Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIA’S REPUBLICAN PARTY URGES TO VOTE FOR GAGIK TSARUKYAN

news.am
May 02, 2012 | 13:57

YEREVAN.- President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan called on the Abovyan
residents to vote for leader of Prosperous Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan
during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Serzh Sargsyan visited Kotayk Region on Wednesday to meet with
the voters.

“I understand that there is a heated struggle in Kotayk Region, many
people have their position but I do urge to vote in a way that you will
not have to regret. I came here to urge people vote for the Republican
Party, our single-mandate candidate Hamlet Hayrapetyan,” he said.

President Sargsyan also called to vote for coalition partner Gagik
Tsarukyan who is running for parliament in another electoral district
of Kotayk Region.

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is a ruling conservative party
in Armenia founded on 2 April, 1990, and registered on 14 May, 1991,
being the first officially registered sociopolitical organization in
the independent Republic of Armenia.

Since 2003, the Republican Party is a core member of the ruling
coalition along with the Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir
parties. RPA has majority of seats in the Armenian parliament since
2003.

The Republican Party of Armenia will run in the parliamentary
elections under its new slogan: “Let us believe to change!” The
Party’s proportional list includes 253 names.

RPA has also nominated MP candidates with the majority election system
in 33 electoral districts.

IRAN, ARMENIA DISCUSS CONSULAR ISSUES IN TEHRAN

news.am
May 02, 2012 | 15:34

The eighth joint consultation on consular issues was held between
the Foreign Ministries of Iran and Armeni on May 1-2.

After the meeting held in Tehran, the sides signed a memorandum of
understanding.

The participants touched upon the issues related to the meeting in
customs station Nurduz-Meghri and cooperation to fight drug trafficking
in Armenia and Iran.

EXPERT: PARTIES WILL USE SILENCE DAY TO BRIBE VOTERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 2, 2012 – 13:57 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The election campaign was monotonous, inconsequent
and even passive, Nvard Melkonian, head of SPRING PR company told
journalists on May 2.

Expert in political technologies Karen Kocharyan shares his colleague’s
viewpoint saying opposition candidate Nikol Pashinyan’s 30-second
statement was the most successful one in this campaign, which, however,
the Armenian National Congress failed to use it properly.

“This was one of the best moves in this campaign, I think,” Kocharyan
said stated.

According to the expert, the election silence preceding the voting
day will be the most active day of the campaign, and parties “will be
much active in silently distributing the money [for electoral bribes]”.

Experts claim that TV broadcasting was quite free during the election
campaign. TV demonstrated “openness never seen for the past 20 years;
all mass media were open”, according to them.

“We’ve never had so many open platforms, and not only on TV, during
the past years. One just needs to make use of it,” Melkonyan said.

MAN WHO JUMPED OFF YEREVAN BRIDGE WAS ATTORNEY

news.am
May 03, 2012 | 15:38

YEREVAN. – The person, who committed suicide Thursday in Armenia’s
capital Yerevan, was an attorney.

According to our sources, he was Norayr Mikayelyan-a lawyer at the
Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia-, who left a suicide note before plunging
to his death.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, an approximately 50-year-old
man threw himself off of Yerevan’s Kiev Bridge on Thursday. The Police
Press Service also confirmed this information by Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Police officers, a rescue squad, and an emergency medical team are
on location.

HERITAGE CANDIDATES CONFIDENT THE PARTY WILL GET MORE SEATS IN THE NEXT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Alisa Gevorgyan

“Radiolur”
02.05.2012 15:40

The more oppositionists are represented in the National Assembly,
the better for the public, Tevan Poghosyan and Arman Musheghyan told
reporters today. Both are included in the proportional list of the
Heritage Party.

They called on voters to cast their ballot guided by the results of
activity of the parties during the past five years rather than the
speeches and promises made during the election campaign.

Both candidates are ruining for parliament with concrete programs. If
elected, Arman Musheghyan will represent the interests of the
disabled in the National Assembly. “The handicapped persons must not
be conceived as a social burden. They should be full members of the
society,” Musheghyan said.

Both give a positive assessment to the election campaign. Tevan
Poghosyan is confident that the Heritage will get more seats in the
next parliament.

RPA WILL NEVER BECOME OPPOSITION – PARTY MEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 2, 2012 – 13:49 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Vice-chairman of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) Galust Sahakyan sees no prerequisites for RPA to become
opposition.

He does not believe RPA may fail at the upcoming parliamentary
elections and turn into opposition.

“This is mere fantasy; there are no pre-conditions for it,” he told
a press conference on May 2.

According to Sahakyan, immediately after the May 6 vote RPA will start
preparing for the next parliamentary elections, “not to mention the
presidential elections” due in 2013.

Top members of the RPA proportional list include Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan, former speaker of the National Assembly Hovik
Abrahamyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

Parliamentary elections are due in Armenia on May 6 featuring 8
political parties (Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Prosperous
Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), Orinats Yerkir, Heritage,
Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA), Communist Party of Armenia and
United Armenian party, as well as one election bloc represented by
opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

PARLIAMENT MEMBER: THE MASHTOTS PARK PROBLEM SHOULD NOT BE RESOLVED ON THE LEVEL OF THE PRESIDENT

arminfo
Wednesday, May 2, 15:01

The statement by the president of Armenia about dismantling of
boutiques in Mashtots Park has not caused optimism of green activists
as well as of the Heritage party, a member of the parliament from
the Heritage party, Zarui Postanjan, told ArmInfo correspondent.

