Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Turkey and USA discuss Syrian crisis: Armenian Community in Syria may
be endangered

Turkey continues playing role in Syrian crisis and participates in
world discussions which are announced to seek solution for the
situation in Syria. As Iranian Press TV informs Turkish and US
officials have held their first “operational planning” meeting aimed
at the self-avowed purpose of spelling an end to the government of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Delegations of intelligence agents, military officials, and diplomats,
led by Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Under-Secretary, Halit Cevik
and US Ambassador Elisabeth Jones held an eight-hour-long closed-door
meeting in Ankara on Thursday. Iranian source writes about this
referring to AFP.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the talks
had examined transition to a `post-Assad’ Syria along with ways to
support anti-Damascus insurgents.

Remind that earlier, on August 11, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced in
Istanbul their plans for such mechanism to hasten termination of
al-Assad’s government.

Unrests in Syria have started since mid-March 2011 and many people,
including Army and security personnel, have been killed in the
violence.

At the same time there is a disturbing news for Armenians. As Armenian
tert.am informs referring to the Sham Times that Syrian Supreme
Council of the Revolution has spread a message. The latter officially
warns Armenian Community in Syria.
According to the source Syrian opposition frightens Armenian Community
with ”ruins and tragedy”. The source underlines that the warnings
are real as Turkey gave a green light to the Syrian opposition to
attack Armenians. As it is known Turkey supports Syrian opposition.

The opposition accuses Armenian Community in ”assisting Assad’s
regime” and ”in participation in some murders”.

24.08.12, 11:35

From: Baghdasarian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 23 2012

Armenian president to attend Non-Aligned Movement summit

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will attend the 16th summit of the
Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran on August 26-31, Armenian Ambassador to
Iran Grigor Arakelyan said today, RIA Novosti reports.

Ali Sayidlu, Chairman of the organization committee of the summit,
said that 150 states will attend the meeting, 51 of them will be
represented by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman,
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, foreign ministers of Sudan and
Venezuela are among the attendants.

The Non-Aligned Movement has 120 members and about 20 observers,
including Armenia. The organization consists of states that belong to
no international blocs (such as the Warsaw Treaty Organization or
NATO).

From: Baghdasarian

Mediamax, Armenia
Aug 23 2012

Israeli Minister of Information and Diaspora to arrive in Yerevan tonight

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The Minister of Information and Diaspora of Israel
Yuli Edelstein will arrive in Yerevan tonight.

The Consul of Israel for the South Caucasus Ron Shekhter said at a
press conference in Yerevan today that the Israeli minister arrives in
Yerevan to participate in celebrations dedicated to the 20th
anniversary of the Jewish Community of Armenia, Mediamax reports.

`Minister Yuli Edelstein arrives in Yerevan by the invitation of the
Armenian Minister of Culture. The minister will have several working
meetings during his visit,’ the Consul said.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia to celebrate Jeweler National Day late October

YEREVAN, August 23. /ARKA/. Armenia will celebrate the National Day of
Jeweler on last October Sunday, Novosti-Armenia reports Thursday
referring to the Cabinet’ decision.

Diaspora Minister of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan said different Armenian
communities worldwide started forming unions of jewelers.

`Today we also have World Association of Armenian Jewelers which
initiated the celebration of such a holiday,’ she added. – 0–

From: Baghdasarian

Paper says Armenian govt. indifferent about border villages shelling

August 23, 2012 – 17:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Zhoghovurd paper, Azeri ceasefire
violation was recorded in the northern part of Armenian-Azerbaijani
border Aug.21, with border villages of Aygepar, Nerkin Karmiraghbyur
and Movses shelled.

As village administration head Andranik Aidinyan noted, the damage
caused by the shelling totaled AMD 30 mln. However, the incident
triggered no reaction by RA government and provincial authorities, the
paper says.

Tavush governor Armen Ghulyan didn’t even call community heads, with
RA Ministry of Emergency Situations refusing to provide extinguisher
over `lack of financial means’, the paper says.

