Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ORRAN BENEVOLENT ORGANIZATION HEADED BY HERITAGE PARTY’S LEADER’S SPOUSE APPLIES TO KIM KARDASHIAN

TERT.AM
17:57 ~U 06.03.13

The US representative of Orran benevolent organization headed by
Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian’s spouse Armenuhi Hovanisian,
Kristy Khachigian, development director, has addressed a letter to
Kim Kardashian, US Huffington Post writes.

In the letter she voiced assurance that many of Kim’s fans and Twitter
followers have Googled the origin of her last name, but not her as
“Like you, I’m the daughter of an Armenian father. Like you, I grew
up in California, surrounded by beach towns and taco stands. And like
you, I a m one of a million Armenians living in the United States
with endless, everyday opportunity,” she wrote in the letter.

“Our “cousins” in Armenia are creative and entrepreneurial — just like
us — but in the shadow of the former Soviet Union, they constantly
fight poverty and repression,” Khachigian wrote in the letter.

“One of the tragedies of Armenia today is that indigent parents force
their children onto the streets to beg as their family’s only source of
money. Social vulnerability and economic deprivation in families have
contributed to an increase in the number of unaccompanied children and
those living and working in the streets. A recent study states that
poverty has doubled in Armenia. Fourteen thousand Armenian children
don’t attend school because their families can’t afford it.

Other children pick food out of the garbage to survive. These children
are the future of Armenia, and a Kardashian reality show could help
save them,” the letter runs.

“You recently tweeted that you wanted to visit Armenia. It was one
country you had never been to. Well, I was your age when I first
traveled there. And like you are now, I was pregnant with my first
child. During my trip, I visited an organization that helps Armenia’s
most vulnerable youth. It is called Orran, which means “haven” in
Armenian. Those attending Orran come from broken homes and families
with no means of income. At Orran, I saw hope for Armenia’s at-risk
children. Orran gave them food, clothing, tutoring, medicine, and
psychological and social services. The children there were alive with
hope and energy. They recited poems and literature, worked on homework
together and played with their friends. If you’d ask them if there
was anything they could wish for, they could not think of a thing. A
hot meal and somewhere to go after school was enough. It was evident
to me that Orran provided for these children a belief in their future
where beforehand they had been destined to live out their lives in the
streets without an education, much less any hope. Orran has changed
thousands of young lives, but a Kourtney and Kim Take Orran trip
this spring would change thousands more. Should you be interested,
Orran would plan your itinerary including visits to our sites, the
Armenian Genocide Memorial, and Etchmiadzin, where the cathedral is
the oldest state-built church in the world. As you start a family,
start your legacy with Orran. After all, Armenian children also
deserve endless, everyday opportunity. They’re just like you and me,”
the letter concludes.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN FOOTBALL CLUB SIGNS DEALS WITH TWO UKRAINIAN PLAYERS

March 6

YEREVAN. – Armenian capital city Yerevan’s FC Banants, which is
professional football club that plays in the Armenian Premier League,
signed contracts with two Ukrainian players.

>From now on, midfielder Pavel Grishchenko, 22, and striker Roman
Debelko, 19, will play for Banants.

The contracts are in force until the end of the current season in
the Armenian Premier League, Armenian News-NEWS.am Sport has learned.

To note, before his transfer to FC Banants, Grishchenko played in
the first team of Ukraine’s FC Metalurh Donetsk, whereas Debelko was
a member of the second team of the Ukrainian club.

NEWS.am Sport

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH PACE MAY SLOW DOWN IN 2013

YEREVAN, March 6. / ARKA /. Armenia’s economic growth pace is very
likely to slow down this year as the global and particularly European
economic downtown (about 45 percent of Armenian exports in 2011 went
to Europe) shows no signs of recovery, Sergey Ignatov, head of the
Yerevan Office of the Eurasian Development Bank, said.

According to IMF, World Bank and EBRD estimates, Armenia’s economy
will expand this year by 4.6%.

“The economic slowdown may be caused by weakening external demand
and lower prices for non-ferrous metals, which will directly
affect Armenia’s mining and processing sectors, the country’s main
export-oriented industries, as well as export and fiscal revenues and
macroeconomic stability”, he said in an exclusive interview to” ARKA “.

On the other hand, according to him, the weak global economy may have
an effect on the economies of the countries which are the main source
of remittances and foreign direct investment.

“Accordingly, there is an additional risk of weakening domestic
consumer demand, stimulated by remittances and investment demand,
which until now (after the crisis in 2009) remains low,” Ignatov said.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, total foreign
investment in the real sector of the economy in January-September
2012 compared to January-September 2011 decreased by 35.2% to $391.1
million, while foreign direct investments (FDI) in the real sector
in the first 9 months of 2012 were approximately $221.3 million,
down from $479.4 million for the same period of 2011. -0-

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA INCHES UP TO 79TH PLACE IN TRAVEL & TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2013

YEREVAN, March 7. /ARKA/. Armenia inched up by 11 points from last
year in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 to 79th place
out of 140, Economy and Values Research Center reported Thursday.

