Author: Badalian Vardan

MIRROR DOUBTS ABOUT HENRIKH MKHITARYAN’S LIVERPOOL TRANSFER

12:18, 21 June, 2013

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: The British periodicals doubt about the
move of the midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk and the Armenian National
Football team Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Liverpool.

As reported by Armenpress, Mirror publishes: “Liverpool’s bigmoney bid
to land rising star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been derailed by troubling
questions over his ownership. The Armenia international was preparing
to fly to Merseyside for a medical.

But official sources within the Anfield giants moved swiftly to dismiss
the suggestion, and privately pointed towards growing issues raised
during the negotiation process.

Liverpool thought they had secured an agreement with the attacking
midfielder’s club Shakhtar Donetsk, for around £23million, but it
transpires the Ukrainians only hold a portion of his rights.

Shakhtar share ownership with a business group that invested in the
player – a situation common at clubs in Eastern Europe and South
America.

Striking a deal with at least three different parties has proved
elusive for Kop manager Brendan Rodgers and his staff, despite their
desire to bring one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe to
the club as part of their summer reshuffle.

Mkhitaryan was preparing to fly to England for a medical earlier
in the week, but those plans were put on hold by the confusion over
negotiations.

A spokesman said: “There are no plans for a medical for the player.”

Liverpool will conduct a medical on Friday though – that of young
Spanish star Luis Alberto, who will complete a move from Seville for
an initial fee of around £5m.

The midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk and the Armenian National Football
team is currently in Vienna. This was published by the Editor of the
Russian Sport-express Arthur Poghosyan in his twitter page, adding:
“Henrikh Mkhitaryan has never thought of money. He has always wanted
to play in high level clubs. Mkhitaryan is now in Vienna with his
mother and sister”.

The Executive Director of Shakhtar Donetsk Sergey Palkin wrote in
one of the social networks that Mkhitaryan will join the Pitmen on
June 23. “Henrikh must join the Club”.

Earlier Armenpress reported that the midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk
and the Armenian National Football team Henrikh Mkhitaryan during
the coming days will pass medical examination in the English
Liverpool. “Henrikh Mkhitaryan will urgently leave for England.

Liverpool will officially announce about the contract with Mkhitaryan
by the end of the week. The transfer sum for the best Ukrainian
attacker will make about 30 million EURO”, – published ITAR-TASS.

The midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk and the Armenian National Football
team is a Ukraine national football league record holder.

Mkhitaryan produced 25 goals for Shakhtar in the Ukrainian Premier
League last season. In Shakhtar Donetsk the midfielder of the Armenian
National Football team Henrikh Mkhitaryan has become the Ukraine’s
Champion and National Cup Holder.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION MP SEES NO REAL CONTROVERSIES BETWEEN CONTROL CHAMBER, PM

10:41 ~U 21.06.13

The conflicting statements made recently by the Control Chamber and
the prime minister result very probably from internal disagreements,
a senior Armenian oppositionist has said, ruling out the possibility
of essential controversies.

Speaking to Tert.am, the deputy leader of the opposition Heritage
party, Armen Martirosyan, noted that the recent counter-debate proved
the reasonability of the opposition’s earlier proposal for having
authorities in the Chamber.

“We would have several solutions in case of a content-based debate,”
he said, considering a snap presidential election, a new government
formation and the creation of an anti-corruption body the possible
proposals that could have stemmed from a serious debate.

“The opposition could, in the meantime, appoint its delegated members
in that body,” Martirosyan added.

Speaking at the Controls Chamber on Thursday, Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan addressed the Chamber’s 2012 report which had spurred
heated debates at the National Assembly. The Chamber’s President
Ishkhan Zakaryan, who introduced the report, refrained form political
statements in his speech, noting that their competences are limited
only to expert opinions.

The prime minister said later at the cabinet meeting that the
ministers’ reports have nothing to do with the materials submitted
by the cabinet members.

Martirosyan said that the society would see essential changes (instead
of disputes between officials) had their proposals been approved. He
cited the Czech prime minister’s recent resignation as a good example
of that.

Asked whether he thinks that the opposition will be honest in
case of being represented in the Chamber, Martirosyan answered in
the negative. “Who said that I insist the opposition members are
absolutely honest?”

The politician noted, however, that the opposition would have managed
to ensure a counterbalance mechanism at least. According to him,
a left-wing political force having a representative in the Chamber
would be responsible enough to follow its representative’s work and
recall him any time it finds his or her work not satisfactory.

