Author: Badalian Vardan

NKR PRESIDENT MEETS AMERICAN ARMENIAN ENTERPRENEURS

13:19, 26 Nov 2014

On 25 November Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met in Los
Angeles with a group of American businessmen of Armenian origin and
discussed issues related to different investment programs in Artsakh.

Vice-premier Arthur Aghabekyan briefed the attendees on Artsakh’s
investment opportunities.

In his speech President Sahakyan underlined the necessity of giving
a new impetus to the implementation of business projects in Artsakh
by the Diaspora and developing mutually beneficial relations adding
that in Artsakh there were very favorable conditions for that.

The President described this cooperation as a reflection of the
Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora solid trinity that is not prone to various
geopolitical developments.

ARMENIAN-CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION LAUNCHED

Toronto Nov. 22, 2014–The Armenian-Canadian Conservative Association
(ACCA) was launched with great enthusiasm and optimism as more than
80 people attended the auspicious occasion here. Attendees included
Minister Jason Kenney, Costas Menegakis the federal Parliamentary
Secretary, five Members of Parliament, two candidates for the
next parliamentary elections, civil society organizations, ethnic
community representatives, and various representatives of local
Armenian community organizations.

After welcoming the guests and ACCA members, master of the
ceremonies and member of the board Diran Tutunjian made a brief
introduction of the Association’s purpose and philosophy. He said:
“The Armenian-Canadian Conservative Association is a pan-Armenian
association established to work with all Canadians to build a stronger
Canada, and to make sure our values and our goals, such as equality,
justice, freedom of speech, thought, and religion are reflected in
our relationships with one another.”

After introducing the newly-elected board, Mr. Tutunjian invited
Vice-chair Sevan Hajinian to introduce keynote speaker the Hon. Jason
Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for
Multiculturalism. “Through his strong faith and moral fortitude not
only did Mr. Kenney shape his future and his political career, but he
also shaped the future of the Conservative Party and touched everyone’s
life he worked with and associated with him. His humanitarianism,
straight talk, and sincerity are other remarkable aspects of the man,”
said Ms. Hajinian.

Hon. Kenney talked about the current concerns of Canadians, next
year’s federal elections, economic prosperity, the steadfast stand
of the government about the challenges Canadians and the civilized
world face vis-a-vis religious extremism, the fate of Middle East
minorities, and his admiration of the Canadian-Armenian community.

Mr. Kenney emphasized that the Canadian-Armenian community and the
Conservative Party share many priorities such as strong family values,
a firm belief in the rule of law, in democracy, free enterprise,
free speech, tolerance, and humanism. Thus cooperation between both
sides to uphold and promote these cherished values and the traditions
is a natural development, said Hon. Kenney. He also praised the
Canadian-Armenian community’s strong work ethic and entrepreneurial
spirit. He touched upon the long history of the Armenian people and
its resilience to survive under harsh conditions.

Hon. Kenney also talked about his recent trip to Armenia, his
impressions of the country and its people, and his visit to Khor Virab
where the founder of the Armenian Church, St. Gregory the Illuminator,
was imprisoned in the 4th century because of his Christian faith.

Finally, Minister Kenney talked about his co-sponsorship of the
Armenian Genocide recognition resolution in the House of Commons in
2004 and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s principled stand and moral
fortitude in making Armenian Genocide recognition Canadian government
policy. Minister Kenney’s speech was received with standing ovation
and lengthy applause.

Mr. Costas Menegakis, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration and Member of Parliament for Richmond
Hill, welcomed the formation of the Association and congratulated
the Canadian-Armenians for their visionary initiative.

Other politicians who attended the establishment of the ACCA included
Members of Parliament Joe Daniel (Don Valley East), John Carmichael
(Don Valley West), the Hon. Peter Kent (Thornhill), Corneliu Chisu
(Scarborough East), Patrick Brown (Barrie), and Conservative candidates
Michael Parsa (Richmond Hill) and Maureen Harquail (Don Valley East).

Also attending the gathering were Councillor Godwin Chan (Richmond
Hill), community leaders Dino Sophocleous (PESKA International and
Cypriot Community), Rev. Majed El Shafie (Founder / President, One
Free World International), Rabea Allos (Chaldean community), George E.

Khouri, Harry Tsai (Canadian Federation of Conservative Organizations),
and Kan Kenga and Roshan Nallaratnam (Tamil Conservative Association).

Earlier in the day, the Association held its inaugural meeting
and elected its board. Tamar Minassian, board executive secretary,
presided over the meeting

Contact: Mrs. Sevan Hajinian, Vice- Chair Tel. (416) 317-8972 e-mail:
[email protected]

ARMENIAN EMBASSY OPENS IN SWEDEN

12:45 25/11/2014 ” POLITICS

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian began an official visit to
Sweden on Monday, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reported.

