Author: Badalian Vardan

VARTAN OSKANIAN IS NOT ROBERT KOCHARIAN’S SPOKESPERSON: HOVHANNISYAN

epress.am
09.29.2011 16:53

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) has
received no offers from either former president of Armenia Robert
Kocharian (pictured) or former foreign affairs minister Vartan
Oskanian to join their party, said head of the ARF-D parliamentary
faction Vahan Hovhannisyan, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.

According to him, Vartan Oskanian could not have made such an offer
since he’s a political figure, “and not Robert Kocharian’s press
spokesperson.”

MHER SHAHGELDYAN: IN RA PRESIDENT’S SPEECH THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE WAS THE POSITION TOWARD NK ISSUE

ARMENPRESS
15:15, 29 September, 2011

In Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at the 66th session of the UN General
Assembly the most important issues was the position toward the NK
issue, Deputy Chairman of Orinats Yerkir Party Mher Shahgeldyan told
today a news conference. “In that position it was distinctly said
that the NK conflict settlement is based on 3 principles – territorial
integrity, national self-determination and non-use of force,” he said.

According to Mr. Shahgeldyan, the next important issue was the
approaches on the Genocide issue. He drew attention to the President’s
statement that prevention of the genocide and fighting against
suchlike phenomena is the duty of the Republic of Armenia. “This is
the most important from the viewpoint that Armenia always stressed
that recognition of the genocide also has a preventive goal, and
we present a tender at a global level, assuming a mission to fight
against the genocide from the moral viewpoint,” he noted. Mr.

Shahgeldyan expressed an opinion that the process of recognition of
the Armenian Genocide is unstoppable: it will be recognized, as it
stems from all-human profits. On the other hand, Armenia is becoming
one of the first fighters of global political processes from the
viewpoint of prevention of genocides.

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO TACKLE SECTS IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 29, 2011 – 12:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia’s National Security Council (NSC) Secretary
named provision of religious security a key priority on NSC agenda.

During the first meeting of the inter-departmental commission for
anti-sectarian strategy, Artur Baghdasaryan urged to wage a struggle
against destructive sects which pose serious danger to population.

NSC Secretary further briefed the sitting participants about
international experience in relevant sector. “Anti-sectarian strategy,
currently under development, won’t affect Armenian citizens’ freedom
of conscience or religion, instead, providing the state’s integrity,”
he stressed.

The sitting continued behind closed doors, with Mr. Baghdasaryan
promising to keep media informed about further activities of the
commission.

MASTER PLAN OF YEREVAN TO BE CORRECTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SOME CHANGES IN ARMENIA’S ECONOMY

ARKA
Sep 28, 2011

YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. The master plan of Yerevan will
be corrected in accordance with the recent six year’s economic
processes in Armenia, Petros Soghomonyan, chief of Yerevan Project
Institute’s division in charge of the master plan, said Wednesday at
public discussion.

The fifth master plan of Yerevan was approved by Armenian government
in 2005, and its implementation was scheduled to be completed in 2020.

It was planned to expand green spaces in Yerevan, construct two new
avenues and zone the capital’s districts.

The implementation of the master plan was initially estimated to cost
$5 billion, but this figure has grown five times since then.

The architect said that correction is a natural process caused by
some factors which prompted the government to order it.

“The master plan was based on the then economic development projection
that was very optimistic, since Armenia was intensely developing and
building in 2005,” he said. “Today things in Armenia’s economy are
in limbo, and we have no long-term development plan.”

Soghomonyan stressed that industrial zones were not changed while
the plan elaboration was under way.

“We thought then that small and medium industries resume operating
sooner or later,” he said. “Preservation of appropriate areas and
infrastructures was needed for that. However, these zones never been
used, since there were no particular industry development programs.”

Soghomonyan also said that in recent years a large-scale housing
construction became sluggish because of the global financial crisis.

