Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

FOOTBALL
6 millions de dollars pour la rénovation du stade « Hrazdan » d’Erévan

Lors d’une interview à la Chaîne publique d’Arménie (H1), Roupen
Haïrabedian, le président de la Fédération arménienne de football a
déclaré que la rénovation du stade « Hrazdan » d’Erévan coûtera 6
millions de dollars. Les travaux dureront un an. Au terme de cette
rénovation, Erévan aura ainsi la possibilité d’accueillir les
rencontres des Coupes européennes de football puisque le stade «
Hrazdan » sera aux normes européennes.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 19 juin 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

From: Baghdasarian

FESTIVAL D’ETE
« Arménie Provence » le 15 juillet à Paradou
dans le cadre du Festival des Alpilles

Dans le cadre du 10e Festival des Alpilles, le 15 juillet à 21h se
déroulera au Thétre de Verdure du Le Paradou, « Arménie-Provence »
avec le doudoukiste Levon Minassian et groupe provençal Le Condor. Une
rencontre entre la musique d’Arménie et de la Provence. La musique de
Levon Minassian a été jouée dans les films et reportages « Amen », «
La terre vue du ciel », « Va, vis et deviens », « Indigènes », ou « la
Passion du Christ ». Levon Minassian qui a accompagné des concerts de
Peter Gabriel, Sting, Aznavour, Ségara, I Muvrini. La veille se
tiendra une exposition photo « l’Ararat pour Mémoire » de Jean Kéhayan
avec des textes de Serge Assier. Billets disponible à 20 le jour du
spectacle et 15 en prévente sur internet sur le site
Infos 04 90 54 85 65.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 19 juin 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

From: Baghdasarian

The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
June 18, 2011 Saturday
Final Edition

Harper urged not to ignore Turkey; Mediterranean country is becoming
economic tiger

BY: Peter O’Neil, Postmedia News

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided to visit Greece following
the G8 summit last month in France the furrowed-eyebrow reaction from
some analysts was: “What about Turkey?”

Greece, with just under 11 million people, is staggering under a debt
so vast it is barely able to assert its own sovereignty, let alone
exert regional influence. Its trade with Canada is tiny and shrinking.

Neighbouring Turkey, which Harper has never visited since taking
office in 2006, has a booming economy, has more than seven times the
population (78.8 million), and is an increasingly important western
ally and regional power broker in the Middle East and North Africa.

“We should be paying closer attention to Turkey, which is the
Mediterranean’s economic tiger and the region’s only Muslim
democracy,” said Fen Hampson, director of Carleton University’s Norman
Paterson School of International Affairs.

“Turkey has a key stabilizing role to play in the Middle East and
North African region. Its GDP is fast approaching the $1 trillion
mark.”

There are also business interests who would like to see Canada’s
rapidly growing trade relationship with Turkey flourish even more,
particularly those seeking major government contracts, said Gar
Knutson, an Ottawa lobbyist and former Liberal MP who sits on the
board of the Canadian-Turkish Business Council.

“I think the prime minister at some point should go to Turkey. They’re
an important NATO ally; it’s a quickly growing economy. We have lots
of interests there,” Knutson said.

Harper’s aides have told the media that Canada has important
historical and people-topeople ties with Greece, and there has been a
long-standing invitation to Harper from Prime Minister George
Papandreou.

Politics is another factor, since the Conservatives have long wooed
the large Greek diaspora in Canada.

But Turkey, say Harper’s aides, is one of the countries the prime
minister wants to visit.

“We did our best in a minority government situation to travel to as
many countries as possible,” spokesman Andrew MacDougall said in an
email this week.

“Of course, we haven’t had the opportunity to visit all the countries
we would like to visit, including Turkey. We look forward to doing so
at some point in the future.”

But the idea of a Harper visit to Turkey is fraught with domestic and
foreign policy sensitivities due to decisions dating back to Harper’s
time as official Opposition leader.

During that period he embraced the politically active
Armenian-Canadian community’s claim that atrocities committed against
their community in Ottoman Turkey starting in 1915 constituted
genocide.

Plenty of politicians around the world have responded to the Armenian
lobby effort, resulting in some 20 legislatures in various countries
passing motions recognizing that genocide took place. Among them was
the Canadian Senate, in 2002, and the House of Commons two years
later.

But, according to Turkey, Canada’s Conservative government is the only
one in the world to officially embrace the genocide narrative as
official government policy.

Turkey objected furiously in 2006 when Harper formally stated the new
policy, but some diplomats said a thaw had started to develop prior to
the 2011 election campaign.

In April of 2010, for instance, Harper issued no statement to the
general public to mark the anniversary of the tragedy. And recent
highlevel visits include a 2009 trip to Turkey by Lawrence Cannon,
then minister of foreign affairs, and another last year by Defence
Minister Peter MacKay.

