Author: Badalian Vardan

ERASMUS+ WILL BOOST EU’S EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Europa, EU
Sept 13 2013

European Commission, Androulla VASSILIOU

Member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Culture,
Multilingualism and Youth

Education Ministerial Session of the Informal Eastern Partnership
Dialogue /Yerevan, Armenia

13 September 2013

Minister Ashotyan,

Dear Ministers,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very grateful for this opportunity to open the first ministerial
meeting on education under the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue.

I would like to thank Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science and
his colleagues for organising today’s event. It is a great pleasure
to be here, and I am sure we can learn a great deal from each other.

Education, and in particular higher education, has a growing
international dimension. The type of dialogue we are having today
has become a necessity, since we all share common challenges in a
rapidly changing world.

The countries of the Eastern Partnership are at the centre of our
efforts to support democratic and growth-oriented reforms. Your
countries are also the European Union’s privileged partners for
international academic cooperation.

The EU has already shown its commitment to our partnership with you
by greatly increasing the funding of our main cooperation programmes,
Tempus and Erasmus Mundus, for the period 2011-2013. In recent years,
hundreds of institutions and thousands of students and staff in
the region have benefited from these programmes. They have been
instrumental in the reform and modernisation of higher education
systems and institutions in your region.

We have also initiated our policy dialogue with your ministries
under Platform 4 of the Eastern Partnership, a platform dedicated to
“contacts between people”.

But the EU is determined to do more – and we will. Next year, we
launch our new programme for education, training and youth, Erasmus+.

Erasmus+ will replace the Tempus and Erasmus Mundus programmes, and
deliver something bigger and better. We want to build on the good
work so far, increase the mobility of students and staff between
our regions, and give greater support to the modernisation of higher
education institutions and systems.

Erasmus+ will create more opportunities for our institutions to
work together and develop closer contacts between people. We will,
for example, for the first time open the intra-EU Erasmus programme
and offer exactly the same cooperation mechanisms to universities in
your region.

Our meeting today is a unique opportunity to discuss our joint
achievements and the way forward. Education is vital for the prosperity
and stability of our societies, because without well-performing
education systems, there can be neither growth nor development. In
all parts of Europe, the economic crisis has underscored the need
for people to develop a broader range of skills, and it is up to our
schools and universities to meet this challenge.

Labour-market needs in your region have evolved a lot over the past
20 years. Tempus has helped higher education to adapt curricula to
the major transitions in your societies and economies. Since 2008,
more than half of all Tempus projects in the region have focused on
curriculum reform. Through Tempus, many new fields of study have been
introduced or developed.

We want to bring the worlds of education and work closer together,
to ensure that our graduates can acquire skills that are valued in
the labour market. These goals are all part of the EU modernisation
strategy which complements the Bologna Process.

We have invested heavily in learning mobility, and will invest even
more in the years ahead. The evidence indicates that mobility brings
substantial benefits for students and young people, as well as for
higher education institutions and systems.

Mobility helps people to develop some of the skills that are crucial to
meeting the challenges of the global knowledge-based economy. Here,
we are talking not only about better communication, cultural and
language skills but also about a sense of initiative, confidence,
entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to adapt.

Within the European Union itself, learning mobility strengthens
our identity as Europeans and has a positive impact, not only on
individuals but also on our institutions and the quality of the
education they offer.

Students, if they can, want to travel in pursuit of learning; and
institutions and governments agree that they should be encouraged to
do so. Within the Bologna Process, Ministers have agreed that by 2020,
at least 20% of graduates in the European Higher Education Area should
have enjoyed a study or training period abroad.

I firmly believe that academic cooperation and mobility not only
improve quality in higher education. They also open avenues for mutual
understanding that run deep through our cultures, and are among the
best forms of people-to-people contacts. Therefore, cooperation and
mobility must remain at the heart of the neighbourhood policy that
we are celebrating today.

[Presentation of the new Erasmus+ programme and Marie Sklodowska
Curie Actions]

Allow me now to introduce the final part of our discussion by
presenting very briefly our new programmes: Erasmus+ and the Marie
Sklodowska Curie Actions.