“It was planned that 70% of new buildings would be multistory and 30%
would be cottages, but changed things propelled individual construction
and hobbled large-scale construction,” he said.

Among factors which prompted revision of the master plan Soghomonyan
also pointed out reduction of Yerevan’s territory by 340 hectares (some
areas were moved beyond the city’s boundaries), transition to local
self-government and appearance of a new seismic security concept.

NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF NORATUS GROWING YEAR BY YEAR

ARMENPRESS
15:13, 28 September, 2011

Noratus Village of Gegharkunik province is rich in historical and
cultural monuments, among which the medieval cross-stones of Noratus
historical graveyard occupy a unique place.

Deputy Head of the Noratus community Vachik Khachatryan told
Armenpress’ Gegharkunik correspondent that averagely 200-300 tourists
visit Noratus per day attentively watching and studying the monuments’
history.

A poster placed near the Noratus historical graveyard presents the
history of the village and monuments in English, Russian, French,
German, Italian, Armenian and by Braille Alphabet intended for
blind people.

RADOSLAV SIKORSKI: OSCE MINSK GROUP REMAINS THE MAIN FORMAT OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIATION IN NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS

ARMENPRESS
20:30, 28 September, 2011

European Union is interested in peaceful regulation of all conflicts
in the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In
an exclusive interview given to Armenpress Polish Foreign Minister
Radoslav Sikorski said that though the OSCE Minsk Group remains the
main format of international mediation in regulation process of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict., the European Union, too, can make a
contribution to peaceful regulation of the conflict conveying powerful
signals to the negotiations.

“The mandate of Philippe Lefort, EU Special Representative for the
South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, also includes the issue on
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The EU policy on expanding the territory
of prosperity and democracy in a long-term period may positively
influence the settlement of the dragged conflicts,” the Polish Foreign
Minister said.

WINE FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE IN THE ARMENIAN VILLAGE ARENI ON OCTOBER 8, TOURISTS WILL BE WAITING FOR A LOT OF SURPRISES

ARKA
Sep 28, 2011

YEREVAN. September 28. /ARKA/. Wine festival will take place in the
Armenian village Areni of Vayots Dzor region (south of Armenia) on
October 8. The tourists will be waiting a lot of surprises, said the
head of Areni community Zhirayr Yeghyan on Wednesday.

“The festival is conducted already the third year and attracts more
and more tourists year-by-year. If last year 2.5-3 thousand tourists
visited the festival, this year their number is expected over 5
thousand”, said Yeghyan in the International Center “Novosti”.

This year a number of events are envisaged in Areni, including national
games, presentation of dishes, marc and wine making in accordance with
historical traditions. The guests will be suggested Armenian baking,
lavash and gata (national Armenian dish with sweet stuffing), wine
and cheese tasting.

All the envisaged events will be organized in the whole village for the
convenience of the tourists with state financial support in the amount
of 3 million drams (about $8.1 thousand) and participation of sponsors.

“For participation in the festival not only tourist groups from
France, Spain, Russia, tour operators from Estonia, but also domestic
manufacturers, of which eight wine-makers are from the village Areni
and another eight- from Nagorno-Karabakh republic and regions of
Armenia”, said Yeghyan.

About 80 farms will provide the visitors their houses for rest.

Chairman of the Union of legal entities “Association of communities of
Armenia” Emin Yeritsyan said that for participation in the festival as
experts and members of jury are invited wine-making specialists from
France who will select the winners and award them prizes in nomination
“The best wine”.

Competitions among the tourists on the development of the design for
wine labels will be conducted. The winner will have opportunity to
visit the festival again. 100 bottles of wine will be produced by these
labels. Visitors of the festival will select the best home-made wine.

This year the festival participants will use the services of special
buses costing 2.5 thousand drams (about $6.8) which will take them
to the village Areni and return back to Yerevan in the evening.

The village Areni is in Vayots Dzor region which was established in
the 3rd century before Christ. The most famous architectural building
in the village is the church of St. Mother of God built in 1321 by
famous architect Momik.

