan
Gregorian and Vice President Deana Arsenian today.

Joint educational program with the Foundation was discussed during
the meeting.

The Minister introduced the achievements in the Armenian educational
sector. He said that this year as well, Armenian schoolchildren have
recorded serious achievements in International Science Olympiads by
earning 19 medals in total.

“Armenia excels in this index neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia taken
together, and nearly equals to another neighboring country – Turkey.

Introduction of Chess in general education programs is a major
innovation in the Armenian education sector that has sparked great
interest in international education”, noted Armen Ashotyan.

Vartan Gregorian and Deana Arsenian said they are interested in
studying the Armenian education system and stand ready to contribute
to not only activities of Diaspora’s Armenian educational institutions
abroad but also to educational initiatives in Armenia.

AZERBAIJAN’S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT REALITY REASON WHY NAGORNO-KARABAKH NOT INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED – GRIGOR HOVHANNISYAN

13:52 * 16.10.14

The Mexico-based Canal 7 TV channel aired Armenian Ambassador to
Mexico Grigor Hovhannisyan’s response to the Azerbaijani Embassy’s
information on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Armenian ambassador’s message reads, in particular:

“We appreciate the initiative of Canal 7 to familiarize its viewers
with the status of the unsettled conflict between Azerbaijan and
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. And while I read with interest some
of the insights and comments given by my Azeri colleague to Canal 7,
I would like to offer to your viewers the Armenian perspective into
this conflict that international community has been trying to solve
for almost two decades now.

“The first fundamental thing one should know about Karabakh, is that
there is no such thing as Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Instead, the
conflict broke out, when Azerbaijan unleashed its whole military might
against the tiny Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region and its entirely
civilian population, after the latter had voted in a legally binding
referendum for independence. To understand this context and to draw
parallels, I suggest you imagine for a second the reaction of the
Great Britain to the Scottish vote of independence. It is unthinkable
to even imagine that the UK would one way or another crack down on
Scottish voters, should they have opted for independence. That is
exactly what makes countries and nations great. Shortly after the
Karabakh independence vote, Azerbaijan it put in motion its giant war
machine and began pounding cities and villages, schools and hospitals
with cluster munitions and other dreadful weapons causing tens of
thousands of deaths among the civilians.

“A bloody war that ensued claimed the lives of tens of thousands of
people, mostly civilians, and mostly in Karabakh, but resulted in a
decisive victory of the tiny province of Karabakh against Azerbaijan’s
manifold superior forces. After having legally voted for independence,
the people of Karabakh have fought for and won their fundamental
right for self-determination in what, perhaps, was one of the most
emotionally charged and dramatic liberation struggles of the last
century – full of heroism, selflessness and sacrifice.

“For the last 23 years the people of Karabakh have been building their
statehood: against formidable odds of blockade, post war devastation
and constant threats from Azerbaijan. And yet, the country that the
people of Karabakh have built since the ceasefire went into effect
has democratic institutions, competitive and transparent election
processes and pluralism of opinions. This is in sharp contrast to
Azerbaijan, which since independence, has consistently embraced the
philosophy of oppression and intolerance to become a country with
political prisoners, a hereditary authoritarian rule of the Aliyev
clan, a country described by the human rights watchdogs as the most
corrupt and repressive (not-free).

“It is true that as a result of the Azeri government’s intransigence
and refusal to accept the reality and FACTs on the ground, the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic is not legally recognized by the international
community as a sovereign state. Armenia has not de jure recognized
NKR either, because of its commitment to a negotiated settlement
with Azerbaijan, although it is not a big secret that Armenia and
NKR are fully integrated, as a single nation. The country has not
been yet recognized, but this does not mean that the recognition
process is stalled. Whether you like it or not, the process of NKR’s
international recognition is well underway: at the level of popular
and parliamentary diplomacy. The latest example – is the recognition
of NKR by the California State Assembly and the Senate.

