Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

WHAT DID SERZH SARGSYAN WARN HAYRIKYAN ABOUT WHILE VISITING HIM IN THE HOSPITAL?

February 12 2013

“I cannot quite understand how a person on the right side of 60
can express absolutely different opinions a few times a day,” Ruben
Mehrabyan, an expert of the Center for Political and International
Studies, said in response to a question of what the logic
of P. Hayrikyan’s moves was. According to the political scientist,
the time will come and Hayrikyan will give that answer. R.

Mehrabyan thinks that Hayrikyan’s moves don’t have a political
explanation. Mr. Mehrabyan wished to “have a clear conscience” and
didn’t comment on the news that these moves of Hayrikyan were made to
grab an office. In recent days, the fact that President Serzh Sargsyan
had visited P. Hayrikyan twice has been exploited too. Mr. Mehrabyan
said in this regard: “I am sure that besides inquiring about his
health, they also discussed his future steps during these meetings.”

Armen Badalyan, an expert in political and electoral technologies,
thinks that S. Sargsyan explained certain things and warned
Hayrikyan during the meetings in the hospital and goes into detail:
“The incumbent president might explain that Hayrikyan shouldn’t
try to play an active role in the theatrical act under way and try
to attach importance to his filing or not filing a petition in the
Constitutional Court. Hayrikyan doesn’t carry political weight to
try to grab something, since the president has a lot more resources
to turn this whole joke to Hayrikyan’s disadvantage. No one can
guarantee that the arrested drug addicts will not say during an
interrogation that it was arranged by Hayrikyan. In all probability,
the incumbent president explained to Hayrikyan that he shouldn’t
cherish any hopes to gain dividends from this process. He will not
gain anything anyway.” A. Badalyan describes Hayrikyan’s moves as an
attempt “to grab journalists’ attention.” As for getting an office,
he states: “If the incumbent president wants to give an office to
him, he will do it without any incident. If he doesn’t want, he
will not do it. At the end of the day, one should understand that it
didn’t matter whether Hayrikyan would or wouldn’t file a petition in
the Constitutional Court, since the Constitutional Court is not an
independent legal system. It is an office attached to the Presidential
Palace that carries out certain projects. Whether the election would
be postponed or not was to be decided in the Presidential Palace
too. Only equal parties bargain. And if one party is the president,
and it doesn’t matter what percentage of votes the other party will
win, there is no bargaining between such forces, and there is no
buying or selling of offices between such forces.” In conclusion,
A. Badalyan stated that the forces that wished to turn the election
into a joke have managed to do that, and it is already clear that
the incumbent president is not legitimate.

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

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From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN OLIGARCHS, PRESIDENTS ‘CLEARING THE COUNTRY OF ITS WEALTH’ – EX-ACTIVIST

TERT.AM
15:09 ~U 13.02.13

Armenian oligarchs and presidents are “clearing the country of its
wealth” and using it to enjoy themselves abroad, Ashot Manucharyan,
a Karabakh committee member, told journalists on Wednesday.

All the presidential candidates are speaking of how they can weaken
the “system of plunder.”

“Mass plunder of the country is taking place, without anything else
existing,” Mr Manucharyan said.

According to him, the upcoming presidential election will be completely
rigged. “There exists a global system of plunder named European
civilization. And we can see the results in Armenia,” he said.

According to Mr Manucharyan, the Armenian people made only one real
choice in 1988-1990.

“It is most important to reject the upcoming election. But taking
part in the voting is important for people in terms of not losing
their jobs. The presidential candidates that branded the election a
‘fake’ and the ones that are turning it into a ludicrous process are
the same,” Mr Manucharyan said.

From: Baghdasarian

Winnipeg Free Press
Feb 13 2013

Kourtney Kardashian begs fan for help

By: Bang Showbiz

Kourtney Kardashian has begged her fans to become bone marrow donors.

The reality TV star – who has two children, Mason, three, and
Penelope, eight months, with her long-term boyfriend Scott Disick –
issued an appeal in support of her cousin Cici, who urgently requires
a transplant.

