Author: Badalian Vardan

PENSION SYSTEM INFORMATION CENTER OPENED IN NKR

STEPANAKERT, June 26./ARKA/. Pension System Information Center opened
at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic under the decision of the government.

The Center is to foster pension reforms, offer consultations and
assistance related to the reforms and raise public awareness about the
complex pension system, the press office of the government reported
to ARKA on Wednesday.

“NKR Minister of Labor and Social Affairs appointed Marat Asratyan
as the director of the Center,” the source noted.

– See more at:

ARMENIA & AZERBAIJAN: A CAUCASUS SPACE RACE IS ON!

EurasiaNet.org, NY
June 24 2013

June 24, 2013 – 1:48pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze

The frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is being flavored
with some Cold-War spice, namely a space race.

Readers will recall that earlier this year Azerbaijan succeeded in
flinging a satellite into orbit. Not to be outdone, Armenia is now
making plans to place its own satellite in space.

The estimated cost of Armenia’s space ambitions – $250 million –
should raise some eyebrows given that the country’s GDP (based on
purchasing power parity) is roughly $19 billion, and it already has
$4.37 billion in sovereign debt. But the economic practicality of the
venture probably isn’t the most important consideration for Yerevan.

With the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict still stalemated, Armenian leaders
don’t want to give their Azerbaijani counterparts any idea that they
can’t keep up in any type of arms race.

Azerbaijan used its oil and gas wealth to underwrite its satellite
project. Armenian telecommunications officials are saying they will
scrape together funds from private investors for their satellite. To
succeed, the country may put to use its key natural resource,
the Armenian diaspora. Remittances from Armenians abroad make up a
significant share of Armenia’s national income. Meanwhile, Russia,
Armenia’s main regional ally and a space-exploration heavyweight,
may lend money for the venture and help manufacture the satellite.

Armenian officials are now setting up a space agency, dubbed ArmCosmos,
and are negotiating with the International Telecommunications Union,
a UN body, to clear the path for its prospective launch.

The competition reminds the Tamada of an old joke about the Caucasus,
in which an Armenian boy asks his grandfather why the Armenians haven’t
sent a man into space. The old man replies, “If the Armenians sent a
cosmonaut into space, the Georgians would die of envy. If the Georgians
die of envy, the Armenians will die of pleasure. And if the Georgians
and Armenians die, the Azeris will be left with all the land.”

ARMENIA’S FOREIGN OFFICE DIRECTS ENQUIRY TO TURKISH SIDE CONCERNING DETAINED CITIZEN

21:55 ~U 24.06.13

Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora has transferred the data on the
Armenian citizen Ara E. Hovsep, who is in a Turkish prison now,
to the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Armenia.

“They are dealing with the matter,” Lusine Stepanyan, Head of the
Department of Armenian Communities of the Near East and Middle East,
Ministry of Diaspora, told Tert.am.

Tigran Balyan, Spokesman for Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
told Tert.am that the Armenian side has directed an enquiry to the
Turkish authorities.

Azatutyun Radio, referring to the detainee’s relatives, reported that
Ara Hovsep arrived in Turkey with an Armenian passport and has been
in custody in Erzurum since June 14. Ara Hovsep was a minibus driver
serving the Yerevan-Aleppo route. On June 14 the minibus collided
with a Turkish taxi, killing a woman and two children and injuring
some of the minimum passengers.

Ara Hovses is not in danger. “Even if that car accident happened in
Armenia, all the circumstances would have to be established give
the fact that the victims were foreign citizens. Armenia has no
diplomatic relations with Turkey, which accounts for the delay in
the investigation,” Stepanyan said.

The Armenian citizen’s relatives say that the lawyer demands $6,000 for
his release. But they say the taxi driver was guilty of the accident,
and they have not so much money to pay.

Armenian News – Tert.am

IF ARMENIA BECOMES EURASIAN CUSTOMS UNION MEMBER, IT WILL HAVE TO END ACTIVITIES TO SIGN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH EU – ECONOMIST

YEREVAN. – If Armenia becomes a member in the Eurasian Customs Union,
it cannot sign the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with
the European Union (EU).

Economist Samvel Avagyan noted the abovementioned during a press
conference on Monday.

The matter is that a country which has become a member in a customs
union is obligated to discuss the terms of trade with a third country
solely by way of the said customs union.

Avagyan noted that CIS and EU are Armenia’s important partners. That
is why it is beneficial for the country to continue the integration
processes in both directions.