From: Baghdasarian

Syrian-Armenians’ driving licenses to be valid one year

tert.am
13:04 – 23.08.12

Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan has expressed concerns that the
Syrian-Armenians may not use their driving licenses in Armenia due to
existing differences between classes.

At the cabinet meeting on Thursday, the minister noted that Armenia
has been a state party of the Convention on Road Traffic since 1968.

`There was initially a proposal to give the Syrian-Armenians an
opportunity to replace the driving licensed but after discussions at
the police service and meetings with the Justice [Ministry] and
presidential staffs, we think of giving them one year to use the
licenses before they can replace the documents in accordance with
established procedures,’ she said.

The proposal received cabinet members’ approval.

From: Baghdasarian

Yerevan State University lecturers complain about salaries – newspaper

news.am
August 22, 2012 | 06:35

YEREVAN. – Several Yerevan State University (YSU) lecturers are
complaining that their salaries are low, Zhoghovurd daily writes.

`One of them informed that the salaries of lecturers at other
[state-run] universities are much higher than at YSU.

Why is the main university `poor?’ Responding to this question, YSU
Rector Aram Simonyan informed: `We raised the salaries a year ago. And
if everything goes well, we will raise [them] again as of January 1.’

In his words, `going well’ would depend on how many students they will
have and how they will collect the tuition fees. Until then, however,
many lecturers could resort to drastic measures,’ Zhoghovurd writes.

From: Baghdasarian

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 22 2012

Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan feels solidarity of Turkic countries in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement

In the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan feels fraternal solidarity of the
Turkic-speaking countries, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf
Khalafov said at a press conference on Wednesday, KyrTAG reported.

Khalafov said the conflict hinders the development of the region and
the establishment of stability.
“Azerbaijan makes efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict,”
Khalafov said.

He said the parties try to solve the conflict through mediation of
Russia and the USA.

“However, we are not satisfied with this work. Turkic-speaking states
should show solidarity and support the just position of Azerbaijan on
this issue. And we feel this solidarity, brotherly states offer full
support. Especially Turkey offers great support,” the deputy minister
said.

He also said that efforts to resolve the conflict must be built up.
“Without the liberation of the occupied territories the conflict can
not be resolved,” he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. – are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: Baghdasarian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 22 2012

Level of Lake Sevan reaches 1,900.36 metres above sea

The level of Lake Sevan is currently 1,900.36 meters above sea level,
Ashot Avalian, deputy chief of staff of the Nature Protection
Ministry, overseeing public beaches, told a press conference on
Wednesday, ARKA reports. He said the level of the lake has risen 91 cm
over the last three years.

He said the government wants to raise its level by another three
meters to approximately 1903.50 meters.

Avalian also said the total area of the coastal zone of the lake is
144,000 hectares. Of these, about 22,000 hectares are swimming areas.

Lake Sevan is one of the largest alpine lakes in Europe and Asia,
located in the heart of the Armenian plateau at an altitude of 1914
meters. At length, from north-west to south-east, the lake stretches
over 70 kilometers, and its water surface area is nearly 1500 square
kilometers. The lake is the main source of drinking water in the
region. It is planned that its level will reach the required 1903.5
meters by 2030.

From: Baghdasarian

Mediamax, Armenia
Aug 22 2012

Majority of Armenian children of Syria who are now in Armenia will
attend schools and kindergartens next to their residence

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Head of the Education Department of Yerevan Mayor’s
Office Gayane Soghomonyan said today that the majority of the Armenian
children from Syria who are now in Armenia will attend the schools and
kindergartens next to their residence.

Gayane Soghomonyan said that issues related to education of Syrian
Armenians are being discussed, Mediamax reports. According to her,
they will do their best to remove language barriers and bring the
educational programs in line with the curricula of Syrian schools.

Gayane Soghomonyan noted that classes of Eastern Armenian are
conducted for Syrian Armenians of various age groups in Yerevan N1
school after Shahumyan.

From: Baghdasarian