Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIA POTENTIALLY LOSES AROUND 1400 FUTURE MOTHERS EVERY YEAR – UNFPA

news.am
Dec 19 2011
Armenia

On average each year Armenia potentially loses around 1400 future
mothers, says the report of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

A survey of women of reproductive age (15-49) from 2830 Armenian
households, who had at least one pregnancy in their lifetime was held.

The study suggests that 0.8 per cent of 900,000 Armenian women
ï~@¨around 7200 womenï~@© of reproductive age has had a sex selective
abortion in the last five years.

“This means that on average each year Armenia potentially loses around
1400 future mothers,” the report says.

Sex selective abortions are most vividly expressed in case of the
3rd and the 4th child, among ng urban women, among women with higher
education and among women with high level of income (AMD100,000
and above).

Every two out of five women that have passed the quantitative survey
have reported son preference during their first pregnancy, while only
one in seven women wanted a girl. At the same time, about half (44%) of
the surveyed women had no sex preference during their first pregnancy.

“Based on the answers of participants of the qualitative survey, one
may conclude that there are no significant problems in regard with
different attitudes towards girls and boys within the families, and
that the problem lies with the prospects for future self-expression of
women in the society and their higher vulnerability,” the reports says.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH LAWMAKERS LOBBY AGAINST FRANCE’S ARMENIAN “GENOCIDE” BILL

Monsters and Critics.com
Dec 19 2011

Paris – A group of Turkish parliamentarians held talks Monday with
senior French politicians in a frantic attempt to stave off a French
bill that would make it a crime to deny that Armenians were the
victims of a genocide.

Armenians say that up to 1.5 million Armenians citizens of the Ottoman
Empire were either killed or died of neglect on deportation marches
to the Syrian desert in 1915-18.

Turkey admits that some 300,000 Armenians died, but argues it was
because of unrest during the First World War when Russian forces
invaded eastern Turkey, where most of the Armenians lived.

The delegation, led by Volkan Bozkir, president of the Turkish
parliament’s foreign affairs commission, met with Alex Poniatowski,
Bozkir’s counterpart in France’s National Assembly and with Pierre
Moscovici, a senior member of the opposition Socialist Party.

On Tuesday they were scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Alain
Juppe and the president of the National Assembly, Bernard Accoyer
before returning to Ankara on Wednesday.

Turkey is scrambling to try head off a vote Thursday in the French
parliament on the bill, which would make denying genocides a crime
punishable by a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros
(58,535 dollars).

The bill would cover Armenia, because France in 2001 declared the
mass killings of Armenians in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1918
constituted a ‘genocide.’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week warned French
President Nicolas Sarkozy in a letter of ‘terrible’ consequences
for bilateral relations if the bill was passed, the semi-official
Anatolian Agency reported.

A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Paris, Engin Solakoglu, told dpa
Monday that the bill’s expected approval would lead to the immediate
recall of Turkey’s ambassador and the ‘quasi-breakdown’ in relations.

Both in Turkey and in France, the timing of the bill has been linked
to upcoming presidential polls, in which Sarkozy is expected to
seek re-election

France has half a million citizens of Armenian origin. Before becoming
president in 2007 Sarkozy had promised them he would push through
legislation banning genocide denial.

From: Baghdasarian

LETTER ABOUT TURKEY WAS MISLEADING
Sevag Tateosian

Posted: Monday, December 19, 2011 4:30 pm |

Related: Resolution on Turkey distorts the facts

I don’t live in St. Louis but have stopped by your beautiful city many
times and have many acquaintances there. I am writing to call to your
attention that a letter you published has facts that are not true.

Erkin Baker’s letter “Resolution on Turkey distorts facts” is
misleading.

Just last year Armenian children wanted to enter the Church of
Akhtamar in Van to pray, the same church that Baker asserts “Turkey
unilaterally restored” and were kicked out, not by the Turkish police,
but it was Turkish armed forces that demanded that they leave. How
do I know? The video is available on YouTube. Also last year Pope
Benedict XVI called on Turkey to give the Roman Catholic Church legal
recognition, which the country failed to do.

If you look at an overwhelming majority of churches in Eastern Turkey,
you will find a couple common themes. First the crosses have been
removed or altered. Second you will find that they have been used to
store hay or manure.

I don’t blame Baker for not telling the truth. The fact is that the
Turkish government doesn’t allow the actual facts to be taught in
schools. If one even tries to talk about what really is occurring,
Turkish Penal Code 301 kicks in and they are arrested on charges of
“insulting the Turkish nation.” Nobel Peace Prize-winning author
Orhan Pamuk was charged under that section and imprisoned.