But, as for the economist, a problem may occur only if Armenia’s
integration with the Eurasian Economic Union continues prior to its
entering into the customs union.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

ANOTHER ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN ORGANIZATION TO BE FOUNDED

18:36, 24 June, 2013

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS: The secretary of the Security Council
of Russia Nikolai Patrushev, who is in Armenia on a working visit,
and the secretary of Natioanal Security Council of Armenia Arthur
Baghdasaryan discussed issues relating to formation of regional
infrastructure of joint reserves (ArmRosgosreserve). ArmRosgosreserve
will have regional importance also in framework of Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO).

“Armenpress” was informed from press service of the National Security
Council of the Republic of Armenia that the foundation of agency of
Armenian-Russian reserves is conditioned by the raising of the level
and efficiency of cooperation between Armenia and Russia which is set
out in the treaty about expansion of technical military cooperation
between the Republic of Armenia and Russian federation.

A discussion on going works of formation of the infrastructure was
held between Deputy head of Federal agency of RF state reserves Pyotr
Efanov and head of “State reserves agency” Sergey Shahinyan.

After the discussion Pyotr Efimov and Sergey Shahinyan visited Crisis
management centre of the mInistry of emergency situations of Armenia,
got acquainted with implemented works.

A REMINDER TO EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT J.M. BARROSO, ON THE OCCASION O AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO BRUSSELS

Brussels, June 24, 2013.- On the 21st of June 2013, EU Commission
President Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, after his meeting in Brussels
with the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, made a statement
for the mass media. In this statement there are some points that
we have to point out, since once again, EU Commission President,
has undermined his basic responsibility to promote and defend Human
Rights and the Rule of Law – core values of the European Union.

President Barroso’s text of 818 words, there are less than 50 vague
words referring to Human Rights, but not a single word calling on
President Aliyev to stop the repression and cruel violations of
Human Rights, Rule of Law and plurality in an autocratic and feudal
Azerbaijan.

Having in mind only the energy and the gas supply corridors of
Azerbaijan, Mr. Barroso considers fruitful the exchanges of his
visit to Baku and Mr. Aliyev’s in Brussels. How can such visits be
fruitful, for an appointed official at the highest rank of the EU,
having as basic mandate the defence and promotion in all his capacity,
of Human Rights values, when every day, the situation in Azerbaijan is
deteriorating and whoever dares to have a different opinion than the
government is prosecuted and imprisoned? We would like to remind Mr.

Barroso, that the European Parliament, the only body elected directly
by the people, in the last two years, has voted several resolutions
condemning Azerbaijan for violating Human Rights, plurality, Rule
of Law and Democrativ values, calling the EU Council and of course
the Commission, to consider the possibility of targeted sanctions
against those responsible for the violations, should they persist
(paragraph 18, of the Motion for a resolution B7-0256/2012 of 22.5.201
on the situation in Azerbaijan). After two more resolutions against
Azerbaijan, the one just some days ago at the plenary of the European
Parliament, President Barroso still declares his “personal commitment
to supporting Azerbaijan” in improving its record of Human Rights.

The members of the cabinet of Barroso should have informed him,
that just one day earlier, the survey “Nations in Transit 2013”
of the Freedom House was published, where regarding Azerbaijan,
“the democracy gap between Azerbaijan and its Caucasus neighbors
continued to grow in 2012”. In the same survey, Azerbaijan’s score
is one of the worst between the 29 countries in transition together
with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus. It is really to wonder,
how the President of the EU Commission can feel a great pleasure
when he meets with the President of a country which is considered a
“Consolidated Authoritarian Regime” (Nations in Transit 2013).

Regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, we state once again, that
Azerbaijan’s negative role to any solution all those years, by the
bellicose statements and armed incidents provoked by the government
in Baku. It is difficult to imagine how the peace talks can lead
to a progress. We would like to remind Mr. Barroso once more, the
statement of the President of the European Armenian Federation for
Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), Mr. Kaspar Karampetian, commenting on
the resolution of the EU Parliament on 12th June, 2013: “We expect the
EU to uphold its principles in its dealing with Azerbaijan, as it is
demanded in this resolution by the Members of the European Parliament.

A democratic Azerbaijan is the only key to sustainable peace in the
South Caucasus”.

###

SYUNIK FORMER GOVERNOR’S NAME ERASED FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH MONUMENT (PHOTOS)

13:50 ~U 24.06.13

Unknown individuals have erased the name of Syunik region’s
former governor from a monument situated near the entrance of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

A photo, sent to theA1+ new website by a reader, features the monument
with the missing name of Suren Khachatryan, who resigned from office
earlier this month over a high-profile murder near his house.

The author of the photo links the fact with the scandal.

