AZERIS CLAIM ARMENIAN EUROVISION 2009 PERFORMERS STOLE MUSIC
2009/09/0 2 | 11:58
On the "YouTube" video sharing website, a group of Azerbaijanis have
downloaded a video clip purporting that the singing sister duo of
Inga and Anoush Arshakyan, who represented Armenia in Eurovision 2009,
lifted the music for their song "Nor Par" from a composition entitled
"Nakhchivan", penned by someone called Tofik Kouliyev.
PROTOCOLS OUTLINE MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF COMMON BORDER, DIALOGUE ON HISTORY
Today’s Zaman
Sept 2 2009
Turkey
Two protocols which Ankara and Yerevan announced they will sign within
six weeks under a plan to normalize relations include provisions to
help better explain to the public the course of affairs regarding
the highly sensitive issue, which may be subject to ultra-nationalist
rhetoric.
The protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between
Armenia and Turkey "confirms the mutual recognition of the existing
border between the two countries as defined by the relevant treaties
of international law."
Over years of non-dialogue, it has been assumed that the Yerevan
administration refused to recognize the Gumru and Kars Agreements that
established the Turkish-Armenian border in 1920 and 1921, respectively.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking in an interview with the
NTV news channel on Tuesday, underlined that the recognition of the
borders was an important element of the recent development.
The second protocol, the protocol on the development of relations
between Armenia and Turkey, says that the two countries have agreed
to "implement a dialogue on the historical dimension with the aim
to restore mutual confidence between the two nations, including an
impartial scientific examination of historical records and archives
to define existing problems and formulate recommendations."
The second protocol says that Armenia and Turkey have agreed on the
establishment of an intergovernmental bilateral commission which
shall form separate sub-commissions for the prompt implementation of
the commitments mentioned in the operational paragraph 2, mentioned
above, in the same protocol. The aforementioned paragraph highlights
"Considering the perspective of developing their bilateral relations,
based on confidence and respect to their mutual interests."
"To prepare the working modalities of the intergovernmental commission
and its sub-commissions, a working group headed by the two ministers of
foreign affairs shall be created two months after the day following
the entry into force of this protocol. Within three months after
the entry into force of this protocol, these modalities shall be
approved at the ministerial level. The intergovernmental commission
shall meet for the first time immediately after the adoption of the
said modalities. The sub-commission shall start their work at the
latest one month thereafter and they shall work continuously until the
completion of their mandates. Where appropriate, international experts
shall take part in the sub-commissions," the second protocol says.
NAIRA ZOHRABYAN DISCUSSES DEEPENING OF ARMENIA-EU COOPERATION WITH RAUL DE LUZENBERGER
ARMENPRESS
Aug 31, 2009
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Chairperson of the NA’s European
Integration Affairs Commission Naira Zohrabyan met in the parliament
with the head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Armenia
Raul de Luzenberger.
NA public relations department told Armenpress that during the meeting
the parties referred to the issues on boosting and consolidating
EU-Armenia cooperation. N. Zohrabyan particularly referred to the
importance of activating contacts with the commission, saying that
parliamentary diplomacy with its flexibility may promote solution
of many issues. N. Zohrabyan underscored the role of EU in ensuring
stability and security in the region.
Speaking about the further work of the commission, head of the
commission underscored the continuation of the process of making the
Armenian legislature in accordance with European standards, noting that
for doing it the commission needs additional expertise assistance. For
filling the gap the commission expects EU’s support. During the
conversation they made arrangement on programs on exchange of
experience and conduction of classes.
Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Armenia Raul de
Luzenberger said that EU is interested not only in implementation of
joint programs with executive power but also having close relations
with parliament and in general with different clusters of society. He
expressed readiness to support the works of the commission, noting
that it has great role in spreading European values.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR, UK
Aug 28 2009
EUROVISION: AZERBAIJAN BACKS DOWN
Embarrassed government says Armenia song votes probe was a mistake.
By Elshan Mammadaliyev in Baku
The Azerbaijan security services’ interrogation of people who voted
for Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest was `a mistake by one
official’, the government says, while commentators said the probe
humiliated the whole country.
In a move that got the country some unwelcome publicity, all 43
Azerbaijanis who sent a text message voting for the Armenian entry in
the continent-wide music contest in May were summoned to the Ministry
of National Security, MNS.
