Author: Badalian Vardan

POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, MORAL AND CULTURAL SYSTEMS SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY RECONSIDERED, RUBEN VARDANYAN THINKS

Mediamax
Aug 31 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Chairman of the Board of “Troyka Dialogue” Ruben
Vardanyan thinks that the value system and evaluation of assets within
the world economy are being transformed.

“We should admit that formal and non-formal systems of checks and
balances operating today have got out of balance. Today, all the
systems, political, economic, moral and cultural, should be seriously
revised. In the developed Western countries an individual’s personal
right of determining his actions prevails over the public opinion. The
only mechanism left in the world which works (not always, though)
is legal rules and laws. They should also be seriously reconsidered”,
said Ruben Vardanyan in the interview published today in “Kommersant”
newspaper.

“There are two scenarios: the first one is the crisis acceleration
in current systems. Everybody starts to understand that crisis calls
for changes. It’s a time for making decisions, painful and sometimes
very hard ones, entailing cataclysms for today’s elite. The second
scenario is to cut off the disease avoiding tough decisions. That’s
what has happened over the recent 20 years in Japan. The problem is
rooted in the society rather than in the economy there: the Japanese
are undergoing conflict between the internal reality of the country and
values of former generations which have been built up over millennia”,
said the head of “Troyka Dialogue”.

Ruben Vardanyan noted that “globalization has already cost very
expensive”.

“At the same time, no matter what is spoken, America and Western
Europe are still dominating though the situation is rapidly changing.

It is indisputable that everything may change provoking a formation of
a new financial system. Again we may exchange a kilogram of salt for
a kilogram of sugar, then for wheat or concrete. Gold may even become
the new currency. That’s not important. A new means of calculations
will be created and the old currencies will rapidly depreciate”,
said Ruben Vardanyan.

He also stressed that the number of the tools applied for regulating
the economy is limited.

“Those who can print a lot of money print how much they can. Those
who are able to throw the debts on the future generation are busy
doing that. Those who cannot do anything are trying to borrow from
others. There is an actual price for the goods of first priority
and there is a price for raw material, production and services. The
value system and evaluation of assets are being transformed now. Why
do we think that the financial world should remain the same whereas
the technological world has dramatically changed over the 20 years?

Everything is interrelated. We are going to face a change of the world
system. The thing is which dominants will be accepted in that system,
including the quantity of money. When I started my business there
were rare billionaires in the world and now this status is being
endlessly devaluated”, said the head of “Troyka Dialogue”.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY DEMANDS FROM TURKEY TO RETURN DINK’S ORPHANAGE

Panorama
Aug 31 2011
Armenia

As soon as Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree on
returning the properties of national minorities back to their owners,
Hrant Dink’s brother Orhan Dink and the fund of Armenian community
Gedikpasha have taken an initiative to demand back Tuzla’s orphanage,
where Hrant Dink had grown up. According to “Ermenihaber.am” news
website they demand to return the church to Armenian protestant church
of Gedikpasha.

“When the orphanage which belonged to the church was passed to other
owners, compensation wasn’t paid to the fund. The state has owned the
money. Thus, according to the new law, the orphanage must be returned
back to its real owners,” said Orhan Dink.

Adnan Ertem, the director of Turkish Funds, said if any application
is submitted, it will be discussed, but most probably the orphanage
will be left to its current owners.

It’s said that Hrant Dink dreamed of returning the orphanage back to
the Armenian community.

YOUTUBE VIDEO ON MAR. 1, 2008 IN YEREVAN TO BE SENT TO INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS

epress.am
08.31.2011 16:40

Two days ago, Armenia’s general prosecutor appealed to the foreign
ministry to contact several European agencies, so that international
experts can be involved in investigating a video posted on YouTube
which was allegedly shot on Mar. 1-2, 2008, and depicts figures
dressed in police uniform shooting at people. Head of the Mar. 1-2
investigative group Vahagn Harutyunyan conveyed this news to
journalists in the Armenian capital today.

