Author: Boshkezenian Garik

‘HEROES OF THE EUROPEAN FAIRY TALES’ EXHIBITION OPENS IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo News Agency
2007-05-30 12:19:00

An exhibition "Heroes of the European Fairy Tales" will be held on
May 30 at 15:00 at the Children’s Art Gallery of the National Centre
of Aesthetics, the Delegation of the European Commission to Armenia
told ArmInfo.

The exhibition is dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of
Rome, and is organized by the Delegation of the European Commission to
Armenia and the National Centre of Aesthetics. Opening speeches will
be made by Mr. Raul de Luzenberger, Charge d’Affaires of Delegation
of the European Commission to Armenia, Mr. Armen Baibourtyan, Deputy
Foreign Minister of Armenia and Mr. Gagik Gyurjyan, Deputy Minister
of culture, Sport and Youth Affairs of Armenia.

Schoolchildren not only from Yerevan, but also from other marzes of
Armenia are participating in the exhibition. They have been selected
by the National Centre of Aesthetics from the different branches
of the Centre, thus representing Gyumri, Vanadzor, Goris, Sevan and
Nerqin Getashen.

Certificates will be given to all the participants (more than two
hundred), which will be handed over to their teachers (eleven).

Different works under the mentioned title will be exhibited during
the exhibition (more than two hundred), namely paintings, batik,
as well as ceramics.

YEREVAN’S PYUNIK WINS JUBILEE, 10th TOURNAMENT OF HAKOB TONOYAN SUPERTOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan
May 29 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Jubilee, 10th tournament of Hakob Tonoyan
Supercup finished on May 27 at the Republican sports ground. Pyunik
and Mika competed for the supercup. Additional time of 30 minutes was
given according to the contest rules. Pyunik won with the score of 2
to 1 and received the supercup. Pyunik captain Sargis Hovsepian was
given the supersup by Hakob Tonoyan’s grandson, Arsen Tonoyan.

DEVEDJIAN : L’UMP DOIT "GAGNER FORTEMENT" LES ELECTIONS LEGISLATIVES

Agence France Presse
24 mai 2007 jeudi 6:46 AM GMT

Patrick Devedjian, secretaire general delegue de l’UMP, a souhaite
jeudi que la majorite presidentielle "gagne fortement les elections
legislatives" et obtienne "la majorite absolue" a l’Assemblee
nationale.

"Il s’agit de gagner les elections legislatives et de les gagner
fortement", a-t-il dit sur France 2, en pointant "le risque" d’une
moindre participation aux scrutins des 10 et 17 juin après des taux
records a la presidentielle.

"On a besoin d’une majorite très forte parce que nous avons un
programme audacieux", "un projet de rupture", a souligne M. Devedjian.

Le depute des Hauts-de-Seine a reconnu que "cela lui aurait plus
d’entrer au gouvernement". "Mais la responsabilite de l’UMP, meme
une responsabilite partagee, cela occupe son homme", a-t-il ajoute.

Patrick Devedjian est aussi candidat a la presidence du conseil
general des Hauts-de-Seine, que vient de quitter Nicolas Sarkozy.

Interroge sur le fait que Francois Hollande ne briguerait pas un
nouveau mandat de premier secretaire du PS, M. Devedjian a indique
qu’"après un tel echec, (il) comprenait qu’il s’en aille".

–Boundary_(ID_noKNmxhHKadxSAnP0g4oK Q)–

Pyunik clinch Supercup win
Sunday, 27 May 2007
League champions FC Pyunik claimed their fourth
Armenia Supercup title by defeating FC MIKA 2-1 after
extra time.

Sahakyan breakthrough
After a goalless 90 minutes, Pyunik captain Sargis
Hovsepyan finally created the opener as he broke
through and crossed for Norajr Sahakyan to head in on
104 minutes. Pyunik refused to sit back on their lead
and Gevorg Kazaryan was rewarded when he earned and
converted a free-kick with two minutes left on the
clock. MIKA pulled one back through Artyom Adamyan,
not enough to prevent them losing the Supercup for the
third time in their history.

©uefa.com

SARKOZY DARKENS TURKEY’S EU HORIZON

EuroNews – English Version
May 23, 2007

After a new treaty for the EU is sorted out, there is Turkey…

Ankara can hope not to hear the same opposition from the new French
President to its bid to join the European Union as Nicolas Sarkozy
has been sticking to. But hope is about all it can do. Sarkozy
has repeatedly voiced his opposition to Turkish accession. The
day after his election, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said:
"We hope we’ll hear no more declarations of the sort Mister Sarkozy
made during his campaign."

Ankara also refused the notion of a "Mediterranean Union" which
Sarkozy suggested as an alternative to joining the European bloc.

Turkey began EU entry talks in 2005, with the consent of all the member
states. This was after passing sweeping reforms in the officially
secular but overwhelmingly Muslim country. A senior advisor in
Ankara, Egemen Ba_1_ (pronounced ‘Bah-ersh’), defends his country’s
eligibility:

"Last time I checked, the European Union was not a Christian club. If
it is so, they should tell us. But according to what they tell us
it’s an association, a union of values. And the values are democracy,
human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience. Those are
the values that we died for during the cold war years as an integral
member of NATO."