Furthermore, Export Development Canada has just announced the opening
of a regional office in Istanbul to help Canadian exporters break into
the relatively thriving regional market, and there have been
preliminary talks on possible free trade negotiations.

But then Harper issued an election campaign statement on the genocide,
almost identical to the 2006 declaration, that got almost no
mainstream media coverage in Canada but deeply angered Turkey.

Harper’s “wrong and unfair” judgment was based on “one-sided
information” that came after a number of initiatives to improve
relations, said an April 27 statement from the Turkish foreign
ministry.

The government’s position was also “based on narrow political
calculations” and “dealt a blow to these efforts,” the statement
declared.

While one senior Turkish foreign affairs official in Ankara told
Postmedia News this week that Harper would be welcome, another former
senior Turkish diplomat familiar with Canada said he doubted his
country would agree to set out the welcome mat for a foreign leader
who would likely inflame nationalist sentiment.

Hampson said Harper should try to find a way to mend relations.

“Turkey is far too important a country to shun or ignore or make
hostage to our own domestic politics.”

From: Baghdasarian

earsucker.com
June 18 2011

Kim Kardashian Doesn’t Want To Look Too Armenian

by Jessica LeFevre on June 18, 2011

Way to bash your heritage, Kim Kardashian – We’re sure your father
would be so proud!

To illustrate our points in this post, we’ve included a before and
after photo just so you can see what Kim looked like before she
*didn’t* have plastic surgery. (Uh huh.)

Kim says that she has perfected a pose that stops her nose from
looking `too Armenian’. She has Armenian from her deceased father,
Robert Kardashian’s side, but says that she tilts her face to minimize
the look.

She said, `I went to a plastic surgeon and said `Give me the works!’
to see if I could get my Armenian nose corrected and he said he
wouldn’t do it as I didn’t need it. But in some photographs it looks a
little too Armenian, so you’ll notice that I always keep my face
tilted down to stop the shadows.’

Why lie? People can obviously tell that you’ve had something done.
Don’t be ridiculous!

Still, even though she got turned down, the doctor offered to do the
surgery on her sister Kourtney. She added, `Funnily enough, the
plastic surgeon said he’d do my sister Kourtney’s nose, even though
she was only there to hold my hand. It was very funny!’

A plastic surgeon who turns down money for a surgery because someone
doesn’t need it??!? Unheard of. If that was the case, most of Beverly
Hills would be old and saggy looking by now. Elective procedures, moron.
Does she think we’re stupid???

From: Baghdasarian

news.am, Armenia
June 18 2011

Armenian president’s statement clear, `yes’ to dialogue, `no’ to
delegations-oppositional MP

June 18, 2011 | 16:10

YEREVAN. – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s response to the
dialogue between the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) was
definite. The president made it clear that he says `yes’ to the
dialogue, head of `Heritage’ parliamentary group Stepan Safaryan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am. Meanwhile, Serzh Sargsyan made it clear he will
refuse ANC’s idea to form a delegation of negotiators.

`In general, the president’s response was clear, in particular he said
`yes’ to the dialogue and `no’ to delegations,’ Safaryan stressed,
wondering about ANC’s statements that Serzh Sargsyan’s statement was
ambiguous.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, President of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan responded to the issues related to dialogue with opposition
Armenian National Congress.

`For the forces, which are concerned with the problems of our citizens
and development of our state, the only logical and acceptable way to
move forward and find solutions to the existing difficulties is
dialogue and discussions. I would like to restate: we have always been
open and ready for any kind of discussion. If there are political
forces, which have concrete and reasonable proposals, we are ready to
provide concrete solutions,’ he said in the statement.

In response to the President’s statement, the Armenian National
Congress said it should discuss the thesis by Serzh Sargsyan at its
regional structures, calling it ambiguous.

From: Baghdasarian

news.am, Armenia
June 18 2011

Azg: No diaspora community formed in Poland with 40,000 Armenians

June 18, 2011

YEREVAN. – The number of Armenians in Poland does not exceed 40,000 of
which 30,000 live in Warsaw, Azg newspaper reports.

Armenians settled in Poland over 600 years ago. However, it is
surprising over the past 200 years the Armenians have not formed a
community, Armenian schools and churches do not operate.

In general, the Armenians in Poland can be divided into three groups.

First group includes Armenians living in Poland for about 600 years.
They call themselves Poles of Armenian descent. Over time they
assimilated and became Catholics.

The second group includes emigrants who left for Poland in the 90s.
They speak in Armenian and are followers of Armenian Apostolic Church.
The first and second groups have nothing in common, they operate
separately and have different interests. However, Congress of
Armenians of Poland was set up last year to unite the Armenians.