The 33-year-old beauty opened up about the tragic news on her blog on
Tuesday (02.12.13), writing: “My cousin Cici recently found out that
after 17 years of battling cancer, her body has stopped responding to
the chemotherapy and she desperately needs a bone marrow stem cell
transplant.

“Because Cici is of Armenian descent she needs to receive bone marrow
from an Armenian donor, which means the pool of options is a lot
smaller and she’s having a difficult time finding a match. We are
asking that any of you who are Armenian, have Armenian friends or
extended family members consider signing up as a donor at the bone
marrow registry, in hopes that we can find a match for Cici and give
our beloved cousin many more years to live.”

Kourtney explained that the procedure to donate marrow is quick and
nonsurgical and is similar to giving blood.

She said: “Because Cici is 100% Armenian the need for an Armenian
donor is the most important. She has aligned herself with the Armenian
bone marrow donor bank and you can get more info here: ”

The ‘Kourtney & Kim Take Miami’ star’s appeal follows a similar one
made by her younger sister Khloe, 28, earlier this month, who also
begged fans to help her family.

From: Baghdasarian

Straight.com
Feb 13 2013

Armenian cello star Narek Hakhnazaryan seduces Vancouver Recital
Society audience

by Alexander Varty on Feb 13, 2013 at 12:25 pm

Narek Hakhnazaryan
With Noreen Polera. A Vancouver Recital Society production. At the
Vancouver Playhouse on Sunday, February 10. No remaining performances

`Did you like that razzle-dazzle?’ asked one presumably
less-than-impressed patron during intermission, but his cynical query
fell on unsympathetic ears. `I loved it!’ countered his companion, and
there’s no doubt she was voicing the majority opinion. Narek
Hakhnazaryan’s Vancouver debut brought a capacity crowd out on a sunny
Sunday afternoon, and that audience was effusive in its approval.

It’s undeniable that there was an element of show-biz razzle in the
young Armenian cellist’s program, which was calculated to seduce.
Opening with César Franck’s Sonata in A Major is a surefire way to
make a good first impression. It takes a really good cellist to nail
the opening `Allegretto ben moderato’ ‘s blend of swooning intensity
and careful pacing, and Hakhnazaryan did just that, aided by the
impeccable Noreen Polera on piano.

Speaking of sonic glitter, Frédéric Chopin apparently described his
own Introduction and Polonaise Brillante as having `nothing to it but
dazzle’, at least in its original incarnation as a violin showcase.
Any thoughts that the darker cello would unearth a layer of deeper
meaning were denied by Hakhnazaryan’s flamboyant performance – but both
his 1698 David Tecchler instrument and Chopin’s 182-year-old work
sounded as fresh as tomorrow.

Which was a nice segue into a second half that began with two works by
living composers, and that touched on some more sombre themes. Anyone
disappointed by Hakhnazaryan’s decision not to perform György Ligeti’s
Sonata for Solo Cello, as advertised, was more than mollified by its
replacement, Armenian composer Adam Khudoyan’s Sonata No. 1 for Solo
Cello. Dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians killed by Turkish forces
during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, it opens with an
impersonation of tolling bells and continues in a similarly mournful
manner. This is one tough elegy, though, marked by passages of
jazz-inflected pizzicato, eerie artificial harmonics, and the
effective use of traditional Armenian melodies.

One caveat: the Khudoyan piece rendered Mikhail Bronner’s The Jew:
Life and Death, which followed, mildly redundant.

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s moody Nocturne made an effective transition
into the same composer’s far more upbeat Pezzo Capriccioso, Op. 62,
and the fireworks towards the end of the cellist’s encore: Niccolo
Paganini’s Variations on a Theme From Moses in Egypt, also known as
Introduction and Variations on One String. As the alternate title
suggests, this is played entirely on the cello’s A string – but
Hakhnazaryan made it music.

From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I WILL PRESIDE OVER THE LENTEN PRAYER SERVICES
AT ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR CATHEDRAL IN ANTELIAS

11 February 2013 the faithful in the Armenian Orthodox Church began 40 days
of Lent, a period of praying, self-inquiry and fasting. Prayer services will
be held on Wednesdays and Fridays; His Holiness Aram I will preside over the
service and the faithful will do the chanting. After the service, the clergy
will lead Bible studies and meditations.

From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES THE SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN
CELEBRATING PAREGENTAN (THE GREAT LIVING DAY) BEFORE LENT

On Sunday 10 February after the Holy Liturgy, the Sunday school children,
disguised in carnival costumes, with their parents and teachers met His
Holiness Aram I and received his blessings. He commended the lively Sunday
Schools and noted that these schools in all the dioceses of the
Catholicosate have been teaching religious education since their
establishment by the Catholicosate in 1930.

##
Photos:

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S GOVERNMENT TO CREATE ARMENIAN-LANGUAGE DIGITAL LIBRARY

TERT.AM
12:52 ~U 13.02.13

Armenia’s government plans to create an Armenian-language digital
library.

The library is supposed to ensure access to materials pertaining to
Armenian studies both in libraries and on line.

Users will be able to download digital materials free of charge except
for cases listed by Armenia’s copyright law.

The National Library of Armenia will coordinate the work. Among
the priorities are written records, documents, specimens of special
historical and cultural importance, as well as documents on Armenian
studies.

From: Baghdasarian

DES TERRES ARMENIENNES LOUEES A L’IRAN

L’ambassadeur d’Iran en Armenie a defendu le projet iranien de louer
des terres pour l’elevage des moutons dans les montagnes armeniennes
mardi. Mohammad Reisi a insiste sur le fait qu’un tel arrangement
serait extremement benefique pour le secteur agricole en Armenie et
pour une augmentation des exportations de betail vers la Republique
islamique. Les terres louees se trouvent dans la province de Syunik,
a la frontière de l’Iran. Le gouvernement armenien a confirme les
negociations preliminaires sur la question entre l’administration
provinciale et les autorites.

Surik Khachatrian, le gouverneur de Syunik, s’est deja rendu dans les
terres qui devraient etre louees. Le projet suscite des inquietudes au
sujet de la protection de l’environnement et des groupes d’opposition
a Erevan. Ils ont averti des consequences negatives sur les plans
ecologique, economique et politique. Certains critiques ont denonce
le fait meme de louer des terres armeniennes a un Etat etranger.

Le gouvernement armenien a repondu a ces preoccupations avec
l’assurance que rien n’a ete convenu pour le moment. Il a egalement
promis d’assurer la transparence dans le processus de negociation
armeno-iranienne.

L’ambassadeur M.Reisi a egalement nie que les deux parties sont
parvenues a un accord definitif. ” Si un document est signe, il ne
peut pas etre garde secret et devra certainement etre approuve par les
parlements des deux pays. L’Armenie est un pays agricole et dispose
d’un grand potentiel pour l’elevage du betail. Malheureusement,
la taille de son cheptel n’est pas suffisant “, a-t-il declare lors
d’une conference.

Reisi a affirme que la location aidera a augmenter rapidement le
nombre de moutons et de bovins en Armenie a 7 millions d’euros. ”
L’Armenie peut exporter de 2 a 3.000.000 moutons en l’Iran chaque
annee “, a-t-il dit. Les exportations de moutons armeniens en Iran
ont deja fortement augmente au cours des dernières annees.

mercredi 13 fevrier 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

AGBU Sister Schools Complete Another Exciting Student Exchange Program

Marie Manoogian Institute Students Return Home Ready to Host
Californian Peers in Buenos Aires this July

Youth from the AGBU Marie Manoogian Institute in Buenos Aires and the
AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School (MDS) in Los Angeles may live
thousands of miles apart, but they became the closest of friends
during this winter’s Student Exchange Program. Now in its 14th year,
the annual AGBU program recently brought 18 students from Argentina to
California, where, for three unforgettable weeks, they learned,
created and explored alongside their peers.

