Author: Babajanian Karo

REPORT: JORDANIAN, SAUDI, US SPY AGENCIES INVOLVED IN BEIRUT BLAST

Wed Jul 10, 2013 4:17

TEHRAN (FNA)- British sources revealed that the Jordanian, Saudi
and US spy agencies were behind the terrorist car bomb explosion in
Beirut’s Southern district of Bir al-Abed on Tuesday.

An informed British source told the Syrian news website al-Haqiqah
that intelligence officers of Jordan, the US and Saudi Arabia had
a meeting in Amman before the Beirut blast and discussed targeting
different Hezbollah movement concentration points in Lebanon.

The source said that fugitive Brigadier General Salim Idris, who
is now the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Military Council of the
so-called Free Syrian Army which fights the Syrian government also
attended the meeting.

A car bomb explosion ripped through the Beirut’s Southern suburb
neighborhood of Bir al-Abed, a Shiite area, wounded dozens of people.

Earlier, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri blamed Israel
for the terrorist explosion that rocked Beirut’s Southern suburbs and
accused the regime of trying to provoke Sunni-Shiite strife in Lebanon.

“The blast requires the highest level of awareness and vigilance in
the face of dangers that surround the country and the entire region,
especially while facing attempts by the Israeli enemy to push Lebanon
to strife by organizing terrorist attacks, as happened today,” Hariri
said in a statement on Tuesday.

“After the terrible criminal scene that Beirut’s Southern suburbs
witnessed, the Lebanese can only express indignation and condemnation
of the crime that targeted one of the most populated neighborhoods,”
the statement said.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

The newly elected committees of the Assembly of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
will soon begin their work

Antelias – Under the presidency of His Holiness Aram I, the two committees
elected by the Assembly–the Council of Religion and the Council of
Laity–will now begin to implement the priorities of the Assembly.

The 13 members of each council will represent the Dioceses for the next four
years. The Council of Religion will work on Christian education, youth
concerns, ecumenical and interfaith relations and issues related to the
renewal of the Armenian Church.

The Council of Laity, which also acts as the Executive Council, will focus
on events related to the commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide and will follow up mandated priorities in construction
projects, education, public relations, and finance and administration.

ON SEPTEMBER 20 IAN GILLAN WILL TAKE PART IN OPENING CEREMONY OF MUSIC SCHOOL IN ARMENIA

Mediamax, Armenia
July 10 2013

Yerevan /Mediamax/. The construction of N6 music school in Gyumri
realized within the joint project of Mediamax, Fund for Armenian Relief
(FAR) and Australian Do Something organization is drawing to an end.

The interior works in the school will be completed soon. Owing
to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s support, the school will be newly
furnished.

The solemn opening ceremony will be held on September 20. Rock star,
Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan with his wife and Managing Director
of Do Something, initiator of Rock Aid Armenia project Jon Dee will
take part in the event.

The construction of Gyumri N6 music school will mark the logical end
of Rock Aid Armenia project started back in 1989.

A few months after the devastating Spitak earthquake (1988) that
killed 25 thousand Armenians and left hundreds of thousands homeless,
24 year old Jon Dee organized the Rock Aid Armenia project in London.

British rock stars recorded a top 40 cover version of Deep Purple’s
Smoke on the Water and helped to release the special “Earthquake
Album”. Revenue from the single and album sales was contributed as
aid to Armenia.

Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi in Armenia in 2009.

Photo: PanArmenian Photo.

In 2009, Mediamax decided to honor the participants of Rock Aid
Armenia and contacted Jon Dee who lives in Australia and heads the
Do Something organization that he set up with tennis star and former
Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. As Jon was planning to re-release Rock Aid
Armenia’s Smoke on the Water to raise additional funds for Armenia,
Mediamax and Do Something joined forces to implement the Armenia
Grateful 2 Rock / Rock Aid Armenia project.

In October 2009, Mediamax invited Ian Gillan from Deep Purple, Tony
Iommi from Black Sabbath, Geoff Downes from Yes/Asia and Jon Dee to
Armenia. Under the Armenian President’s decree, they were awarded
an Order of Honor. It was later that Brian May from Queen and David
Gilmour from Pink Floyd were given their Orders of Honors by the
Armenian Embassy in London.

Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Geoff Downes and Jon Dee visited the Octet
Music School in Gyumri during their trip to Armenia. If there has ever
existed a painful blend of poverty and talent, then it was vividly
exposed at the Gyumri Octet School of Music. Many of the students come
from underprivileged families in Gyumri. Their music school has been
made up of “domiks” (metal sheet dwellings) that were left over from
the 1988 earthquake. The promise to rebuild these temporary premises
with a proper building has not happened. Despite their dilapidated
premises, the Octet Music School has kept producing talent year
after year.