As part of the visit, he met with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot
Wallstrom.

Mr Nalbandian said that the bilateral relations have intensified over
the past years. He noted that Armenia is interested in expansion
of cooperation with Sweden. The Ministers said that the opening of
embassies will give a new impetus to the bilateral cooperation.

Edward Nalbandian touched upon the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chair countries towards a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mr Nalbandian invited Margot Wallstrom to visit Armenia.

On the same day, the opening ceremony of the Armenian Embassy took
place at the Riddarhuset (House of Nobility). Edward Nalbandian and
Swedish Minister for Strategic Development Kristina Persson delivered
speeches.

Also, as part of the visit, Edward Nalbandian met with representatives
of banking, energy, high-tech, communication, health and food companies
as well as representatives of the Armenian community of Sweden.

Source: Panorama.am

ZERO EXPORT TARIFF FOR RUSSIAN GAS SAVED ARMENIA ABOUT $132-140MLN PER YEAR

YEREVAN, November 25. /ARKA/. Armenia has saved around $132-140 million
from the zero export duty for natural gas Russia set for the country,
Armenia’s first deputy head of the president’s staff Vardan Aramyan
said at the parliament hearing on Armenia’s accession to the EEU.

According to the agreements signed during Russian president Vladimir
Putin’s visit to Armenia in December 2013, export tariffs for Russian
gas were abolished hence reducing the gas price for Armenia to 189
dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.

Aramyan said Russia does not impose export duties on gas and oil
products within the Eurasian Economic Union, including Armenia.

Accession to the EEU has saved Armenia about $132-140 million, Aramyan
concluded. Gasprom Armenia founded in December 1997 deals with Russian
gas supplies, as well as transportation, storage, distribution and
sales of natural gas in the Republic of Armenia. -0–

The Royal Channel
The Prince of Wales visits St Yeghiche Armenian Church

Click on video at:

The Times (London)
November 20 , 2014 Thursday
Charles: Iraqi persecution is heartbreaking
by Valentine Low

The Prince of Wales yesterday described the persecution of Armenian
Christians in the Middle East as a “souldestroying tragedy”. The
prince, who has recently taken up the cause of persecuted religious
minorities, said they were enduring “appalling suffering”.

He was speaking during a visit to the St Yeghiche Armenian Church in
south Kensington, London, where he heard the Archbishop of Iraq warn
that Christians there could be wiped out.

Christians in Iraq have been told by Islamic State (Isis) to convert
to Islam or face death. Tens of thousands have fled, and many
Christian communities in eastern Syria have been wiped out.

The prince said: “It is the most souldestroying tragedy that the
Armenian church is facing such indescribable persecution in the Middle
East in countries where Armenian Christians have long lived peacefully
with their neighbours.”

In a reference to the burning by Islamists this month of the Armenian
church in Deir el Zour, Syria, dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians
slaughtered by the Turks in the 1915 genocide, the prince said: “It is
literally heartbreaking to learn of the attacks on the Christians and
on the churches where they gather.” He said: “Our prayers for those
who have to endure this continuing horror seem to be hopelessly
inadequate under such dreadful circumstances.”

Le Parisien
Vendredi 21 Novembre 2014

Patrick Fiori lance la collecte de fonds en faveur de l’Arménie

par Anne-Laure Abraham

« ALLÔ ? C’est Patrick Fiori. J’appelle pour l’Arménie, et je voudrais
savoir, si cette année, vous allez donner quelque chose pour le fonds
arménien ? Ah ! D’habitude vous donnez 50 EUR et là vous donnez 150
EUR ? Cela me va très bien ! s’exclame le chanteur, en ligne avec
Arax, une habitante d’Alfortville. Je suis avec tous les bénévoles et
on va vous faire un tonnerre d’applaudissements ! »

Patrick Fiori a joué à fond son rôle de parrain du Phonéthon, hier, au
centre d’appel de Cachan. L’artiste, dont le père est d’origine
arménienne et dont le vrai nom est Patrick Chouchayan, est venu lancer
officiellement la grande campagne de collecte d’argent en faveur du
Fonds arménien de France. « L’Arménie fait partie de ma vie. J’y suis
allé il y a quatorze ans avec mon père et j’ai fait environ douze
visites dans ma famille près d’Erevan. Je suis sûr que cette ville a
bénéficié du Fonds. Je suis très touché que l’on m’ait demandé d’être
le parrain cette année. »