`When I was called to the MNS, I thought they were arresting me for
the strong criticism of President Ilham Aliyev I’d written on
Facebook. I had even forgotten that I’d voted for Armenia. When in the
MNS they started to interrogate me about this, I almost burst out
laughing,’ said Rovshan Nasirli, who was called to the ministry on
August 12.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are very tense. The two
countries have never signed a peace treaty to end their 1991 war over
Nagorny-Karabakh, although a ceasefire was signed 15 years
ago. Armenian troops still occupy swathes of western Azerbaijan.
Nasirli described a scene reminiscent of the inquisition of a serious
criminal and said the interrogators tried to intimidate him.
`After they kept me for two hours in an empty room, two men came to
me, saying they worked for the main department of the MNS. One had a
list in his hand of all the people who voted for the Armenian entry,
and their addresses. They said that people like me should be sent to
prison. They said, `Today you vote for an Armenian, tomorrow you will
go to blow up the metro for them.”
The MNS refused to comment on the reasons for the campaign, but Novruz
Mamedov, head of the international department at the presidential
administration, said the affair had been whipped up out of all
proportion.
`Nothing special happened. There was no pressure applied to them. You
just have to bear in mind that Azerbaijan is still a very young
state. We have only been independent for 18 years, and not all our
officials have the required experience,’ he said in a statement issued
to the APA news agency, in which he blamed the Armenians for stoking
hatred against his country.
`For hundreds of years many peoples have lived in peace in Azerbaijan,
including 20,000 Armenians. Why does no one talk about this? And a
mistake by one official is presented like a deliberate act by the
national government. This is just part of a negative campaign which
has been conducted against Azerbaijan for many years, and which is
encouraged by Armenia.’
But his attempts to calm the furore failed, with gossip about the
arrests appearing on Azeri blogs and web sites.
`I am sure this mistake was made by just one low-ranking official. And
harm was done to the whole country,’ said Togrul Juvarli, a political
analyst.
`The political weight of this incident has been great. When it is
important to show the world that we are a civilised country, we behave
like this.’
Nasirli said he was shocked by how little public protest there had
been over the affair, and how the government was prepared to dismiss
as a `mistake’ the summoning of dozens of young people.
`Every citizen should ask the question why illegal interrogation and
investigation are allowed in Azerbaijan. This could happen to everyone
because the officials do not respect the law,’ he said.
`The MNS should occupy itself with more serious issues. I liked the
song, so I sent a text message. This is not betraying my homeland. If
only we could solve Karabakh with text messages.’
But he should not count on everyone defending him. Karabakh is a very
emotive issue in Azerbaijan, which is home to hundreds of thousands of
civilians displaced by the conflict, and Akif Nagi, chairman of the
organisation for the liberation of Karabakh, said Azeris should not
even send text messages in favour of their enemy.
`This is immoral. There is no place for tolerance in this
question. The position of the MNS is correct. However, the MNS
officials made a mistake in how they investigated the situation. They
acted very crudely, asking those who voted for the Armenians to come
in and putting pressure on them. Such people should have been
investigated and kept under surveillance so they didn’t even suspect
it,’ he said.
Elshan Mammadaliyev is a freelance journalist in Baku.
RA PM MEETS WITH "TOGETHER" PARTICIPANTS
armradio.am
27.08.2009 16:22
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan traveled to Gegharkunik marz
on a working visit to get familiarized with the activities of the
educational forum – campus organized under the For Country Reform
and Modernization Program of "Miasin" ("Together") all-Armenian
youth movement.
Forum’s objective is to unite organized representatives of Armenian
youth, directing their potential to the sustainable development of
the state.
Prime Minister exchanged views with forum participants regarding the
prospects of economic development in Armenia, the impact of the global
financial and economic crisis on our country, the implications of
knowledge-based economy, as well as on youth-related problems. Touching
upon the current global economic trends, Tigran Sargsyan particularly
noted, "Financial experts and economists worldwide view crisis from
two angles.
Some of them hold that cyclic depressions are characteristic of
market economy, others think that today’s downturn is not at all a
regular crisis, and we can witness the emergence of a new world and
a new society.
Anyway, it seems to be obvious that we are going through a period full
of challenges, which can likewise offer vast opportunities. Crisis
is a situation when one can no longer rely on laws that used to be
applicable before, with specific threats emerging in a new world."
Touching upon the importance of knowledge and the role to be played
by youth, Tigran Sargsyan said, "Thinking is the basis of the modern
and rapidly changing world where each of you should be able to think,
build plans and act according to the situation. Society should get
rid of old stereotypes to build up wealth."