Erasmus+, the new programme for education and training, youth and
sport, will merge seven existing programmes into one.

It will bring about simplification, making the programme’s actions more
visible and easier to understand. This will also bring more efficiency
and more coherence between the different actions within the EU and
in our increasingly important work with the other regions of the world.

Erasmus+ will build on the success of Tempus and Erasmus Mundus, and
continue the EU’s support to Eastern Partnership countries provided
before 2013. We want in particular to boost mobility between our
regions, and support partnerships between higher education institutions
which will help to strengthen their capacity.

Erasmus+ will have a strong international component, aiming to attract
the brightest global talent to Europe. It will provide funding for
more outgoing mobility, international partnerships and joint research
projects, as well as for capacity building and staff development in
partner countries throughout the world.

Let me briefly summarise the major innovations of the new programme.

First and foremost, we will support short-term credit mobility. In
other words, we are opening the internal Erasmus programme to
students and universities all over the world. I believe this signals
an exciting new chapter in the story of Erasmus. And it is good news
for the thousands of young people in your region and beyond who will
find it much easier to study for a term or a year in another country.

More higher education institutions will be able to take part in the
programme, since participation will not be restricted to a small
number of organisations participating in a call for tender.

Institutions will enjoy more flexibility when it comes to finding
partners, provided they have signed an inter-institutional agreement.

These changes will have a positive impact on institutions and your
universities in particular. They will boost the number of agreements
between EU and Eastern Partnership institutions, and help them to
internationalise.

Second, Erasmus+ will mean that neighbouring countries continue
to benefit from degree mobility through the award of high-level
scholarships to participate in joint Master programmes. In other
words, we continue Erasmus Mundus Action 1, supporting Joint Masters
and related scholarships under the mobility strand.

We will ensure complementarity with the Marie Curie Actions, which
will continue in Horizon 2020 under the name Marie SkÅ~Bodowska Curie.

These actions will support research activities and especially joint
doctorates. We will retain the strong international dimension, and the
programme will continue to serve as a tool for European universities,
helping them to cement their partnerships with their peers around
the world.

Under the Marie SkÅ~Bodowska-Curie Actions, we will fund joint,
double and multiple doctorates. In addition, European Industrial
Doctorates will encourage academic collaboration with the private
sector to combine learning in innovation and entrepreneurial spirit
with high-level academic research.

The third major change is that Erasmus+ will support capacity-building
through multilateral partnerships between higher education institutions
from the EU and Neighbouring countries.

Here we are building on the success of Tempus. We will strengthen
cooperation with neighbouring countries by integrating a strong
mobility component in those partnerships. We want to ensure that
mobility has an impact not only on the individuals involved but also
on the capacities of Eastern Partnership institutions.

I would like to assure you that the National Tempus Officers, who
are highly valued and have been instrumental in the success of Tempus
in your countries, will become national contact persons and continue
their current role.

As you can see, Erasmus+ will offer many new and promising features
for your countries. But its success will depend on you and your higher
education institutions: together you need to take a leading role.

Therefore, I urge you, Ministers, to ensure that your ministries and
universities seize these new opportunities.

On 24th and 25th October in Kaunas, Lithuania, we are organising an
information day to help your higher education institutions to better
understand the workings of the new programme. Please encourage your
institutions to take part.

To conclude: the EU’s negotiations on the budget for the international
component of Erasmus+ have not yet finished. But I am confident that
my proposals to further invest in education and research and boost
support to our neighbouring countries will prevail. My message has
been clear from the very beginning: investment in education is an
investment in our future prosperity.

Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTRY MAY REVIEW APPEALS FROM “BLACKLISTED” PERSONS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry may consider incoming appeals of some
people who were previously “blacklisted” over illegal visits to the
Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan requesting to cancel
the decision, Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said on
September 13.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan
occupied by Armenia are deemed illegal and individuals paying such
visits are included in the “black list” of the Foreign Ministry.

As a rule, the appeals asking to cancel this decision indicate that
these persons were taken to the occupied territories by deception.