The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) has been sponsoring the
underprivileged students of the School for many years. A hint of hope
came to the school about 5 years ago when a very special couple from
the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Edward and Janet Mardigian visited
the students, accompanied by the FAR Board of Directors. “I would
never forget those children, tears were coming to my eyes every time
I recalled their beautiful musical performance” – said Mrs. Janet
Mardigian. They have never stopped thinking about the ways that they
could help the children.

The children’s performance also struck the rock heroes Ian Gillan,
Tony Iommi and Geoff Downes. Together with Jon Dee, they announced
that they would help to rebuild the school. By the end of 2009, FAR,
Mediamax and Do Something signed a trilateral agreement to achieve
this outcome.

In March 2010, Mediamax and Do Something organized two charitable
concerts by Ian Gillan with the Armenian Symphonic Orchestra in
Yerevan. General sponsorship of the concerts by leading Armenian
mobile operator VivaCell-MTS allowed to raise 45.000 USD. A total of
USD 110.000 has been raised for rebuilding the school – the Armenian
Government, Geoff Downes, EMI Records and Orange Armenia also made
contributions. The project always enjoyed the personal support of
the Armenian President Serzh Sargsian.

In 2010, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi set up the WhoCares ad-hoc
super-group to raise funds for the Octet school. In May 2011, Edel
Music released the first single by WhoCares with 2 brand new songs
– Out of My Mind and Holy Water. In July 2012, Edel Music released
the WhoCares album that comprises the 2 songs from the single and
unreleased and rare material from Gillan and Iommi’s back catalogue.

Gillan and Iommi made an advance payment of 15.000 USD for the school
and the rest will be transferred after the album sales.

In July 2012 the FAR Board briefed the Mardigian Family Foundation
about these extensive fundraising efforts. The following day, the
Foundation informed FAR that it will almost triple the funds raised
so far. This generous donation was extremely important and it allowed
FAR, Mediamax and Do Something to launch the construction of the
school in August 2012. –

ESTONIA TO HELP RAISE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN ARMENIA

LETA, Latvia
July 8, 2013 Monday

Non-profit organisation Peipsi Centre for Trans-boundary Cooperation
is implementing a project, aiming to raise Armenian residents’
environmental awareness in order to maintain natural diversity,
reports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project is partly financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Urmas Paet stated that awareness-raising is necessary in
order to value biodiversity and the natural environment. “Acquiring
knowledge about the environment at school will help formulate
children’s environmentally conscientious stances and principles
and will support the formulation of an understanding that today’s
decisions will be reflected in our tomorrow,” he said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support the one-year project with
29,992 euros from its resources earmarked for development co-operation.

AZERBAIJAN ASKS OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE TO BOOST KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS

Interfax, Russia
July 8, 2013 Monday 1:17 PM MSK

Baku has requested the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid
Kozhara to spur the OSCE Minsk Group efforts toward settling the
Karabakh conflict.

“Although this conflict has been mothballed, you must be aware of the
daily violations of the ceasefire regime along the contact line,”
Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told a press briefing in
Baku Monday after his meeting with Kozhara.

“The presence of Armenian forces on Azeri lands is totally unacceptable
from the point of view of international laws and logic. I have asked
the chairman-in-office to spur the Minsk Group’s work.

True, its cochairmen are handling the Karabakh issue, but the OSCE
Minsk Group as a whole convenes rarely,” he stressed.

“We are concerned about the problem with the settlement,” Kozhara
said. “We support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and its
cochairmen. People get hurt in military confrontations, and it takes
a long time to heal these wounds. So, we will welcome any humanitarian
contacts and interaction between civil societies,” he said.

Kozhara said they had also discussed cooperation at the OSCE and
pointed to the vast bilateral agenda of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Te mk

SERZH SARGSYAN AND NICOLAE TIMOFTI DISCUSSED POLITICAL DIALOGUE ACTIVATION-RELATED ISSUES

16:52, 11 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS: The President of the Republic of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan arrived on July 11 on a working visit to the
Republic of Moldova. As Armenpress was reported by the Department for
Mass Media and Public Relations of the Armenian President’s Staff,
before the commencement of the Summit of the European People’s Party
Eastern Partnership Leaders in Chisinau, the President Serzh Sargsyan
met with the President of Moldova Nicolae Timofti.