Head of government also answered the questions of campus participants
and was briefed on their daily routine.
GIRO MANOYAN: TURKEY MAY CASH IN ON US COURT’S APPELLATE JUDGEMENT
Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 27 2009
Armenia
U.S. President Barack Obama should make it clear that his not using
the term ‘genocide’ does not mean any other president cannot recognize
the Armenian Genocide, Head of the Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Office
Giro Manoyan told reporters.
Manoyan also addressed an appellate judgement rendered by one of
the courts of appeal in California, USA, on August 20. The court
invalidated as unconstitutional the law on life insurance indemnities
for the relatives of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire in 1915. Manoyan presented the details of the judgement the
Armenian side is going to appeal.
Manoyan is sure that the judgement must be appealed. Otherwise
Turkey will be cashing in on it to force the U.S. states that
recognized the Armenian Genocide to invalidate the resolutions as
unconstitutional. The Turkish lobby will thus try to prevent the
adoption of a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by the US Congress.
Manoyan offers two ways of preventing such developments – a political
and a legal one.
The political way is that the Armenian lobby in the United States gets
President Obama to clearly state that his not using the term "genocide"
does not mean that any other president cannot recognize the Armenian
Genocide. The legal way is appealing the judgement, the more so that
only two of 10-12 justices were considering the claim, and only three
justices rendered the judgement. The last resort is, Manoyan said,
applying to the United States Supreme Court. It is important that
the judgement not become a precedent for the U.S. judicial system.
As to whether the United State is trying to pressure Armenia by
means of such judgements, Manoyan said: "I do not want to believe
that the Executive can so easily use the Judiciary in the United
States. However, Armenia is obviously being pressured in the context of
Armenian-Turkish relations irrespective of the judgement in question,"
he said.
It is noteworthy that a week remains for the judgement to be appealed.
YOUNG CONSERVATIVES OF ARMENIA VOICE THEIR PROTEST TO FRENCH PRESIDENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
28.08.2009 19:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, at 1.00 p.m., just in front of the French
Embassy in Armenia a rally of the Young Conservatives Union of
Armenia was held in defense of the French citizen Sargis Hatspanian,
suffering from political persecution in Armenia. After the rally the
participants sent a letter to the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
In the letter the Union of Young Conservatives say that Mr. Hatspanian
made a worthy contribution to strengthening the independence and
development of democracy in Armenia. The letter reads: "Appreciating
mediation efforts of your country aimed at strengthening democracy in
Armenia, including those in the issue of general amnesty for political
prisoners, we express our indignation for indifference of the France
towards Sargis Hatspanian, who is persecuted on political grounds."
Union of Young Conservatives of Armenia declares that nonintervention
of the President Sarkozy in the issue of release of Sargis Hatspanian
will be further considered as a manifestation of the apparent support
of "illegitimate government" of Armenia, which could tarnish the good
name of France in the eyes of the Armenian youth, a press release of
Young Conservatives Union writes.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES, TERROR SUPPORT FOUND IN ISNA CONVENTION LITERATURE
Right Side News
eland-security/conspiracy-theories-terror-support- found-in-isna-convention-literature.html
Aug 28 2009
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) engages in frequent
interfaith programs with Jewish groups and has been embraced warmly
by the Obama administration as a contact point for the American
Muslim community.
In those circles, ISNA presents an open and progressive face of Islam
that is led by a woman, Ingrid Mattson.
Literature available at ISNA’s annual convention last month in
Washington, however, offers a far different vision.
Books and pamphlets obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism
from ISNA’s July national convention feature numerous attempts
to portray U.S. prosecution of terrorists and terror supporters
as anti-Muslim bigotry; dramatic revisionist history that denied
attacks by Arab nations and Palestinian terrorists against Israel;
anti-Semitic tracts and hyperbolic rants about a genocide and holocaust
of Palestinians.
Previously, the IPT exposed hate speech during a conference panel that
featured a call for "more jihad" along with slurs against Jews and
gays and a defense of the terrorist group Hizballah as an innocent
player subject to incessant Israeli onslaught.
ISNA made no comment about pro-Hizballah comments by author Cathy
Sultan, who said she could "see no reason why Hezbollah should not
remained armed." It feigned ignorance about invited speaker Warith
Deen Umar’s radicalism and bigotry, even though his book was available
at the convention and is excerpted on Umar’s own website.