The monument dates from 2005.

COMMUNIST LEADER: WE SHALL NEVER SUPPORT RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

04:07 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

The world has turned upside down; one the one hand, there is the
ongoing conflict in the Arab countries, on the other hand, the shameful
obscenity and grave economic situation in Europe, Chairman of the
Armenian Communist Party Ruben Tovmasyan told reporters on June 25.

In the given situation Armenia must rely on Russia, says the chief
communist. “Russia has always been and continues to remain our main
strategic ally,” he said.

The fact that Russia is selling weapons to Armenia’s enemy –
Azerbaijan, does not make Ruben Tovmasyan change his opinion about
the country.

“Russia is also selling arms to Syria. Similarly, Russia can sell arms
to Azerbaijan, yet we should not consider it as an anti-Armenian step,”
he said.

Regarding the political situation in Armenia, Ruben Tovmasyan said,
“A season has started when everyone is silent as they do not know what
to say. The cuckoo praises the cock, for the cock praises the cuckoo.

They are all looking for praise.”

Tovmasyan says his party was the only political force to have given a
clear evaluation of all elections held in Armenia and now he announces
that the elections were rigged.

The leader of the Communist party says will never unite with Heritage
Party Leader Raffi Hovannisian and his calls for the consolidation
of opposition forces. Though today Hovannisian does not urge the
opposition to unite around him, the communist believes that he will
do it sooner or later.

“The Communist Party of Armenia created the Soviet Armenia with
sweat and assiduous work. Look out of your windows and say whether
you see anything new in your neighbourhood. They have pulverized and
sold everything that was created by our party. We shall never second
Raffi Hovannisian,” Ruben Tovmasyan said in conclusion.

FOSSILS OF DINOSAURS, FLYING LIZARDS, ELEPHANTS AND THREE TOE HORSES DISCOVERED IN ARMENIA

15:17 25/06/2013 ” SOCIETY

Nowadays Armenia pays little attention to archeology, Hayk
Melik-Adamyan, a research officer at the Institute of Geology of the
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, told reporters in Yerevan,
adding that the management of the Institute of Geology pays more
attention to seismology.

“The territory of Armenia and Artsakh is very interesting from
the geological viewpoint. In fact, the 45,000 km of territory is a
geological museum in the open air,” said the scientist.

Speaking of archeological excavations, Melik-Adamyan said that fossils
of dinosaurs were discovered in the territory of Armenia lately. These
were not big, wild dinosaurs dating back 88-83 million years.

According to the geologist, fossils of flying lizards were also
discovered in excavations. These lizards were unique in the region.

They date back 90 million years, were weighing 40-50 kg, were
discovered in the territory of Vayk province of Armenia and the study
in Saint Petersburg confirmed that they were flying lizards.

Elephant fossils were discovered in the territory of Armenia and
Artsakh, the scientist said. In particular, elephant fossils were
discovered in the 30-40s near Gyumri, and fossils of rare forest
elephants were discovered near the village of Norabats.

Also, fossils of mammoths and three toe horses were discovered in
Armenian excavations, Melik-Adamyan said.

ARMENIA AND WB TO IMPLEMENT JOINT HEALTH-TARGETED PROJECT IN 2014

YEREVAN, June 25./ARKA/. Armenia is to implement a large-scale
health-targeted project in 2014 supported by the World Bank, said Saro
Tsaturyan, head of the State Health Agency at Armenian Health Ministry.

“The goal of the project is to prevent non-transmissible diseases,
such as cardiovascular ones, cancer and diabetes,” he told reporters
on Tuesday not mentioning the estimated cost of the project.

According to him, the grants may be received for the program
implementation.

Tsaturyan has clarified a mass screening (initial examination) of
the population will be conducted within three years to diagnose the
diseases, if any, at a very early stage.

“For instance, in order to diagnose diabetes at an early stage, we
will examine at least 60% of the adults in the republic,” he resumed.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved in March a 35-
million-dollar credit for the Disease Prevention and Control Project
in Armenia.

The credit will be provided on standard blend IDA terms at a fixed
interest rate of 1.25 percent per annum with a maturity of 25 years
and a 5 year grace period.

Total financing of the project is $45 million, of which the Government
of Armenia will provide $8.2 million. The Health Results Innovation
Trust Fund (HRITF) will contribute grant funding in the amount of
$1.8 million.

The project will support the Government of Armenia in improving
maternal and child health services, and the prevention, early
detection, and management of selected non-communicable diseases
at the primary health care level, as well as the efficiency
and quality of selected hospitals in Armenia.-0- – See more at: