Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

EUROVISION
Compass band représentera l’Arménie à l’Eurovision Junior 2012

C’est le groupe Compass band avec leur chanson « Sweetie baby » qui
représentera l’Arménie à l’Eurovision Junior 2012. Le finale du
concours diffusée à la Chaîne de télévision publique d’Arménie opposa
17 candidats. Le groupe géorgien Candy vainqueur de l’Eurovision
Junior 2011 et le chanteur André qui a participé à l’Eurovision 2006
étaient les invités d’honneur. Le groupe Compass band gagna par le
vote par sms complété d’un jury de professionnels. Le 10e concours de
l’Eurovision Junior 2012 se déroulera le 1er décembre aux Pays Bas.
L4Arm2nie a participé pour la première fous à ces compétitions en 2007
avec le groupe « Arévner » et la chanson « Yérazank » qui prit la 2e
place du concours. Lors de l’Eurovision Junior 2010 à Minsk
(Biélorussie), le représentant de l’Arménien Vladimir Arzoumanian avec
la chanson « Mama » gagna le concours, permettant à l’Arménie
d’organiser à Erévan l’Eurovision Junior 2011. Pour l’Arménie, Dalita
avec sa chanson Welcome to Arménia avaient pris la 5e place.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 6 octobre 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Russie-Turquie-Syrie-conflit-frontière
Damas doit reconnaître l’incident tragique du bombardement en Turquie

Les autorités syriennes ont assuré la Russie que le bombardement en
Turquie était un `incident tragique`, et Moscou juge primordial que
cela soit annoncé officiellement, a déclaré le ministre russe des
Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov, cité par les agences depuis
Islamabad.

`Nous sommes entrés en contact par l’intermédiaire de notre
ambassadeur avec les autorités syriennes, qui nous ont assuré, ainsi
qu’à l’émissaire international Lakhdar Brahimi, que ce qui s’est passé
à la frontière avec la Turquie était un incident tragique, et que cela
ne se reproduirait pas`, a déclaré M. Lavrov.

`Nous estimons primordial que Damas le déclare officiellement`, a-t-il ajouté.

A Moscou, le porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères
Alexandre Loukachevitch a appelé à la `retenue`.

`Nous appelons les deux parties à la retenue, au respect de la
souveraineté`, a-t-il déclaré.

`Nous estimons important qu’une approche mesurée, fondée sur les faits
réels, soit pratiquée au Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, ainsi que par
les principaux acteurs internationaux et régionaux`, a-t-il ajouté.

Moscou avait déjà appelé mardi les pays de l’Otan et du Moyen-Orient à
ne pas prendre `prétexte` d’incidents à la frontière turco-syrienne
pour une intervention militaire contre Damas.

Mercredi, des obus tirés depuis la Syrie ont fait cinq morts et neuf
blessés à Akçakale, situé à la frontière avec la Syrie et déjà touché
ces derniers jours par des balles et des obus perdus lors des combats
entre armée et rebelles syriens.

Quelques heures plus tard, la Turquie a tiré en représailles sur les
environs du poste-frontière syrien de Tall al-Abyad, juste en face
d’Akçakale.

Cette riposte a tué `plusieurs soldats syriens`, selon une ONG.

L’armée turque a repris jeudi matin ses tirs d’artillerie vers le
territoire syrien, a indiqué à l’AFP une source sécuritaire turque.

La Russie, allié traditionnel de Damas, n’a cessé de dénoncer la
politique d’`ingérence` occidentale et a bloqué jusqu’à présent toute
résolution ouvrant la porte à des mesures contraignantes pour le
régime syrien au Conseil de Sécurité de l’ONU, où elle dispose d’un
droit de veto en qualité de membre permanent.

samedi 6 octobre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian-Czech business forum to be held in November

news.am
October 05, 2012 | 22:52

YEREVAN. – Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan received on Friday Chargé
d’Affaires of Czech Republic to Armenia Petr Mikyska.

Armenia is interested in reinforcing relations with Czech Republic,
Government press service reports. The trade turnover is low, while
both countries should work on making it more diverse and there is
potential for it. Moreover, the joint business forum scheduled for
November will promote the establishment of new contacts.