Répartis dans différentes pièces, une quarantaine de bénévoles, casque
sur la tête, appellent inlassablement l’une des 50 000 personnes
présentes dans le fichier d’appel. « On voit ce qu’elles ont donné les
années précédentes. On réactualise les numéros, les adresses…
Souvent, les gens attendent notre appel », indique Victoria, une
bénévole. Sur le bureau de la jeune femme, le dernier album de Patrick
Fiori, qu’elle compte bien se faire dédicacer : « Il est beau gosse !
C’est bien cette année, il y a Adriana Karembeu pour les hommes et
Patrick Fiori pour les nanas ! »

La bonne ambiance ne fait pas oublier la raison d’être de cette
collecte, initiée il y a quinze ans : créer du développement pour la
population locale. L’argent récolté a ainsi permis de financer des
canaux d’irrigation, de planter des arbres fruitiers, des semences, de
construire des centres ruraux d’action sociale au Karabagh. L’année
dernière, le Phonéthon a permis de réunir 1,4 MEUR en France et en
Europe. Le public a jusqu’à dimanche pour faire des dons au 0 810 24
24 24.

Armenian dram depreciation promotes exports – Vazgen Safaryan

12:12 * 23.11.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Vazgen Safaryan, Chairman of Union of
Native Commodity Producers NGOs, commented on the depreciation of the
Russian rouble and Armenian dram and mentioned a 7% decline in
Armenia’s exports to Russia.

“As economic analyses show, the ruble collapse affects most their
economy. But it has one positive aspect, namely, boosting Russian
exports and a decline in the country’s imports. The Armenian dram
depreciation is a positive tendency promoting Armenian exports,” Mr
Safaryan said.

The weaker is the Armenian currency the higher are Armenia’s exports
and the stronger is the national currency the higher are Armenia’s
imports. The monetary policy implemented in Armenia for years resulted
in imports exceeding exports three-fold.

The current situation is Russia and the resultant situation in Armenia
should be thought-provoking questions for Armenia to boost its exports
by devaluating its national currency step by step.

“This year, our exports have totaled $1.5bn and imports $4.5bn, with
money transfers evening out the foreign trade imbalance. And the
economic recession in Russia may cause a decline in money transfers to
Armenia, which may create problems in evening out the foreign trade
imbalance,” Mr Safaryan said.

Armenia’s annual exports to Russia reach $350m, and the RUB
deprecation has caused a decline. Therefore, appreciation of the
Russian ruble is to Armenia’s benefit in terms of export.

“Russia is our largest trade partner, its share being 24% in our trade
turnover. So we should export more products, with an emphasis on
industrial products,” Mr Safaryan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Cérémonie
L’inauguration du Khatchkar du Collège Samuel Moorat à Sèvres – Photos

Samedi 22 novembre a été inauguré un Khatchkar dans le jardin du
Collège Samuel Moorat (1) à Sèvres devant plusieurs personnalités et
élus des communes environnantes, dont le député-maire de Chaville M.
Jean-Jacques Guillet, Christine Caron (maire adjoint de Viroflay),
Léon Hovnanian (maire adjoint de Meudon), les conseillers municipaux
Philippe Haroutiounian, Arda Kalayjian, Nathalie Saradjian, Antoine
Bagdikian (ANACRA)…

Pierre Chahine et Jean-Jacques Guillet dévoilent le Khatchkar

Ce Khatchkar, oeuvre d’un sculpteur arménien, érigé en 1997 sur une
commande de Pierre Chahine, se trouvait chez ce dernier en hommage à
son père le peintre-graveur Edgar Chahine (2). Il en a fait don au
collège Samuel Moorat, ainsi que des estampes exposées dont le revenu
des ventes bénéficieront au collège, futur Centre de recherche de
culture et de la civilisation arménienne : exposition-vente d’oeuvres
gravées d’Edgar Chahine et de Tigrane Polat.

Les pères Haroutioun Bezdikian (Dr du collège) et Kourken Dabaghian
(Chaville), ont béni le Khatchkar devant une centaine d’anciens élèves
et des collégiens bénéficiaires de l’enseignement délivré deux fois
par semaine.

Jean Eckian + Photos & vidéo

(1) Président de l’Association du collège : Alain Marceron (mère
arménienne) – Président de l’Association des parents d’élèves : Levon
Papazian

(2)

Edgar Chahine, né à Vienne (1874-1947) a pour père l’un des directeurs
de la banque ottomane à Constantinople. Après deux ans passés à
étudier à Venise auprès des frères Mékhitaristes, il s’installe en
France en 1895. Il se fait remarquer dès l’ge de 23 ans avec des
estampes qui lui vaudront d’être récompensé par plusieurs médailles
d’or ((venise, Expo universelle de Paris). Il illustrera les oeuvres
d’Anatole France, Octave Mirbeau, Colette, Flaubert, les Goncourt et
aussi Verlaine. En tout 450 gravures, 430 illustrations et 300
peintures, pastels et dessins, dont une grande partie a été mis en
vente aux enchères. Edgar Chahine a beaucoup milité avec son ami le
poète Archag Tchobanian, tous deux >, pour
la reconnaissance de l’Arménie, soutenus par des personnalités comme
Anatole France, Jean Jaurès ou Georges Clemenceau.

