Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

ONE MORE AZERI SOLDIER DIES

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 1 2007

Armenian armed forces continue violating ceasefire, Defense Ministry’s
press service told APA. Armenian armed forces violated ceasefire on
July 31-August 1.

It was mainly observed in the villages of Ahmadali, Bashgervend,
Javahirli, Goytepe of Aghdam region and the village of Chayli of
Terter region. The enemy firing by machine and submachine guns was
silenced by response fire, APA’s Karabakh bureau reports.

Armenians fired on Gapanly village from their positions in the village
of Seyidsulan of Terter region and from Agdere on opposite positions
of Azerbaijani armed forces till 01.00 on August 1.

An Azerbaijani soldier died as a result of Armenians’ violating
ceasefire in the territory called Gulchuluk sovkhozu.

The resident of the village of Mikayilli of Jalilabad region, 19-year
old soldier Aslan Aliyev died of bullet wound.

Defense Ministry confirmed the fact. The ministry’s press secretary
Eldar Sabiroglu told APA that Aslan Aliyev was drafted from Jalilabad
region in January, 2007.

LEVON ARONYAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHESS FESTIVAL IN MAINZ

armradio.am
31.07.2007 13:36

Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan will participate in the Chess
Festival in the German city of Mainz together with Grad Masters
Vishvanatan Anand of India, Ethien Bakroy of France and Rustam
Dasimjanov of Uzbekistan. The sportsmen will compete for the champion’s
title in both rapid chess and so-called Chess 960 or Fisher Chess.

Let us remind taht Levon Aronyan is teh zacting champion in Chess 960.

The tournament will kick off on August 13, and will feature another
three Armenian Grand Masters – Vladimir Hakobyan, Gabriel Sargsyan
and Tigran L. Petrosyan.

OLYMPIAD ON ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, CONTEST ON ARMENOLOGY TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA ON SEPTEMBER

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 30 2007

YEREVAN, July 30. /ARKA/. Two big pan-Armenian events – third Olympiad
on the Armenian language and literature and contest on Armenology –
for pupils will be held in Armenia on September 14-20.

The press service of the RA Ministry of Science and Education said
that the objective of the event is to stimulate and encourage the
knowledge of the Armenian language, literature, Armenian history and
culture, as well as creative skills in terms of free competition and
search of gifted children.

Applications for participation should be submitted to the RA Ministry
of Science and Education by July 31, 2007. Local and foreign pupils
over 14 from Armenian colleges and Sunday schools of Diaspora can
participate in the Olympiad and contest.

In the contest of Armenology questions from the History of Armenia
and Culture will be included, and for the Armenian language the
participants should pass an oral interview and creative composition.

Within the event contests of readers, rhetoric, patriotic songs will
be held.

The Ministry said that the Armenian language will be the working
language of the Olympiad, however the participants will be able to
choose tasks either on Western or Eastern Armenian.

Within the event, the participants will be able to get acquainted with
the social, educational and cultural life of Armenia, participate
in events, dedicated to the country’s Independence Day on September
21.

8TH SUMMER COURSES OF DIASPORAN ARMENIAN TEACHERS START

Noyan Tapan
Jul 30, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The opening ceremony of the 8th
Summer Courses of Diasporan Armenian Teachers took place on July
30. 65 teachers from more than 15 countries are attending this year’s
courses that will begin on July 31 and finish on August 25. Ethnogaphy,
national painting, songs and literature, and some other subjects will
be taught by specialists from Armenia and the Diaspora.

The RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian, Archbishop
Nerses Pozapalian, the rector of the State Pegagogical University
after K. Abovian Artush Ghukasian, experts from the Diaspora made
speeches of welcome.

"The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is one of the greatest advocates
for the development of cooperation and links between Armenia and the
Diaspora, and these courses are an efficient manifestation of efforts
to keep the Armenian spirit and culture alive at Armenian Diasporan
schools," the executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Vahe Aghabekian said.

The training courses of Diasporan Armenian teachers are run by the
"Spyurk" ("Diaspora") scientific and cultural center. Since 1996,
the program has been implemented in Argentina – for teachers of the
local community, and since 2000, also it has been implemented in
Armenia for Diasporan Armenian teachers from various countries.