Recently, the Foreign Ministry expressed concern over a visit by
Danish parliament members and journalists to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, Abdullayev said persons who visit the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan without having agreed upon this with relevant authorities
of the country will be considered persona non grata in the country.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats
over visits to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia,
saying this contradicts international law. The Foreign Ministry
has stated that such visits, paid without prior notification of the
relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are illegal and damaging to the
settlement process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry released a list of those declared persona
non grata over illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied territories,
which included 335 people.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions. The UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian
withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

AZERBAIJAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY: “THE DEVELOPMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH IS POSSIBLE ONLY WITHIN THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN”

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 13:25 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. “The development of Nagorno Karabakh
is possible only within the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Our citizens of Armenian origin living in this region are well aware of
this,” said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
while commenting on the reports of Armenian media outlets that “the
international organizations intend to invest in Nagorno Karabakh,”
APA reports.

According to him, the companies, which invested in Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories, have been established by Armenian Diaspora and
lobby: “This investment is small.”

SOME PERSONS BLACKLISTED AFTER PAYING ILLEGAL VISITS TO OCCUPIED TERRITORIES APPEAL TO AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY AND PRESIDENT

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 13:12 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. Some persons declared personae
non gratae for paying illegal visits to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan have appealed to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and
President, Spokesman for the Ministry Elman Abdullayev said at the
briefing, APA.

“The applicants expressed their concern over being included in the
“black list” and asked to reconsider the issue. As we have stated,
it is not a final list and can be edited in some cases. Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is ready to consider such appeals,” said Abdullayev.

He noted that some foreign citizens visit the occupied territories
having been misguided: “Armenian lobby misguide these people, they
want to create an image by organizing their visits to the occupied
territories.”

The Spokesman expressed his hope that those removed from the “black
list” will never pay an illegal visit to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan: “It is disrespect to the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and violation of the law on the state border. It should be
noted that more serious measures can be taken, as well as Interpol
and court can be appealed to declare them wanted for the violation
of the law on the state border.”

Abdullayev mentioned that the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan
should be appealed before a visit is paid to any part of the country.

LETTER OF PROTEST SENT TO DANISH PARLIAMENT REGARDING DANISH MPS’ VISIT TO NAGORNO KARABAKH

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 12:39 ]

Baku – APA. Azerbaijani “Vatan” society in Denmark has sent a letter
of protest to Speaker of the Danish Parliament Mogens Lykketoft,
Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Mette Gjerskov and
Danish MPs.

The society told APA that the letter was written as a protest against
the visit of Danish MPs and journalists to Nagorno Karabakh and other
occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the meetings held there.

The letter says: “I am writing to you on behalf of the members of
the Azerbaijani community in Denmark to draw your attention to and
express our deepest concern with the news coverage on Armenian mass
media which allegedly refers to the recent visit of two members of
the Danish Parliament to the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Since 1992 the Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of the
Republic of Azerbaijan have been illegally occupied by the Armenian
military forces, in direct contravention of four UN Security Council
Resolutions – numbers 822, 853, 874 and 884. However, the Nagorno
Karabakh region has been, and remains legally and internationally
recognized, including by the UN and the Danish Government, as the
integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Therefore by visiting these territories everyone is in danger of
bestowing a measure of legitimacy on an illegal military occupation,
in direct conflict to the position of the Danish Government which
recognizes the Nagorno Karabakh as the sovereign Azerbaijani territory.

We will highly appreciate your understanding of the sensitivity of
the subject matter and we would like to express our hope that the
members of the Danish Parliament will take the above-mentioned in
due consideration and will avoid this kind of visits to the Nagorno
Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.”

HRANT DINK MURDER CASE HAS REGRESSED, LAWYER SAYS AHEAD OF RETRIAL

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 13 2013

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

The case on Hrant Dink’s murder has not advanced but regressed, one
of the lawyers representing the Turkish-Armenian journalist said,
as the retrial is set to start next week.

