Author: Chavushian

MUNICIPALITY GETS READY FOR WINTER

Panorama.am
17:00 12/11/2007

"Having in view the bad example of 2006-2007 winter, we are taking
preparation measures this year," deputy mayor Vano Vardanyan told a
briefing today.

The deputy mayor said this year 86,000 square meters of roofs have
been renovated in 12 communities. He also said 18,000 meter of water
pipes are installed and 1264 entrance and roof doors were changed. In
his words, 12,000 meter of sewage pipes were also changed.

"According to the program, these make up 80% of the preparation
work and 600 million drams were envisaged for their implementation,"
Vardanyan mentioned.

Speaking about elevators, he mentioned that 354 out of 4261 elevators
in the capital do not work at all. Some 2464 elevators are registered
for renovation and 76 of them are already renovated.

LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER HERE FOR AN OFFICIAL VISIT

armradio.am
12.11.2007 14:28

The delegation headed by the Minister of National Defense of Lithuania
Juozas Olekas arrived in Armenia today on a three-day official visit.

The Lithuanian delegation was welcomed by RA Defense Minister Michael
Harutyunyan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Republic of Armenia, First Deputy Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan,
RA Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Yuri Khachatryan and
Lieutenant-General Gurgen Melkonyan, other representatives of the
Ministry of Defense. Following the welcome ceremony the Defense
Ministers of the two countries met face to face, after which the
meeting continued in an enlarged format.

The parties stated that such meetings will enhance the development
of economic and cultural relations between the two countries
and will serve as an impetus for cooperation in the military and
military-technical spheres.

Underlining the importance of cooperation between Armenia and
Lithuania, the parties exchanged views on a number of regional and
international issues.

At the end of the meeting Defense Ministers Michael Harutyunyan and
Juozas Olekas signed the 2008 military cooperation plan between the
Ministries of Defense of the two countries.

Following the meeting the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Lithuania
gave a joint press conference.

Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute
RA, Yerevan 0028
Contact: Arevik Avetisyan
Tel: (374 10) 39 09 81
Fax: (374 10) 39 10 41
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http: //

08.11.07

The President of the National Council of Swiss Confederation, Christine
Egerszegi-Obrist, visited Tsisernakaberd Memorial Complex. During the
visit guests put a wreath to the memorial to the Armenian Genocide
victims. Guests also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum. Ms. Christine
Egerszegi-Obrist left a note in the Commemoration Book: "This museum
made a great impression on me. Let this place be favorable to the peace
of the all countries and furthers that such fates never be in the World
History again".

IRAN WILL SUPPLY ARMENIAN ARMY WITH FUEL AND FOOD

Lragir.am
08-11-2007 16:47:20

Armenia and Iran do not have a definite plan of military cooperation,
stated the minister of defense of Armenia Michael Harutiunyan in
Yerevan on November 8. "We do not have a program of cooperation yet,
and additional study is needed. After shaping a common approach to
it we can define the directions of military cooperation," stated the
Armenian minister of defense in a news conference with the Iranian
minister of defense.

Michael Harutiunyan said the main direction in the military cooperation
between Armenia and Iran is rear supply, ARKA reports. "Iran is our
neighbor, and we must supply our rear through Iran, and it will be
of great use for the Armenian army," stated the Armenian minister
of defense.

For his part, the Iranian minister of defense Mustapha Muhammad Najari
said during his official visit to Armenia the sides outlined military
cooperation, and already a good relation is shaping in the rear. He
said supply of fuel and food for the Armenian army has been foreseen.

A MAGNITUDE 3.2 EARTHQUAKE IN SPITAK

armradio.am
06.11.2007 17:40

Today at 15:30 a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was registered in Armenia, 2
km to the southwest of the city of Spitak. The strength reached 4-5 in
the epicenter. The Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection told
Armenpress that the earthquake was registered in Spitak and Shirakamut.

SERGE SARGSYAN MAY NOT BE NOMINATED
James Hakobyan

Lragir.am
06-11-2007 12:08:24

Serge Sargsyan has started behaving like a real "father of people".

When he is asked questions about the home political situation,
the activity of the first president, accusations against him and
his relatives, he says that he is rather interested in the price of
vegetable oil and butter. In other words, Serge Sargsyan is thinking
about people. Certainly, people may say "what if he thinks", the
price of vegetable oil and butter remains high anyway. However,
people are maximalist and do not realize that if Serge Sargsyan did
not think about people, they would buy vegetable oil and butter in
grams. Therefore, we should be grateful to Serge Sargsyan that we do
not have to borrow money from the bank to buy oil and butter, because
he cares about the price of these products. If we are more patient,
after New Year they may even bring the prices down to show what happens
when Serge Sargsyan cares about people. Simply people should also think
what will happen to the prices after Serge Sargsyan becomes president
and for the upcoming four years, until the eve of the parliamentary
election, he stops caring about the prices of vegetable oil and butter.

Meanwhile, we are now in for asking political questions to the prime
minister. We should not be surprised when Serge Sargsyan simply
refuses to become a presidential candidate because the election
campaign contains political elements, which distract from proactive
efforts against the growth of prices. One day when Serge Sargsyan will
be visiting a remote region, the owners of small shops may suddenly
put up sabotage and cause a shortage of flour. What will happen to
people then? Ashot Shahnazaryan with his commission for the protection
of economic competition will kneel at the door of those small shops
like the camel of trouble and will punish them for shattering the
statehood, but in this case it will be necessary to attend to Ashot
Shahnazaryan because he may be too furious and he may exterminate small
shops. Meanwhile, a supermarket is not enough to become president.

Perhaps therefore Serge Sargsyan is thinking about the growth of prices
personally and he does not let the government agencies – the commission
for the protection of economic competition, the Central Bank, the
ministry of finance and economy – think about it. In a stable and
sustainable country with harmonious development a prime minister need
not think about prices. If the agencies which are meant to think about
it perform their function conscientiously, the prime minister may do
political activities if he wants to run in the presidential election.

Consequently, either there is a state of emergency in Armenia when
the head of the government personally deals with it, or the agencies
which are supposed to deal with it and prevent emergencies fail,
or yet the prime minister does not trust the government and expects
just anything from them.

In fact, Armenia is experiencing an emergency because the country
which took the two-digit rate of growth for granted cannot sustain
it any more through the surface of land and is now preparing to empty
the mountains. Meanwhile, they are always saying Azerbaijan has oil,
we have a flexible economy.

Certainly it is flexible, like our language, but it is also barbaric,
like our language, if we believe Charents, the poet. So barbaric
that it is ready to destroy two thousand hectares of forest for two
thousand jobs.

The agencies which are supposed to prevent the prices from rising
are not working either. For instance, the Central Bank states it is
not entitled to keeping the exchange rate stable but to preventing
the prices from rising.

However, it turns out that the rate of exchange is dropping while the
prices are going up. In other words, it is not known to the society
what the Central Bank is busy with in reality.

Finally, if one of us were Serge Sargsyan, would they trust the
system of public administration which gave two pleasant surprises
within a week to the prime minister while he was getting in touch with
the system of public administration of the United States? First the
sugar fever, than violence against the participants of the peaceful
march. How can one trust the system any more? You have to think about
everything personally, and no time is left for politics. Or maybe it
is Serge Sargsyan’s policy to show that only the problems are solved
in the country to which the prime minister attends.

A real father of people. However, people have had other "fathers"
and must still remember what happens when one person makes all the
decisions in the country, be it the people’s "father", "brother", or
"uncle".

MONUMENT DEDICATED TO MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SET UP IN WALES

Noyan Tapan
Nov 6, 2007

CARDIFF, NOVEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A monument-khachkar
(commemorative cross-stone) dedicated to the memory of the victims
of the Armenian Genocide was set up in the garden adjacent to the
Temple of Peace of Cardiff, the capital of Wales on November 5.