“The opposition has to have a chance to implement reforms; it takes
on a political responsibility for the given person [its representative
in the Chamber],” he said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

LA GRACE DONNE SON AVAL A LA CESSION DE DESFA A L’AZERBAIDJANAIS SOCAR

BAKOU, 21 juin 2013 (AFP) – La Grèce a donne son accord de principe
a la cession de 66% de la societe Desfa, filiale de distribution
du groupe gazier public Depa, a l’entreprise energetique publique
azerbaïdjanaise Socar, a indique vendredi cette dernière.

La societe azerbaïdjanaise, qui ne devoile pas dans son communique le
montant prevu de cette transaction, indique etre en train de finaliser
les details techniques de l’operation.

“Socar a une grande experience des systèmes de gazoducs dans la region
Caspienne et a hâte de commencer a travailler en Grèce, son premier
projet de ce type en Union europeenne”, a declare le president du
groupe Rovnag Abdoullaïev, cite dans le communique.

Frappee par la crise, la Grèce a lance en debut d’annee un vaste
programme de privatisations, dans lequel figurent son groupe gazier
Depa et sa filiale de distribution, Desfa. La semaine dernière,
le geant russe du gaz Gazprom qui convoitait pour sa part Depa a
annonce se retirer de l’appel d’offres, evoquant des craintes quant
a sa viabilite.

Selon des informations de source grecque, l’Union Europeenne aurait
emis des reserves a propos de la reprise de Depa par Gazprom qui est
un des principaux fournisseurs de gaz a la Grèce.

vendredi 21 juin 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

TURKEY MUST RECOGNIZE FACTS AND APOLOGIZE FOR GENOCIDE – FORMER UKRAINIAN MP

June 21, 2013 | 16:36

Former Ukrainian MP, political analyst Viktor Ukolov expressed support
for the Armenian Genocide bill. Talking to Analitika.at.ua, Ukolov
expressed regret that the bill had not been adopted so far.

“Ukraine must display consistent and clear views, whether they like
it or not. If Turkey does not like it, let it be. They should better
stop long-standing ‘war’, recognize the facts and apologize for the
genocide. They must take the lead of Europe which they are striving
to join,” he said.

A bill, with respect to recognizing the mass annihilation of the
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, was registered in the Verkhovna Rada
(Supreme Council; i.e., the Parliament) of Ukraine on June 6

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

RECONSTRUCTION OF YEREVAN SQUARE ATTEMPT TO LAUNDER MONEY

03:01 PM | TODAY | SOCIAL

The tender announced for the reconstruction and modernization of
Yerevan’s Republic Square is another attempt to launder money, members
of the Barev Yerevan Alliance, Styopa Safaryan and Davit Sanasaryan,
said during the discussion on the open architectural competition
announced by the Yerevan Municipality.

“I feel that certain people are attempting to launder money or enter
history together with architect Alexander Tamanyan. It is absurd to
spend 4,5 mln drams on a tender when our capital is facing numerous
problems,” said Styopa Safaryan, a member of the Yerevan Council of
Elders who is against the reconstruction project.

In his turn, Davit Sanasaryan said if the Municipality really cared
for the square, there would not be gaudy and tasteless buildings in
its neighbourhood.

“The square is a historic monument and should not be changed in any
way,” he said.

DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF DILIJAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ARMENIA

The news of the opening of Dilijan International School has evoked
a wide response in Armenia. The idea of establishing a school that
will meet world standards and thus become a benchmark for all other
schools in Armenia could not leave indifferent anyone who is familiar
with the current state of secondary education in Armenia. Indeed, the
offer of ensuring high academic standards, stimulating intellectual
curiosity, and cultivating independence made by Dilijan International
School should be adopted by the whole educational system in Armenia.

One of the ways to achieve this noble goal could be an introduction
of an educational program that combines adherence to high academic
standards with the ability to be adopted and translated in any
language. An example of program that has this indisputable advantage
is the International Baccalaureate (IB) program ().

Besides IB schools using English, French or Spanish as a language
of instruction there are many others schools that has implemented
IB program in the language of their respective country, such as the
Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School in Japan and
the Tianjin Experimental High School in China.