“As it is pointed out by my Azeri colleague, the Karabakh conflict is
being mediated by three countries: US, Russia and France – co-chairs of
the so called Minks Group of Organization of Security and Cooperation
in Europe- the organization mandated by the international community to
mediate and foster the peace process. The Armenian and Karabakh sides
are committed to a settlement based on mutual compromise. However, this
good will is not matched by the Azeri side, which, instead of embracing
the peace plan currently on the table, attempts to delegitimize the
OSCE Minsk Group, while also trying hard to intimidate the Karabakh
side by saber-rattling. Oil-rich Azerbaijan has taken a full advantage
of the last decade’s unbridled oil price hikes and heavily invested
in the buildup of its armed forces, thus hoping to gain upper hand
in the conflict with the tiny Karabakh.

“After having torpedoed the latest rounds of peace talks, Azerbaijan
incessantly states its frustration and mulls its right to resort to
military force in order to achieve a breakthrough in the conflict.

This past August Azerbaijan even launched a series of military
offensives against Karabakh – and was once again forced to retreat
after having suffered substantial losses and humiliation.

“I could not agree more with my Azeri colleague that people in our
region are fed up with the status quo and that the “no-war-no-peace”
situation is in no one’s interest. And in order to achieve a lasting
peace our Azeri counterparts should give more consideration to the
legitimate interests of the people of Karabakh. The “offer” of a high
degree of autonomy within a brutally repressive and racially intolerant
Azerbaijan is anything but appealing to the people of Karabakh who
have been living in freedom and dignity for the last 23 years.

“PS Armenians refer to Karabakh as Artsakh – the original name of the
region that has been recorded by the Greek classical historian Strabo.

Artsakh has always been one of the cradles of western/Christian
civilization in the Asia Minor – with numerous priceless vestiges
of early Christian architecture dating back to first centuries of
the Common Era. Nagorno Karabakh is a geographic name introduced
in the 1920s by the Bolsheviks to denominate the historic Armenian
province of Artsakh, which was forcibly annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan
by Joseph Stalin. During the 70 years of Soviet Azeri rule (Azeri
are predominantly Shiite Muslims), Artsakh has been subjected to
systematic ethnic cleansing and discrimination campaigns. In the wake
of Gorbachev’s perestroika, people of Artsakh stood up for their
rights and voted for independence in 1989, in accordance with law
and procedures set forth by Soviet Constitution.”

ARMENIA INCREASES EXPORT OF PRECIOUS STONES AND METALS

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

12:23, 16 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s export volume for
precious and semiprecious stones, as well as precious metals and
products made of them totaled USD 150,1 million during the first
eight months of the current year. This amount has been increased by
25 percent in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

As reports “Armenpress”, within the same period, the
export volume of low-price metals and products made out them has been
decreased by 4 percent and amounted USD 203,8 million.

ones-and-metals.html

PEOPLE OF KARABAKH WILL CONTINUE STANDING FOR RIGHT TO DECIDE THEIR OWN FUTURE: A. ZAKARYAN

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

09:50, 16 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Chairman of the Standing Committee
on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Artak Zaqaryan made a speech on the 23rd anniversary of
independence of Artsakh in Belgium. The Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia informed
“Armenpress” that Artak Zakaryan underscored:

“This evening, I am not speaking as the chairman of the foreign
relations Committee of the Armenian Parliament, nor as head of the
Armenian delegation to the EURONEST parliamentary assembly, not even
as member of the political assembly of the EPP.

This evening I would like to speak as what I am as a person, from the
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, a habitant, unfortunately often absent,
from my beloved village of Hadrut in the Southern region.

Some people say that Karabakh is the Eastern end of Europe, others say
it is the beginning of Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Europe,
furthermore I think it is somehow the soul of Europe, the voice of
Europe’s conscience, often light, but very truthful, sometimes
ignored resulting in fatalities, and I am going to try and explain
you why.

Artsakh belongs to the European community of values, throughout our
3000 years history, together with Armenians we were the first to
adopt Christianity as official religion in the world, since then our
land enjoyed quite a high level of independency sometimes associated
to different empires, also fully independent, as in the form of
federation with other kingdoms. Those were the times when our noble
families were marrying European royalty and our people were hand in
hand with all European endeavours in order to preserve Christianity.

