Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

EVENT DEDICATED TO CENTENARY OF WILLIAN SAROYAN’S BIRTH HELD IN ROMANIA

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

BUCHAREST, DECEMBER 17, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. An event
dedicated to the centenary of William Saroyan’s birth was held at the
Hall of the Union of Writers of Romania on December 12. The event was
organized by the Armenian embassy in Romania, the Union of Writers of
Romania, the UNESCO Office in that country, and the Union of Armenians
of Romania.

Speeches on life and works of the great writer were made by the deputy
chairman of the Union of Writers of Romania, the chairman of the
Union of Armenians of Romania, the Romanian minister of economy and
finance Varujan Vosganian, the Armenian ambassador to Romania Yeghishe
Sargsyan, lecturer of Bucharest University of Theatrical and Cinema
Art Titus Vijue, journalist and translator Madeleine Karakasian,
the secretary of the Union of Writers of Romania Irina Horea, and
the film maker and actor Florin Kevorkian.

Episodes of the films about William Saroyan, including the film made
during the writer’s visits to Armenia were demonstrated, and literary
performances were given during the event.

According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, the event
was attended by representatives of literary and social circles,
diplomats, reporters, and members of the Armenian community.
From: Baghdasarian

OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS HOLY ETCHMIADZIN

armradio.am
17.12.2008 11:13

At the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, hosted OSCE Secretary
General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut accompanied by the Head of the
OSCE Armenia Office Sergey Kapinos.

Welcoming the visit of the OSCE Secretary General to Holy Etchmiadzin,
His Holiness expressed confidence that similar visits will promote
the cooperation and promote the peaceful resolution of the conflicts
existing in the region. His Holiness expressed gratitude to the OSCE
Secretary General for the efforts and programs implemented by the OSCE.

For his part, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut thanked His Holiness for
good wishes and presented the OSCE activity, as well as the aims and
results of his visit.

During the meeting reference was made to the process of peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Homenetmen Central Committee
P. O. Box 80486
Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon
Contact: Vera Parsekhian
Tel: 009611-260117
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

8th HOMENETMEN WORLD GAMES
August 1 – 8, 2008
Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan, Armenia – December 18, 2008 (For Immediate Release):

Homenetmen’s (Armenian Athletic Union & Scouts) Central Executive
Committee, the organization’s highest body, announced the creation of
the 8th Homenetmen World Games to be held from August 1 – 8, 2008 in
Yerevan, Armenia.

Held once every four years, the games embody Homenetmen’s spiritual
mantra of `Elevate yourself as you Elevate others’ as members come
from all reaches of the world to compete in the organization’s highest
level of competition.

Homenetmen’s World Games have always been held wherever a Homenetmen
chapter is in existence. For the first time in the organization’s
history, however, the games will be held in Armenia.

Comprising more than just athletic competitions, having the games in
Armenia allows Homenetmen athletes, coaches, organizers, friends,
parents, and supporters the opportunity to embrace their fatherland.
For the first time, Homenetmen athletes will be able to welcome their
cultural being, by competing and interacting with one another on
Armenian soil. Through organized events and general interaction,
Homenetmen members and supporters will be able to experience all of
what Armenia has to offer.

Approximately 700 athletes along with hundreds of supporters, family
members, and organizers will meet in Yerevan; all representing their
individual countries, but coming together under the Homenetmen flag,
truly embracing their Armenian identity.

The competitions will be comprised of the following events:
– Men’s and Women’s Basketball – Open Divisions
– Junior Men’s Basketball – Under 18 years old
– Men’s Soccer – Open Division
– Men’s and Women’s Swimming – Open Divisions
– Men’s and Women’s Chess – Open Divisions
– Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis – Open Divisions

Each of Homenetmen’s regional areas can comprise teams in any of the
aforementioned competitions. Teams and competitors are usually the
picked from the best amateur athletes within each of the regions.
Homenetmen’s World Games allows these teams to come together and
compete in the world arena once every four years.

Opening ceremonies for the games will be held on August 1, 2008 within
Yerevan. The Opening Ceremonies will give the Armenian public the
opportunity to better understand the role that Homenetmen plays within
the Diaspora youth. The Opening Ceremonies will include local and
national dignitaries, governmental officials, an athlete parade, as
well as local and international acclaimed singers and entertainment.
It will conclude with a fireworks display.

During their stay, the athletes, the organizers, as well as their
supporters plan a visit to Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenia Genocide
Monument in Yerevan. During the visit, Homenetmen’s family will have
the opportunity to pay its respect to the 1.5 million Armenians
massacred during the Armenian Genocide.