However, one of the provisions of the Dilijan International School’s
current concept causes grave concern, namely that the language
of instruction to be in English. Under the laws “On Language” and
“On Education” Armenian is the language of instruction in secondary
schools throughout Armenia, except for minorities, foreigners and
refugees. therefore, this proposal in its current form contradicts
the law. The attempt to resolve this unlawfulness lies at the heart
of recent amendments to the above-mentioned laws introduced by the
Government to the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia.

The amendments have caused deep discontent in Armenia that has
manifested itself in numerous statements made by scientific,
civil, social and political organizations, as well as in articles,
conferences, and demonstrations. The reason is that the legislative
enforcement of Armenian language as the language of instruction
is not accidental. Moreover, it is not unique, similar language
policies exist in Greece and other countries. The reason behind
this restriction is that mother tongue is the foundation of national
identity and worldview. On the other hand, language is a comprehensive
sign system, allowing the exchange of information in all spheres
of human activity. This means that for the full development of the
language it should be applied to serve the culture of its respective
nation. Meanwhile, a school with other than Armenian instruction
language will produce students with limited Armenian skills.

A gradual but an irreversible process will begin in which parents
in search of better education for their children will choose a
foreign language school. Pupils receiving the superior education
will be accepted in the best universities, therefore will occupy
leading positions in the private and government sectors, forming an
elite group with limited Armenian skills. That is what happened in
Soviet Armenia, where Armenian in schools with Russian language of
instruction was taught as a foreign language. Number of students in
such schools had been growing rapidly: in 1937 there was only one
such school established in Yerevan, whereas in 1980’s 25 percent of
the pupils in Yerevan attended Russian language only schools.

The masses will follow the example of the elite group mentioned above.

This endeavor will lower the standard of Armenian knowledge
competency and its prestige in the entire population affecting all
areas of communication and daily activities. The consequence of such
a policy will call into questions the very necessity and ultimately,
the existence of Armenian language and its people. This worry is not
unfounded, but describes the outcome of numerous language shifts such
as those that happened to Scottish and Irish languages replaced by
English language. Recently, another language shift has been taking
place in Lebanon where Arabic has been loosing ground to English
and French.

Moreover, if we consider the problem from the standpoint of providing
equal access to quality education, then the need to support education
in multiple languages will lead to fragmentation of already limited
resources, waste of funds, inconsistencies and useless multiple
repetition of efforts by the Ministry of Education. It is no accident,
that the highest level of secondary education achievement in Finland
(consistently Finland takes the first and the second place in the
world) is that all students in Finland master all subjects in their
native tongue.

Therefore, the emphasis should be made on improving the educational
system, including foreign language teaching, rather than to substitute
such reforms at the expense of national language instruction. It is
important to clearly delineate the difference between the concepts of
learning a foreign language and foreign language based learning. The
example of Finland, the Netherlands and other countries shows that
it is quite possible to achieve widespread advanced foreign languages
skills in native language instruction schools.

However, the very concept of an elite boarding school could be
very productive and will certainly contribute to the improvement
of secondary education in Armenia, if the educational program will
be adapted to use Armenian as the language of instruction. In this
case Dilijan International School will become a model of the Armenian
school and will attract Armenian children from around the world.

Armenian children coming from different countries of the Diaspora
not only would be able to raise language proficiency, but as
representatives of different linguistic cultures enrich each other,
thus creating a unique Armenian educational system phenomenon.

Most sincerely,

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT PARTICIPATES IN EPP SUMMIT IN VIENNA

17:42 ~U 20.06.13

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has gone on a working visit to Vienna
to participate in the summit of the European People’s Party (EPP).

The summit is discussing a wide range of issues of political and
economic developments in the European Union (EU) and international
problems.

Economic growth, creation of jobs, economic competition, development
of the EU economic and monetary union and other issues are on the
summit agenda.

The participants will exchange views on structural reforms at the
national level, as well as on the issues related to the EU Eastern
Partnership project.

Armenian News – Tert.am

NAGORNO-KARABAKH FM GIVES INTERVIEW TO FRANCE-24 TV CHANNEL (VIDEO)

20:41 ~U 14.06.13

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen
Mirzoyan, who was on a visit to France from 10 to 12 June, gave an
interview to France-24 TV channel.

The NKR Foreign Minister answered a range of issues related to the
history of the Karabakh conflict, its current stage and prospects of
settlement, humanitarian issues, the economic situation in Artsakh,
etc.