“The 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) reveals that
Switzerland, Germany and Austria lead the world in terms of travel
and tourism competitiveness,” according to the source.

The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 assesses 140 economies
worldwide based on the extent to which they are putting in place the
factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and
tourism sector.

In Travel & Tourism Regulatory Framework Armenia is ranked 51st , up 7
positions since the last edition due to improvements in sanitary and
hygienic conditions, healthcare and security. However, the republic
is still vulnerable in environment protection.

In Business Environment and Infrastructure, Armenia rose by 12
positions to 88th place. It was due to better assessments of the
infrastructures besides price factors.

One of the main flaws of Armenia is the number of rooms in hotels,
Armenia is ranked 11th here. Armenia also deteriorated positions from
the last year’s edition in taxes on air ticket and payments in airport.

In T&T human, cultural and natural resources Armenia upped by 13
positions to 94th place due to labor market flexibility.

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 was compiled by the
World Economic Forum.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization
committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business,
political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global,
regional and industry agendas.

Economy and Values Research Center is a partner of Global
Competitiveness Network. -0-

From: Baghdasarian

IT’S HARD FOR TSARUKYAN
Haik Aramyan

11:25 07/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

The Armenian press is again focused on Gagik Tsarukyan and Prosperous
Armenia. The reason is Tsarukyan-Raffi Hovannisian meeting, and the
PAP political board meeting.

The meeting was nothing. As Richard Giragossian says, PAP is already a
political corpse. PAP political program failed during the parliamentary
elections, it didn’t nominate president, while Tsarukyan’s visit to
Brussels finally removed him from the list of international partners.

It seems that the so-called Russian line has also failed. The Russian
authorities want to cooperate with Serzh Sargsyan’s administration,
and the Russians seem to have weakened the so-called “internal”
demands. In general, we can see slow but stable trends to upgrade
the Armenian-Russian relations. Armenia and Russia have no other way
since otherwise their problems will further deepen. The “traditional”
methods are set aside and the necessity occurs to establish new tools.

Besides, Moscow can’t enter into a confrontation taking into account
the current state of Armenia-West relations. PAP is not an actual
partner for Moscow but a “burden” while the current political period is
characterized by tendencies to get rid of ballast in both international
relations and domestic affairs.

PAP being a group of people who have gathered around an individual
with uncertain ideology and aims has been unable to display the
necessary flexibility and adjustment to the new situation. The
involvement of Oskanian and a few other “political” figures did not
help either. PAP does not want to become a political organization
with clear and transparent mechanisms of decision-making. It is a
copy of the ruling party while the original will always prevail.

The only “political” claim of the Prosperous Armenia party is
government, particularly the post of prime minister. But, PAP was even
unable to “politicize” this issue, rendering it to “blackmail”. At
the same time, there were hints that Moscow wants the PAP’s presence
in the government and in the office of the prime minister. According
to press reports, Serzh Sargsyan rejected such a possibility and will
do it during his visit to Moscow, though Moscow is not going to put
forth this demand.

Tsarukyan’s sacral statement at the PAP board meeting that “our
people” came to power in Georgia, again reveals its inadequacy. First,
Ivanishvili is not going to change the foreign political bias of
Georgia, as he said. The only issue is that Saakashvili is unbearable
for the Russian leaders, even at the personal level, and therefore
Ivanishvili was chosen. In Armenia, there is no such an issue.

Everyone is businessmen covered with the political veil.

Under these conditions, it is perhaps time for Armenia and Tsarukyan
to get rid of the “burden” of the Prosperous Armenia Party. In the
meantime, the PAP electorate of “500 thousand” has already passed to
someone else.

From: Baghdasarian

RAFFI HOVHNNISIAN METS PRESIDENT OF BUNDESTAG

13:12 07.03.2013

Raffi K. Hovannisian today met with Norbert Lammert, President of the
Bundestag, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. During
their one-hour meeting, Hovhnnisian and Lammert discussed the
extraordinary situation created in Armenia after the February 18
presidential vote.

“The will of the Armenian people must be respected,” Hovhnnisian said,
“and in view of its own track record of facing its own history of
genocide and becoming a leader in the democratic world, the Federal
Republic of united Germany, instead of supporting authoritarianism
and fraudulent elections, might respect the democratic movement and
the clear-cut will of the people expressed on February 18.”

From: Baghdasarian

AUTRICHE : UNE ADHESION DE LA TURQUIE A L’UE SOUMISE A REFERENDUM

L’eventuelle integration de la Turquie a l’Union europeenne (UE) sera
soumise a un referendum en Autriche, a prevenu mercredi le chancelier
autrichien, le social-democrate Werner Faymann, au cours d’une
rencontre avec son homologue turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Vienne.

“L’Autriche est toujours favorable a un processus de negociation
ouvert, qui prenne en compte la capacite d’assimilation de l’Union
europeenne. Pour une adhesion de la Turquie, l’Autriche organisera
un referendum”, a explique le chancelier Faymann, dans un communique
publie a la suite de la rencontre entre les deux chefs de gouvernement.