ISNA’s pre-convention vendor statement demanded that all literature
at its bazaar "must be pre-approved in writing by ISNA, in ISNA’s
sole and absolute discretion. Book selling vendors must complete
enclosed form providing inventory of the literature to be sold at
ISNA." [Emphasis added]
Among the works that met approval from "ISNA’s sole and absolute
discretion" were:
The Palestinians’ Holocaust: American Perspectives by Mauri’
Saalakhan. The book is a collection of essays, including some by
Saalakhan, which include comparisons between Nazi concentration camps
and Gaza; claims that the genocide in Darfur is both exaggerated and
a product of Israeli provocation and that the "Jewish-Zionist lobby"
in America is so pervasive, it even controls Keith Ellison (D-MN),
the first Muslim elected to Congress.
Leaflets condemning the Hamas-support convictions of the Holy
Land Foundation and five former officials in November along with
the convictions of the Fort Dix 5 on charges of conspiring to kill
U.S. soldiers and the ongoing prosecution of alleged Al Qaeda terrorist
Aafia Siddiqui.
Reprints of letters from Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzook and Ahmad
Yousef stating the terrorist group’s positions toward the United
States and its refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
In The Palestinians’ Holocaust: American Perspectives, an introduction
say the book "features a myriad of diverse voices, whose individual
and collective observations will no doubt underscore why the plight
of the Palestinian people must be seen as a genocide and present
day holocaust!"
Picking up that theme, Professor Francis A Boyle describes his visit
to the Dachau concentration camp. The town of Dachau was so close to
the death camp, he writes, that it was impossible to believe residents
didn’t know about the mass murder taking place inside. Boyle had the
same reaction as he traveled through the West Bank and Gaza in 1986
"in order to investigate Israel’s atrocities and war crimes against
the Palestinians." He claims that Israel and the United States
"are striving to consummate a Middle East version of the Munich
Pact that will sell out the right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination."
In a later chapter, "The Zionist Footprint in Iraq, Somalia, and
Sudan," Saalakhan blames Israel for the U.S. invasion of Iraq:
"How does Israel factor into the equation? It is a known fact that
Israel has a strong presence in different parts of the continent
– especially in the Horn of Africa. It is also a well known fact
that Israel – like the Islamophobes at the highest levels of the
U.S. government – desire nothing more than controlled chaos in the
Muslim world. This was the first thought that came to this writer’s
mind when Ethiopia (and the U.S.) attacked Somalia in December 2006."
On page 221, in the chapter "Target Iran," Saalakhan writes of the
pleasure in meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but:
"The Zionists and their supporters have made him into a lightning rod
for controversy since his public statements on the holocaust and the
State of Israel."
Saalakhan even called out U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who works closely
with ISNA and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),
an organization so rooted in Hamas-support that the FBI has cut off
communication with it. Of Ellison, Saalakhan writes:
"He is has a fairly progressive legislative history, however, on the
Arab-Israeli conflict he has not shown himself to be much different
from other American politicians; which is to say, the Jewish-Zionist
lobby has its inordinate influence within his office as well. (We
pray that this will soon change.)"
When American law enforcement and federal prosecutors go after alleged
terrorists and their financiers, that’s due to Israeli influence,
too, according to Saalakhan. In a chapter called "Israel’s Reach
Into America’s Judiciary: The Holy Land Foundation Trial," Saalakhan
writes that the 2001 Treasury Department order effectively shutting
down the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) for
Hamas support came with ulterior motives:
"Solely because the humanitarian relief that this organization had
consistently brought to the needy people of Occupied Palestine was
construed as ‘funding terrorism’ against the state of Israel."
A flyer from the Muslim Legal Fund of America similarly cast HLF as
an innocent supplier of humanitarian aid to needy Palestinians and
condemned the HLF conviction, demanding "this un-American & Unjust
Verdict [that] must be appealed."
In fact, the defendants were charged with violating American law
prohibiting support for terrorist groups, including Hamas. Evidence
from the trial showed the men supported Hamas’ activities and were
part of a broader effort to support Hamas with "media, money, men
and all of that." Other evidence shows the defendants knew that the
Palestinian charities where HLF routed more than $12 million were
controlled by Hamas.
The Palestinians’ Holocaust was one of several books and pamphlets
at the ISNA conference espousing conspiracy theories that portrayed
the defendants as victims of a government out to get Muslims.