Introducing the history of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno
Karabakh, Karen Mirzoyan noted that the movement of 1988 had been a
struggle not only for reunification with Armenia, but also for human
rights, social and economic equality and a secure life. However,
as the Minister noted, the peaceful rallies of the youth, students
and workers were responded by Azerbaijan with Armenian massacres in
Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, and other Azerbaijani towns, which were
followed by aggression against proper Nagorno Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan must, first of all, change its stance – it is a country,
which constantly enhances its xenophobia and hatred against everything
Armenian,” Karen Mirzoyan said.

He emphasized that the conflict could not be resolved by force,
as a war would have disastrous consequences for the entire region.

The NKR Foreign Minister also dwelt on the economic situation
in Artsakh, the achievements and prospects of development of the
priority spheres.

Touching upon the humanitarian issues, Minister Mirzoyan focused on
the problem of the Armenian refugees living in Artsakh, who, unlike
the Azerbaijani ones, are deprived of international assistance.

Karen Mirzoyan expressed confidence that sooner or later a peaceful
settlement of the conflict would be reached, which would ensure
the safe development and prosperity of the two independent states –
Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

According to the Foreign Minister, the final settlement of the conflict
with Azerbaijan is possible only under the full-fledged participation
of the NKR in the negotiations.

Armenian News – Tert.am

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF REFUGEES: THOUSANDS WHO FLED AZERBAIJAN STILL ENDURE REFUGEE STATUS/CONDITIONS IN ARMENIA

SOCIETY | 20.06.13 | 17:38

Photolure

By Gohar Abrahamian
ArmeniaNow reporter

Hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced from Azerbaijan during the
ethnic purges there in late 1980s-early 1990s and settled in Armenia
still face multiple challenges hindering their full integration
in Armenia.

Refugee Grigory Ayvazyan, leading the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians
NGO, told the press on Thursday, International Day of Refugees, that
so far as the Karabakh issue remains unresolved, the refugee issues
cannot be solved either.

“In the logics of the negotiation process there is the provision on
return of refugees, like it or not, however the Azeri side is trying to
push the return of the Azeri refugees only, while the issue has to be
of mutual character, either all can go back, or none,” says Ayvazyan,
adding that they are ready to return to their former settlements,
even to Baku and Sumgait (where the bloodiest pogroms occurred),
if given respective safety guarantees.

During 1988-1991, by various sources, around 450,000-700,000 people
were displaced, the majority of whom lost their property and almost
all belongings.

According to Ayvazyan, today the refugees from Azerbaijan make ten
percent of Armenia’s population, and reside mostly in Ararat, Armavir
and Gegharkunk provinces, in the settlements formerly occupied by
Azerbaijani residents of Armenia. However, he says, they mostly live
in hostel-type buildings void of basic living conditions.

Ayvazyan also says that the refugees are not at all integrated in
the Armenian society, great majority does not have citizenship of
Armenia, only residency permits. But, he believes, they should not
become citizens, in which case they would become the internal matter
of the Republic of Armenia and stop being part of the negotiations
process (the fact that they are is in Armenia’s interest).

Although the refugees have been offered settlement in the disputed
regions of Nagorno Karabakh, Ayvazyan says those lands cannot be
offered as compensation to the Armenian refugees, because they demand
compensation from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

“The liberated lands are not the property of Azerbaijan and
belong to Nagorno Karabakh and its people, that is why we cannot
demand compensation from Nagorno Karabakh for the damage caused by
Azerbaijan,” he says.

ONE MORE SCANDAL: WHERE WAS IRANIAN GAS LOST?

The Iranian Fars agency dwelt on the export of Iranian gas to Armenia.

The agency wrote that around 1.558 billion cubic meters of gas has been
supplied to Armenia which was used to generate and export electricity
to Iran between 2007 and 2012, the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC)
reported. Note that the rate is 1 cubic meter gas for 3kWh electricity.

But the most interesting thing is the information that Iran exported
a total of 481 million cubic meters of gas to Armenia in 2012.

It was stated during the June 8 discussion on gas price that Armenia
received only 350 million cubic meters of gas from Iran. Discrepancy
is 130 million cubic meters between the Armenian and Iranian data.

The Iranian agency reports that according to the deal with the Armenian
government in 2004, Iran is supposed to export to Armenia 36 billion
cubic meters of gas in 2007-2027. 1/3 of this period has passed but
Armenia received only a small part of the aforementioned amount.

The contract supposes extension of supply period up to five years. In
this case the amount of gas to be imported reached 47 billion cubic
meters.

Pastinfo 14:43 20/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News: