Author: Chaltikian Arsine

RA PRESIDENT: DURING TALKS WITH GUL WE DECIDED NOT TO LEAVE CURRENT PROBLEMS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2008 14:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the UN
General Assembly today, the leader’s press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"I am representing a country which during the last several weeks
appeared in a situation unacceptable in the 21st century.

Once again blood was shed in the South Caucasus and once again
innocent people died because we, the leaders failed to bring a
peaceful resolution to the existing conflicts. The armed conflict,
which erupted in the matter of hours, threatened not only the entire
region but well beyond it.

Nowadays the unsettling expression "Cold War" has emerged again. I
hold the view that the main task of this 63rd session should be a
joint demand to unequivocally rule out this kind of developments. The
memories of the previous "Cold War" are pretty much fresh, and its
consequences are still there.

I think on that direction our main task should be the establishment
of a new, dependable, and viable structure. Challenges facing the
humankind in the last decades have been transformed and reshaped
in a way that makes it impossible to tackle them exclusively with
the structures established after the World War II. We continue to
response to the horizontal, netlike challenges of today such as
terrorism, international crime, drug trafficking and others, through
the institutions which are envisaged predominantly to smooth over the
controversies among the states. Regional cooperation can become one
of the essential means to address these new challenges. Armenia has
always been promoter of this kind of cooperation, and we are confident
that cooperation is one of the most effective means of attending to
the problems existing among the states. With this regard open borders,
crisscrossing lines of communication and interrelated economic systems
are crucial. The UN was among the first to respond to the current
global problems resulted from the rising food and fuel prices. It is
a real danger for all the countries of the world. For poor countries
the consequences will be devastating. Unfortunately, in this situation
we continue to witness unilateral sanctions and border closures.

In face of global challenges, the countries should joint their efforts
to avoid the deterioration of the situation and to provide for the
implementation of the sustainable development agenda. Otherwise we
will jeopardize our collective efforts to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals. Neighboring states have always had and will be
having some problems. However, those problems cannot be solved if
there is no dialogue.

Keeping that in mind and taking advantage of a football game between
our national teams, I invited the President of Turkey to Yerevan. I
was pleased with the bold decision of President Gul to accept the
invitation which made him my co-author in the "football diplomacy"
initiative.

We discussed the array of bilateral and regional issues. The most
important was our decision not to leave the current problems to
the future generations. I am confident that the time has come to
solve Armenian-Turkish problems and on that issue I observed similar
determination on behalf of President Gul. I am certain that it is
necessary to move fast and resolutely on that direction," President
Sargsyan said.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION’S OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE NEW PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: PPA LEADER

ARKA
Sep 24, 2008

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. Armenian opposition’s objective is to
hold new parliamentary elections, said Stepan Demirtchyan, leader of
the People’s Party of Armenia.

"The only way to help the National Assembly enjoy public authority
is to hold democratic elections," he added.

Demirtchyan stressed the importance of easing the strain in Armenia
by relieving "political prisoners" who have been under arrest since
the March 1-2 clashes in Yerevan.

Touching upon the parliamentary commission that investigates the
March clashes, the PPA leader said opposition is skeptical about the
results of the investigation.

"The commission is not objective and real offenders remain unpunished,"
Demitchyan added.

Since February 20 rallies, sit-ins and student walkouts had been held
by the opposition led by Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosian
in the center of Yerevan. The initiators and protesters accused
Kocharyan’s ally and Prime Minister Serge Sargsian of rigging the
presidential election on February 19.

The clashes began on March 1-2 when authorities used force to clear
Freedom Square of thousands of demonstrators who had camped there
for the past 10 days.

ARMENIA TO TAKE PART IN "ART-FILM" ALL RUSSIAN FIRST FESTIVAL

Panorama.am
21:17 23/09/2008

The first festival of short film "Art Film" started in Moscow. Armenia
is taking part in the festival. The organizers of the festival
have received more than 300 applications from various countries,
e.g. Georgia, Ukraine and Germany.

The jury consisting of Russian film directors, writers, producers
will assess the films in 8 nominations – "Grand Prix", "Best short
film", "Best directorial work", "Best script", etc. Another award –
"Audience Sympathy" is also included in the nomination list.

AZERBAIJANI, TURKISH FMS DISCUSS THE SITUATION IN THE REGION

armradio.am
22.09.2008 13:59

Azerbaijani and Turkish Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Ali
Babajan met in New York on 21 September.

The informal meeting took place on the sidelines of the 63rd session
of the UN General Assembly, Turkey’s CIHAN news agency said.

The Ministers exchanged views on bilateral issues and discussed the
situation in the region, as well as the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers are expected to meet with
participation of their Turkish counterpart in New York on 25 and
26 September.