The sides discussed issues of Armenia’s European integration, and the
PM stressed the importance of launching the talks on deep and
comprehensive free trade agreement. Mikyska stressed that Czech
Republic is ready to support Armenia within Eastern Partnership to
realize reforms.

The PM also thanked Czech Republic for its balanced policy on Artsakh
[Nagorno-Karabakh] and condemning Azeri killer Safarov’s extradition.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia and Korea to cooperate in IT development

news.am
October 05, 2012 | 23:08

YEREVAN. – Cooperation between Armenia and South Korea in the
development of IT should be reinforced, Korean delegation head to
DigiTec 2012, commercial attaché of South Korea to Russia told
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

To note, representatives of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Armenia
participate in the DigiTec.

Korean guests thanked the Armenian Government for the invitation and
stressed the Consul General of Armenia to Korea Armen Abrahamyan’s
efforts. According to them, it is high time for Armenia and Korea to
get acquainted with each other as Korea presents its achievements in
the IT field and desires to be aware of Armenia’ level of development.

From: Baghdasarian

Buckinhamshire Free Press,UK
Oct 5 2012

International band Viza are ready to set the stage alight on Saturday

2:00pm Friday 5th October 2012
By Victoria MacFarlaine

ARMENIAN metallers Viza are ready to set the stage alight with their
energetic and unique fusion of sound as they support System of a Down
frontman Serj Tankian on his solo headline shows.

Here Victoria MacFarlaine speaks to oud musician Andrew Kzirian, 34,
about the dedication of UK fans and what’s next for the band.

You are supporting Serj Tankian at Shepherds Bush this weekend. You
must be extremely excited about that?

Yes. It is something we are looking forward to doing. He is a really
great artist and a really good supporter so we are looking forward to
playing those shows. Are you more a fan of his solo work or System of
a Down?

Well both. Obviously with System that was his first project, and they
wrote a lot of great music, did a lot of great things and had many
achievements. And I think he’s been exploring another side of his work
and that’s been very interesting too.

How did you meet Serj?

In 2010, in August, it was the first time we toured with him. We went
with him for his European tour for about three and a half weeks, I
think it was. And that was after we released our previous album, Made
in Chernobyl.

He took a very active role with that as executive producer and he also
sang as a guest vocalist on Viktor. So we had a very good relationship
with him, he was coming to shows and we had mutual contacts and
friends.

He was interested in getting involved and we welcomed that of course.
He has done so much. We were like a younger group looking for
guidance. That was something that was very cool for us, obviously.

Do you enjoy playing in the UK?

Our first show was August 1st at the Borderline. It was our first time
to playing in London and the UK overall, and the show went really
well, the crowd was great. It was a midweek show and we still had a
good draw.

There is something really special about the music scene in the United
Kingdom with the rock there and all the great names like the Beatles
and The Stones, so it was a really great time for us to make our mark
on the UK.

Are the UK fans different to those in America?

I think there is a different attitude towards music in general, even
with Europe overall, there is a different appreciation I think for
live music and rock. In the US it is there but has just changed over
time.

So a lot of our success really has been in Europe and the UK too. That
has to do with touring with Serj and reaching a lot of fans. There is
just a different approach to music there.

When you walk outside you see lots of people lined up for shows. In
the US, unless they are really huge, huge, huge names, that same
attention to music isn’t quite as comparable. It is just something
that we have noticed over the past few years.

What inspired you to start playing the oud?

That’s an interesting question you ask. I’m of Armenian descent, like
the other members of the group. Although I am of Armenian descent like
them, I was interested in the family history, and geographically where
they are from, and the region that my ancestors are from is an area
where the oud was a very prominent instrument.

So, growing up, I was very involved in Armenian culture, and went to
an Armenian school, and had Armenian friends as a youngster, so the
oud was a natural habitat for me and although I’d always studied
guitar and that was a natural instrument for me, and I played a lot of
rock music, like a lot of my contemporaries I was a product of the
Seattle music scene.