After the last competition on Saturday, August 8, the Homenetmen
family will once again get together with the Armenian community at its
Victory Gala Ball. Both local and international dignitaries will be
on hand to honor the athletes’ achievements over the course of the
previous week. Awards and medals will be presented. Once again,
local and international singers and entertainment will invigorate the
masses.

Updates to the games and competitions can be found at
up to and throughout the games. Pictures, daily
results, and other pertinent information will be posted daily
throughout the games.

Questions and more information can be obtained by emailing Homenetmen
at [email protected].
From: Baghdasarian

ERDOGAN AND GUL’S SILENCE ON APOLOGY CAMPAIGN EQUALED TO INTEREST IN THE INITIATIVE

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.12.2008 17:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Corriere della Sera Italian newspaper has published
an article dedicated to the initiative of Turkish intellectual to
apologize for the Armenian Genocide.

Over 5000 Turkish intellectuals, authors, journalists, scientists and
musicians have already signed the petition which reads, "My conscience
does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the
Great Calamity that befell the Ottoman Armenians in 1915. I reject
this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and
pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them."

According to the author of the article, Antonio Ferrari, Erdogan
and Gul’s silence on the apology campaign can be described as their
interest in the initiative.

Arriving in Armenia in September 2008, Turkish President Abdullah Gul
open a route which is being polished by diplomats now, Ferrari writes.
From: Baghdasarian

AGRICULTURAL MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM CREATED IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Dec 15, 2008

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. The first system of agricultural
market information, created in Armenia under the sponsorship of the
Millennium Challenge – Armenia Account, is to be presented in Yerevan
on December 17.

The press service, Millennium Challenge – Armenia Account, reports
that the international experience in using market information systems
will be presented as well.

The ceremony is to be attended by RA Deputy Minister of Agriculture
Samvel Avetisyan, other officials, as well as by farmers,
representatives of agricultural associations and banks, manufacturers
and processing enterprises, representatives of local and international
organizations.

Ara Hovsepyan, CEO, Millennium Challenge – Armenia Account, and Richard
Garlbrink, "From Water to Market" program executive, are to speak at
the presentation.

Mr. Garlbrink said that the system is supposed to provide farmers,
food producers, and other members of the marketing chain with firsthand
information on market prices.

The system based on Internet and mobile communication will also provide
information on the quality, technologies and industrial news. -0–
From: Baghdasarian

GEORGIA WANTS TO EXCHANGE ARMENIAN CHURCHES RATHER THAN RETURN THEM, EXPERTS OF MITK CENTER SAY

Noyan Tapan

Dec 15, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. While being a neighbor of Armenia
and a state that has been constantly declared as a friend of our
country, Georgia has always shown a cold hostile attitude to Armenian
cultural and religious values. Experts of Mitk analytical center Edward
Abrahamian and Vahe Sargsyan made this statement at the December 12
press conference. According to E. Arahamian, the Georgians started
demanding all the regional churches which were indicated as Georgian
monuments in Georgian historiography.

Within the framework of such a policy, in his words, Georgia makes
crazy demands with respect to about ten churches located in the
territory of Armenia. E. Abrahamian expressed an opinion that Georgia
made this demand after the Armenians had addressed the problems of
the Armenian churches "usurped" in Georgia.

"In fact, Georgia wants not to return our historical and cultural
heritage but to exchange it for churches allegedly belonging to them,"
V. Sargsyan said. In his opinion, the argument about churches will
gradually resemble the Karabakh conflict when it is proposed making
compromises as the only solution to the problem.

V. Sargsyan said that it is especially painful that recently the
Georgian Armenian clergymen together with Georgian Patriarchate
applied to the Ministry of Culture, Monument Preservation and Sports of
Georgia with the request to pay attention to Surb Norashen Church in
Tbilisi. Thus, according to the expert, the treacherous participation
of the Armenian side proved that Georgian Armenian clergymen have
doubts about Surb Norashen’s being an Armenian church.
From: Baghdasarian

CYPRIOT LEADERS PESSIMISTIC

Gibrahayer
Dec 8, 2008
Nicosia

Monday 8 December – Omphalos Tis Gis newsletter – The direct talks
between the two communities are not going as well as expected,
President Christofias said on Friday night.

Addressing a bi-communal event, Christofias said Turkish Cypriot leader
Mehmet Ali Talat’s position for the existence of two nations in Cyprus
does not only contradict historical reality, but also the treaties
that founded the Cyprus Republic as a unified bi-communal state.