NO ISSUES CONCERNING ARMENIA ON THE AGENDA OF THE PACE AUTUMN SESSION

armradio.am
22.09.2008 16:28

No questions immediately related to Armenia will be on the agenda
of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) to be held in Strasbourg September 29 to October
3. Discussions on PACE Resolutions 1609 and 1620 on the Functioning of
Democratic institutions in Armenia are expected at the January session.

An urgent debate on the consequences of the war between Georgia and
Russia will be the main focus of the autumn session. The debate will
be in two parts: it starts on the morning of Tuesday 30 September and
resumes on the morning of Thursday 2 October. As part of the run-up
to the debate, an ad hoc committee will conduct a fact-finding visit
to Georgia and Russia from 22 to 25 September.

NEW RUSSIAN BASES IN ABKHAZIA, S. OSSETIA STRENGTHEN MOSCOW’S HAND IN S. CAUCASUS, BLACK SEA REGION
by Paul Goble

Georgiandaily
Sept 18 2008
NY

Russia will set up land, sea and air bases in the breakaway republics
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thus strengthening Moscow’s military
position not only in the South Caucasus but across the Black Sea
region and preemptively countering any moves by NATO to increase
cooperation with or extend membership to Georgia.

Yesterday, Moscow signed agreements with the two republics it has
recognized as independent countries that makes Moscow responsible
for providing security to these republics and for representing
them and their citizens abroad where their governments do not have
representations.

In addition, the sides commit themselves to respecting the territorial
integrity and borders of the Russian Federation, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, specify that citizens of one may be citizens of the other,
and prohibit membership in any bloc or organization directed against
one of the signatory states.

But the most immediately important aspect of the accords concerns the
establishment of Russian bases in the two republics. In South Ossetia,
Russia will set up an air base and an army base near Dzhavy, which
is not far from Tskhinvali. And in Abkhazia, it will have a navy base
at Ochamchir and an air base at Gudaute.

According to Vladimir Yevseyev, a Moscow military expert, there
will be approximately 3800 Russian military personnel in each of
these republics, and they will not only support the Russian fleet in
the Black Sea but also serve as "a restraining factor" if Georgia,
"as seems likely, sooner or later will become a member of NATO.

And consequently, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" concludes, this will "change
in a cardinal fashion the balance of forces in the Transcaucasus"
and even further afield, allowing Moscow to project power and thus
to have a continuing influence not only on Georgia but on Azerbaijan
and Armenia as well.

The signing of the treaties did not go without a hitch: Eduard Kokoity,
the leader of South Ossetia, once again could not restrain himself
and said, as he has before, that his republic "intends to become part
of Russia" even though Moscow has made it clear that won’t happen —
at least formally — anytime soon.

In addition to Russia’s military presence in the two breakaway
republics, Moscow may be seeking to use them in other ways to weaken
the countries of the south Caucasus and thus to strengthen Moscow’s
position there.

One possibility of such actions that has been discussed in some detail
by Aleksey Chichkin on the RPMonitor.ru portal would have Abkhazia
create separate autonomous territories within its borders for the
Svans and Mingrelians, two sub-ethnoses of the Georgian nation.

Not only would the creation of such entities have an impact on IDPs who
have fled that region, but it could help to play up tensions between
the two groups in Georgia itself now or at least represent a continuing
threat to Tbilisi that Moscow could employ at some point in the future.

And while not directly connected to what Moscow has done in the
breakaway republics, the Russian authorities may be behind something
else: increasing activism by ethnic Armenians in Javakhetia, a
region in southern Georgia, in the wake of the Russian government’s
recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Aram Argutyan, the head of the Bagin Information Center in Javakhetia,
gave an extensive interview this week in which he said that Yerevan
has little interest in helping his people – the Armenian government
recognizes that any moves might be counterproductive – but that his
people can now look to Moscow after its recognition of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. Such attention from the ethnic Armenians of southern
Georgia could give Moscow yet another lever on Georgia.

At the very least, the Russian government’s ability to stimulate
tensions and unrest there creates another headache for Tbilisi even
if the Russian intelligence services do not do anything immediately.

SULEYMAN DEMIREL: "I THINK THE TURKISH PRESIDENT WAS RIGHT TO VISIT YEREVAN"

Today.Az
olitics/47632.html
Sept 18 2008
Azerbaijan

"The visit of President Abdullah Gul to Armenia was assessed positively
both in Turkey and throughout the world. Therefore, I consider this
visit to be correct", said ninth president of Turkey Suleyman Demirel,
reports Day.Az with reference to Turkish Cihan news agency.

He said Gul made a right decision, visiting Yerevan. He also noted
that it is wrong to hold a policy of enmity between the two countries
till the end.

