Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN MINISTER OF FINANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN MEETING OF EURASEC ANTI-CRISIS FUND

NOYAN TAPAN
December 21, 2009
MOSCOW

MOSCOW, DECEMBER 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Minister of Finance
Tigran Davtian will participate in the meeting of the Council of the
Eurasian Economic Community’s (EurAsEC) Anti-Crisis Fund in Moscow
on December 21.

The Information and PR Unit of the RA Ministry of Finance reported
that a number of documents related to the 2010 activities of the
Anti-Crisis Fund, in particular the structure and regulations of the
Fund’s expert council and the order of allocations, will be discussed
and approved at the meeting.

The agreement on the establishment of EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund was
signed by the heads of the member states’ governments on June 9 in
Moscow. The authorized capital of the Anti-Crisis Fund will amount to
10 billion dollars, inlcluding Russia’s share of 7.5 billion dollars,
Kazakhstan’s share of one billion dollars, the share of Belarus makes
10 million dollars, and share of each of the other states, including
Armenia, is one million dollars. On December 17 Armenia transferred
10% of its share. Under the agreement on the Fund’s establishment,
the remaining 90% will be transferred as a promissory note.

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Dec 19 2009

British Parliamentarians Hear About Christians in North Iraq
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Posted GMT 12-19-2009 9:1:35
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The people and government of the Kurdistan Region understand the
suffering of the Christians and other minorities in Iraq and are
committed to their protection and to peaceful coexistence, said Ms
Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Region’s High Representative to the UK,
speaking in the British Parliament on Tuesday.

Ms Abdul Rahman presented a brief report on the status of Christians
in the Kurdistan Region to members of the British Parliamentary Group
on the Kurdistan Region in a meeting that was open to MPs, peers and
members of the public. Other speakers were Ambassador Mokhtar Lamani,
formerly the Arab League’s Special Representative in Iraq, and
Professor Brendan O’Leary from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms Abdul Rahman outlined the many steps taken by the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) and the Kurdish leadership since 1992 to
protect and promote the rights of Christians and minorities in the
Kurdistan Region. As early as 1992, when the Region held its first
elections, a quota of seats was allocated to Christians in the
Kurdistan Parliament. Today, six seats are reserved for Chaldeans,
Assyrians and Armenians, while another five are allocated to Turkmen
parties. Christians have prominent positions in the KRG, including the
current Transport and Communications Minister.

"The KRG is committed to peaceful coexistence throughout Iraq and the
protection of minorities, a policy that we implement in the Kurdistan
Region and strive for across the country," said Ms Abdul Rahman.
"British parliamentarians who have visited Kurdistan have seen this
for themselves and we welcome this opportunity to present the facts to
those who haven’t yet to come to the Region."

The KRG funds schools in the Syriac language, the only part of Iraq in
which such schools are government-funded. The schools have been
expanded to accept an increasing number of Chaldeans and Assyrians who
have fled other parts of Iraq to the safety of Kurdistan. Since 2003,
at least 20,000 Christian families have sought refuge in Kurdistan.

Outside the KRG-administered area, the Kurdish peshmerga forces have
provided protection to Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks and other
minorities vulnerable to attack from extremists and terrorists, and
the KRG has provided humanitarian assistance.

Mr Lamani, who was in Iraq in 2006 to 2007, said that during his
posting in Baghdad he was shocked at the terrible situation for the
minority nationalities, which forced many of them to move to the
Kurdistan Region or go abroad.

Professor O’Leary, who spoke in a personal capacity and is an expert
on power-sharing and ethnic conflict, conducted in-depth interviews
with 300 Christian individuals in 62 towns and villages in the
Kurdistan Region and in the disputed territories, including the
Nineveh plains, in spring 2009 and autumn 2008. He presented his
interim findings, and recommended that Kurdistan’s constitution should
incorporate the best international standards on religious and minority
rights.

Ms Margaret Munn MP, chairman of the British Parliament’s Kurdistan
Region group, said, "As a member of the Methodist Church, I was
pleased to hear the findings of the two experts on Christians in the
Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories, and to read the KRG’s
report. The KRG is clearly working hard to protect the minorities,
including Christians and I look forward to exploring these issues in
person in the region. The All Party Parliamentary Group will also
continue to follow this issue with interest."

Aysor, Armenia
Dec 19 2009

The second life of puppets in the Armenian Puppet Theatre Museum

In the state puppet theatre after H. Tumanyan will take place the
ceremony of official opening of the Puppet Museum. As the director of
the museum Ruben Babayan told the theatre at last succeeded to solve
the problem of the show-windows, and to present the puppets that were
in the archive to the society.

The museum that is inside the theatre will be named after one of the
founders of the theatre Pavlos Boroyan, who during his life time
managed to persuade the Culture Ministry of Armenia to open the puppet
museum in 1975.