The opening of the khachkar was conducted by Vahe Gabrielian, the
Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United Kingdom, and
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Chairman of the Parliament of Wales,
after which the consecrating ceremony of the khachkar was performed
by His Holiness Nazan Hovhannisian, the primate of the Armenian Church
in the United Kingdom.

About 300 Armenians arrived from different places of the United
Kingdom, as well as representatives of the Parliament of Wales, the
Church of Wales and non-governmental organizations were present at
the ceremony.

A solemn part followed the opening ceremony of the khachkar, during
which Ambassador Gabrielian, Stephen Thomas, the Head of the Centre of
International Affairs of Wales, Rev. Chris Gillham, a representative
of the Welsh Church, Khoshaba Georges, the Assyrian Bishop of the
Ancient Church of the East, and Welsh (Jew by nationality) historian
Mike Joseph made speeches.

Referring to the problem on the international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, those, who made speeches attached importance to
the setting up of the monument as a symbol of friendship between
the Armenian and Welsh people. Ambassador Gabrielian stressed in his
speech the role of Wales being a vanguard in Great Britain with regard
to recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press
and Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
event was accompanied by a demostration of protest of 100-150 Turks
carrying placards and distributing leaflets, which was organized by
the Turkish organizations operating in the United Kingdom.

The ceremony of setting up the khachkar and the Turkish demonstration
of protest was covered by the BBC.

The plot for the khachkar was given by the Welsh Center for
International Affairs and was made by Welsh masters due to the means
of a small number of Armenians living in Wales. John Torosian, the
Chairman of the "Wales-Armenia Solidarity" organization operating in
Wales, and Armenian by nationality Elian Williams contributed to the
placing of the khachkar.

NO ONE RECOGNIZED AS AGGRIEVED PARTY IN CASE ON OCTOBER 23 INCIDENT

Noyan Tapan
Nov 1, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. No one has been recognized as an
aggieved party in the case on the incident, which happened during
the October 23 procession. According to the information provided to
Noyan Tapan by the Information and Public Relations Department of the
RA Police, that issue will be solved on the basis of the conclusion
of the forensic examination.

According to the same source, five out of the procession participants:
Shogher Matevosian and Nikol Pashinian, the editors-in-chief of the
"4th Power" and "Armenian Time" newspapers, correspondingly, Petros
Makeyan, the Leader of the opposition Democratic Fatherland Party
and both of his sons have been charged with Part I, Article 316 of
the RA Criminal Code: to use violence towards a representative of
the authoroties.

The defensive side considers the insident in itself to be "unfair,
unnatural and an instigation". According to Hovik Arsenian, the
defender of Shogher Matevosian, the defensive side has an intention
to prove the innocence of its defendants, as well as the misfeasance
of the policemen during the public trial. According to the defender,
the situation during the procession gave rise to no necessity for
taking special measures.

VISITING PONTIFF FINDS SUPPORT IN FIGHT TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE
By Niraj Warikoo – Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit Free Press, MI
Nov 1 2007

The Armenian community’s top religious leader said today in Southfield
that the U.S. Congress will eventually label as genocide the mass
killings of Armenians in the early 20th century.

"We don’t know when it will happen, but we have no doubt that one
day — today, tomorrow, at some point — this will be accepted by
the U.S. Congress," His Holiness Karekin II, pontiff of the Armenian
Orthodox Church, said through a translator after a luncheon in his
honor at St. John Armenian Church in Southfield. "Which country,
if not the country that bears the legacy of democratic values,"
will condemn the genocide.

"Moral values should never be held hostage to political interests,"
he added.

Karekin is in Detroit this week as part of a national tour of the
U.S. He happened to deliver a prayer in Congress last month on the same
day that a House committee voted to recognize the Armenian genocide,
setting off strong protests from the Turkish government and the Bush
administration. The resolution appears to be stalled for now.

