Author: Badalian Vardan

Tokyo String Quartet to open Yerevan Perspectives music fest

April 1, 2012 – 16:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Tokyo String Quartet will open Yerevan Perspectives
13th International Music Festival to kick off in Armenian capital
April 3, 2012.

The Tokyo String Quartet will play on “the Paganini Quartet,” a
collection of renowned Stradivarius instruments named after legendary
virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the
19th century.

The instruments have been on loan to the quartet from the Nippon Music
Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran
Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Tokyo String Quartet was formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of
Music. The Quartet won First Prizes at the Coleman Competition, the
Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International
Auditions, which resulted in a recording contract with Deutsche
Grammophon.

They won the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux, “Best Chamber Music
Recording of the Year” awards from both Stereo Review and Gramophone
magazines, and seven Grammy nominations.

French MP’s website supporting Armenians attacked by Turkish hackers

news.am
April 01, 2012 | 10:58

PARIS. – French ruling UMP MP Richard Mallié’s website was subjected
to cyber-attack on Saturday by the Turkish hackers, Nouvelles
d`Arménie reports.

`The websites were subjected into incredible cyber-attack openly
released by the `Al Turks Team’ Turkish activists. All my
internet-structure was paralyzed. And this is due to my activity for
reducing credits of Turkey in joining to EU and my permanent support
of the Armenian community,’ the MP said. `You are those thousands of
people answering to my online petition against Turkey. Turkey has no
place in the EU. The horrible Genocide has been perpetrated against
Armenians in Turkey in 1915. Let all know that I am not going to keep
silent, never!’

Boxing: Abraham defeats Wilczewski, eyes WBO title

Boxing | 01.04.12 | 10:56

Photo: Peter Stottmeier/

Former IBF middleweight champion and Super Six contestant Arthur
Abraham (34-3, 27 KOs) won a 12-round unanimous decision over Piotr
Wilczewski (30-3, 10 KOs) on Saturday night.

In the bout at the Sparkassen Arena in Kiel, Germany, the Armenia-born
boxer looked more aggressive than in his recent fights, but he met
some tough opposition from Wilczewski, especially in early rounds. The
German-Armenian stepped up pressure against the Pole in the eighth
round, removing all questions in the eleventh. Eventual scores were
118-109, 118-109, 119-108.

Fightnews.com quotes promoter Kalle Sauerland as saying that the win
makes Abraham the highest-ranked challenger in the WBO ratings and he
will face the winner of Stieglitz-Groves.

ARMENIE-ACCIDENT
La mort de deux jeunes dans un accident de la route entre Ardachad et Erévan

Le 29 mars à 1h08 un grave accident de la circulation se produisait
sur la route Ardachad-Erévan près du village de Hovidachen. Une
voiture de marque BMW sortie de la route et après plusieurs tonneaux
tombait dans un lac artificiel. Les sauveteurs, arrivés très vite sur
place sortaient de la voiture deux blessés légers, Armen Melkonian (24
ans) et Yourik Avakian (27 ans) qui étaient aussitôt transportés vers
l’hôpital de Massis. Après les premiers soins ils quittaient l’hôpital
vers 5 heures du matin. Mais les pompiers sortaient également de la
voiture, les corps sans vie de Sarkis Melkonian (25 ans) vers 1h50.
Vers 3h20 ils sortaient la voiture hors de l’eau. Malheureusement à
5h50, ils découvraient dans les buissons près de l’eau, un deuxième
corps sans vie, celui de Kevork Avakian (24 ans). Ainsi cet accident
de la route tuait deux jeunes.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 1er avril 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Turkish Press
March 31 2012

French intel blacklists Turkish group

A French intelligence agency has prepared a report on a rally of the
Turkish associations protesting an Armenian `genocide’ bill and
blacklisted some participant groups, ntvmsnbc news website reported on
March 30.

The French Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI)
blacklisted a group called the `French Turk Federation,’ affiliated to
Turkish opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), according to
French `Le point’ magazine. The federation also attended the rally in
Paris on Jan. 21, to protest against the French bill penalizing denial
of the Armenian genocide allegations. The bill was later annulled as
unconstitutional by France’s high court.

The French Turk Federation is described by the agency as `an apparent
face of the ultranationalist Grey Wolves [a term widely used by
nationalist MHP supporters], which has from time to time resorted to
violence.’

SAUDI ARABIA, U.S. DISCUSS MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM AGAINST IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 31, 2012 – 11:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Obama administration is seeking to advance
talks among Saudi Arabia and its neighbors on a missile defense
system against Iran, while slowing any plans among Arab Gulf states
to intervene militarily in Syria.

According to AP, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met
for almost two hours with Saudi King Abdullah on Friday, March 30
conferring on regional military strategy and how to increase oil
sanctions against Iran while ensuring ample global petroleum supplies.

Governments are under pressure to reduce purchases of Iranian crude,
and the U.S. hopes Saudi supplies can ease the transition.

The talks are occurring amid increased international concern over
Iran’s uranium enrichment activity and speculation that military
action by the U.S. or Israel may occur. The U.S., Israel and some
Arab countries accuse Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, but
the Islamic republic insists its program is solely for peaceful energy
and research purposes.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said Friday he was plowing
ahead with potential sanctions against countries that keep buying
oil from Iran, including U.S. allies, in the deepening campaign to
starve Iran of money for its nuclear program. The world oil market
is tight but deep enough to keep the squeeze on Iran, Obama said.

U.S. officials didn’t provide all the details of Clinton’s meeting
with Abdullah, which included an hour when the two spoke privately
without any aides present. They expressed a shared commitment to a
stable international oil market, senior State Department officials
said, outlining the discussions on condition of anonymity.