It should be reminded that President Gul visited Yerevan by invitation
of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to watch a football match
between the teams of Turkey and Armenia on September 6.

THE OPPOSITION IS MAKING CHANGES

A1+
[08:00 pm] 18 September, 2008

Although the rally on September 15 was permitted, there was
an unprecedented amount of policemen standing on the streets of
Yerevan. Press speaker of the Armenian National Congress Arman Musinyan
stated today that according to their information, there were police
subdivisions from all provinces, except the Syunik Marz and there
was a lot of aggression.

"Before the rally there were violent acts, attacks on young activists
and an evident portrayal of aggression. It became clear to us that
the authorities intended on committing provocative acts and literally
massacre the citizens. Of course, we did not commit any provocative
acts. The national movement was satisfied with the rally and did not
organize a march", stated Arman Musinyan and added that the roots of
terrorist acts can be traced to the government.

Musinyan assured that that makes the opposition "make some changes in
its strategy", but claimed that that doesn’t mean less activism. In
regard to foreign policies, the press speaker noted that the national
movement is concerned with a couple of policies, such as the rumors
about the change in format of the OSCE Minsk Group and Turkey’s
intermediary role, the statement made by Turkey’s president regarding
Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to hand over the seized territories and the
fact that the RA government has given its consent to the proposal to
form a committee of Armenian and Turkish historians.

Musinyan stated that the authorities believe that there is no need to
change the format, but the problem is that a statement has already
been made. However, there is information regarding the signing of
unimportant documents, which goes to show that Turkey will have active
participation in the Karabakh conflict negotiations process.

HAYASTAN FUND LAUNCHES THE DITAVAN ADMINISTRATION BUILDING RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT

armradio.am
17.09.2008 13:35

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund announces the launch of the Ditavan
administrative building reconstruction project in Tavush Marz early
in October. The project, with the total cost of 56 million AMD,
is sponsored by Armen and Nadia Ekskerjians from Argentine.

Ditavan community is located about 19 km from the regional center. It
has 120 families living in it.

The two-storey administration building was built in 1960s. Currently it
is in deplorable condition and in dire need of repair. The community
administration building includes the library, the computer room,
the veterinarian office, as well as the entertainment room.

Within the project, the whole building will be fully renovated and
furnished. The project is scheduled to finish in April 2009.

Gasification of the community is on the way, too. This project
is also funded by Armen and Nadya Ekserjians. As soon as we get a
positive conclusion of the project expert assessment, tender will be
announced for the construction works. The village is looking forward
to an alternative source of cheap electricity.

"We believe that the number of projects we implement in the Tavush
cluster will serve to the great benefit of the people living in these
poor villages and make their life more worthwhile", says the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund Executive Director Ara V ardanyan.

WHO WAS MANOOGIAN ANYWAY?

Detroit Free Press
ID=/20080917/NEWS01/80917047/1001
Sept 17 2008
MI

The Manoogian Mansion is named for Alex Manoogian, who donated his
house to the city in 1965.

According to "The Detroit Almanac," the Detroit mayor’s official
residence at 9240 Dwight on the east side was built in 1928 for
$300,000, but the owner lost the home during the Depression.

It stood vacant until auctioned off in 1939 to entrepreneur Alex
Manoogian for $25,000. By 1965 with his family grown, Manoogian gave
the mansion to the City of Detroit. It was the Armenian immigrant’s
way of thanking his adopted hometown.

Born in 1901 the son of a grain merchant from Smyrna, Turkey, Manoogian
came to to the United States in 1920 with two suitcases and $50. In
1924 Manoogian arrived in Detroit to get a job as a machinist in
a screw factory. In late 1928, Manoogian and two partners took the
first initials of their last names and $5,000 and set up Masco Screw
Products in a loft near Greektown.

In 1952, a California man asked Masco Corp. to make some parts for a
novel, single-handled faucet. The parts were sent, but months later,
the engineer told Manoogian the faucet did not work. Manoogian acquired
rights to the design and spent 1 1/2 years perfecting it. The finished
product led to the start of Masco’s boom. The company has sold hundreds
of millions of the devices.

Manoogian became a well-known philanthropist and was an important
figure in the Armenian community. He died in 1996.

The Manoogian Mansion is said to have 4,004 square feet but looks
bigger. The style has been described as both Italian and Spanish. It
has a terra cotta tile roof.

The physical layout is dominated by walls of windows — bowed windows,
arched windows, leaded windows — that let light stream in and open
onto a spectacular view of the grounds and the Detroit River.

The downstairs has three sunrooms facing south and the river. There
are 15 rooms in all, including a large living room, library, kitchen
and two dining rooms — a formal room and a more casual one that
looks toward the river. It has four bedrooms, plus two small bedrooms
for servants.

There are three full baths, a servants’ bath and two half-baths.