“We are currently much further behind of the starting point of the
trial,” Fethiye Cetin told reporters during a press conference on
Sept. 13, arguing that in the initial trial the indictment already
defined the organization as “terrorist” while in the retrial, this
aspect of the case would be reviewed.

Cetin, who published this month a book about the unknown facts
of the case (“Utanc Duyuyorum: Hrant Dink Cinayetinin Yargýsý,”
“I Feel Ashamed: The Judgment of the Hrant Dink Murder”) explained
that the Supreme Court had defined the motive of the organization as
“political” rather than “terrorist” in its verdict that led to the
retrial of the case.

The Supreme Court of Appeals had overturned the acquittals of top
suspects, including Yasin Hayal, who was charged with being the
instigator of the assassination and the “leader of a terrorist
organization.” Hayal and other suspects such as Erhan Tuncel and
Ersin Yolcu will also be retried.

“According to the Supreme Court, this organization was established
in 2004 by Yasin Hayal. It comprises Erhan Tuncel, Ersin Yolcu,
Ahmet Ýskender and Ogun Samast, whom they use as the triggerman of
the murder. […] However it is defined as only established with a
political motive, to punish Hrant Dink,” Cetin said. For a murder to
be considered a “terrorist act,” it would have to be committed with
a clear aim against the state of the public order, according to the
Turkish Penal Code.

“The Supreme Court has made a mistake in its definition of the
nature and the aim of the organization,” Cetin said, adding that
it could take the court many years of trial to rule on the “terror
organization” aspect.

Dink, the renowned editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot in front of his
office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.

Following the convictions of Samast and Hayal for the murder, a high
criminal court had dismissed charges related to “armed terrorist
organization.” Later, the Supreme Court verdict defined the acts of
all suspects in the case under “an organization formed to commit crime”
according to the Turkish Penal Code’s Article 220.

Cetin argues in her book that the killing order was given by the
Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MÝT) via an encrypted
message.

September/13/2013

DREXEL COLLABORATES WITH USC SHOAH FOUNDATION TO ACCESS VISUAL HISTORY ARCHIVE OF HOLOCAUST AND OTHER GENOCIDES

States News Service
September 12, 2013 Thursday

PHILADELPHIA, PA

The following information was released by Drexel University:

Drexel University is now the second collegiate site in Pennsylvania
with access to the USC Shoah Foundation’s entire Visual History
Archive of nearly 52,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses to
the Holocaust and other genocides.

The announcement was made by Executive Director Stephen D. Smith and
the Board of Councilors of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for
Visual History and Education in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary
Benefit Screening of Steven Spielbergs epic film Schindlers List,
commemorating both the films release and the establishment of the
USC Shoah Foundation. The event was held Thursday, Sept. 12 at
the newly-reopened Prince Music Theater and featured special guest
Liam Neeson, who starred as German industrialist Oskar Schindler in
the film.

We are delighted to welcome Drexel University as the 45th site
worldwide to have full access to the Visual History Archive, said
Smith. The testimonies will support scholarship and research for
Drexel students and faculty across their wide range of academic
disciplines. The USC Shoah Foundation is looking forward to Drexels
contributions to our shared mission of educating the next generation

Stephen A. Cozen, longstanding member of the USC Shoah Foundations
Board of Councilors and Founder and chairman of noted international
law firm Cozen OConnor, who, with Smith made the announcement at
the event, said, As one of the finest academic institutions in the
country, Drexel brings honor to the group of archive sites across
the globe. On behalf of the USC Shoah Foundation we look forward to
a successful collaborative relationship that will help us continue to
grow and increase our impact on future generations through education
and such educational initiatives as IWitness.

Established in 1994 by Steven Spielberg to collect and preserve
the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust,
the USC Shoah Foundation’s Institute for Visual History and Education
maintains one of the largest video digital libraries in the world with
nearly 52,000 video testimonies in 33 languages and from 57 countries,
and is now expanding its collection to include testimonies from the
1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide, and fundraising to add collections from
the Armenian and Cambodian genocides.