From: Baghdasarian

Nounours (Satire)
18 dec 2011

Une base militaire russe en Arménie point d’appui pour une guerre
contre l’ Iran ?

Avec la crise, le foot et Noël, on en oublierait presque la guerre
contre l’Iran que préparent les USA, poussés par le lobby juif.

Après avoir avancé des pions pour pousser à l’affrontement entre
Sunnites et Chiites, avoir essayé d’impliquer les Chinois pour que les
noiches aient un peu moins de sous en mettant les mains dans le
cambouis et après avoir accélérer la crise financière afin que les
dirigeants soient prêts à reprendre la vieille solution “une guerre
remettrait tout à plat”, voici que les américains essayent d’impliquer
les russes dont ils ont besoin logistiquement.
Il existe en effet en Arménie à Gyumri, la base militaire 102,
idéalement située pour attaquer l’ Iran puisqu’elle a été construite
par les Russes pour contrôler le sud caucase et un possible accès aux
mers chaudes.

Le journal russe Nezavissimaia Gazeta a révélé tout ça ici.

Si les américains et les russes se mettent d’accord (les Russes ont
tout à gagner à une guerre qui ferait exploser le prix du gaz et du
pétrole), alors les Russes se referont une petite guerre en Georgie
(un beau tiraillement potentiel entre les rêves de gloire de Sarkozy
et son service auprès des Américains) et dans les territoires annexes
afin de mettre en place un gros pont logistique avec la base 102.

Ensuite, les Américains l’utiliseront.

Il n’est pas non plus exclu que les Russes se mettent à aider l’Iran
pour faire pression sur les USA ou leurs alliés ou pour obtenir
quelque chose en Syrie.

Comme d’habitude, ce sont les gens ordinaires qui trinqueront et ceux
qui tirent les ficelles à Tel-Aviv, Teheran ou New-York continueront
de péter tranquillement dans la soie..

Petit reportage sur la future très connue base 102:

From: Baghdasarian

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Dec 17 2011

Erdogan Says Turkey would retaliate if French bill passed

ISTANBUL (A.A) -December 17, 2011 -Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has said Turkey would retaliate by all diplomatic means if the
French senate approved a bill making denial of the Ottoman-era
incidents of 1915 punishable in France with a prison term of one year
and a fine of 45 thousand euros.

“I would like to reaffirm that we will resort to all diplomatic means
to stand against such unjust, biased, populist and unlawful attempts,”
Erdogan told reporters in a joint press conference with Mustafa
Abd-al-Jalil, head of Libya’s National Transitional Council.

The bill is set to be debated in the French senate floor next week on Thursday.

Erdogan sent earlier this week a letter to the French president,
warning Sarkozy about possible fallout from approval of the bill on
bilateral relations.

“I have made very clear to Mr Sarkozy that the bill would cause
irreparable damages to our relations. There is no good for anyone in
this,” Erdogan said.

A similar bill – proposed by the Socialist Party – was approved in
2006 by the lower house of the French assembly but the Senate rejected
to debate the bill last May.

“No historian, no politician could claim that a genocide had occurred
in our history. Those who seek a genocide should turn and look at
their own dirty history,” Erdogan said.

Diplomatic sources close to the matter told the Anadolu Agency that
the bill had the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who had
recently expressed support during a visit to Yerevan last October
ahead of the presidential elections next year.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has rejected the attempt as a
pre-election campaign move.

“I hope that the French parliament would avoid making a terrible
mistake by distorting and twisting the history and by punishing those
who deny historical lies,” Erdogan said.

“If the French parliament is that interested in history, then it could
bother itself with shedding a light on what happened in Africa, in
Rwanda, and in Algeria. It could investigate how many people French
soldiers massacred in Algeria and their involvement in the killing of
800 thousand people in Rwanda,” Erdogan said.

From: Baghdasarian

The Telegraph
December 17, 2011

Kolkata concert features Armenian folk songs

SWEET SYMPHONY
Kushal Dasgupta

Music

Bartók’s rustic dissonances and Bach’s ethereal counterpoint filled
up the December evening air at St John’s church. The occasion was a
charity concert in benefit of Udayan held on December 10. Reverend
James Stevens, the founder of Udayan, read out the welcome address.

The eminent author, Dominique Lapierre, was also present among the
distinguished guests.