The third group includes Armenians living in Poland illegally. They
hold Soviet passports and work in the markets.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian Air Force Can Get to Enemy’s Rear

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:43:18 – 18/06/2011

The deputy chief of the Military Aviation Department, Colonel Armen
Lazarian said in a press conference today that the pilotless planes
which Azerbaijan periodically boasts of are means of reconnaissance
and the Armenian specialists are ready to counterattack.

Lazarian says the Armenian systems enable actions deep in the rear of
the enemy.

Artsrun Hovanisyan, a military expert, thinks Azerbaijani’s UAVs, as
well as their entire air force, have been intended for the purpose of
PR. He is convinced that Azerbaijan lacks specialists for most
Azerbaijani equipment.

Hovanisyan says the Azerbaijani pilots have no experience flying over
mountainous terrain, and training in Turkey does not correspond to
their needs in Turkey.

From: Baghdasarian

The Capture of Kazan and the Armenians

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:30:52 – 18/06/2011

It is a historical fact that an Armenian regiment in the army of Ivan
the Terrible participated in the capture of Kazan. The story is: when
the troops of the Russian tsar reach Kazan, the Armenians learn that
there were Armenians among the troops defending the town, and their
commander was Armenian. They suggest Ivan that they get near the town
and ask the Armenian gunmen not to shoot. This is how it was. The
Armenians agree with one another, the Armenian gunmen in Kazan shoot
into the air, enabling the Russians to come up to the wall surrounding
the town and easily capture it.

The same story holds that the people of Kazan set to fire the houses
of the Armenian gunmen. For his part, Ivan the Terrible orders to hang
the Armenian gunmen and their commander along with other defenders of
the town.

Since loss of statehood, and particularly in 15th to 18th centuries,
the Armenians held significant positions in the military, world trade,
crafts in different parts of the world. The so-called `global Armenian
system’, as Vazgen Ghazaryan says in his interview with Lragir.am,
declined when it was time to make mental efforts, the medieval status
quo no longer satisfied the global players.
Now we have a state, and again it is time to make mental efforts
because the global status quo has changed. Now in Kazan the head of
Armenia must prove that he is the head of an independent country and
is guided by his country’s interests only rather than agree to
`compromise’ between the Russians and Turks. Because the story of
capture of Kazan shows how it ends up.

From: Baghdasarian

UK House of Lords debates the Armenian Genocide

armradio.am
18.06.2011 13:31

The House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland held a debate on the Armenian Genocide on June 16.
`There is no doubt that the treatment of the Armenians was horrific
and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands by force of arms,
starvation or disease. They should not be forgotten, but we believe
that it is for the Turkish and Armenian people to work together to
address their common history. We encourage any process which helps
them do so in an open, honest and constructive manner, but it would
not be helpful for us to pre-empt their conclusions,’ said David
Howell, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

“France has already recognised the genocide. One and a half million
people were massacred in 1915. I have just come back from Armenia
where I visited the genocide museum. I am sure that many of your
Lordships have visited the Holocaust museum. This is no less
upsetting, shocking and dreadful than the Holocaust museum. There is
so much evidence and it was known at the time that this was happening.
Every newspaper from every country had headlines about this massacre.
It is time that we recognize the Armenian Genocide,’ Baroness Shreela
Flather stated.

`After a century of taboo and silence Turkish journalists and
historians are at last beginning to discuss the evidence of murder,
enslavement, deportation and forcible transfer, rape, persecution and
other inhumane acts of a similar character directed against the
Armenian population of Turkey in 1915-16? Would it not help Turkey’s
application to join the European Union if Turkish politicians
acknowledged the crimes of their ancestors?’ said Eric Lubbock, Lord
Avebury.

`There is a serious risk in Turkey of prosecution for journalists and
writers who use the term “Armenian genocide”-some have been
prosecuted-and that much educational material for schools has been
produced by the Turkish Government denying the Armenian genocide. Such
censorship in public discussion and education is unacceptable for a
nation that hopes to join the European Union,’ Baroness Caroline Cox
stated.

From: Baghdasarian

RECORD MONDIAL
A 14 ans Haïg Bedrossian effectue 386 tours sur une barre fixe
record du monde qui sera transcrit dans le Livre Guinness des Records

Le 10 juin s’est déroulé au complexe sportif « Albert Azarian » à
Erévan, la « Coupe Albert Azarian » de gymnastique. Lors de
l’ouverture des compétitions, Haïg Bedrossian (14 ans) a effectué un
record mondial en réalisant 386 tours sur une barre fixe. Le président
du Comité national olympique arménien, Gaguik Dzaroukian a offert à
Haïg Bedrossian une voiture, en l’encourageant à effectuer de nouveaux
records. La performance de Haïg Bedrossian sera inscrite dans le Livre
Guinness des Records. En espérant qu’après les 386 tours de barre
fixe, il ne fasse pas un tour de voiture avant sa majorité…

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 18 juin 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

From: Baghdasarian