There are 543 farms in the village. The population is over 2 thousand.

Wild grape in Areni was grown from earlier Bronze Age. Now more than
20 types of grape is grown in the village. Annually, 300 tons of wine
“Areni” is produced in the village which is sold in Armenia and abroad.

It is planned that the wine festival in Armenia in 2011 will take
place in the context of archeological finding of wine-making in the
village Areni.

During the study of the cave “Areni-1”, international group of
archeologists discovered the earliest evidence of wine-making in the
south-east of Armenia which turned more than six thousand years.

The first time traces of possible wine-making were detected in the cave
Areni-1 in 2008. Now the chemical analysis of traces of substances
found in several ceramic shards in the cave Areni allowed to prove
that its inhabitants were engaged in winemaking about 4000 years
before Christ. Among the findings of archeologists are remnants of
press, jars for storing wine and “waste products” – seeds of grapes,
remnants of squeezed berries, stems.

ABOUT TWENTY THOUSAND TOURISTS VISIT NAGORNO-KARABAKH A YEAR

ARKA
Sep 28, 2011

YEREVAN, September 28. / ARKA /. Citing independent experts estimates,
Nagorno-Karabakh president Bako Sahakian said today that some 20,000
foreign tourists visit the republic a year. Speaking at a special
meeting of the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University held to mark
the 20-th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Mr. Sahakian
described the figure as quite high.

He said there are other estimates which say that the republic has
about 8000 tourists annually, but added that this is an approximate
figure, because the republic does not have a mechanism to register
all visitors.

“We did not yet install a system that Armenia did to register all
foreign visitors, and when we want to apply a strict registration
procedure that creates inconveniences for foreigners,’ he said. He
said despite Azerbaijan’s efforts to create obstacles for foreigners
wishing to visit Nagorno-Karabakh (Baku declares them personas
non-grata) the global interest towards it is rising. He said the
number of tourists who visited it in the first six months this year
grew by 45% from the same time span in 2010. According to Sahakian,
Armenian philanthropists from Lebanon and Russia have built new hotels
in Stepanakert and Shushi raising the number of beds to 645.

According to data of Nagorno-Karabakh foreign ministry, more than
3,000 tourists visited the republic in the first half of 2011, which
is 49% higher than in the same period of 2010. Nagorno-Karabakh is
visited by tourists from U.S., France, Iran, Great Britain, Holland,
Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Poland, Russia and other CIS countries.

More tourists are coming from faraway countries like Japan, China,
Singapore, Brazil, Venezuela, Israel, New Zealand, India, who are
attracted not only by its oldest historical monuments, magnificent
nature, picturesque canyons, healthy environment, mineral and hot
springs, but also by the friendliness and hospitality of its people and
its distinctive cuisine. Guests are shown Gandzasar monastery complex
(XIII century), Amaras (IV century), Dadivank (IV century), the ancient
city of Tigranakert, Azokh caves, as well as many ancient Armenian
fortresses. The expected reopening of the airport in Stepanakert is
supposed to give a great boost to tourism development.

REVUE DE PRESSE N1 – 28/09/11 – COLLECTIF VAN

Collectif VAN

28-09-2011

Le Collectif VAN [Vigilance Armenienne contre le Negationnisme]
vous propose une revue de presse des informations parues dans
la presse francophone, sur les thèmes concernant la Turquie, le
genocide armenien, la Shoah, le genocide des Tutsi, le Darfour,
le negationnisme, l’Union europeenne, Chypre, etc… Nous vous
suggerons egalement de prendre le temps de lire ou de relire les
informations et traductions mises en ligne dans notre rubrique

Par ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand, turc, etc,
ne sont disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous generons
chaque jour. Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media : c’est
gratuit ! Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans votre
boîte email. Bonne lecture.