France aroused real anger in Turkey last autumn when it passed a law
making denial that mass killings of Armenians in the WWI years was a
genocide a punishable offence. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also
remains publicly opposed to ever admitting Turkey into the EU. But
Merkel, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency,
has said she will honour past commitments.

Turkey’s EU talks can only be formally halted by consensus among the 27
member states. But Sarkozy could block them by refusing to allow the
opening and closing of technical talks on individual policy areas or
"chapters". Turkey’s membership, not seen before 2015 at the earliest,
would also have to be ratified by all the member states.

OSKANIAN AND OSCE MG REFERRED TO UNSETTLED ITEMS OF KARABAKH PROCESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.05.2007 13:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ May 23 Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
met Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Amb, Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia
and Amb. Bernard Fassier of France to discuss the unsettled items of
the Nagorno Karabakh peaceful process.

The Armenian Foreign Minister and the mediators also considered the
agenda of the upcoming meetings and further activities, the RA MFA
press office reports.

May 24 the Co-chairs will depart for Baku.

The purpose of the current visit is to prepare the meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents due in Saint Petersburg June 10.

LIBERTY AWARD OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA TO BE GIVEN TO AMBASSADOR JOHN EVANS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 22 2007

NEW YORK, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The U.S. Eastern
Office of the Armenian National Committee of America will hold the
annual regional banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel of New York,
on September 22, 2007. Former Ambassador of the U.S. to Armenia John
Evans will be its honorary guest.

Issues relating to current activity of the organization will be
touched upon during that event entitled "Let’s Put the Basis for
Safe Future." An awarding will also be held during the evening
party. Ambassador Evans will be given the Liberty Award of the
Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Office. People displayed
exclusive courage and devotion towards liberty and justice are usually
awarded this prize.

Senator Bob Dole, Professor Roger Smith and Governor Tom Kean were
rewarded with this prize earlier.

To recap, Ambassador Evans was discharged for publicly recognizing
the Armenian Genocide during a meeting with the Armenian community
of California in February, 2005.

CONGRESSMAN JIM GERLACH SIGNED ON TO H. RES. 106 (ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION)

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 21 2007

Armenian National Committee of Philadelphia (ANC of PA) activist George
Semerjian, along with other community activists, met with Congressman
Jim Gerlach and staff representative Ed Schmid in his district office
on May 4, 2007. The meeting was held in order to thank Congressman
Gerlach (R-PA-6) for signing on to H. Res. 106 and to brief him on
other issues facing the Armenian community.

George Semerjian, an ANC of PA activist and constituent of Gerlach’s
district, worked with the Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) office to organize the meeting. "It was
great to have an opportunity to meet with the Congressman to speak
with him about the current legislation we are working to pass,"
commented Semerjian. "With the growing number of Armenians living in
his district, we look forward to continuing to build a relationship."

During the meeting, Congressman Gerlach stressed the importance of the
United States Congress to pass H. Res. 106 and stated he would continue
to work to support the resolution. Gerlach, a 3rd term Congressman,
represents the 6th District of Pennsylvania, where a considerable
number of Armenians live.

In recent months, the ANC of PA has been working to increase their
community participation with ANCA activities, including PA activists
attending the two-day advocacy campaign in Washington, DC, hosted by
the ANCA and Genocide Intervention Network.

"The ANCA welcomes opportunities like this to build further support
with our members of Congress. Our dedicated activists throughout the
region work to maintain these key relationships, which truly make a
difference," commented Karine Birazian, ANCA-ER Executive Director.

RUSSIA, AZERBAIJAN FOR PEACEFUL CAUCASUS

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
May 21, 2007 Monday

Russia and Azerbaijan are united in the view that the Caucasus should
remain peaceful and stable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said on Monday upon the conclusion of the talks with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov.

"We are certainly concerned in this respect over the fact that
there exist unsettled conflicts, including the Karabakh conflict,
in the region," Lavrov said, stressing that "the parties and the
co-chairmen of the Minsk group of the OSCE for Nagorno Karabakh
work intensively." He is convinced that, given political will of
all the sides, "it is possible to achieve generally-acceptable
arrangements." "Russia as the co-chairman of the Minsk group and a
friend of Azerbaijan and Armenia will be doing all to achieve such
a result," Lavrov said.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister, on his pats, assessed Russia’s
stand as the co-chairman of the Minsk group as "highly active."

"We welcome this stand and we believe that Russia must play a greater,
even the key, role in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,"
Mamedyarov said.

Regarding the talks held, the foreign ministers of the two countries
described them as "open, useful, good and comradely." "We have
discussed prospects of the deepening of bilateral relations, also in
the trade and economic and military-technical areas," Lavrov said.

He said special attention was given to the humanitarian area, which
"directly concerns our citizens."

"There are bilateral plans, including the expansion of branches
of Russian higher educational establishments in Azerbaijan and the
teaching of the Azerbaijani language in the Russian Federation and
interaction in the framework of the recently formed Council of the
CIS for humanitarian cooperation," Lavrov said.

YOUNG ARMENIAN WEIGHTLIFTERS PREPARE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN PRAGUE

Noyan Tapan
May 18 2007

ABOVIAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian weightlifting youth national
team started its teaching and training gathering on May 15 in
Abovian. The team includes 7 boys and 4 girls. The trainings are headed
by national team’s coaches Ashot Danielian and Artashes Nersisian. The
gathering will finish on June 6, then the team will leave for Prague
to take part in the World Youth Championship to start on June 8.