Author: Basmajian Ani

TIGRAN BALAYAN: AZERBAIJAN TRYING TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING

armradio.am
18.02.2010 11:35

Asked to comment on Azerbaijani MFA Spokesman Elhan Polukhov’s
statement that the NKR regions of Shahumyan, Martakert and Martuni
are part of Azerbaijan, Head of the Media Relations Department of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Tigran Balayan said:

"By declaring that the Shahumyan, Martakert and Martuni regions
of Nagorno Karabakh belong to Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of that country is trying to avoid responsibility for the
ethnic cleansing and occupation as a result of aggression against
Nagorno Karabakh.

It would be strange if Azerbaijan could presented at least one
document of international law that allows perpetrating ethnic cleansing
justified on the grounds that it is the state’s own territory."

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

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Musical Group YerazArt Performs in Toronto During North American Tour

On October 14, 2009, the musical group YerazArt performed in Babayian
Hall of Toronto’s Alex Manoogian Cultural Center, finishing up its
10-day tour of North America. AGBU had extended a special invitation to
YerazArt, made up of young performers from Armenia, to give concerts
around the United States and Canada in honor of Armenian Cultural Month.
In addition to Toronto, the group performed in a number of other cities
with Armenian communities, including Montreal, Boston, San Francisco,
Fresno, and Boca Raton. Over 300 people attended the final performance
in Toronto.

AGBU Toronto’s executive director, Salpi Der Ghazarian, gave the opening
remarks, welcoming the enthusiastic audience and addressing the
importance and impact the arts have on Armenian culture. "Armenians need
art as much as bread, water and air, and they also feel the need to
compose, create and present their work as art and music to Armenians and
non-Armenians alike," she said. Apo Ashjian, director of YerazArt’s
tour, also spoke, explaining the background and organization of the
musical group.

Out of 450 candidates eager to be a part of YerazArt, the following six
were selected: 17-year-old pianist Hripsime Aghakarian, 16-year-old
soprano Maneh Kaloyian, 16-year-old duduk player Norayr Kapoyian,
22-year-old oboist Maneh Harutiunian, 18-year-old violinist Hrayr
Karapetian, and 15-year-old cellist Haik Sukiasian. These young
musicians have participated in various national festivals and
competitions, such as the Spendiaryan National Competition Festival, the
Arno Babadjanian and G. Saradjyan national piano competitions, Aram
Khachatryan Vocal Competition, National Folk Instruments Competition
Festival, Avet Gabrielyan and Sargis Aslamazyan VII National String
Competition, as well as the "Revival" International Music Festival and
Competition in Gyumri, and have won major prizes and awards.

The Toronto performance included pieces from Arno Babajanyan, Edward
Baghdasarian, Komitas, Beethoven, Charles Colin, Aleksandr Harutiunian,
Sayat-Nova, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Aleksandr Spendiarian, and Henryk
Wieniawski. Each of the musicians displayed their impressive talents
throughout the concert, both individually and collectively, creating a
memorable event for all in attendance. The YerazArt musicians, now back
in Armenia, hope to return for more performances in North America.

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 program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

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

THE EXPECTATIONS OF ARTSAKH PRESENTED TO OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN OFFICE

Aysor
Feb 16 2010
Armenia

"I have proposed a new direction in the negotiation process and to
bring the issue to the international logistic discussion sphere from
the territorial integrity", – stated the NKR President Bako Sahakyan
after the meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in Office Kanat Saudbaev.

B. Sahakyan informed that the meeting is of a cognitive nature as it
is the first visit of the OSCE Chairman-in Office to our region.

He mentioned that on this occasion the negotiating sides and especially
the NKR rely on the OSCE Chairman-in Office.

According to the NKR President the expectations connected with the
new presidency have been presented.