Le 25 fevrier, pendant un deplacement en Turquie, la chancelière
allemande, la conservatrice Angela Merkel, avait evoque la possibilite
de relancer avec prudence le processus d’adhesion de ce pays a l’UE.

La Turquie a amorce en 2005 des negociations en vue de rejoindre
l’Union europeenne, mais les pourparlers pietinent, en raison de
l’hostilite de pays europeens comme la France et l’Allemagne a sa
pleine adhesion, mais aussi de blocages d’Ankara, notamment sur Chypre.

La situation en Syrie, et les relations economiques entre l’Autriche
et la Turquie ont egalement ete abordees au cours de la rencontre.

L’Autriche est le deuxième investisseur etranger en Turquie derrière
l’Allemagne.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan se trouve a Vienne pour le 5e Forum organise par
l’Organisation des Nations unies (ONU) pour promouvoir le dialogue
entre les religions et entre les peuples (UNAOC).

jeudi 7 mars 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

MAYOR, LOCALS HAPPY WITH ARMENIAN WOMAN MURDER ARREST

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 6 2013

Istanbul’s Fatih district mayor, Mustafa Demir, has expressed his
satisfaction with the arrest of M. N., the sole suspect in the
investigation of multiple assaults against elderly Armenian women,
which resulted in one death.

“Before his arrest there were provocative and discriminative
scenarios,” he told the Hurriyet Daily News in a phone interview
yesterday. “But the history of these people, who have been living
together in Samatya for 550 years, should not be forgotten. No matter
if they are Turks, Armenians or Muslims, the fact is there is a petty
crime here,” Demir said.

The 38-year-old suspect, who is said to be a Turkish citizen of
Armenian origin, was detained March 4. An Istanbul judge later ruled
to arrest the suspect.

Demir also said that because the assaulted were all elderly women
living alone, it is safe to say the victims were targeted for their
vulnerability rather than for their identities. “First of all,
as Fatih mayor, I am happy about the arrest of the suspect. Also,
I would like to thank Samatya Surp Kevork Church authorities for
their calm attitude,” he said.

On Dec. 28, 2012, Maritsa Kucuk was stabbed seven times before her
throat was slit in her home in Samatya. Two other attacks were carried
out in the same month against elderly Armenian women in the Samatya
and Bakýrkoy districts as well. One of the women, 87-year-old Turfanda
Aþýk, lost an eye, while another was robbed and severely injured.

84-year-old Sultan Akyar was attacked in Samatya and needed eye
surgery.

Leading figures of the Armenian community told the Daily News the
suspect was not known among the community.

Aþýk’s grand daughter-in-law Arev Cebeci said they were following
the developments closely.

“At least it seems that the assaults were not race crimes. The suspect
is an Armenian who converted to Islam. It is being said that he lives
in Samatya and receives aids from the church, but such information
does not exist in church records,” Cebeci said. However, he said he
still had doubts. “They said it was a robbery attempt but he stole
only jewelry that did not have [much] material value,” Cebeci said.

Arsen Arþýk, a former academic from Boðazici University and an
acquaintance of two of the victims, called on the public not to regard
the attacks as hate crimes.

M.N. was previously convicted of theft on two separate accounts,
reports said. He had been staying on the basement floor of a hostel
in a nearby neighborhood when he was caught by police.

March/06/2013

From: Baghdasarian

TONY IOMMI WRITES ARMENIA’S EUROVISION SONG CONTEST ANTHEM

Express, UK
March 6 2013

BLACK SABBATH star TONY IOMMI has penned Armenia’s 2013 Eurovision
Song Contest entry.

The guitar great’s Lonely Planet was shortlisted last week
(ends01Mar13) and the song was picked as the official Armenian anthem
on Saturday (02Mar13).

Iommi has taken to his official blog to share the news, writing,
“Well here’s something different, one of my demo ideas has been chosen
as the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest!

“It went on a short list and Saturday night was voted as the winner. I
did the music and the performing band Dorians wrote the lyrics…

They’re a good band, the singer has a really good voice and the lyrics
they’ve written are in English. It now goes to the semi-final on May
16th in Malmo, Sweden.”

The rocker has had strong ties to Armenia ever since he took part
in Rock Aid, a concert to benefit victims of a 1988 earthquake. He
received Armenia’s Order of Honour in 2009.

All eyes will be on Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest in May (13)
after the nation’s leaders withdrew from the competition last year
(12) in protest against host country Azerbaijan. The two countries
have been on the verge of war for years.

From: Baghdasarian

MP ACCUSES MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI OF ATTEMPTS TO EMBROIL GEORGIANS WITH ARMENIANS

NEWS.AM
March 06, 2013 | 18:07

President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili is trying to embroil Georgians
with the Armenian people by the end of his unsuccessful political
career, Georgian MP of Armenian origin Ruslan Poghosyan said.

His remark came in response to Saakashvili’s remark on threat of
forming Armenian autonomy in Javakhk.

He labeled President’s statement as an act of sabotage, and assured
that Javakhk has always been and will remain one of the oldest parts
of Georgia, Gruziya Online reported.

“President’s duty is not to sow hatred and enmity, but love and
goodness,” Pogosyan said.

From: Baghdasarian