GOVERNMENT HAS DESTINED 70 FREE TARGET PLACES FOR DIASPORAN ARMENIAN ENTRANTS

Noyan Tapan
Jul 30, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. 70 places have been
destined for Diasporan-Armenian entrants in state Higher Educational
Institutions in the 2007-2008 academic year by the RA government within
the frameworks of the state order. These places are envisaged for
pedagogical, Armenological and art professions, which are considered
to be of primary significance.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Department
of the Diaspora of the RA Ministry of Education and Science, besides
the places envisaged by the state order, the Diasporan-Armenian
entrants have an opportunity to study in the paid system of Higher
Educational Institutions, including colleges and post-graduate
institutes.

The term for introducing documents to the RA Ministry of Education
and Science starts from July 1 to August 20, and for post-graduate
institutes until September 30. Those Diasporan-Armenian entrants,
who do not have sufficient knowledge in the Armenian language, can
enter the preparatory sections of HE Institutions with a one-year
term. In case of existence of sufficient knowledge in the Armenian
language and professional subjects, which is decided as a result
of knowledge checkings, the entrants will be given an opportunity
to start their education from the first course. The process of the
knowledge checkings will start from August 20.

AGINCOURT COLLEGIATE GRAD’S NEW CD JUST RELEASED
By Norm Nelson

Inside Toronto, Canada
rts/article/29821
July 27 2007

Toronto bar band veteran Markarian had DJ stint in university

Scarborough musician Garen Markarian, an Agincourt Collegiate grad,
has recently released a new CD.

When longtime Scarborough resident Garen Markarian released his
three-song EP last year, he managed to get some airtime on 102.1 the
Edge, Toronto’s popular cutting edge rock station, not to mention
plenty of play on university radio stations.

One of them certainly was the U of T Scarborough Campus radio station
where he was a DJ with a weekly one-hour show when he was a student
there in neuro-sciences.

Prior to that, the 29-year-old musician went to Agincourt Collegiate
Institute, in the French immersion program, and before that J.B.

Tyrrell senior public school and North Bridlewood junior public school,
all in Scarborough.

In his younger days, he delivered The Scarborough Mirror and actually
got in it a few times.

His musical talent, however, soon had him on a rock ‘n’ roll route,
forming his first band, Lud, while still at Agincourt.

His old band had an interesting bit of trivia in that it was asked
to play for a school dance at Agincourt instead of a not-yet-famous
band called Moist.

He went on to some local bar bands, Handwave in university and,
most recently, Overview.

"We (Overview) put out an album. We played pretty much every bar
in Toronto – Lee’s Palace, Horseshoe to the Rivoli, The 360 when it
was open."

Markarian’s just released, first full-length solo CD, titled Health
Crises, includes the three songs that originally attracted the
interest of 102.1, and he hopes the full-length version will make an
even bigger splash.

His own background is Armenian. The songs "are mainly rock, folk, a lot
of acoustic with a lot of world music element to it. Probably not too
out there where it wouldn’t get radio play, which I had with the EP."

Markarian, who played in the concert bands at all three Scarborough
schools he attended as well as numerous annual Kiwanis music festivals,
took formal violin lesson for about 10 years, starting at the age
of five.

"I was classically trained on violin. I did private lessons with a
Russian teacher, so it was kind of neat, but very strict."

As he grew older, he decided that becoming a classically trained
violinist was not the route he wanted to go.

He picked up the guitar – and just about every other instrument he
could get his hands on.

And you’ll find just about all of them "economically" used on his new
CD, including violin, although he stresses "it still maintains a very
indie-rock kind of (vibe), pretty relevant to today’s music. It’s
not crazy out there."

Garen, who went on to post-graduate studies at the Michener Institute
for Applied Health Sciences in Toronto, holds down a full-time day-job
downtown as a medical underwriter for an insurance company.

He’ll use an upcoming summer "vacation", however, to focus on his other
job as a musician with a planned August tour of northern Ontario and
western Canada, including gigs at Chapters and various bars.