The programme began with a dance performance put up by the girls of
Udayan to the recorded music of Tagore’s Anandaloke. The Kolkata Music
Academy Chamber Orchestra – comprising only Strings – under the able
direction of Abraham Majumdar performed Purcell’s Dramatic Suite in
three movements, Rondeau, Air, Minuet. Though a bit hesitant at first,
the instrumentalists quickly found their bearings and adjusted
themselves to the acoustics of the 300-year-old church. By the time
they reached the second movement, `an Air’, the sound of strings truly
reverberated across the Corinthian columns. The last movement, `a
Minuet’, with a pizzicato section was executed flawlessly keeping in
mind its idyllic nature. The idyllic world of Purcell was followed by
the pastoral world of Bartók. Bartók’s 10 dances for String
Orchestra are short, sprightly, nostalgic and, at times, dissonant
folk dances from eastern Europe. The members of the Kolkata Music
Academy Chamber Orchestra were able to capture the sprit of these
dances with their measured bowing and apt tempi. In the coming days,
we eagerly await to see the orchestra perform a much wider repertoire
under the able leadership of Majumdar.

Oishik Ganguly mesmerized the audience with his performances of Bach’s
1st Prelude and Fugue from the Well Tempered Clavier Book-I and the
first movement from Mozart’s A minor Sonata, K.310 on the piano. The
first movement from Mozart’s A minor Sonata was performed at a
lightning pace. Following all the repeats, he ended the movement with
a sense of conviction.

Deepanjali Lobo gave a very crisp and refreshing rendition of Haydn’s
Sonata in D major, No.27. She adeptly revealed the cantabile-singing
qualities of this sonata.

The last among the solo pianists, little Reet Mitra, won the audience
with his jazzy jig, `Intercity Stomp’, by Christopher Norton.

Four Armenian folk songs, sung by the Tadevosyan Family Trio sans
accompaniment, were indeed a revelation. The soundscape the Trio
created instantly transported the listener to a medieval Armenian
apostolic monastery somewhere in the Caucasus.

Soprano Alisha Alexander, accompanied by her mother, Debra, on the
piano, effortlessly sang Arias by Gluck `O del mio dolce adore’,
Schubert `Ave Maria’ and Gershwin `Someone to watch over me’, winning
accolades from the audience.

The climax of the evening was none other than James Stevens himself,
the in-house singing sensation and a very fine Bass, singing four
Negro Spirituals accompanied by Fauzia Marikar on the piano. The
evening ended on a high note with the children of Udayan singing a
Christmas carol.

From: Baghdasarian

Glendale News Press, CA
Dec 18 2011

Think Again: Furthering the legacy of Larry Zarian

By Zanku Armenian
December 18, 2011

My 2-year-old son is obsessed with trains. The living room feels like
a constant construction site with a mix of Lego parts, Thomas the
Train pieces and all sorts of materials used to build the
ever-expanding railway system in our house.

He has also learned an Armenian nursery rhyme about trains that he’s
always murmuring.

As real trains go through Glendale blowing their horns, the topic in
the house inevitably turns to trains. So in November when I attended a
special event at the Glendale train station, the meaning wasn’t lost
on me.

With his recent passing, officials decided to dedicate the train
station to former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian to honor his
contributions to the community. The station is now known as the Larry
Zarian Transportation Center.

One of the reasons for dedicating the train station is that Zarian was
deeply involved in transportation issues on the local, state and
national levels and was a strong advocate for public transportation. A
couple of ways he did this was by serving on the board of the Los
Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority and on the California
Transportation Commission.

A large number of area political leaders were there for the dedication
event and spoke about Zarian’s special contributions, but also about
his character. They spoke of Zarian’s unwillingness to compromise his
values when faced with conflicting choices; his diplomacy skills in
bringing sides together for the benefit of the community; and his
tenacity in getting things done – just to name a few.

I found this commentary very touching and appropriate for the person I
had come to know over the past decade; both as an American and as an
important figure in the Armenian community as the first American of
Armenian descent to be elected to office in Glendale.

But I couldn’t help but also feel a little irony because a few of the
people speaking of these virtues or at the event also have fomented
community division as a path to their personal power. This is
something Larry and I spoke about often on his television show, and he
was always deeply disappointed to see such behavior.

In our off-camera conversations, Larry always stressed the importance
of sticking to the issues and what is best for the greater good of the
community; not letting political ambitions bring out the worst in us
by driving wedges in the community.

What I also always appreciated about Larry is that with every
interaction, I always came away learning something, even if it was
during a five-minute conversation on the sidewalk. This was no doubt
based on the wisdom accumulated over his many years of public service.