Allemagne : une emission sur le genocide armenien Info Collectif VAN
– – La chaîne de television ALEX TV presente
une emission sur le genocide armenien qui est aussi diffusee
sur Internet. Dans le cadre de son programme ” Les jeunes pour la
tolerance “, la chaîne propose de traiter divers problèmes de societe,
notamment l’integration, l’immigration… Le sujet, le tournage
et la partie technique de l’emission intitulee WeTV (notre tele)
sont pris en charge par de jeunes adolescents berlinois de diverses
origines. Pour ce quatrième talkshow de l’annee, le thème du genocide
armenien et des problèmes de la minorite kurde en Turquie est aborde
avec plusieurs participants dont Steffen Reiche, qui a fait inscrire
le genocide armenien dans les livres scolaires du Land de Berlin. Le
Collectif VAN vous invite a vous connecter sur le site d’ALEX TV pour
visionner l’emission qui a ete diffusee mardi 27 septembre et sera
rediffusee vendredi et samedi.

Aparna Kolar – Recits personnels d’appartenance Info Collectif VAN –
– Le Collectif VAN vous invite a lire cette
information traduite par Georges Festa et publiee sur le site
‘Armenian Trends – Mes Armenies’ le 25 septembre 2011. “Je suis
frappee de voir que la plupart des conversations que j’ai eues
recemment lors de rencontres semblent avoir pour racines ces quatre
questions centrales d’identite : ” Qui suis-je ? Où suis-je ? De qui
suis-je ? D’où suis-je ? ” Ces conversations ne sont pas revelatrices
en soi, mais elles expriment un sentiment croissant d’insecurite,
lequel decoule d’une incapacite a repondre a ces questions de manière
precise et denuee de contradictions”.

Le Soudan affirme etre pret a continuer les processus de paix en cours
Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
propose cette information publiee sur le site de l’ONU le 27 septembre
2011. “Dans un discours prononce a l’Assemblee generale des Nations
Unies, le Ministre des affaires etrangères du Soudan, Ali Ahmed Karty,
a souligne mardi que son gouvernement avait montre son attachement a
la paix tout au long du processus de negociations menant a la creation
de l’Etat du Soudan du Sud et dans le processus de paix au Darfour”.

L’info vue par la TRT (2) Le Collectif VAN vous propose cet article
publie sur la TRT (Television & Radio de Turquie). Les articles de
ce site ne sont pas commentes de notre part. Ils peuvent contenir
des propos negationnistes envers le genocide armenien ou d’autres
informations a prendre sous toute reserve. “La motion prolongeant
d’un an le pouvoir attribue au gouvernement pour une operation
transfrontalière, a ete presentee a la presidence de la Grande
assemblee nationale de Turquie.”

Air Liquide : Acceleration majeure du developpement en Turquie La
Turquie est une economie dynamique avec un taux de croissance de 9%
en 2010. Son industrie se developpe et se diversifie, et la petrochimie
y est un secteur dynamique et prometteur.

Depeche de l’APA [ 28 sept 2011 11:40 ] – Agence de Presse
d’Azerbaïdjan Le Collectif VAN vous propose un article de l’APA
(Agence de presse azerie) date du 24 septembre 2011. Les articles de
ce site (ecrits generalement dans un francais rudimentaire) ne sont pas
commentes de notre part. Ils peuvent contenir des propos negationnistes
envers le genocide armenien ou d’autres informations a prendre sous
toute reserve. “L’ONU a affirme une fois de plus, que le Haut-Karabagh
fait partie integrante de l’Azerbaïdjan et etait occupe par l’Armenie.”

Ankara plante son drapeau a Mogadiscio Le premier ministre Recep
Tayyip Erdogan peaufine son image de champion de la solidarite
musulmane. La Turquie, pays emergent, veut jouer un rôle de premier
plan en Afrique. À l’entree du camp de Rajo, le drapeau turc flotte au
vent, bien en vue au sommet de son mât. Une vingtaine de mètres plus
loin, les tentes blanches alignees au cordeau abritent les familles
des refugies de la faim qui ont fui la secheresse pour chercher des
secours a Mogadiscio.