Just like most of you we have also experienced the face of the most
atrocious totalitarian regimes. The origin of the problem we are still
suffering was an arbitrary decision of Lenin implemented by Stalin,
when back in 1920 they decided to put Nagorno-Karabakh under the
recently created Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan. Over 60 years of
repression followed, which combined with our self-sufficient vocation
and determination were not enough to neutralise our European values. As
a result in 1988 the 1st pacific democratic movement against Soviet
rule broke up in Karabakh, which as you know, would be followed by our
European friends. Fully in line with the legal framework in force, the
Soviet Constitution, and international law, the 1st self-determination
referendum in Europe took place on the 10th of December of 1991 when
the people of Nagorno-Karabakh peacefully opted for their independency
with a participation of 82% and 99.99% of votes supporting this option.

Unfortunately this democratic and peaceful expression was followed by
a large scale military aggression launched by Azerbaijan, resulting in
40.000 victims and a cease fire signed by Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh
and the Republic of Armenia.

Since then, our population continues to be militarily harassed in
the only self-regulated cease-fire in the world. However we have
managed to implement by ourselves a European based democratic
model of development, where Presidents change through elections,
parties alternate in power and people are proud of their democratic
institutions.

People of Karabakh, we will continue standing for our right to
decide our own future. We all know what is Azerbaijan today, a
totalitarian country with the record of political prisoners in all
Eastern Partnership. An elite profiting from oil revenues while the
population can’t even develop any political project confronting
the regimes main lines, while electoral processes are just a charade.

How can anybody conceive that our country should pass under
the control of the most corrupted and totalitarian regime in the
Easternpartnership? Would any country like to be part of Azerbaijan
against their people’s will?

This is what I understand by being the voice of Europe’s
conscience, and I am confident that the renewed European Parliament,
our European Parliament friends will act as loudspeakers of the voice
of Europe’s conscience, of Nagorno-Karabakh, not only in this
House but also in all EU Institutions.

Because in the end, history proofs that what is good for
Nagorno-Karabakh is good for Europe and when we do not stick to our
values, when we do not listen our conscience we lose our real freedom.

Thank you my European friends, and of course all participants for
taking this important challenge.”

ng-for-right-to-decide-their-own-future-a-zakaryan.html

JACOB PORPOSSIAN ONE OF TOP 30 UNDER 30 PEOPLE IN MARKETING/ADVERTISING/COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IN CANADA

October 15, 2014

In the back room of his uncle’s Baskin Robbins in Pickering, Ont.,
Jacob Porpossian, then 17, was on the phone to a producer at Omni
Television. “I said, ‘my mom makes me watch this [Armenian cultural
programming] every Saturday morning and it’s boring. It would be great
if we could have something more catered to youth.’ And the producer
said, ‘why don’t you do it?'”

Thus began Porpossian’s three-year stint as the producer and host of
Armenian Youth TV (AYTV). It was a lesson learned: “If you want to
do something, just go for it,” says Porpossian.

It’s a lesson he took to FleishmanHillard, which he joined as a
consultant in 2011 after graduating from Edinburgh Napier University.

Three years into the job–a time when Fleishman was boosting its
creative capabilities–Porpossian successfully pushed for a new role
to be created: digital strategy and program director.

For the past seven months, Porpossian has grown and managed
Fleishman’s creative services department, bringing new offerings
to clients and contributing to a steady stream of new work for
the agency. So far, he’s developed an inspirational video about a
young man living with hemophilia , produced a PSA that provided a
humorous spin on the importance of colorectal cancer screening, and
creative-directed/produced/wrote a video that helped raise awareness
about recycling electronics, among other projects.

Beyond his new role, Porpossian is most proud of leading the first-ever
One Direction pop-up retail store in Toronto in 2012.