I’m sure that Larry Zarian’s work for the community came at a personal
price of time not spent at home. For this we owe thanks to the sons
for having shared their father with us. Glendale is a better place
because of Larry, and he set the bar for how to serve your community,
how to conduct yourself as a leader and be a gentleman in the process.

I recently took my son to the Glendale train station so he could see
up close the trains going by with horns blowing. Needless to say, he
was mesmerized, with eyes wide open. As we walked down the platform
holding hands, the focus was clearly the glory of the big locomotives.

I look forward to going back with my son someday to also tell him the
story behind why the station is called the Larry Zarian Transportation
Center. I hope to share what I know of Larry, what his leadership
meant to Glendale and his inspiring spirit.

I hope to impart the lesson from Larry that rings in my ears every
time I hear those locomotive horns at night: the power of one person
to make a big difference in their community.

ZANKU ARMENIAN is a resident of Glendale and a corporate
communications and public affairs professional. He can be reached at
[email protected].

,0,2597120.story

From: Baghdasarian

TendersInfo – Project Notices
December 17, 2011 Saturday

Armenia : Electricity Supply Reliability Project

The development objective of the Electricity Supply Reliability
Project is to increase the reliability and capacity of the
transmission network. There are two components to the project. The
first component of the project is strengthening of the power
transmission network. This component will finance investments in
replacement of around 230 km section of transmission line from the
Hrazdan thermal power plant to Shinuhayr substation as well as land
acquisition and possible resettlement. The investments will
rehabilitate around 45 percent of 220kV transmission lines, which need
urgent rehabilitation and upgrade. The second component of the project
is technical assistance. This component will finance: 1) training of
the staff of the High Voltage Electric Networks (HVEN) to strengthen
their capacity in technical supervision, planning, procurement,
financial management and project management; 2) computer software for
transmission network system planning and analysis; 3) project
implementation support, including supervision of field works; and 4)
incremental operating costs of the HVEN.

Approval Date : 26-MAY-2011
Closing Date : 30-JUN-2016
Total Project Cost : 52
Region Europe And Central Asia
Major Sector (Sector) (%) : Energy and mining (Power) (100%)
Themes (%) : Climate change (10%)
Other urban development (45%)
Rural services and infrastructure (45%)

country :Armenia

From: Baghdasarian

EQUIPE D’ARMENIE DE FOOTBALL
Serge Sarkissian a félicité la sélection nationale d’Arménie pour ses résultats
et médaillé Roman Berezovski et Sarkis Hovsépian

Jeudi 15 décembre le président arménien Serge Sarkissian était présent
à la soirée en l’honneur de la sélection nationale arménienne de
football organisée par la Fédération d’Arménie. S. Sarkissian a remis
au porter arménien Roman Berezovski la médaille du deuxième rang des «
Services rendus à la patrie ». Il remit au défenseur et capitaine de
la sélection d’Arménie Sarkis Hovsépian la médaille « Movses
Khroénatsi » (Moïse de Khorène) pour le développement du football
arménien et les résultats brillants de l’équipe d’Arménie. Serge
Sarkissian remit également aux membres de la sélection arménienne de
nombreux cadeaux et promit que tous les membres de l’équipe d’Arménie
seraient à l’avenir récompensés par de nouvelles médailles. En son nom
personnel, au nom de la République d’Arménie et des Arméniens, le
président arménien a félicité les joueurs de l’équipe d’Arménie pour
les succès enregistrés par la sélection arménienne particulièrement en
2011. « Je voudrais vous affirmer que derrière vous et toute l’équipe
d’Arménie, vous avez le soutien de l’Etat arménien qui fera tout pour
maintenir le haut niveau de football » dit Serge Sarkissian à
l’adresse des joueurs. Il félicita également les membres de la
Fédération arménienne et souhaita de bonnes Fêtes de fin d’année et
une année 2012 riche en conquêtes nouvelles.

Rappelons que l’Arménie manqua de peu la qualification pour les
rencontres de barrage de l’Euro 2012, battue lors du match décisif à
Dublin par l’Irlande (2-1) par une grossière erreur d’arbitrage.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 18 décembre 2011,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Panorama, Armenia
Dec 17 2011

Azerbaijan violates ceasefire regime 800 times in a week

According to the Defense Army operative data the rival has violated
the ceasefire regime on the contact line last week more than 200
times. Azerbaijan’s armed forces used different types of weapons to
fire 800 shots.

Defense Army soldiers restrained from counteroffensive acts and
defended the military positions.

From: Baghdasarian