Further ahead, he anticipates having an official CD release party in
early fall.

In the meantime, you can easily sample or order the CD on his website
at

MINISTER OSKANIAN MET WITH GEORGIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER GELA BEZHUASHVILI

Lragir, Armenia
July 26 2007

Minister Vardan Oskanian is visiting Georgia and met with Gela
Bezhuashvili, foreign minister of Georgia, on July 25, the press
service of the ministry of foreign affairs of Armenia reported.

The two foreign affairs ministers discussed issues on the bilateral
agenda of these two neighboring countries, as well as cooperation
in political, economic and cultural spheres. The counterparts also
shared thoughts on regional issues, relations with other neighbor
countries and cooperation in international organizations.

The Armenian Foreign Minister drew his colleague’s attention to the
issue of several Armenian citizens’ arrests by Georgian authorities
on charges of illegal crossing of the border.

The ministers also spoke about the ongoing negotiations on the
delineation of the Armenian-Georgian state borders.

With regard to the settlement prospects for the conflicts in the
region, Mr. Oskanian spoke about the democratic processes in Karabakh
and the latest developments regarding the negotiations on the Karabakh
conflict. Minister Bezhuashvili presented the Georgian approach to
the resolution of the conflict over Abkhazia, as well as the steps
meant to internationalize the South Ossetia issue.

TURKEY’S MINORITIES HAPPY WITH ELECTION RESULTS
E. BariÞ AltintaÞ, Today’s Zaman Stanbul

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 26 2007

Representatives of the Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Armenian communities
of Ýstanbul all expressed happiness with the landslide victory of
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), underlining they had no
fears that the AK Party has a hidden agenda to establish Islamic rule.

Turkey’s Jewish community is not concerned because the AK Party has
been strengthened after last Sunday’s landslide win, according to
Silvio Ovadio, head of the Turkish Jewish community. According to
Ovadio, most Turkish Jews believe that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan will have to seek consensus more often, since his AK Party
now represents half of the electorate.

He talked to the press to respond to claims that a majority of
Turkey’s Jews voted for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) because
of the AK Party’s Islamist roots. The Jerusalem Post had claimed that
Turkey’s Jews believe that the AK Party has an agenda to establish
a Muslim theocracy, and they were throwing their support behind the
secularist CHP.

However, "we do not fear Islamization of Turkey," Oviado said. "The
Ottoman Sultans had always been very friendly to Jews….We have no
concerns about the Jewish lifestyle here." Ovadio also stated he did
not have extreme concern about Turkey’s near-term future.

"Turkey is not Iran. There are no mullahs here. True, there are
religious communities, but that is not the same thing.

These are much more modern than those in Iran and they oppose the
situation there. The secular section in Turkey is also very strong."

He said religion in Turkey was mainly in the sphere of relations
between individuals, rather than the state and the individual.

Underlining that Prime Minister Erdoðan had taken the support of
all sections of society, he said: "There is no doubt that they have
served the people really well during their term in power. There is
no inflation, the currency is strong and the stock exchange is doing
well. There is an increase in our imports and exports. The government
has privatized many institutions and brought in billions of dollars."

He confessed that he was surprised about the percentage of votes won by
the AK Party, but said this left no option for Prime Minister Erdoðan
but to act responsibly and moderately. He also emphasized that in
Turkey, where 23,000 Jews reside — 20,000 of them being Ýstanbulites
— the community had perfect relations with the government and the
bureaucracy.

Mihail Vasiliadis, editor in chief of the Greek-language daily
Apoyevmatini, a reputed source of news for Istanbul’s Greek Orthodox
community, said they were pleased with the results. "Minorities are
always others. But for other parties, there is an ‘ethnic’ element.

For the AK Party minorities are others, not as elements of another
nation but as members of another religion," Vasiliadis said.

He expressed that for political parties that were
nation-state-oriented, people in the country of different ethnic
backgrounds had no place. "That is much more dangerous for us. The
experience of five years has shown us that whenever there was a
positive bill in Parliament regarding minorities, the CHP always
tried to block it. The only complaint we have about the AK Party is
they didn’t stand up strongly against objections from nationalists."