In the world there are few puppet museums and the Armenian Puppet
Museum is among them already. It will present to the world puppets
that are of different nationalities.

There will also be presented the works of the painters of the former
Soviet Union that in 1982 were presented in the Transcaucasian
countries.

The Puppet theatre of Yerevan cooperates with the Armenian Foreign
Ministry for 6 years already and exchanges puppets with different
countries. So the theatre has puppets from England, Kazakhstan,
Bulgaria and other countries. There are also gift-puppets which have
there unique place within the puppets of the theatre. There are two
puppets one of which is presented to the theatre by Hasmik Poghosyan,
the RA Culture Minister and the other one by the wife of the second
President of Armenia Bella Kocharyan.

This museum which during the difficult period of its existence has
been robbed and sold by the pitiless directors of the today has around
300 puppets in its fund. Those puppets though have been repaired in
2002 by the support of `Lins’ fund, are not being shown completely
yet.

One part of the puppets will be shown only for which the first
show-window has been built around 5 years before by the help of the
acting Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan. The other 4 show-windows are
supported by the Culture Ministry and the other 3 by the means of
Puppet Theatre.

POLITICAL EXPERT: WITHDRAWAL FROM ZURICH PROTOCOLS WILL BE ARMENIAN-STYLE HARA-KIRI
Z. Ahmadov

Today
8316.html
Dec 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with renowned Azerbaijani political expert Vafa
Guluzade.

Day.Az: Armenia is going to make amendments to laws which will enable
the country to withdraw its signatures from international treaties.

Armenian officials recently announced that if Turkey delays
ratification of the Zurich protocols, Armenia may withdraw from them.

In your opinion, what is the reasons for these statements?

Vafa Guluzade: The reason is a turkophobia inherent in Armenia.

Yerevan made sure that the Turkish parliament either may delay or
not ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols at all. So, it decided to
move back. I think that a move by the Armenia parliament to review
withdrawal of signature from the Zurich protocols will prove absolutely
senseless and unnecessary step. Once Armenia takes this step, it will
lose a chance to resume relations with Turkey. It means that Armenia
will "dig a grave" for itself. This will be a kind of Armenian-style
hara-kiri.

Do you believe Armenia’s willingness to withdraw from Zurich protocols
had an impact on Armenian Diaspora’s radical position towards the
Armenia-Turkey rapprochement?

Armenian Diaspora is a special conglomerate, who lives by memories
of 1915. The world has seen dramatic changes since then.

There is a very strange situation. The number of Russians the German
fascists killed during the World War II was ten times more than current
population of Armenia. The elite of the Turkish army was destroyed
during the course of the many Russian-Turkish wars, in particular,
in the Sarikamish battle. Nevertheless, today, Germany and Russia
on the one side, and Turkey and Russia on the other side build a new
relationship not looking at past.

However, the Armenian diaspora lives with memories of far-fetched
"genocide" in the Ottoman Empire even after 100 years. Neither the
empire nor people of that era exist any more. But Armenians do not
still forget the times when their betrayal of their country (Ottoman
Empire) and taking side of Russian troops provoked an adequate response
by the Ottoman Empire. Until now, the Armenian Diaspora believes
that hatred towards Turks should unite Armenian people and make it
"great". It’s just some sort of disease of Armenian psychology. This
is quite an unhealthy way of thinking that will ultimately lead to
collapse of the Armenian state which is at odds with its neighbors.

If Armenia had not occupied Azerbaijan’s lands, our region would
be the most prosperous in the world. Today Armenia wants to take
advantage of Turkey and reopen borders not returning Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories and not giving up its hostility towards Turks.

So, this is Armenia’s absolutely schizophrenic approach to the problems
in our region. It will further feud with its neighbors. Even foreign
owners of Armenia will be forced to think over this senseless policy.

Armenia avoids linking opening of borders with Turkey with resolution
ot the Karabakh conflict. How will Armenia’ possible withdrawal from
the Zurich protocols impact resolving the Karabakh problem?

I think Armenia plays not a pivotal role in the Karabakh issue. Russia
and the United States play the main role. Pace of the conflict
resolution depends on their attitude. Unfortunately, I do not see any
real progress in settlement of the Karabakh problem. It may appear only
after geopolitical situation in the world and in our region changes.

In your opinion, what relations will Armenian and Turkish Diaspora
have in the "neutral ground" (in the U.S. and other countries)?

I think everything will depend on the United States and its interests.

If Washington is interested in making the South Caucasus a region
of peace and its ally, it will pave a way for return of occupied
Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations and opening of borders between the countries. If Washington
is interested in the status quo in the South Caucasus, the inactive
OSCE Minsk Group to continue to act in its old format.

I do not know which option the U.S. has chosen. But I know one thing
for sure- if Washington keeps on acting like this, America will never
achieve "peace" in our region.

