Author: Babajanian Karo

DEPUTY FM PRESENTED ARMENIA’S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES TO GERMAN DELEGATES

19:19, 11 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 11 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ashot Hovakimyan met with the delegation of Germany’s Marshall
Fund and the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, which is on a cognitive
visit to Armenia. The delegation includes the directors, editors and
leading experts of various analytical centers. As the Department of
Press, Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia reports to “Armenpress”, Ashot
Hovakimyan attached importance to the visit of such a representative
delegation to Armenia.

During the meeting, Ashot Hovakimyan presented the priorities of
Armenia’s foreign policy, Armenia’s and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’
efforts for a peaceful regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
the events being organized on the occasion of the Centennial of the
Armenian Genocide, Armenia’s views on regional and international
issues, as well as Armenia’s involvement within international
organizations and the country’s cooperation with regional
organizations.

CRIMINAL CASE OPENED AGAINST FAMILY THAT RAN FROM ARMENIA TO AZERBAIJAN FIVE YEARS AGO

Interfax, Russia
March 10 2015

YEREVAN. March 10

The Armenian National Security Service has opened a criminal case
against the Gevorkyan family, who ran away from Armenia to Azerbaijan
five years ago.

The Armenian National Security Service told Interfax a criminal
case has been opened based on Part 1 of Article 329 of the Armenian
Criminal Code (crossing the Armenian state border without established
documents or proper permit).

The accused are Yegishe Gevorkyan and Ruzanna Mardanyan.

The Armenian Defense Ministry press service told Interfax on January
11, 2010 Yegishe Gevorkyan and his family had run away to Azerbaijan.

The incident occurred on the Yeraskh (Armenia) – Nakhichevan
(Azerbaijan) part of the border.

“Yegishe Gevorkyan, accompanied by his wife and children (aged

(7, 6 and 3) crossed the Armenian-Azeri border in his car, ignoring
the warning signals given by Armenian border guards. Because there
were young children in the car, the Armenian border guards did not
open fire. Fire was opened in the direction of the car from the Azeri
positions,” the press service said.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Yegishe Gevorkyan has eight
convictions for robbery, car theft and other crimes.

International humanitarian organizations have been informed about
the incident.

A criminal case has been opened. An investigation is underway.

The Azeri authorities handed the family over to Armenia in December
2014.

av mk

HAYOTS DZOR, THE FIRST VOLUME IN THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA SERIES, PUBLISHED

16:54, 11 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

“Hayots Dzor” – the first volume in the History of Armenia series has
been published. The book will be presented to public tomorrow, Samvel
Karapetyan, Head of the Research on the Armenian Architecture NGO, told
reporters today. The book is being translated into English and Russian.

This volume series pursues the aim of presenting the history of
Armenia district by district (each of them village by village) for
the first time in Armenian Studies,

The research is based on published sources and manuscripts in Armenian
and foreign languages that have been accumulated for many decades,
as well as on rich field material collected during the trips made to
different parts of Mets Hayk (Armenia Maior) since the late 1950s.

Each of these 36 volumes will be dedicated to a district of Historical
Armenia, namely Armenia Maior and Armenia Minor (Mets Hayk and Pokr
Hayk). Every volume will treat the history of the given district
and that of all its inhabited places according to a specified set
of subtitles (location, name, historical introduction, population,
statistical data, employment, economy, churches, schools, historical
monuments, prominent Armenians from the given place, etc.).

Each of them will be enriched with more than 1,000 photographs, as
well as a wide variety of maps, measurements, inscription tracings
and other supplementary materials.

The first volume of the series is symbolically dedicated to Hayots
Dzor as the Patriarch of the Armenian nation, Hayk, founded his house
in this very district after his victorious battle against Bel.

The project is expected to be completed within 10-12 years.