Recall, on Mar. 1-2, 2008, national police and military forces, called
in to disperse the mass riots following a contested presidential
election, used “excessive force and violence” which left 10 people
dead and many more wounded.

The video in question is called “See how they fire on Mar. 1, 2008”.

Harutyunyan noted that the body he oversees examined the video;
however, their center is ill-equipped to give clear answers to all
the questions and it was unable to solve the problem of identification.

The investigative group aims to have international experts receive
useful video footage for identifying the shooter.

Harutyunyan also noted that they have expressed their willingness to
hold the investigation not only in Armenia, but also abroad.

VAYK HOSPITAL STAFF INJECT WOMAN IN LABOR WITH DRUGS AND SEND HER HOME

epress.am
08.31.2011 14:09

Three days ago, a youth civil initiative called “We won’t be silent”
received a call from a resident of the town of Vayk in southern
Armenia regarding an incident in the town’s maternity ward.

The incident described in the video allegedly took place days earlier
and involves a family from the village of Gndevaz in Vayots Dzor marz
(province), though reportedly this is not the only family that has
been affected. According to “We won’t be silent” which prepared the
video below, on Aug. 11, a woman, in preparation of delivery, was
moved to the hospital in Vayk, where she was to wait for department
head Metaxya Hovhannisyan. Relatives of the woman in labor (who was
not named), Avetik Ikhpiaryan and Tsovinar Khachatryan, describe what
happened afterwards.

Khachatryan notes in the video that the patient was injected with
pethidine and sent home. “We know Dimedrol [in fact, most likely meant
Demerol or pethidine] is not allowed during birth,” says Khachatryan
in the video, adding that they informed the nurse who simply told
them she is doing what she was told.

The family was then told by the head of the maternity ward Metaxya
Hovhannisyan to prolong the labor and that she would visit the family
at 10 pm that evening, says Ikhpiaryan in the video. Hovhannisyan
did indeed come, he continues; however, she delivered a stillborn.

The stillborn was sent to Yerevan and then to England for an
autopsy, say the relatives, who were told the cause of death was
brain hemorrhaging.

The family believes the child’s death is due to the prescribed
pethidine in part and to negligence on the part of hospital staff,
and Metaxya Hovhannisyan in particular.

15 THOUS. CARS IMPORTED TO ARMENIA OVER PAST 7 MONTHS

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 31, 2011 – 14:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – 1135 traffic accidents have been registered in
Armenia within the first 7 months of 2011, said head of traffic patrol
service of the RA road police.

According to Norik Sargsyan, 150 people died and 1697 suffered as a
result of traffic accidents, the number of which grew by 143 compared
to the same period in 2010.

He explained the growth by the operating law on compulsory car
insurance. ~SThe drivers would avoid calling the police before, but now
they are waiting for the police officers and insurers to arrive even
in case of a slightest collision,~T Sargsyan told a press conference
in Yerevan.

According to him, the import of vehicles has formidably grown. ~SMore
than 15 thous. cars were imported to Armenia over the 7 past months.~T
He also added that in 2010-2011 the number of vehicles grew by 35 000.

Asked when police radars will be installed to fix roads violations,
Sargsyan said the process under way and by the end of the year special
devices will have been installed at 10 cross-roads of Yerevan.

11 ARMENIAN CITIZENS SERVE TIME IN TURKISH PRISONS

Tert.am
15:02 31.08.11

Eleven Armenian convicts are reported to serve their time in Turkey’s
prisons, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Citing Justice Ministry sources, the agency reports that the prisons
in the country hold 2,000 foreign inmates from 105 countries.

With the number of their citizens serving imprisonment in Turkey, Iran
(462 inmates), Turkmenistan (268 inmates) and Georgia (132 inmates)
rank as top three countries.

Armenia ranks the 31st in the list. Azerbaijan, with 66 citizens,
ranks the seventh.

The list of foreign inmates also includes citizens of Germany,
Uzbekistan, Holland, Greece, Russia and Ukraine.