Porpossian (who began his career in the music industry on the
management team at Do Dat Entertainment) developed an integrated
strategy, identified key partnerships and carefully seeded information
with fans and media. The pop-up store quickly became a national news
story as thousands lined up on Yonge Street, some waiting for 24
hours to be the first to enter the store. The Toronto launch alone
generated more than 60 million impressions, and the strategy became
the foundation of store openings in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton,
as well as several U.S. cities.

“Jacob brings not only a tremendous sense of passion and
enthusiasm, but a great maturity as well,” says Jennifer Shah, senior
vice-president and partner at FleishmanHillard. “He has a great handle
on what he’s passionate about and what needs to be done to elevate
the art of communications.”

Outside of work, Porpossian dedicates his time to a number of community
causes. He is currently the youngest member of Toronto’s 519 Church
Street Community Centre ‘s board of management, which caters to the the
city’s Gay Village neighbourhood and the broader LBGTQ community. He
is also vice-chair of the community centre’s resource development
committee, and serves as communications and marketing manager at the
Pomegranate Film Festival, an Armenian cultural organization.

Marketingmag.ca

RESULT: FRANCE PUT THREE PAST ARMENIA IN FRIENDLY

Sports Mole, UK
Oct 14 2014

Loic Remy, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Antoine Griezmann get on the
scoresheet as France beat Armenia 3-0 in an international friendly.

By Pascal Lemesre, Championship Correspondent

France eased past Armenia 3-0 in this evening’s international friendly
in Yerevan.

Didier Deschamps’s side, who are not part of Euro 2016 qualifying as
they are hosts of the tournament, took the lead inside the first 10
minutes when Chelsea forward Loic Remy slotted home from Andre-Pierre
Gignac’s pass.

Les Bleus doubled their lead 10 minutes after the break when Gignac,
the top scorer in Ligue 1 this season, scored from the penalty spot
after Varazdat Haroyan had upended Paul Pogba.

Gignac was again provider for the third goal, playing in Antoine
Griezmann to finish from close range.

Bernard Challandes’s Armenia are in the five-team Group I and have
one point from their opening two Euro 2016 qualifiers.

ARMENIA JOINING EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION TO BOOST ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – SARGSYAN

AKIpress News Agency (Kyrgyzstan)
October 13, 2014 Monday

Armenia has decided to join the Eurasian Economic Union to spur its
economic development, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Sunday
after talks with his Serbian counterpart Tomislav Nikolic.

“As you know, I have just returned from Minsk, where Armenia signed a
document on joining the Eurasian Economic Union,” Sargsyan said. “We
made this decision with an eye to give a fresh impetus to the progress
of our economy. Free movement of goods, services, capital and labour
force, accessibility of energy resources and common transport solutions
in the Eurasian space will open up new possibilities to increase the
competitive edge and efficiency of our economy.”

“But it is important that our partners know that we never contrapose
Eurasian integration to our dialogue with the European Union,”
he noted. “It /the dialogue/ will be continues, for we have many
coinciding interests. We have common heritage, which is a basis
for ongoing process of democratic reforms in our country,” reports
ITAR-TASS.

“Bilateral relations with European countries take an important and
specific place in these relations,” Sargsyan stressed. “The visit by
the Serbian president and active contacts at all levels are a proof
to that.”

The Eurasian Economic Union Treaty was signed by presidents of Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus on May 29, 2014. The document establishes the
Eurasian Economic Union, which is to come in existence from January 1,
2015. The treaty provides for free movement of commodity, services,
capital and labour force within the union. It also envisages that the
three countries coordinate or pursue common policy in certain economic
sectors. The Eurasian Economic Union is seen as a tool to strengthen
economies of its member states and to bring them closer together,
moreover, such closer integration will add to their competitive edge
on the global market. News Agency Ð~PÐ~ZÐ~Xpress – 2001-2014

NOWHERE TO TURN TO

WPS Agency (Russia)
October 13, 2014 Monday

by Konstantin Nikolayev
Source: Novye Izvestia, No 183, October 13, 2014, p. 2

ARMENIA JOINED THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION BUT IT MEANS TO CONTINUE
ITS OWN DIALOGUE WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION ALL THE SAME; Armenia will
become a full-fledged member of the Eurasian Economic Union on January
1, 2015.