An essay by Laila Al-Arian, daughter of Palestinian Islamic Jihad
board member Sami Al-Arian, was distributed which lamented the
"chilling effect" the HLF verdict would have on the Muslim community:
"With its propaganda-like quality, the evidence was clearly intended
to provoke an emotional response. For example, jurors were repeatedly
shown videos of grisly suicide bombings that none of the defendants
were in any way connected to, or accused of planning."
Jurors did see the bloody aftermath of Hamas attacks. But they also
saw repeated examples of the defendants praising such violence,
and even acting it out.
ISNA was included on a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the case
and evidence showed that HLF used ISNA bank accounts to route money to
the Middle East. Similarly, HLF board member Jamal was individually
listed as an unindicted co-conspirator for his role as a fund raiser
for the defunct HLF.
Similarly, a flyer from the "Fort Dix 5 Support Committee" argued the
five men convicted of conspiring to attack Fort Dix and kill soldiers
were victims of government entrapment. The men were convicted, the
flyer said, because "the tactics and strategies of the prosecution
in these cases have stretched legal concepts beyond the point where
a fair trial is possible."
The defendants were arrested as they met with the informant to buy
M-16 and AK-47 rifles to use in their planned attack.
Similarly, accused Al Qaeda terrorist Aafia Siddiqui is also
portrayed as a victim of the U.S. government’s abuse of Muslims. For
example, literature from the Muslim Legal Fund of America ("MLFA")
distributed at the conference sought donations for Siddiqui’s defense
fund. Siddiqui is charged with plotting to kill American soldiers
and federal agents in Afghanistan and has been found competent
for trial. 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed allegedly
told interrogators that Siddiqui was an Al-Qaeda accomplice and
facilitator. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence
asserts that Siddiqui was also tied to Pakistan Al-Qaeda operative
‘Ammar al-Baluchi. He gave her orders to travel to the U.S. to help
facilitate other Al-Qaeda operatives entry into the U.S. in order to
carry out terror operations and married her shortly thereafter in 2002.
The MLFA claimed that she was a "Victim of the ‘Global War on Terror’"
and alleged that she had been abused in custody.
Likewise, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) distributed copies
at the conference of its new 19-page booklet, "Seeking an Elusive
Peace: Keys for Successfully Advancing Middle East Peace." MPAC does
not describe suicide bombing as acts of terrorism but as a military
tactic, and accuses Israel of deliberate ethnic cleansing. Palestinian
violence against Israel and criticism of that violence was akin to
criticizing Native American attacks on white settlers, the booklet
argues:
"Palestinian use of violence cannot be understood without reference
to this basic historical fact. The conventional American view is
analogous to criticism of Native American assaults on White settlers,
while ignoring their underlying dispossession."
That, along with Salaakhan’s book, is among the attempts to cast the
Palestinians as victims of a holocaust or genocide. The Nazi Holocaust
sought to eliminate European Jewry and succeeded in killing 6 million
Jews. The Armenian genocide left 1.5 million Armenians dead among a
population of 2.5 million people.
According to the Israeli peacenik group B’Tselem, 4,608 Palestinians
were killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories
between September 2000 and March 2008. Another 67 were killed within
Israel. Meanwhile, the Palestinian population of the West Bank has
increased more than fourfold and the Arab population inside Israel
sixfold. The Arab population of Gaza is more than 15 times larger
than in 1949. See here.
The ongoing Darfur conflict has had an estimated toll of 400,000 deaths
from direct bloodshed, disease and starvation and the displacement
of 2.5 million people. That, too, Saalakhan writes, is Israel’s fault:
"It is a known fact that Israel has a strong presence in different
parts of the continent – especially in the Horn of Africa. It is also
a well known fact that Israel – like the Islamophobes at the highest
levels of the U.S. government – desire nothing more than controlled
chaos in the Muslim world. This was the first thought that came to
this writer’s mind when Ethiopia (and the U.S.) attacked Somalia in
December 2006."
Despite all this conspiratorial, anti-U.S. dogma, the State
Department’s web portal continues to function as
a veritable PR machine for ISNA, publishing monographs and posting
articles like this, this, this and this, in which ISNA officials are
treated as if they represented a mainstream organization analogous to
the Anti-Defamation League, the U.S. Catholic Conference or the NAACP.