L’info vue par la TRT (1) Le Collectif VAN vous propose cet article
publie sur la TRT (Television & Radio de Turquie). Les articles de
ce site ne sont pas commentes de notre part. Ils peuvent contenir
des propos negationnistes envers le genocide armenien ou d’autres
informations a prendre sous toute reserve. “La Turquie a demarre les
explorations gazières et petrolières en Mediterranee orientale. Le
navire “Piri Reis” a amorce les recherches sismiques au nord de l’île,
sous la protection rapprochee de l’armee turque.”

Assistance medicale au Darfour Le contingent nigerian de la MINUAD
apporte son assistance medicale au Darfour – Les casques bleus
nigerians de la Mission conjointe de l’ONU et de l’Union africaine
au Darfour (MINUAD) ont offert dimanche des soins medicaux gratuits
a environ 120 habitants du village de Kurti, dans l’Ouest du Darfour,
annonce un communique publie lundi a New York.

Charles Aznavour & friends en concert pour l’Armenie a l’Olympia
Actuellement a l’affiche de L’Olympia a Paris, Charles Aznavour
organise ce mercredi 28 septembre 2011 un recital exceptionnel dans
la mythique salle parisienne au profit de son association “Aznavour
pour l’Armenie”. De nombreux artistes devraient y participer, Julien
Clerc, Benabar ou la soprano Hasmik Papian en tete.

Après les tags nazis, le maire ne veut pas ” attiser la ranc~ur ” ”
Halte aux sombres coups bas. ” C’est la reaction de Jean-Yves Burnaud
et de la majorite municipale, dans un communique, au vandalisme dont
deux elus ont ete victimes recemment. Depuis debut août, la maison
du maire a ete taguee a plusieurs reprises de symboles nazis. Meme
chose, au cours du week-end des 17 et 18 septembre, au domicile
d’Annick Billon, adjointe a l’urbanisme, ainsi que chez un particulier
(Ouest-France de vendredi 23 septembre).

Retour a la rubrique

CHARLES AZNAVOUR & FRIENDS EN CONCERT POUR L’ARMENIE A L’OLYMPIA

Concertlive.fr
27 Sept 2011
France

Depuis le 7 septembre dernier, “Monsieur” Charles Aznavour est a
l’affiche de L’Olympia a Paris pour une serie de concerts qui le
mèneront jusqu’au 6 octobre prochain, avant une grande tournee a
travers la France. Cinquante-cinq ans après ses debuts (et son premier
Olympia !), ce monument de la chanson francaise n’en a donc pas fini
de chanter, encore moins lorsqu’il s’agit de rendre hommage a son
“autre” pays, l’Armenie.

Ainsi, Charles Aznavour et son manager Levon Sayan ont decide
d’organiser, ce mercredi 28 septembre 2011, un grand concert a
L’Olympia, en compagnie d’invites et au profit de l’association
“Aznavour pour l’Armenie”, rapporte l’AFP.

En presence des Presidents des republiques francaise et armenienne,
cette soiree d’exception viendra celebrer les 20 ans de la creation
de l’Armenie independante.

A cette occasion, de nombreux artistes ont repondus presents et se
produiront aux côtes de Charles Aznavour, a commencer par Julien Clerc,
Benabar, Helène Segara, Andre Manoukian, Patrick Fiori, Liane Foly,
Amel Bent, la soprano armenienne Hasmik Papian, son compatriote
pianiste Vardan Mamikonian ou encore les humoristes Michel Leeb et
Laurent Gerra.

Les benefices de cette soiree seront reverses a l’association
“Aznavour pour l’Armenie”, fondee en 1988 par l’artiste après le
terrible tremblement de terre qui avait devaste le pays, faisant plus
de 50 000 morts et des milliers de blesses.