The Presidents of the two countries discussed a wide range of issues
pertaining to the invigoration of the Armenian-Moldovan political
dialogue and development of the cooperation in the trade and economic
area. The President Serzh Sargsyan noted that since the establishment
of diplomatic relations, the existing potential for the strengthening
and development of bilateral ties has not been fully utilized. Now it
is necessary to conduct active bilateral work and through frequent
reciprocal visits and contacts on different levels to fill the gap
because it emanates from the interests of two friendly peoples. Serzh
Sargsyan stressed also the importance of cooperation in the framework
of international organizations.

After the private and later extended negotiations of the Presidents
of Armenia and Moldova, the document signing ceremony took place. In
particular, the parties signed the Agreement on Cooperation between
the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of
Culture of Moldova, the Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture
of the Republic of Armenia and the Moldova’s Ministry of Agriculture
and Food Production on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

The President Serzh Sargsyan met also with the Prime Minister of
Moldova Iurie LeancÄ~C and discussed opportunities for developing
mutually beneficial cooperation between Armenia and Moldova in
different areas. With this regard, the parties stressed the important
role of the Armenian-Moldovan Intergovernmental commission on trade
and economic cooperation.

ARMENIA’S ANAHIT SHAHBAZYAN WINS GRAND PRIX AT MORSKOI UZEL 2013 SONG CONTEST

16:53 11.07.2013

Aida Avetisyan
“Radiolur”

Armenia’s Anahit Shahbazyan won the Grand Prix at “Morskoi Uzel 2013”
(Sea Knot) contest held in Novorossiysk.

In 2010 Anahit Shahbazyan participated in “Slavyanski Bazar” festival
with Arthur Grigoryan’s song “The Sea” and returned with the second
prize.

On July 7 she performed the same song at “Morskoi Uzel 2013” and won
the Grand Prix.

Anahit Shahbazyan sings mostly jazz, but wants to try herself in the
the folk genre.

Remind that Ara Martirosyan won the Grand Prix at the same contest 11 years ago.

ARMENIA’S BIRTH RATE DROPPED MORE THAN TWOFOLD IN 20 YEARS – DEMOGRAPHER

July 11, 2013 | 13:19

YEREVAN. – Over the course of the past twenty years, the birth rate
dropped by more than twofold and the marriages reduced by approximately
just as much in Armenia.

Demographer Ruben Yeganyan noted the aforesaid during Thursday’s
press conference devoted to World Population Day.

In his words, the new generation in Armenia reproduces at a rate of
70 percent at best, whereas there was a very favorable demographic
situation in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Why did this happen? Because our economic, social and political
situation changed drastically,” Yeganyan noted.

As per the demographer, this situation leads to the fact that people
either leave marriage to another time or refrain from marriage.

“The birth rate [in Armenia] continues to fall. We had about 79,000
births in 1990, whirs 32,000 births in 2002. At one point it rose
all the way to 47,000 [births], but now it drops to 43,000 [births],
and this will continue,” Yeganyan said.

He also noted that emigration plays a 25-percent role in Armenia’s
declining birth rate.

“The problem cannot be solved locally; the solution should be found
in a systemic and a comprehensive way, so we may increase the birth
rate by at least twice,” Ruben Yeganyan concluded.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN LANGUAGE WRITERS GATHER AT TSAKHKADZOR CONFERENCE

13:24 11/07/2013 ” SOCIETY

The 5th Conference of Armenian Foreign Language Writers will take place
in the Armenian city of Tsakhkadzor on July 11-15. The conference,
titled ‘Globalization and National Identity,’ is co-organized by
Armenian Diaspora Ministry and Writers’ Union of Armenia, Diaspora
Ministry’s press service reported.

The conference will bring together 38 writers from 16 countries of
the world (U.S., Great Britain, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Poland,
Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic, Kuwait, Georgia,
Russia, France, Canada), 31 writers from Armenia and 2 from Artsakh.

A session honoring American-Armenian writer William Saroyan will take
place on the sidelines of the conference. Book launch events and film
screenings are also scheduled to take place.

Source: Panorama.am

ALL CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM MONUMENTS ARE VALUABLE – ICOMOS

July 11, 2013 | 13:57

YEREVAN. – Experts must consider valuable any monument situated in
the territory of Syria whether it is a Christian or a Muslim site,
head of ICOMOS Armenia branch said.

Gagik Gyurjyan assured that international organization such as ICOMOS
(international council on monuments and sites) are discussing the
issue. Importance of such discussions is that they are not referring
to politics.

“Political circles are trying to grab or exterminate any monument,”
he said during the Thursday press conference.

ICOMOS raised the issue on a state of a square in the center of Aleppo
which was damaged in clashes.

“During the military actions, ICOMOS branches usually unite in their
protest. Armenia has joined the protests, too,” he said.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am