Charles Baudelaire

Illustration livre de Colette

dimanche 23 novembre 2014,
Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

ARMENIE
Arménie : le taux de suicide en hausse

Des dépliants placés sur le pont de Kiev haut de 62 mètres dans la
capitale arménienne Erevan proposent un message simple : >. Ils sont aussi un signe que l’Arménie est aux
prises avec une r̩alit̩ inconfortable Рune augmentation drastique du
taux de suicide.

Les chiffres dressent un tableau alarmant : Entre 2003 et 2013, le
nombre annuel de suicides et de tentatives de suicide dans ce pays du
Sud-Caucase en pleine difficulté économique enregistrés par le Service
national des statistiques, a grimpé de 377 à 768 cas – une
augmentation de plus de 100 pour cent . La plupart des cas impliquent
un saut à partir d’un pont, le Pont de Kiev en particulier à Erevan ou
d’autres ponts suspendus. Jusqu’à présent, aucune étude approfondie
sur la tendance a été menée.

En l’absence de données précises, certains observateurs relient le pic
de suicides à des conditions économiques difficiles en Arménie, dont
près d’un tiers de la population officielle de l’Arménie de 2,9
millions de personnes est censé vivre dans la pauvreté . D’autres
soulignent les facteurs sociétaux, tels que la violence domestique
répandue .

D’autres encore accusent les médias, affirmant que la façon dont le
suicide est actuellement représenté à la télévision est indirectement
un encouragement pour que les gens s’en prennent à leur propre vie.

Jusqu’à il y a quelques années, les médias arméniens ont maintenu une
réticence de style soviétique sur la question du suicide. Ce qui a
maintenant a changé est que plusieurs séries télévisées ont présenté
des personnages qui choisissent le suicide comme une solution à leurs
problèmes. Pendant ce temps, les bulletins de nouvelles épargnent peu
de détails, diffusant parfois des images de membres de la famille qui
pleurent la perte d’un être cher, ou montrant des images des cadavres.

> a déclaré le psychologue
sociale de l’Université d’Etat d’Erevan Vladimir Mikaelian. >.

Vladimir Mikaelian a appelé à la mise en place de lignes directrices
dans la presse pour la couverture des suicides. > a-t-il dit.

Le Cinéaste Archak Zakarian estime également qu’il existe > entre sensationnalisme des médias et hausse des suicides. a déclaré Karine Kuyumjian, responsable du
Département du recensement et de la démographie au Service national de
la statistique. >.

Aucune agence gouvernementale ni les organisations non
gouvernementales n’a mis au point un programme pour résoudre le
problème de la hausse du taux de suicide. Une unité spéciale d’enquête
du ministère de l’Intérieur qui gère les suicides a refusé de discuter
de son travail avec EurasiaNet.org.

Note de la rédaction :

Marianna Grigoryan est une journaliste indépendante basée à Erevan et
rédacteur en chef de MediaLab.am.

EurasiaNet.org

dimanche 23 novembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Interfax, Russia
Nov 21 2014

Armenia cuts diamond imports from Russia in 2014 on declining demand
for finished diamonds

YEREVAN. Nov 21

Armenia diamond-cutting enterprises have sharply reduced imports of
uncut diamonds from Russia owing to the poor market for finished
diamonds, the head of the industrial policy department of Armenia’s
Economy Ministry Armen Yeganyan told Interfax. The decline comes
despite cancellation of export duties in the middle of the year.

Armenian enterprises purchased 96,000 carats of diamonds from Russian
Alrosa (MOEX: ALRS) in 2013. They purchased just 38,000 through the
first 10 months of 2014 and are unlikely to make up the shortfall
compared with 2013 by year-end, Yeganyan said.

Russia cancelled the 6.5% export duty on diamonds shipped to Armenia
effective from July 1. In fact, most of the purchases were made in the
last few months, he said.

This year the imports are cut in Armenia, unlike last year, when
almost all of the uncut diamonds were re-exported to third countries.
Since June, re-export of the Russian imports has been prohibited.

Yeganyan predicted that imports would pick up in 2015, but declined to
specify a figure.

Armenia imported a total of 107,000 carats of diamonds in 10M 2014 and
175,000 carats in full-year 2013. It imports diamonds from Russia,
Namibia, Guinea, Canada, Belgium, Sweden and other countries.

Jh of