From the moment the Marie Manoogian students stepped off the plane on
Friday, January 11, 2013, until their farewell party on Friday,
February 1, 2013, they had a complete cultural immersion experience:
they lived with host families, enrolled in MDS courses and ventured
out on local excursions. The diverse group was filled with Armenian as
well as non-Armenian youth; for decades, the school has attracted
families from all across Buenos Aires seeking a high-quality
education, and the exchange program’s integrated curriculum opened
every participant’s eyes to a new and exciting world abroad.

Accompanied by their English Department coordinator Miriam Boghossian
Tabakian – who created the program with AGBU Central Board member
Carol Aslanian in 1999 – the exchange students enjoyed a full
itinerary. Every school day, MDS teachers welcomed the 10th and 11th
graders into their classrooms, where they studied English
conversation, writing and literature, as well as American and Armenian
history. The students traded pens for paintbrushes during art classes
with their MDS peers, and discovered some of the greatest works from
the Renaissance to the 20th century when they joined their new MDS
friends on a field trip to the Getty Museum. In between, special class
periods helped the youth master the footwork of traditional Armenian
dances, skills they displayed during the lunch on the last day of
their stay.

When weekends arrived, the exchange students had even more to look
forward to – spending time with the 12 host families who generously
opened their homes, and visiting famous tourist attractions. With an
outing to Universal Studios, where they got a behind-the-scenes look
at legendary movie and television sets, as well as a trip to
Disneyland, the group found the perfect balance between recreation and
education.

A special gathering organized by the MDS Parent Teacher Organization
gave the students and their host families the opportunity to reflect
on everything they had learned and experienced prior to their
departure. During the event, which drew 60 guests, the students,
parents and educators each took the podium to share highlights from
this year’s visit and the program’s positive impact. As MDS Principal
Mr. Hagop Hagopian stated, “The intrinsic value of the student
exchange program between the AGBU schools in Buenos Aires and Canoga
Park lies in the lifelong memories and lasting friendships that have
been created among participating students since 1999, as much as the
learning experiences and cultural enrichment derived from it. Special
thanks to host parents, teachers, administrators, and AGBU leadership
for their support and invaluable contributions for the continuing
success of this wonderful program.” Mr. Hagopian also awarded each
student with a certificate of completion officially documenting their
participation in the program.

After three fun-filled weeks, it was difficult for the MDS and Marie
Manoogian students to say goodbye to one another. Thankfully, they
won’t have to wait too long before they meet again. This July, the MDS
students will travel to Buenos Aires for their chance to see a new
city – and catch up with old friends.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please
visit

From: Baghdasarian

FRANCE SEEKING TO SATISFY ARMENIANS, TURKEY OVER GENOCIDE ISSUE

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 12 2013

French Senator Nathalie Goulet has said France is seeking to find
a solution to the issue of the so-called Armenian genocide ahead of
the 100th anniversary of the events of 1915 which will satisfy both
Armenia and Turkey.

“France is discussing the case with the Turkish government to find a
solution that will satisfy Armenians, but at the same time will not
have a shock effect on Turkey,” Goulet told the Cihan news agency
on Tuesday.

Goulet also said French President Francois Hollande is planning to
display a decisive stance on the issue.

Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision
in February 2012 by France’s constitutional court to strike down a
genocide denial law proposing to make it illegal to deny the Armenian
genocide in France as contrary to free speech. Ties between the two
countries looked to be resurrected after the election of President
Hollande, who had signaled readiness to abandon the contentious
law to criminalize denial of Armenian claims of genocide. However,
no steps have been made as of yet.

Armenia, backed by many historians, says that about 1.5 million
Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War
I in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

Turkey says there was heavy loss of life on both sides during the
fighting, in which Armenian partisans supported invading Russian
forces. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after the war. Successive Turkish
governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide
is an insult to their nation.

Noting that Turkish-French relations have been gaining momentum
recently, Goulet said the Armenian issue is the biggest obstacle to
healthy bilateral relations. She also noted how big and powerful the
Armenian diaspora in France is, adding that the French government is
not going to overlook Turkey this time.

From: Baghdasarian