LE CENTRE CARREFOUR A EREVAN INAUGURE EN PRESENCE DU PRESIDENT ARMENIEN SERGE SARKISSIAN CE MATIN

ARMENIE-CONSOMMATION

Ce matin le president armenien Serge Sarkissian a assiste a
l’inauguration officielle l’hypermarche Carrefour qui se trouve
au sein du centre > a Erevan. Après de longs mois
de negociations entre le francais Carrefour et >,
le 13 mai 2014 un accord etait signe pour cette ouverture du premier
centre Carrefour en Armenie. Taron Margaryan le maire d’Erevan et le
directeur du de Carrefour en Armenie, Christian de Nale ont coupe
ensemble le ruban de l’inauguration. Puis en presence du president
armenien et d’une forte delegation gouvernementale, ils visitèrent
les stands de l’hypermarche. Carrefour proposant des produits de
qualite fera sans aucun doute evolue les produits de consommation de
l’Armenie vers le haut. Une partie de la production commercialisee
provenant directement de l’Armenie.

Krikor Amirzayan

mercredi 11 mars 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

MINISTER OF SPORT AND YOUTH AFFAIRS APPROVES ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN BAKU GAMES

14:34 | March 11,2015 | Sports

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Gabriel Ghazaryan welcomes the
decision of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee
of Armenia that Armenian sportsmen should participate in the European
Games to be held in Baku this summer.

The minister says no matter what decision will be made by the National
Olympic Committee of Armenia, national sports federations are to
train and prepare our athletes for the Games.

Gabriel Ghazaryan considers it important that the International
Olympic and the European Olympic Committee promised to ensure safety
of Armenian sportsmen. At the same time the minister stresses that
if Armenia refuses to participate in the European Games it might not
only disgrace the sports biography of our athletes but also dishonor
Armenia on the the international sports arena.

S. SARGSYAN RECEIVES GERMAN MARSHALL FUND AND ROBERT BOSCH STIFTUNG MEMBERS

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received today representatives
of German Marshall Fund and the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation,
according to the presidential press service.

The president thanked the two organizations for holding discussions
in such a format. He stressed the importance of such traditional
meetings with heads of state, noting that they provide an opportunity
to communicate directly with academic and analytical circles.

Noting that the German Marshall Fund aims to promote international
peace, security, stability, democracy, economic development and
people’s welfare, S. Sargsyan said Armenia attaches great importance to
one of the Fund’s mission, which is to confront the global challenges
by joint efforts, especially as Armenian foreign policy lays emphasis
on the call to the international community for tolerance and unity.

Unity is especially important this year when the Armenian Genocide
Centennial is commemorated. The president said that genocides as
gravest crimes against humanity take place or are repeated when the
international community fails to take a common position.

Serzh Sargsyan informed the meeting participants about the significance
of the commemorative events on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide in Armenia and abroad. He also spoke about the priorities of
Armenia’s foreign policy, the Karabakh conflict settlement process,
Armenia-Turkey relations, and regional problems and challenges. He
then responded to questions of the guests.

11.03.15, 16:34

STEPANAKERT SLAMS PACE REPORT ON KARABAKH AS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

March 11, 2015 – 14:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) rapporteur on Karabakh Robert Walter will pay a visit to Baku
on March 12-13. As APA reports, Walter is due to deliver a report on
the country during the visit.

In 2014, Walter delivered a report on escalation of violence in
Karabakh and “other occupied territories of Azerbaijan”.

As the press secretary of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic president
David Babayan told Tert.am, “a report with such a title and contents
is unacceptable. We have nothing to hide, and our opinion is that a
report should reflect the reality.”

He further slammed the approach demonstrated in the report as
politically motivated, ruling out cooperation with Walter or his team
on any issue.

As Babayan noted, no announcement was made of Walter’s intention to
visit NKR with a similar initiative. “So, clearly, the report will be
another politically motivated anti-Armenian document dictated by Azeri
leadership. We don’t playing those games,” the official concluded.

L’ARMENIE PARTICIPERA AUX JEUX EUROPEENS DE BAKOU

Sport

L’Armenie participera aux premiers Jeux europeennes qui auront
lieu cette annee a Bakou, a confirme hier un porte-parole du Comite
olympique national armenien (CONA).

Iveta Tonoyan a ajoute que la decision avait ete prise par le comite
executif de la CONA hier.