Ahmed Mohamed’s August 20 story on the same State Department
site is the latest example. It promotes "Journey into America," a
film which premiered July 4 at the Islamic Film Festival at ISNA’s
convention. (President Obama praised the book and DVD as a "wonderful
gift.")
In a panel discussion which followed the film, ISNA President
Ingrid Mattson said "Journey into America" was "refreshing" and
would dispel irrational fear that many Americans have about radical
Islamists organizing at mosques: "There are many Americans who are
really frightened of what might be going on behind the doors of the
mosques. So to get in and to hear what is in those people’s minds,
it takes away the strangeness of it."
The true measure of character is determined by what is said and written
when people think no one is paying attention. The literature promoted
at last month’s convention shows we may not really seeing what goes
on behind closed doors with ISNA.
——————–
The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit
research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. It is recognized
as the world’s most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic
terrorist groups. For more than a decade, the IPT has investigated the
operations, funding, activities and front groups of Islamic terrorist
and extremist groups in the United States and around the world. It
has become a principal source of critical evidence to a wide variety
of government offices and law enforcement agencies, as well as the
U.S. Congress and numerous public policy forums. Research carried out
by the IPT team has formed the basis for thousands of articles and
television specials on the subject of radical Islamic involvement in
terrorism, and has even led to successful government action against
terrorists and financiers based in the United States.
KARO PARISYAN RETURNS FROM SUSPENSION AT UFC 106
Tom Ngo
5thRound.com
3/karo-parisyan-returns-from-suspension-at-ufc-106 /
Aug 26 2009
It’s being reported that UFC veteran Karo Parisyan will be making
his Octagon return this November after serving a nine-month drug
suspension. Apparantly, the Armenian will be taking on Dustin Hazelett
at UFC 106 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MMAWeekly.com reported that both welterweights had verbally agreed
to the scrap, and fight contracts should be signed shortly.
Following his UFC 94 "win" over Dong Hyun Kim, the Nevada State
Commission suspended Parisyan for nine months, fined him a total of
$32,000, and overturned his split decision W to a No Decision after
it was revealed that he had three banned pain killers in his system.
Speaking of sitting the sidelines, come game time it will have been
a year since Hazelett last saw action. He has been riding the pine
since tearing the ACL in his right knee prior to his proposed UFC 96
contest against Ben Saunders.
UFC 106 will be held inside the Mandalay Bay Event Center on November
21st. Here are the fighters rumored to be competing in the pay-per-view
broadcast:
Ricardo Almeida vs. Jon Fitch Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan Tito
Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman Shane Carwin vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC Heavyweight
Champion)
ARMENIAN PM MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF "MIASIN" YOUTH MOVEMENT IN SEVAN
ARMENPRESS:
August 26, 2009
Yerevan
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met today with the
representatives of the "Miasin" ("Together") Youth Movement encamped
on the shore of Lake Sevan.
The prime minister spoke with them about different economic issues,
answered their questions. The young people were mainly interested
in the essence of the global financial-economic crisis, its causes,
further pace and consequences.
The prime minister said that the young people must seriously think
about their future and how they will live in 10-20 years. Each of
them must be able to program his/her future, disclose own skills,
understand main principle of world perception, main values.
The contemporary world is subjected to quick changes and a question
arises what the important basic thing is to be devoted to. In the
discussion of this theme, the prime minister suggested his own
formula: the basic process in post-industrial society is mental
activity, production of new knowledge which is necessary for ensuring
welfare. Knowledge becomes out of date very quickly and there is an
incessant need of acquiring new one.
"In the contemporary world, for which you must be ready, you are
condemned to learn, otherwise you will not be competitive. You must
work with new knowledge and form self thinking abilities. This is
number one issue in the society and education system," he said.
As to the crisis, Tigran Sargsyan said the economists explain it in
two ways – according to the first one the years of economic growth
must be followed by decline and it is of cyclic nature: in these
conditions governments start carrying out extending policy. According
to the second one, it is not a regular cyclic crisis but formation of
new world where the main basic processes give place to the new ones,
and the formation of new is naturally passing not very smooth.
The prime minister noted that among different definitions of the
crisis the Chinese one is the most interesting – it consists of two
hieroglyphs which mean danger and opportunity. Tigran Sargsyan noted
that even this dangerous situation brings with it new opportunities.
The prime minister also discussed with the young people economic
issues, initiatives of the movement and expressed readiness to support
them in their further activity.