Listening to Metallica, like the Pearl Jams, the Nirvanas, and bands
like that, and other very heavy music, and bands like Rage and Tool
and System obviously. So when I grew up I would learn my chops on
there. Viza was where I could mix the two and I had always kind of
personally done that with my writing, with my own creative musical
exploration, when I was working in Viza I could insert the instrument
into it so we could all write together and blend it.

That is one of the things that makes it more interesting and unique,
in terms of the instrumentation and the melodies.

How would you describe your own music?

Just when I am meeting people for the first time I am always curious
where they learned about us and what their impression is. Most people
have told me, it’s usually one of a few different things, you usually
sound like a mix of band A and band D, and they have heard System of a
Down and Gogol Bordello.

Then I have heard, you don’t sound like anything, that it’s a new
thing that you cannot really categorise. I don’t know where I stand. I
mean I like the fact that with my fellow band members that we write
something that does sound like something new, the music is always the
influences and sources from something, and we all grew up listening to
something at some point.

It is hard to just nail it down, but there are many influences which
will be shown here and there in the music we play.

You were called Visa before – why did you change it?

So we were around in the early 2000s, it was a very different project,
more of an idea. Then over time a lot of our members moved from New
York to Los Angeles, and the music we played was a little more
traditional sounding, not quite so much the edgier rock influence we
have now, so as the band was progressing, I think it was around 2010,
but then much more recently, as our song writing and desire was moving
forward in a rock and metal direction with that gypsy style.

We just kind of made it clear we were moving in a new direction so we
decided to make that subtle but noticeable change in the name to
signal we were continuing to evolve and develop our style.

What’s next for Viza?

Oh, so much (laughs). We are looking forward to this tour that’s
coming up. That’s something that is going to be really important for
us. It’s a part of our fan-building for us,.

After that, we are looking forward to doing a lot of writing, to
continue to be putting music out there and share that. And we have
been very active with our media and marketing and that is something we
are doing in the US with a huge radio campaign in north America.

We are covering many different bases, but on the creative side it is
going to be song writing where we would like to put a few things out.

The beauty of what we do, I’m not saying it’s unpredictable, but
because we have so many influences and because we are so inclusive of
what we do, there is no telling [if the style may change] but the last
two albums we have done, have been more on the aggressive side.

I think we are probably going to stay within that range but also mix
it up aswell.

Viza will be playing The London 02 Shepherds Bush on Saturday, October
7, Manchester University on October 8 and Birmingham on October 10.

Their latest album Carnivalia is out now.

For more on the band see

From: Baghdasarian

Worcester Telegram, MA
Oct 5 2012

Kevorkian estate, Watertown museum settle over artwork

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A dispute has been settled between Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s estate and a
suburban Boston museum over the ownership of 17 of the
assisted-suicide advocate’s paintings, and some of them could end up
being sold, a lawyer said.

The executor of Kevorkian’s estate, Michigan-based attorney Mayer
Morganroth, said that under the agreement the Armenian Library and
Museum of America in Watertown, Mass., will keep four paintings and 13
will be returned to Kevorkian’s estate to benefit Kevorkian’s niece,
Ava Janus of Troy, Mich.

“Of course we are happy it’s resolved,” Morganroth told The Detroit
News ( ) for a story published Friday. “The
settlement recognizes the need for his art to be preserved … while
returning artwork to his heir.”

Arrangements are being made for the return of the 13 paintings, which
Morganroth said he expects will be offered for sale at art galleries.

The museum sued in federal court in Massachusetts last year ahead of a
New York auction. It claimed Kevorkian donated the art in 1999. His
estate said he loaned it to the museum for an exhibit and subsequent
storage. According to federal court records, an order dismissing the
lawsuit was entered last month.

The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment museum lawyers Friday.

Kevorkian died in 2011 at age 83. His estate had estimated the value
of the 17 paintings at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, but the New York
auction was dampened by the legal battle. Images of the paintings were
displayed at the auction instead of the actual works because the
museum wouldn’t send them.

“We had opening bids of $100,000 for some,” Morganroth said. “But when
we told interested persons we couldn’t guarantee delivery because of
the pending litigation, the bids dropped off.”

Kevorkian sparked the national right-to-die debate with a homemade
suicide machine that helped end the lives of about 130 ailing people.
He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 for assisting in the
1998 death of a Michigan man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was
released from prison in 2007.