Christofias also hinted that Talat was starting to remind him of former
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who was openly in favour of a
partition between the two communities.

"The common philosophy of AKEL and the Turkish Republican Party,
up until recently, was that in Cyprus there is one nation, which
consists of two communities: the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek
Cypriots," said Christofias. "Now, I am saddened to see that this
position, regarding the supposed existence of two nations in Cyprus,
was supported by Mr Denktash in his policy for the creation of to
separate states in Cyprus," he added.

Continuously highlighting the existence of two nations, said
Christofias, was doing little to assist efforts for a resolution to
the Cyprus problem. "Unfortunately, such positions sometimes appear
on the table of negotiations," h e explained.

He referred to the pessimism that can be deduced through polls between
the people of the two communities, assuring, however, that "efforts
will not be abandoned".

On his part, in a recent interview with the Turkish Cypriot news
agency, Talat was equally pessimistic. He added that it was nearly
impossible to reach a solution to the Cyprus problem before the end
of 2009.

"Maybe even 2009 will pass without a solution. The negotiating process
is moving at very slow rhythms".

"From the moment that the Greek Cypriot side did not accept the Annan
Plan as a basis for discussion, we have almost started from zero,"
he said. "The international forces must certainly take action and look
at the issues, which the two sides can’t find solutions to," he added.

He said Christofias entered the negotiations as a different person, "He
is not as I expected him to be," he said, adding that this was a huge
disappointment to him, especially when Christofias attacked Turkey.

Referring to his position that there are two nations in Cyprus,
Talat concluded, "Of course there are two nations, with different
languages, religions, joys and woes. When one is happy, the other
is sad. Only if there is an earthquake or airplane tragedy will they
have the same reaction."

20 He didn’t, however, exclude the possibility that the future could
see the creation of one nation with two different languages.
From: Baghdasarian

BRYZA ACCUSES RUSSIA OF FRUSTRATION OF HELSINKI DECLARATION ON KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
was not adopted in Helsinki because of Russia’s groundless demands,
according to the U.S. Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

"Some proposals [I can’t give any details] were put forth at the
meeting between Armenian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers and the
Co-chairs’ in the framework of OSCE Ministerial Council," Matthew
Bryza said.

He said that the exact date of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents’
meeting is not known but voiced hope it will take place within
several weeks.

Ambassador Bryza also informed that the Co-chairs are not planning
a regional visit till the end of the year, the Azeri Press Agency
reports.
From: Baghdasarian

EU SIGNS AVIATION AGREEMENT WITH ARMENIA

Xinhua

Dec 10 2008
China

BRUSSELS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — The European Union (EU) and Armenia on
Tuesday signed an aviation agreement which will allow all EU airlines
to fly between Armenia and any EU member state.

The agreement removes nationality restrictions in the existing
bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and
Armenia. Now any EU airline can operate flights between any EU member
state and Armenia.

The EU has negotiated 35 such horizontal agreements with partner
countries and thereby removed nationality restrictions in more than
600 bilateral air services agreements.

"The agreement recognizes that airlines in the EU are not any longer
national airlines, and all of them will thus have non-discriminatory
access to the air transport market between the EU and Armenia. This
is an important step in our external aviation policy and a further
building block in our policy toward neighboring countries," said
European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, who is responsible
for transport policies.

The EU-Armenia agreement was a result of three years of negotiations.

Passenger numbers between the EU and Armenia increased from 166,000 in
2006 to 204,000 in 2007 with the main markets being France, Austria,
Germany and the Czech Republic.
From: Baghdasarian

AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION IN 2008-2009 SIGNED BETWEEN RA AND RF SECURITY COUNCILS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 9, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. RA and RF National Security Councils
Secretaries Artur Baghdasarian and Nikolay Patrushev, on December 9,
signed an Agreement on 2008-2009 Cooperation Plan between the two
countries’ Security Councils.

According to A. Baghdasarian, the document includes the list of
the events to be implemented, including holding of Russian-Armenian
consultations on regional security issues, discussion of the main
directions of cooperation, elaboration of implementation mechanisms
of decisions made. Joint events are envisaged, which are aimed at
economic security and providing transport corridors for Armenia
for export and import of goods. The Agreement also includes issues
regarding military and military-technical cooperation.

N. Patrushev, in his turn, said that Russia and Armenia are strategic
partners and need to coordinate many issues. The RF Security Council
Secretary attached importance to elaboration of joint approaches at
international organizations, which should be preceded by experts’
joint work to analyse the current information.
From: Baghdasarian