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: SUBORDINATES VS EX-CHIEF

Tert.am
10:05 31.08.11

According to the information at the newspaper’s disposal, seven
high-ranking officers – colonels and lieutenant-colonels – have
witnessed against Chief of Armenia’s traffic police Margar Ohanian,
who was detained on a charge of abuse of office.

According to some information, Margar Ohanian’s brother, Mushegh
Ohanian, Chief of the Nor Nork district police department, is involved
in the criminal case as well. Rumor has it he wanted to hand in his
resignation yesterday, but he was not allowed to.

ARMENIAN TAUGHT IN GLENDALE SCHOOLS
Armen Dilanyan

Radiolur
31.08.2011 14:58
Glendale

About 25 thousand children attend school in Glendale, 10 thousand
of them are Armenians. Their parents are unable to pay the fee for
Armenian national colleges, which makes $700 a month on the average.

As a result many Armenian children do not know their mother tongue.

hey don’t write and read Armenian, while the vocabulary suffices to
speak on some everyday topics.

The classes of the Davidian-Mariamian Educational Foundation are much
cheaper. The annual tuition fee makes $400. Besides the main courses,
twice a week the establishment organizes two-hour Armenian language
courses in those cities of South California, where there are Armenian
schoolchildren. However, children do not actively attend the courses.

One or two Sunday schools will not solve the problem, either.

At first glance it could seem strange the US Government has assumed
the responsibility to teach Armenian to Armenian children. Foreign
language academies were launched in the public schools of Glendale a
few years ago. Children included in the courses get their education
in two languages. They are taught Spanish, Korean, German, Italian,
French, Japanese and, of course, Armenian.

ARTSAKH TO CELEBRATE THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE IN TWO DAYS
Lusine Avanesyan

Radiolur
31.08.2011 12:20
Stepanakert

In two days Artsakh will celebrate the 20th anniversary of proclamation
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The festive events have already
started in Artsakh.

Karabakh parliament decided yesterday to declare general amnesty on
the 20th anniversary of independence.

A number of educational establishments have been opened, the Armenian
Development Agency has launched its branch in Stepanakert.

Most of the festive events are scheduled for September 1 and 2.

According to the co-chairman of the organizing committee, Speaker
of the National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan, about 200 guests have been
officially invited to participate in the celebrations, the number of
tourists has considerably grown.

The first lesson in all schools will be dedicated to the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic and will be conducted by officials and Officers of
the Defense Army.

Organizers promise a grand gala concert in Stepanakert and a number
of other cultural events in different parts of Artsakh on September 2.

GROUP REPORTS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ARMENIANS IN TBILISI SCHOOL

asbarez
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Armenian Community of Georgia

TBILISI-Facts about cases of discrimination against Armenians in a
local public school were reported to Georgia’s Human Rights Ombudsman
by the Armenian Community of Georgia, a non-governmental organization
operating in Tbilisi.

The ACG called on the public defender’s office to investigate incidents
of discrimination and violation of minority rights in the Armenian
Section of Public School No. 103 in Tbilisi. The group also presented
documentation to the Ombudsman regarding the school administration’s
alleged involvement in the incidents.

The group says the administrators of the school continues to teach
classes in Russian, attempts to shut down the Armenian section of
the school by interfering in the registration of 1st graders to the
program, pressures parents to enroll their children in the Georgian
Section of the school and has not initiated a third grade in the
Armenian sector.

The complaint also said that teachers are under constant emotional
duress, Armenian language courses have been dropped and nine of the 18
teachers in the Armenian section were fired, with the administration
claiming that while they were on vacation, Armenian classes were
eliminated and cancelled.

Copies of the appeal were sent to the Georgian President, Education
and Science Minister, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, the Prime
Minister, the representations of the UN and EU in Georgia.

The group said that in the past efforts to work with the office of
the Public Defender and the education ministry have not yielded any
response from officials and numerous appeals have been unanswered. The
ACG said that the condition in the school have gotten worse.