From: Baghdasarian

Mediamax, Armenia
Oct 5 2012

Medical institutions bought medicines at three times higher prices

Yerevan/Mediamax/. A number of hospitals bought medicines from
companies producing, importing and selling medicines without a tender.

Presenting the results of studies carried out in this sphere, Chief
Expert of the Analytical Department of the State Committee for the
Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) of Armenia, Manuk
Mikaelyan, said that it was up to medical institutions to decide from
where to buy medicines and they bought them even at three times higher
prices, Mediamax reports.

According to him, the market price for `Amloditin’, which has a vital
social importance, makes AMD 850, however the hospitals bought it for
AMD 4800.

The expert noted that Shirak, Lori and Yerevan are on the first three
places by the number of violations. He went on adding that the medical
institutions cooperated with specific drugstores, sending their
patients there. Thus, over AMD 1.5bln damage has been caused to the
state budget.

According to SCPEC decision, the facts on the embezzlement of public
funds and abuse will be sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

From: Baghdasarian

Mediamax, Armenia
Oct 5 2012

Armenian-Turkish business conference kicks off in Yerevan

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The forth Armenian-Turkish business conference
kicked off in Yerevan today.

Over 50 Turkish businessmen attend the conference, organized within
the framework of `Assistance to the improvement of Armenian-Turkish
relations’ program of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen
(Employers) of Armenia (UMB(E)A). The conference will focus on the
current stage of Armenian-Turkish business relations, prospects and
cooperation.

`Businessmen from Eastern Anatolia and Western Armenia participate in
this conference. The development of relations with the businessmen of
the neighboring country has a vital significance for them. They are
our soldiers in the program for opening the borders and improving
relations,’ the head of (UMB(E)A) Arsen Ghazaryan said.

`We hope that during these meetings we will better study the Armenian
market, find ways to create conditions for the trade turnover between
Armenian and Turkish markets as well as for the future development of
trade and economic relations between two countries,’ the President of
Van Young Businessmen’s Association, Qadri Salaz, said.

According to Arsen Ghazaryan, the annual turnover of goods imported to
Armenia from Turkey ranges from $150 to $200 million. The annual
volume of Armenian goods exported to Turkey with no Armenian
certificate of origin makes $10-20 million.

From: Baghdasarian

Interfax, Russia
Oct 4 2012

Time has come for Armenian soldiers to leave Karabakh – Azeri president

BAKU. Oct 4

Armenia ought to abide by international organizations’ resolutions and
withdraw its forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territory as part of
efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully, Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev said.

“The time has come to resolve this conflict. Armenia should obey the
norms of international law and withdraw its troops from the Azeri
land, after which genuine peace and stability will be restored in the
region,” Aliyev said at an international humanitarian forum in Baku on
Thursday.

International organizations have adopted numerous decisions in support
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, the president said.

“But, regrettably, we lack a mechanism to put these decisions into
practice, which is disrupting trust in them and their implementation,”
Aliyev said.

Four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and other
international organizations demanding that Armenian soldiers leave
Azerbaijan’s territories have not been implemented yet, he said,
blaming the Armenian leadership’s attempt to maintain the status quo
for it.

“However, this status quo cannot last forever. It will be changed. We
would like to do it peacefully because Azerbaijan is playing a
stabilizing role in the region today. We would like to avoid any
disruption to stability,” the president said.

Tm jv

From: Baghdasarian

Armenians are not the only enemies of Azerbaijan, all the Christians
are. Azerbaijani figure

18:28, 4 October, 2012

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Bayram Safarov the head of the so
called `Azerbaijani community’ in Karabakh declared that one of the
factors disturbing the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh issue are the
Christians all over the world. Armenpress reports referring to
Azerbaijani modem.az web site.

`Nagorno -Karabakh settlement issues has turned into a war between
Muslims and Christians. Today, not only Armenians are our enemies, but
the entire Christian world is’ Bayram Safarov said adding that
Azerbaijan continued to resist the Christian solidarity in the
conflict since the signing of the ceasefire agreement.

From: Baghdasarian