"Overall, we are happy about the results. One thing we are sorry
about is that [independent candidate] Baskýn Oran was not elected
to Parliament. Having someone like him would have been great in
Parliament. We voted for him, but we would have voted for the AK
Party if he wasn’t here." Vasiliadis also expressed hope that the
government would now work on improving relations with the European
Union and enhance its commitment to Turkey’s bid to join the club.

Luiz Bakar, a spokesperson for the Armenian Patriarchate, said a
majority of her community were very glad about the results. "The
community is happy about the elections," she said.

–Boundary_(ID_+2NHB8KPWsTb/oCCFG9j2g)–

EUROPEAN COURT RULED 150 000 DOLLAR COMPENSATION TO CITIZEN OF ARMENIA

Lragir, Armenia
July 25 2007

On June 7, 2007 the European Court of Human Rights of Strasbourg passed
ruling on conciliation of the citizen of Armenia Gevorg Chugryan and
the Republic of Armenia. The citizen of Armenia will get 150 thousand
U.S. dollar compensation for his house in the center of Yerevan which
was demolished from the government, Gevorg Chugryan’s attorney Arthur
Grigoryan said July 25. This is the first case when the citizen of
Armenia who suffered from the public needs succeeds at the European
Court after getting no use from justice in Armenia.

The government paid a 47 thousand dollar compensation to Gevorg
Chugryan, whereas independent experts assessed his property at
190 thousand dollars. However, the Armenian courts’ rulings are in
favor of the government in all the cases involving citizens who were
evicted from their houses. Gevorg Chugryan knocked at the doors of
the European Court from May 2004 to June 7, 2007. By the way, the
Republic of Armenia agreed to sign a conciliation agreement with its
citizen and to pay another 150 thousand dollars after the European
justices who heard the case requested explanation from the Republic
of Armenia. Instead of explanations the Republic of Armenia offered
conciliation.

Besides, Arthur Grigoryan also informed that at present there are about
20 cases involving evicted citizens. And more cases of wrongdoings are
revealed. For instance, 1 square meter was assessed 330 dollars against
880 dollars for 1 square meters next door. This is arbitrariness,
which is prosecuted. On the other hand, the additional compensation
will be paid by the government, i.e. at the expense of tax payers.

TRUTH WILL BE KNOWN ONE DAY

A1+
[03:14 pm] 23 July, 2007

Months ago Armenian singer Silva Hakobyan won the BBC World Service’s
"Next Big Thing" song contest with her song "I Like". Her entry was
composed by her sister Mane Hakobyan who was introduced as the author
of the lyrics and music though Mane composed only the music to the
song. Later on the press published the real author of the lyrics –
Gohar Adilkhanyan.

"Mane Hakobyan was my close friend. Last year I wrote a song dedicated
to Silva. Later on I came to know that the song would be performed
by Suzy Melikyan and not by Silva. This phenomenon is very common in
the Armenian show business" Gohar Adilkhanyan told A1+.

Suzy Melikyan made a video clip ("I’M BLESSED") where Mane Hakobyan
was introduced as the author of the lyrics.

"Mane told me that either the producer or Suzy had lost my name,
therefore her name appeared on the screen. I had written the lyrics
gratis and hoped that my name would at last become known but my hopes
dashed in an instant."

Despite the disagreement among the friends, Gohar wrote two more
songs for Silva.

"Last summer I wrote two songs and gave them to Mane Hakobyan. When
I was in Syria Mane rang me up to inform that one of the songs had
been sent to England to participate in a song contest. I insisted on
mentioning my name as the author lest I shouldn’t appear in the same
ridiculous situation."

We inquired from Gohar whether she still writes songs for Silva. "I
haven’t broken my ties with Mane. She says that are many singers
interested in my songs. At present I want to cooperate with Syrian
singers. On returning to Armenia I shall collaborate with our singers
but I shall charge money for lyrics."

P.S. After the interview, Gohar said, "Anyway, I am not offended."