I am delighted that the USC Shoah Foundation has chosen Drexel to
share the Visual History Archive, and excited that our mission
of advancing knowledge and society will include connecting our
community and all of Greater Philadelphia to this unique resource,
said Drexel President John A. Fry. Eyewitness testimonies like these,
and the scholarship they inspire, can be powerful tools in the quest
to overcome intolerance.

The Shoah Foundation has a long history in Philadelphia where its
regional office was based and helped coordinate the training of local
residents as interviewers and videographers. More than 600 testimonies
were taken in Pennsylvania. Additionally, more than 900 teachers
across Pennsylvania and over 12,000 nationally have been trained
on Echoes and Reflections, a multimedia curriculum developed by the
Institute and partners the Anti-Defamation League and Yad Vashem.

JUSTICE ACADEMY TO BE OPENED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, September 13. /ARKA/. The Armenian government approved
today establishment of Justice Academy governmental noncommercial
organization.

In May 2013, the National Assembly passed a bill implying the
establishment of the academy as part of the 2012-2016 judicial system
reformation.

Earlier, Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan said that mechanisms for
providing judicial and prosecutor institutions with specialists
differ from those for other state servants. It is not enough to have
universities diplomas to work here.

The minister said that in 2007, a new judicial code, which implied
establishment of judicial and prosecutor schools, but the two
institutions worked independently of each other, and this created
some problems.

Tovmasyan stressed that the merger of the two schools will make
it possible to manage resources in optimal ways, improve education
methodology and teach the two schools’ attendees by a single program
to leave no room for divergent interpretations of legal norms by the
prosecutor offices and judicial institutions. —0— – See more at:

S. FULE: ARMENIA WON’T BE ABLE TO INITIAL ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT

Friday,
September
13

Armenia will continue close cooperation with the European Union –
to such an extent that it will not contradict the decision to join
the Customs Union, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told a
press conference held in Yerevan today following an informal meeting
of Eastern Partnership Program’s foreign ministers.

“I welcome our cooperation with the Eastern Partnership framework. It
helped upgrade many spheres in our countries. We are grateful for
successful cooperation and expect that it will continue,” Nalbandian
stated.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan
Fule who also participated in the press conference said he is glad to
visit Armenia again within a short time and at such a crucial moment.

According to Fule, he came to Armenia to understand what format further
cooperation with Armenian partners may take and what directions the
partners are interested in.

Asked by reporters to clarify whether Armenia may enter the Customs
Union and at the same time sign the Association Agreement with the
EU – without the agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade
area (DCFTA), Fule replied that this is impossible: Armenia will no
longer be able to initial that agreement, even though it has worked
on it for 3.5 years. In the Commissioner’s words, he came to Armenia
to understand what expectations the Armenian partners place on the
Vilnius summit.

Fule noted that Association Agreement and DCFTA is one treaty. You
cannot separate one from another, he added. “I hope we together with
Armenia will be able to work on another document,” Fule noted.

A reporter asked E. Nalbandian why Armenia chose the Customs Union,
while in case of initialing the Association Agreement with the EU,
considerable investments would be made in Armenia.

“Armenia has serious allied relations with Russia, which was evident
during the September 3 meeting of two presidents in Moscow when deep
and close ties were discussed. I want to state again that Armenia
is ready co continue close cooperation with the EU, but not to the
detriment of its relations with Russia,” Edward Nalbandian said.

TODAY, 18:21

Aysor.am

EU COMMISSIONER SKEPTICAL ABOUT MANAGING NEW DOCUMENT WITH ARMENIA BY VILNIUS SUMMIT

September 13, 2013 | 16:05

YEREVAN. – EU Commissioner said he is skeptical that a serious legal
document will be managed with Armenia by the time of the Vilnius
summit.

Å tefan Fule noted that Association Agreement and DCFTA is one treaty.

You cannot separate one from another, he added.

“I came to listen to Armenian colleagues. They wish to offer a
new legal framework that will enable to move us beyond the existing
framework of cooperation agreements. We would be very happy to engage
in that process. I am skeptical about the serious legal document,”
the EU official said, adding that he is hopeful there will be concrete
formats.

Armenia is still in the discussions and negotiations, he added.