IAN GILLAN AND TONY IOMMI DONATE MUSIC INSTRUMENTS TO GYUMRI SCHOOL

Tert.am
12:17 ~U 16.02.10

World-famous rock musicians Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Tony Iommi
(Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) will be donating musical instruments
to N6 musical school in Gyumri, reads a joint press release issued
by Mediamax and the Australian organization Do Something!

During Gillan and Iommi’s October 2009 visit to the Gyumri school
as part of the "Armenia Grateful 2 Rock" project, school principal
Harutyun Asatryan had told the musicians that students would very
much like to have good guitars and a drum kit.

The music school in Gyumri had been destroyed during the 1988
earthquake and continues to be housed in temporary shelters. The
musicians heeded the call and have decided to donate four acoustic
guitars and a drum kit to the school.

"We express huge gratitude to the great musicians for their attention
towards Armenian children, who study music in difficult conditions,"
said Mediamax Director Ara Tadevosyan.

Furthermore, all of the proceeds from Ian Gillan’s upcoming March 26
and 27 concert with the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia will
go toward rebuilding Gyumri’s N6 music school.

It is expected that the musical instruments will be handed over to the
school representatives in March during Ian Gillan’s visit to Yerevan.

ARMENIAN MARKET OF PLASTIC CARDS GREW BY 30%

ArmInfo
15.02.2010

ArmInfo.In January 2010 the number of active cards in the Armenian
market of plastic cards grew by 30% as compared with January 2009
and amounted to 456594. Armenian Card (ArCa) told ArmInfo that
nevertheless, in January 2010 the number of cards issued by ArCa
member banks declined by 11384 cards as compared with December 2009.

As of 1 Feb 2010, the number of active plastic ArCa cards totalled
283050 (annual growth being 38%), Visa – 112280 (annual growth being
10%), MasterCard – 61264 (annual growth being 35%). Over January
operation with a total of 313375 cards were carried out, of them
204818 ArCa, 40542 MasterCard, and 68015 Visa.

According to the source, as of 1 Feb 2010, the number of trade and
service points (bancomats exclusive) operating in the Armenian Card
system amounted to 2257. There were 2592 POS-terminals in the trade
and service points. At the same time, 2549 of the total number of
POS-terminals served ArCa cards, 1732 – Visa, 2158 – MasterCard,
and 24 – American Express (Amex) cards. Over January the number
of trade and service points increased by 53, and POS-terminals –
by 38. As of 1 Feb 2010, the number of bancomats in the ArCa system
was 588 as against 465 over the same period of 2009.

DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY HAS BEEN OPENED

s16834.html
16:10:51 – 15/02/2010

The Diplomatic School of Armenia was officially inaugurated on 15
February. The opening took place in the new fully refurbished and
equipped premises of the Diplomatic Academy.

The President of Armenia, Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Mr. Edward Nalbandyan, Ambassador Raul
de Luzenberger, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia and Ambassador
Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan jointly inaugurated
the courses of the Diplomatic School.

25 out of 150 applicants were selected to attend the courses of the
Academy as a result of a three-stage competition process. Students
will have a unique opportunity to become junior diplomats with skills
and knowledge highly desirable in the professional foreign service.

They would be able to represent effectively the interests of Armenia
abroad. Professors from prestigious universities around the world as
well as senior diplomats and high ranking officials will be giving
lectures.

The Diplomatic School is expected to play a crucial role in the modern
diplomatic service of Armenia. The EU, jointly with the OSCE office
in Yerevan, provided financial support and advice for establishing
the Diplomatic School, based on best European practices.

TURKEY RECONSIDERING GENOCIDE DENIAL POLICY

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.02.2010 17:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey is reconsidering Genocide denial policy. This
is the process that we are in now, said Taner Akcam Associate Professor
of History at Clark University, the author of "A Shameful Act: the
Armenian Genocide and Turkish Responsibility" book.