Concerning the Armenian diaspora in the United States, its
representatives are very strange citizens of America. They dedicate
their lives to recognition of the far-fetched "Armenian genocide". The
actions of the Armenian Diaspora harm the United States and American
interests. Thus, it seems that the U.S. citizens (Armenian diaspora)
act to detriment of the state, which is extremely interested in close
relations with Turkey as its strategic ally in the region.

AMERIA, BRECKENHILL DEVELOP NATIONAL SYSTEM OF MONITORING AND APPRAISAL FOR RA GOVERNMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 15:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ameria CJSC in association with Breckenhill, a
Canadian consulting company, is engaged in a World Bank Institutional
Development Fund funded project aimed at developing effective public
administration system through introduction of reliable, functional
and objective performance appraisal system. Ameria and Breckenhill
support the government in building institutional capacity, knowledge
and skills to describe and optimize business procedures and functions
within the government, and based thereon to revise the functional
duties (job descriptions) of civil service positions, as well as to
introduce operative appraisal mechanisms for the work performed by
the civil servants. In the scope of this project consultants will
assist the RA government in developing the basis for the national
system of monitoring and appraisal (M&A). The overall duration of
the project is 18 months.

Objectives of this project are creating an effective public
administration system in accordance with the best international
standards. The project supports the Government in establishment of
such system in staff of RA Government and 6 pilot ministries (the RA
Ministry of Healthcare, the RA Ministry of Economy, the RA Ministry of
Culture, the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration, the RA Ministry
of Transport and Communication and the RA Ministry of Finance).

The project concentrates its activities on analyses of current
procedures of beneficiary institutions and structural units,
introduction of new business procedures in beneficiary institutions,
as well as building the monitoring capacity. Ameria will also develop
methodical manuals for analysis and describing business procedures,
elaboration of performance management indicators and implementation
of performance evaluations, as well as will provide thematic trainings
to relevant governmental officials.

The project will result in raising the capacities of beneficiary
institutions in analyses of business procedures, development of
work plans at all institutional levels, elaboration of performance
evaluation indicators and conducting of performance evaluations. The
project will highly contribute to the ensuring more effective
and efficient work of the state institutions. As a follow-up this
experience will be furthermore rolled out to all other governmental
structures and institutions.

Ameria is a leading advisory firm in Armenia specialized in the
areas of corporate restructuring, M&A, legal advisory, direct and
portfolio investments, business and strategic planning, financial
advisory and tax planning, public administration and reforms, etc. As
a part of Ameria financial group Ameria CJSC renders independent,
confidential and objective counsel through a uniquely harmonious and
efficient system of five advisory units: Management Advisory Services,
Financial Advisory Services, Assurance and Taxation, Legal Practice
and Investment Banking.

Founded in, 2002 Breckenhill Inc. is a boutique consulting firm
offering a range of investigative and research services, privacy audit,
privacy impact assessment, as well as internal audit, performance
audit and IT security and audit. We offer related strategic and
training products in these areas to an international clientele drawn
from the public and private sectors through a network of equity-based
partners and professional associates in Canada, the United States,
Norway, Asia and Australia.

HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR CONCERT WITH CILICIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Bianca Manoukian

AZG DAILY
19-12-2009

Culture

Dear Friends,

As some of you may remember, 2 years ago we had organized The first
ever Armenian Holiday Concert. Due to its unprecedented success and
much requests from the community, we decided to have another one this
year. Hence, it is with great pleasure that I would like to announce
that Tele-Culture 24 Hour International Television will proudly
present: 2009 Holiday Spectacular Concert With Cilicia Symphony
Orchestra, Conductor: Maestro Mikael Avetisian.

The concert will include holiday favorites from world renowned
composers such as Johaness Strauss, Leroy Anderson, Peter Tchaikovsky,
& Amadeus Mozart. The 50 member strong Cilicia Symphony Orchestra,
will also perform from the great works of legendary composers such
as Aram Khachatourian, Arno Babajanian, Sayat Nova & Komitas. The
program will also include surprise guest appearances of renowned
soloists and musicians.

The concert will be held on Sunday, December 27, 2009, at 6:00 pm
at First Baptist Church of Glendale (209 North Louise St, Glendale,
CA-across from Glendale YMCA – corner of Wilson & Louise)

The concert will be broadcasted worldwide on New Year’s Eve on
various channels.

Furthermore, a portion of the proceeds generated from this concert
will be donated to Glendale Ghapan Sister City Association, which
was established through the joint effort of the Armenian National
Committee of Glendale, the City of Glendale, and the City of Ghapan,to
help cultivate economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between the
two cities. The Glendale-Ghapan Sister City Association aims to foster
goodwill and understanding through cultural, educational, and economic
cooperation between the people of Glendale and Ghapan, concentrating on
the improvement of the schools, healthcare, & community infrastructures
and has helped thousands of children celebrate New Year’s & Easter
with educational gifts, school supplies, backpacks, toys, & etc.