America’s top diplomat and the Saudi monarch also discussed
coordination among the Arab Gulf states on how to unite their defensive
capacities into a cohesive regional strategy. Despite sensing a shared
threat from Shiite power Iran, wide technical and political divisions
separate the Sunni countries, which span the oil-rich kingdoms of
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to impoverished Yemen.

The United States is already planning to sell defensive missile
technology to the UAE, which along with Saudi Arabia ranks among the
more advanced militarily. But Washington wants the big and small Gulf
governments to reconcile their distrust of each other and develop a
united long-term missile defense architecture.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION RALLY HELD IN YEREVAN

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 30 2012
Russia

A rally of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) was held
in Liberty Square of Yerevan on Friday, News.am reports.

First President of Armenia and ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, head of
People’s Party of Armenia Stepan Demirchyan, chairman of “Republic”
party’s political council Aram Sargsyan and heads of other parties
took part in the rally.

Opening the rally chairman of Armenian National Movement board Aram
Manukyan said Armenia had entered an unprecedented tensed stage when
the parliamentary elections would be a preparation stage for the
presidential ones.

“There has never been such a necessity to change power,” he stressed.

People’s task is to create Armenia to attract those who had left the
country, he added.

INTER RAO TERMINATES TRUST MANAGEMENT OF ARMENIAN NPP

Interfax
March 29 2012
Russia

Russian energy company Inter RAO UES (RTS: IRAO) and Armenia’s Energy
and Natural Resources Ministry have signed an agreement to dissolve
the contract for trust management of CJSC Armenian Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) ahead of schedule, an Inter RAO source told Interfax.

The contract was terminated early because Inter RAO has fully performed
its obligations to settle the NPP’s debts, including for fuel supplies,
the source said.

The Armenian government adopted the decision to terminate the agreement
with Inter RAO on March 1. Plans to dissolve the contract’s validity
ahead of schedule first emerged last November.

The agreement, finalized in November 2003, was set to last five years,
but it was later extended to September 2013. The document stipulates
that Inter RAO will ensure that the NPP operates safely and without
interruptions, as well as supply fresh nuclear fuel for the refueling
station.

Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan
previously said that Inter RAO would no longer manage the Armenian
NPP’s finances starting on January 1 of this year, since its services
are no longer needed and since the authorities are in the position
to manage the NPP on their own.

“When the NPP accumulated $40-$50 million in debt for nuclear fuel
supplies in 2003, Inter RAO helped to pay it off and ensured an
uninterrupted supply of fuel. The Armenian NPP has been financially
stable for the past few years and is in the position to pay for
a fresh batch of nuclear fuel. This is why there is no need for a
managing company,” Movsisyan said.

The NPP has two VVER-440 reactors with capacity of 815 MW. The first
reactor was launched in 1976 and the second in 1980. The plant was
shut down in early 1989 for political reasons, and in 1995 the second
reactor with 404 MW capacity was restarted. The Armenian NPP accounts
for around 40% of the electricity produced in the country.

TURKEY’S JEWISH MINORITY HAS LIVED IN FEAR SINCE 1986 – COMMUNITY LEADER

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 30, 2012 – 16:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s Jewish minority has lived in fear ever
since the first attack against a synagogue in Istanbul in 1986,
community leader Sami Herman said in remarks given to a parliamentary
sub-commission investigating terrorist attacks and violent incidents
in recent years, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Terror creates a wave of fear that continues despite the passing
years,” Herman said, emphasizing that Jews were still gripped by
unease while visiting their places of worship.

A gunman killed 22 people in a synagogue in 1986, while suicide
bombers detonated explosive-laden trucks at two synagogues in 2003,
claiming 23 lives.

Herman said “words are not innocent” and urged the government to draw
up legislation to punish hate crimes.

The community’s deputy leader, Ä°shak Ä°brahimzadeh, told the panel
that Jews had increased security so much that they were virtually
injecting fear into the subconscious’ of children, by having them to
go through two security doors while entering synagogues.

Commission member Mehmet Metiner of the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) extended an apology to the Jewish community. “We weren’t
able to protect you. I don’t know if we can look you in the eye. I
know that we marginalized you. I apologize to you as a member of
Turkey’s parliament,” he said.

Turkey’s Jewish community was most recently disturbed by a shampoo
TV advertisement that featured Adolf Hitler. The ad was eventually
taken off air earlier this week after a public outcry.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY INDEX IN 2012 FEBRUARY ADVANCES 6.3% FROM A YEAR EARLIER

/ARKA/
MARCH 30, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, March 30. /ARKA/. Armenia’s economic activity index in 2012
February advanced 6.3% from a year earlier, the National Statistical
Service told ARKA. It said also the index in the first two months of
this year advanced by 5.6% if compared to the first two months of 2011.

According to statistics, the construction sector in 2012 February
saw a 0.5% decline from a year earlier, however, the volume of
construction work in February jumped by 25% from January 2012 to
10.9 billion drams. Industrial output in February 2012 amounted to
over 77.3 billion drams, having increased by 16.2% from 2011 February
and by 4.5% from 2012 January. According to the same numbers, in the
reporting period the volume of agriculture GDP did not change making
about 22.2 billion drams.

In 2012 February Armenia’s foreign trade soared by 17% from a year
before to $167.5 billion drams or $431 million. The volume of services
was said to have grown by 9.7% over the same period of 2011 to over
65.1 billion drams. The 2012 budget projects a 4.2% GDP growth.