She recalled that the problem of illegality of the boutiques
construction in the park was being discussed for four months. “The
fact that several months later the president visited the park and said
about dismantling of pavilions is even strange. This is evidence of
the fact that the power in the country is concentrated in the hands of
one man”, – she said and added that such problems should not settled
on the level of the head of state, but the city authorities.

She drew attention to the fact that Serzh Sargsyan visited the
park on the threshold of the election. “What does it mean?”, – she
asked. “We shall go on fighting, as Mashtots Park is just a drop in a
ocean. We see illegal buildings in almost every district of Yerevan”,
– Postanjan emphasized.

QAFQAZINFO.AZ: AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTRY CONCEALS CONTACT LINE CASUALTIES

Panorama.am
02/05/2012

Qafqazinfo.az presents an article by Asef Guliyev who conducted a
journalistic investigation into contact line incidents and revealed
many horrific facts about army which were concealed by the Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry.

The author appealed to many power structures, but received no
response either from the Defense Ministry or from MFA. The Azerbaijan
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (ARRA) answered Guliyev that
the requested information was secret and permission from the National
Security Ministry was necessary to answer the questions. While, the
journalist asked simple questions – how much funding is allocated by
the Azerbaijani government for the construction of a wall along the
front line, how much work is already done and how much did it cost?

“Surely, everybody is already aware of the latest statement by the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs following Armenian Foreign Ministry’s
appeal to the Special Representative of OSCE. Coherent and efficient
actions call forth obvious interest. Pay attention to the fact that
Armenian media reports say the incident which left three Armenian
soldiers dead happened on April 27, 04:15, while at 09:30 media already
reported about MFA’s appeal to the OSCE Special Representative. The
Co-Chairs’ statement was released already on the same day, April 27,
15:30. Such coherence and efficiency is indicative of many things,
with Azerbaijan’s information activity in the focus of international
community’s attention. In any case, the activities of our structures
are beneath criticism,” the author says.

According to the article, investigation revealed that several
Azerbaijani servicemen were killed by Armenian fire in April, but the
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry did not report the incident, moreover,
it concealed the incident in every way possible.

“Neither the Defense Ministry’s official website nor our leading
information agencies reported the deaths of our soldiers. There
are two assumptions: either ceasefire regime was not violated, and
if so, a question emerges: who is to blame for the deaths of the
soldiers, or firing actually took place, but the Defense Ministry’s
officials-in-charge did not carry out their duties. In both cases,
criminal anarchy is in place in the Ministry,” Guliyev says and
adds that events which are not confirmed by official sources just do
not exist to international organizations. More, such facts are not
included in official reports.

ARAM I LAUNCHES UAE, IRAN VISITS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 2, 2012 – 14:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On May 1, 2012, Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia, His Holiness Aram I began his pastoral visit in the United
Arab Emirates.

He will preside on the activities organized by the Armenian community
in Sharja and Dubai, and in Abu Dhabi he will lay the corner-stone to
the Church and community centre on the land offered by Sheikh Hamad
Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan.

His Holiness will continue his pastoral visit to Iran, where he will
visit the Dioceses of Tehran, Isphahan and Aderbadakan. In Tehran
he will also preside on the interfaith dialogue meeting between the
Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia and the Representatives of the
Islamic Republic of Iran that began 10 years ago.

AGBU Press Office
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New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Reveals State-of-the-Art Renovations at the
Marie Manoogian Institute in Buenos Aires

With great excitement and anticipation, on Monday, March 19, 2012,
parents, students and faculty gathered in the Buenos Aires AGBU Marie
Manoogian Institute to celebrate the unveiling of two brand new
classrooms for its Serpuhí Ekshian Nursery School.

Providing high-quality education and resources to youth around the
world has always been a key component of the organization’s mission,
and the Institute’s new classrooms are a testament to that
commitment. Designs for the renovations were finished in record time –
ground was broken this past January and the work was completed
according to schedule so that the improved facilities could be taken
advantage of during the current school year. As planned, one of the
classrooms increased by 70%, while the other almost doubled in
size. Each room boasts state-of-the-art projectors, computers and
stereo systems, and is complete with modern furniture and desks.

At the inaugural event, family and friends had the opportunity to tour
the new space and watch a video highlighting the extensive demolitions
and months of tireless work that made the transformation
possible. Mr. Ruben Kechichian, Buenos Aires Chapter Chair and AGBU
Central Board member, thanked the project’s many advocates, chief
among them Juan Ignacio Balian, an Institute alumnus and member of
both its Board and Educational Committee. Kechichian also praised the
teachers, who, under the leadership of Director Noemí Fourmentel, and
with the support of AGBU’s local committees, helped make 2012 the year
the school reached the highest level of enrollment in its history,
with almost 400 students from pre-kindergarten to the twelfth grade.

Following Kechichian’s remarks, Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate
of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Argentina and Chile, performed a
blessing over the two rooms. He was joined by the project’s
benefactors, Jorge and María Rosa Kalaidjian, and Souren and Nelly
Youssefian, along with other supporters who cut the ribbon together,
officially opening the classrooms amidst enthusiastic applause.

AGBU Marie Manoogian Institute’s nursery school inauguration marks
just one of the many milestones that it has celebrated in the past few
years as it continues to develop its premises and
curriculums. Recently, the school added two multimedia rooms and
acquired modern equipment for the swimming pool in the “Alex
Manoogian” Culture, Education, Social and Sports Complex. It is there,
in the Nazarian Hall, that the school hosts its weekly community
dinners to fundraise for the annual student trip to Armenia. This
year’s will travel to the homeland from July 21 through August 3 to
learn more about their heritage and strengthen their connection to
their ancestral roots.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please
visit