I certainly hope that I can count on your support in helping me spread
the word.The tickets can be obtained from where
I have arranged a special discount for my friends.You may visit our
direct link at 346
and enter the following Promotional Code FRIENDS to received the
corresponding discounts.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Yours Truly,

"ARMAVIA" PLANS OPENING OF NEW FLIGHTS FOR THE COMING YEAR

ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 18, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Armenian national carrier "Armavia"
company is planning for the coming year opening of new flights to
Barcelona, Warsaw as well as to the USA and Canada. Press secretary
of the company Nana Avetisova told Armenpress that in general the
company is planning to implement 250 flights in a month in more than
30 directions. As of today the company has 6 airplanes – two "A-320",
three "A 319" and one "CRJ 200".

In April 2010 it is planned to fill the park with "Superjet 100"
passenger-carrier new airplanes which have 98 places. "Armavia"
was planning to get two new "Superjets" in December this year and
in January of 2010 but connected with the certification issues of
the new airplanes they will be brought to Armenia in April. The new
planes will be acquired for transatlantic flights.

ANELIK MAKES ANTI-CRISIS SURPRISE FOR CLIENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.12.2009 11:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Anelik money transfer system has made an anti-crisis
surprise for its clients, setting the transfer tariff at 0.8%.

"Presently, the tariff is applicable to Armenia only but we hope that
it will function for all CIS countries," Anelik.ru board chairman
Armen Ghazaryan told the Union of Armenians of Russia.

He also informed of the launch of a new service – Anelik Card –
allowing the clients to make transfers via terminals. "It will take
less time to transfer money. We have some 2000 terminals throughout
Moscow," Mr. Ghazaryan said.

Anelik Bank CJSC board deputy chairman Aram Lazarian, for his part,
said that the lowered tariff will boost the amount of money transfers
to Armenia.

"As is customary, the amount of money transfers tends to increase
by the end of the year. We will summarize the results in the first
quarter of 2010," he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

SITUATION STRAINED IN TURKEY’S EASTERN PROVINCE OF MUSH

Panorama.am
16:45 15/12/2009

In Turkey’s eastern province of Mush (Western Armenia) there was a
clash between the Kurdish demonstrators and the Turkish police. The
protesters threw stones at the police officers during the meeting of
the dissolved Kurdish Democratic Society Party and the journalists.

According to the Turkish Cumhurriyet Daily, two people were killed,
another 6 were injured as an unknown opened fire from an adjacent
shop. The situation is strained.

Panorama.am recalls that since December 11 as the Turkish
Constitutional Court resolved to dissolve the Kurdish Democratic
Society Party, a serious wave of protest arose in different provinces
of Turkey. Mass disorders and clashes have paralyzed Turkey’s public
peace.

NEW BOOK FROM "SPIRIT AND WORDS" SERIES PRESENTED IN CANADA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.12.2009 13:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Under the Auspices of His Eminence, Archbishop Khajag
Hagopian, Prelate, the Armenian Prelacy of Canada held a book premiere
for the recently published "The History of the Sourp Hagop Armenian
Apostolic Church" – Montreal, Canada (1958-2008)," written by the Sourp
Hagop Armenian Apostolic Church Pastor, Rev. Fr. Karnig Koyounian.

Dr. Aida Boudjikanian presented the book during the launch, which
was organized by the Pastermadjian Foundation with the participation
of the Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural Association’s Montreal Sanahin
chapter. The evening was held at the Sourp Hagop School Pastermadjian
hall on December 10, 2009.

In turn, Bedros Kaprielian, Vrej Armen Artinian and Archpriest Armen
Ishkhanian, Sourp Hagop Church’s former Pastor, each took the podium
and spoke about their own experiences regarding their first days in
Montreal and how far the community had come since then.

a presentation of a new book from the series "The spirit and the
letter"

The book was written with the blessing of the primate of the Canadian
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Khajag Hakobyan.

Rev. Fr. Koyounian also took the podium and discussed the importance
keeping our growing community alive and flourishing. Archbishop
Hagopian closed the evening with a few words of encouragement.

This is the 7th book published as part of the Prelacy’s "Spirit
and Words" (Pan yev Kir) series, which includes, "I Kordz Arganel"
by Krikor Beldian (2003), "The Holy Bible, Translation and Analysis"
by Archbishop Zareh Aznavourian (2004), "How Shall We Remember?

Reflections on the Armenian Genocide and Church Faith" by Vigen Guroian
(2005), "A Survey of Graduate Theses Armenia/Armenians in the United
States and in Canada 1919-2005" by Garo Chichekian (2007), Dialogue
with the Youth, Dialogue avec les jeunes" by His Holiness Aram I
(2009).