L’Armenie devrait etre represente dans plusieurs disciplines :
le sambo (auto-defense a mains nues), le tir, le judo, la lutte,
la boxe et le taekwondo.

Le CONA a hesite. Il n’a pas donne sa reponse definitive en septembre
dernier, malgre que le gouvernement azerbaïdjanais ait fourni des
garanties de securite.

La question a ete discutee avec Patrick Hickey, president du Comite
olympique europeen, lors de sa visite l’annee dernière.

L’hesitation du CONA reflète egalement l’inquietude grandissante le
long de la frontière armeno-azerbaïdjanaise et autour du Haut-Karabagh,
où des incidents mortels ont augmente de facon spectaculaire depuis
août dernier.

Avant la dernière escalade de tensions dans la zone de conflit,
il n’etait pas rare pour les athlètes armeniens et azerbaïdjanais –
notamment lutteurs, halterophiles et boxeurs – de participer a des
competitions sportives internationales organisees dans le pays de
l’autre. Ils sont alors entoures d’escortes de securite, sans aucun
incidents graves n’aient jusqu’a presents etaient signales.

mercredi 11 mars 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

EUROBONDS TO INCREASE ARMENIA’S FOREIGN DEBTS – ECONOMISTS

11:10 * 11.03.15

Armenian economists turn out to be pessimistic about the Government’s
recent decision to approve Eurobonds’ release.

The negative outlook is particularly striking against the backdrop
of recent forecasts by Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch, which
have downgraded the country.

Economist Ashot Yeghiazaryan says he finds the measure an attempt to
make up the budgetary deficit. “Attracting foreign borrowings through
bonds is just a possible source to meet the deficit in the budget. For
now it is a desire; as to how and on what terms the bonds will be
distributed, that’s a matter of time. Anyway, the Government does
need extra resources to fill the budget. With the foreign investments
being down and no exports recorded, entrepreneurial activity is in a
state of stalemate; we observe a slowdown in the paces of economy,”
he told Tert.am.

Commenting on the possible impact of the international financial
institutions’ reports, the economist said he expects them to lower
the country’s advantages in terms of borrowing foreign loans.

“Perhaps, the Government will change certain approaches and establish
new relations with the West in an attempt to raise its rating to
receive borrowing on privileged terms. But that depends only upon
the Government’s behavior,” he noted.

Speaking to Tert.am, economist Vigen Khachatryan said he sees attempts
to attract money resources behind the decision. But he questioned
the effectiveness of such efforts in light of Euro’s depreciation on
the market.

“The European Central Bank is going to print about 1.1 trillion Euros
and put about 60 billion into circulation every month. So our decision
to issue Eurobonds in such circumstances implies that we will have to
pay a higher price for them in future, not counting the interest rate.

So our losses may turn out even higher,” he said, warning of increased
foreign debts.

Khachatryan said he expects an increase in the bonds’ interest rates
in the wake of the recent reports downgrading the country. “Bond sale
is an accepted practice in a number of countries, but it is important
for us to avoid an untrustworthy debtor’s status by issuing bonds
for several years in row. If we borrow a loan, we may have difficulty
serving them in future; that’s the problem,” he explained.

“I am against applying these instruments, as they increase the foreign
debts, forcing you to pay extra interest rates in future. Given the
current status of Euro, I don’t think taking such a step is right,”
the economist added.

12-YEAR OLD AYGESHAT GIRL FOUND HANGED: CASE OPENED INTO THE DEATH

03.11.2015 17:59 epress.am

In the Aygeshat village in the Armavir marz (province) a 12-year
old teenage girl was found hanged at her house. Epress.am spoke to
the Investigative Committee public relations division representative
Sona Truzyan who stated that the structure has opened a case based
on Article 110 of the RA criminal code (causing someone to commit
suicide).

Armlur.am reports that the girl was ethnically Yezidi. The principal
of the village school, Armenak Sardayan, stated that the teenager
had not attended school and stayed home with a cold.

“There is a virus spread in the village, and she also cought it. It’s
right, she was not a great student, however she was doing his best.

She would never fight with anyone, was liked by everyone and was
a respected child. We haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary
recently,” said the principal.