Armenia’s Serj Sargsjan said yesterday that membership in the Eurasian
Economic Union was no impediment for continuation of the dialogue
with the European Union. The Armenian opposition is trying to use the
Eurasian Economic Union accord to promote its own objectives. The
government of Armenia is castigated for the decision to join the
Eurasian Economic Union, the decision that is unlikely to be reversed,
criticism or not.

Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union, a structure already
comprising Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, at the summit in Minsk
last Friday. It will become a full-fledged member of the Eurasian
Economic Union on January 1, 2015. As for the planned continuation
of the dialogue with the European Union, Sargsjan announced it on
his visit to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia where he met with his
Serbian opposite number Tomislav Nikolic.

Sargsjan said at the press conference in Belgrade that the motives to
join the Eurasian Economic Union were purely economic, that they did
not mean severance of ties with the European Union. “These relations
with the European Union will continue… as will the democratic
reforms.”

The Armenian opposition in the meantime announced that the signing
of the Eurasian Economic Union treaty meant that Armenia could bid
a fond adieu to Europe. A major rally was organized in the center of
Yerevan on October 10. One of the opposition leaders Raffi Ovannisjan
said that the leadership of the country was on Russia’s payroll and
condemned it for what he called treason against the state and betrayal
of national interests.

No clashes with the police took place, fortunately. It is clear,
however, that this mass event was not the last.

Aleksei Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center pointed out that
Armenia was going to join the Eurasian Economic Union no matter what.

“It has nowhere else to turn to,” Malashenko said. “Armenia
needs Russia’s support in its confrontation with Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia needs Russian investments… Hence the
decision to join the Eurasian Economic Union.”

[Translated from Russian]

KAZAKHSTAN RATIFIED THE TREATY ON ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION

20:13, 14 Oct 2014

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the
“Law on Ratification of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union,”
the President’s press service informed. On October 9, the Parliament
of Kazakhstan sent the law on ratification of the EEU to be signed
by President of Belarus.

Recall, earlier, on October 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed
a law on ratification of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union
after which it was signed by the President of Belarus on October 09.

On May 29, 2014, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko and Nursultan
Nazarbayev signed in Astana a treaty establishing the EEU. The document
comes into force on 1 January 2015.

On October 10 Armenia signed an agreement on joining the Union. Till
the end of the year Kyrgyzstan may also enter EEU. EEU will replace
the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). Documents on the termination
of its activities were also signed on October 10.

LIFETIME PRISONER WINS CASE AGAINST TURKEY AT ECHR

16:45 â~@¢ 14.10.14

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey 11,200
euros for failing to provide adequate legal assistance while Onder
Carkcı, who is now serving a lifetime sentence, was in custody. It
also stated that his right to a fair trial within a reasonable time
period was violated, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Carkcı, 41, was accused of participating in an armed robbery of an
Istanbul jewelry shop on July 17, 1996, during which the shop owner
was shot dead.

Carkcı was admitted to hospital unconscious after being shot
during the incident, but before he was discharged from hospital the
gendarmerie took his statement in which he confessed to taking part
in the robbery and to using a gun after the shop owner opened fire.

He claimed that he was subsequently taken into custody and the charges
of armed robbery and murder against him were joined to a separate
set of charges, including allegations that he was a member of the
Turkish People’s Liberation Party/Front (THKP-C).

Carkcı, who is being held in the Kandıra Prison in the northwestern
province of Kocaeli, claimed at court that he had not been involved
in the robbery. He said he had only opened fire because he thought
he was being attacked as he heard gunshots while passing by the shop.

Ultimately, on May 30, 2008, an Istanbul court, based on his
statements at hospital, convicted him of attempting to undermine the
constitutional order by force as a member of the THKP-C. Carkcı was
sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,
in a judgment that was upheld on appeal on March 11, 2009.

Armenian News – Tert.am