During the luncheon, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida, of the Roman
Catholic Church, along with local heads of the Greek and Romanian
Orthodox churches, also condemned the genocide.

Karekin said recognizing the Armenian genocide is important not just
for Armenians, but for all who suffer because of their background
or religion.

"The world suffers today with the trampling of human rights," Karekin
said. "It is vital that genocide be condemned."

Karekin also said that the Armenian community in the U.S. is strong
despite increasing assimilation.

He said that Armenians who marry outside their ethnicity often have
spouses who are very active in the Armenian church and "play a great
role in the Armenian community." The non-Armenians are sometimes
"even better Armenians than their Armenian spouses," Karekin said.

TURKEY’S INVASION IN NORTH IRAQ NOT AN END IN ITSELF
By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.

AZG Armenian Daily #201
02/11/2007

Middle East

Recently the Turkish press and the international mass media have
been actively engaged in analyzing the question of Turkey’s invasion
in North Iraq. Some sources have even spread information that the
Turkish armed forces have already crossed the border and assailed
the PKK units. Inconsistent statements about Turkey’s invasion are
an en expression of pro-Jewish mass media’s inclination to take the
desirable for reality.

Nevertheless, irrespective of the biliousness of the aforementioned
media sources, Turkey was first to give cause to the creation of
an illusion of war. We mean neither the statements of Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan and army commander Buyukanit., demanding elimination
of PKK forces and blaming the USA and NATO.

As it came to be known, on October 17 the National Assembly of Turkey,
the Meclis, authorized the Government to start military campaign
against PKK. On October 21 Erdogan’s Government and the National
Security Council made a decision to appluy economic sanctions
against Iraq.

But getting authorization and making decisions is one thing, and
applying them is quite different, especially when Iraqi president
Jalal Talabanee and Kuridstan’s Governor Maosud Barzanee challenge
the threats of Turkey, when the Kurdish "Democratic Society" party
proclaims head of PKK Abdullah Ocalan "the Cieftain of the Kurd
Nation" and demands autonomy for Turkey’s South-Eastern provinces, when
Washington, supported by NATO warns Ankara against violent actions and
when the EU presses on the peace settlement of the Kurdish question.

In despite of Talabanee’s and Barzanee’s challenges, Israel’s support
for "Turkey’s right of defending against terrorism", head of Jewish
Neo-Conservatists Michael Rubin’s statement that "Turkey won’t get
rid of the terror of PKK until Barzanee is taken to prison at Ocalan’s
side", Ankara does not seem hasty about starting military operations.

Erdogan’s and Buyukanit’s latest statements about necessity of patience
equanimity, make us think that the armed conflict in North Iraq
won’t be unleashed, nor the economic sanctions applied. Were Tukey’s
plance more or less realistic, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
would not have visited Ankara the other day, and Erdogan would have
flattered with the USA and NATO, instead of blaming them. Erdogan
would have rather lay all the blame for "Kurdish terrorism" upon
Talabanee and Barzanee.

It is obvious that Bush’s administration would be utterly discredited
in case of allowing turkey’s invasion in Iraq, in case of which clash
between American and Turkish armed forces is unavoidable. The latter
scenario would work for the interests of the jewsish organizations
of America, the Neo-Conservatist wing and, of course, Israel, who
are in controversy with the pro-silamic "Justice and Prosperity"
party, currently ruling in Turkey. Talabanee and Barzanee would also
profit from such situation, as they aim to hasten the process of
territorial split of Iraq by the means of confronting Turkey with
the United States.

In other words, invasion in Iraq is not an end in itself for Turkey,
but rather an opportunity of blustering at the USA, NATO and the
EU, which would contribute the consolidation of Turkey’s political
positions in the region, and help in constraining the Kurdish
separatists and avoiding Washington’s pressure in talks with Iran
and Syria.