"This is hard to explain to the Armenian community but the countdown
process has already been started in Turkey. It is not visible from
outside because the politicians are still using the "old-conventional"
language. However, I would like to emphasize that the time for people
like Halacoðlu or Elekdað is over. We will experience a change in the
policy towards 1915 but I personally think that this will probably
happen after the next election in 2011," Akcam told PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.

"The AKP won’t move on this issue much because they have other
priorities such as a new constitution, the Kurdish issue and pushing
back the military into barracks… It could be too risky for the
AKP to put the Genocide issue on their agenda at this juncture,"
Clark University Professor stated.

Born in the province of Ardahan, Taner Akcam graduated from Middle
East Technical University in Ankara and emigrated to Germany, where
he worked as a research scientist in the sociology department at the
Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Akcam earned his doctorate
from the University of Hannover with a dissertation on The Turkish
National Movement and the Armenian Genocide Against the Background
of the Military Tribunals in Istanbul Between 1919 and 1922.

Akcam’s initial research topic was the history of political violence
and torture in late Ottoman and early Republican Turkey. Since 1990,
however, he has focused his attention on Turkish nationalism and
the Armenian Genocide, with eleven books and numerous articles to
his credit.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

The Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkýnma Partisi,
abbreviated AK Parti or AKP) is a Turkish political party.

The AKP portrays itself as a moderate, conservative, pro-Western party
that advocates a liberal market economy and Turkish membership in the
European Union. In 2005, the AKP was granted observer membership in
the European People’s Party. The AKP won 46.6% of the popular vote
and was allocated 341 seats in the rescheduled 22 July 2007 elections.

Abdullah Gul, a prominent AKP leader and former Foreign Minister,
is currently the President of Turkey, while Recep Tayyip Erdoðan is
the head of the party and the Prime Minister.

Xinhua, China
Feb 12 2010

Former captain Minasyan takes over Armenia

MOSCOW Feb. 12

Armenian football federation press service announced Friday that
former national team skipper Vardan Minasyan has been appointed as
coach of the country’s national team.

The 36-year-old Minasyan won the Armenian national title eight times
as a player. In his coach career, Minasyan once assisted Jan Povlsen
of Denmark and before taking over the national team, he was coach of
local club Pyunik Yerevan.

The main task of Minasyan will be leading the team to compete in the
Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. And his contract will expire by the end
of the qualifying competitions.

The Armenia side is joined in Group B by Russia, Ireland, Andorra, FYR
Macedonia and Slovenia.

BAKO SAHAKYAN ATTENDS THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF THE PRESIDENT OF ABKHAZIA

Armradio.am
12.02.2010 14:48

On 12 February President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako
Sahakyan arrived in Soukhum on the invitation of the authorities of
the Republic of Abkhazia to participate in the inauguration ceremony
of the reelected President Sergey Baghapsh.

In his congratulatory speech the head of our republic wished fruitful
work to Sergey Baghapsh, prosperity and peace to Abkhazia and its
people, Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR
President reported.

ARMENIA’S AN ‘EFFICIENT TEAM’: RADOSLAV ZABAVNIK ON EURO 2012 DRAW

Tert.am
17:43 ~U 12.02.10

Slovak national and Germany’s FSV Mainz defender Radoslav Zabavnik,
commenting on the February 7 qualifying competition draw for the UEFA
Euro 2012 football championship, said:

"We’ll be playing against Russia in the first draw – we have already
played against them. I think that we can also win in these matches.

"Ireland and Macedonia are also strong opponents. However, I don’t
underestimate Armenia and Andorra; they’re efficient teams.

"In the game against Armenia, we must prepare just as we would if
we were playing against Ireland or Russia," said Zabavnik, "though
I think that we can make it to the final round.

"What’s important as well is that the Euro 2010 final round will take
place in our neighbouring countries, and in Ukraine and in Poland,
we can feel as we would in our own home," said the defender.

Slovenia has been drawn into Group B, set to play against Armenia,
Russia, Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra.