LEVON ARONIAN AND VLADIMIR KRAMNIK HEAD MONTE CARLO INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT
MONTE CARLO, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The speed and blind chess
international tournament started on March 17 in Monte Carlo. Levon
Aronian (Armenia) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) got 3.5 points from 4
possible ones and head the tournament table.
To recap, L.Aronian first of all won Francisco Vallejo (Spain) with a
score of 2:0, then Peter Leko (Hungary) with a score of 1.5:0.5.
Iranian, Armenian presidents hold talks
IRNA website
19 Mar 07
Tehran, 19 March: Following the official inauguration of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline at the Armenian town of Meghri, President
Mahmud Ahmadinezhad and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharyan,
started talks on Monday [19 March].
The Iranian president was accompanied by his country’s ministers of
oil and energy as well as a number of officials of its oil and gas
sectors.
The two presidents, after the inaugural ceremony, proceeded to the
Armenian Customs Office building, where they are to sign cooperation
agreements in the fields of electricity, water and energy.
The two presidents, in their talks, will also discuss bilateral
relations in addition to the new gas pipeline.
Their talks will be followed by a press conference, where they will
meet representatives of the mass media of both countries and answer
questions.
The pipeline has a total length of 140 km, 100 km of which is in
Iranian territory and 40 km in Armenian territory. It will transfer
10m cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Armenia per day in its
initial phase.
Test operations on the project have been conducted. The project will
be ready for delivery to Armenia within the next few months.
The pipeline has an approximate cost of 120m dollars, 85 per cent of
which was financed by the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) and
the remaining 15 per cent put up by Yerevan.
Inauguration of the pipeline will allow transfer of 400m cubic meters
of Iranian gas to Armenia per year during the first phase of the
project, this figure later to be increased to 2.5bn cubic meters per
year.
FIRST TIME A TURKISH POLITICAL FIGURE DENYING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WAS FOUND GUILTY IN SWITZERLAND
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2007 GMT+04:00
Although the Armenian Genocide is not included by the International
Court in the official list of the crimes alike, it is a historical fact
and Perincek’s announcements are considered to be mere provocation.
The Swiss court found the Turkish militant leader Dogu Perincek guilty
of denying the Armenian genocide.
Turkish Workers’ Party leader Dogu Perincek received a suspended jail
sentence of 90 days or an equivalent fine from a Lausanne Court as
well as a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs (2,500 dollars). In case of one
more denial of the Armenian Genocide Perincek may be sent to prison.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By the way, Perincek’s announcement, where he
called the Armenian Genocide "an international lie", may give ground
for other countries to condemn Perincek not only for racism, but for
slander as well, as the 18 countries which have officially recognized
the Armenian Genocide, can’t deny the truth. As for the references to
"the Armenian intrigues", in this case they simply do not work. And
although the Armenian Genocide is not included by the International
Court in the official list of the crimes alike, it is a historical fact
and Perincek’s announcements are considered to be mere provocation.
As the commentators state, the condemnation of the Turkish political
figure is the first case when the Switzerland’s anti-racism law has
been applied to the Armenian Genocide since 1995 when the law was
adopted in Switzerland. The most interesting thing is that the Turkish
Press "almost failed to notice" the verdict of the Lausanne Court. Only
Chihan News Agency gave some minor consideration to the case, and that
is with no commentary. A similar position is assumed by the "brotherly"
Azeri Press; however, if Ankara gives any response, the Azeri Press
will do the same. Most likely the campaign in Press will launch after
the consideration of the appeal, which Dogu Perincek is going to
file to the Strasbourg Court. Perincek says, "We will not give up,
and if needed, we will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights."
Let us remind that Turkey’s threats about appealing to the
International Court have lately become more and more frequent. Most
probably Turkey realizes that despite the Israeli and to some extent
the US support, Europeans will by all means adopt laws about the
denial of the Genocide, which are already administered in Holland
and Switzerland and soon will most probably be administered in France
as well.
Perhaps Ankara will start applying its old strategy; intimidation,
which this time will be applied against Switzerland. However,
things are a little different in this case. The number of the Turks
in Switzerland is not large; instead there are banks, where no
doubt many Turkish businessmen and political figures have personal
accounts, so it will do no good to Ankara to be in bad terms with
Switzerland. Moreover the leader of the party doesn’t enjoy supreme
authority in Turkey to have the support of the country. Perincek’s
party is too small and in addition is of radical nature, something
which Erdoghan doesn’t encourage at all.
However the incident raised a clamor which may be used for our own
benefit. The Turks themselves, though unintentionally raised the
issue of the Armenian Genocide making many people think over; maybe
the Armenians have indeed been slaughtered, otherwise Turkey wouldn’t
be so aggressive any time the word "genocide" is mentioned.
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department
"DIALOGUE AMONG CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS, BRIDGE AMONG HUMAN RIGHTS AND CULTURAL VALUES" CONFERENCE TO TAKE PLACE IN PARIS ON MARCH 13-14
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 14 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A conference entitled
"Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations: Bridge among Human Rights
and Cultural Values" will take place in Paris on March 13-14. It
is organized under the UNESCO patronage, with the efforts of the
"Dialogue among Civilizations" world political forum. Archimandrite
Vazgen Nanian, manager of the Gevorgian Theological Seminary of the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will present the Armenian Apostolic
Church at the conference.
OSCE OBSERVERS ARRIVING IN ARMENIA NEXT WEEK
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2007 17:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE long-term observation mission will arrive
in Armenia by the end of next week. As a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter
came to know from a source in the OSCE, the observers will be in
Armenia by March 23. Some of them will leave Armenia a week or two
after the parliamentary election, upon completion of monitoring of
post-election processes. An OSCE short-term observation mission will
arrive in Armenia a week before the parliamentary election. In all,
the delegations will include 300 observers.
EVERY "FROZEN CONFLICT" HAS ITS LOGIC AND UNIQUENESS
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.03.2007 20:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Every "frozen conflict" has its logic and uniqueness,
OSCE Minsk Group French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier stated to a press
conference in Yerevan. He said, solution of every conflict must
be individual, proceeding from peculiarities of that conflict. "In
this sense conflicts in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabakh
are different. And moreover, the conflict in Kosovo, which as some
experts think, can become a precedent. In this case there is no sense
in drawing a parallel between them.
Every conflicts is being settled in various formats: South Ossetia
and Kosovo through the UN, Abkhazia with the help of Russia and the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict through OSCE Minsk Group, and to change
the format will only hamper the settlement process," Fassier stressed.
Alongside he underlined that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has the
following logic. First, Nagorno Karabakh has already had autonomy
within Soviet Azerbaijan. And second, this is a conflict between two
countries. "To take the negotiation process to UN will have negative
influence on the whole process, and in our statements we’ve called upon
the sides to avoid from such initiatives," the French mediator said.
STRUGGLE FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BECAME MORE INTENSIVE
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.03.2007 17:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A conference of ARF Dashnaktsutyun "Hay Dat"
committees started in Yerevan. 85 representatives from 28 countries
participate in the conference. The RA NA Vice-President and ARFD
Bureau member Vahan Hovhanissyan said the organized activity of "Hay
Dat" committees on Armenian Genocide international recognition can
be considered as the greatest political success of ARFD. He noted,
currently the struggle for recognizing the Armenian Genocide has become
more intensive and the final goal that the Armenian nation must reach,
has become more clear.
"It was a way of struggle, loses, failures and victories through
acquaintance with the world and through acquaintance of the world
with us. During decades the activity of "Hay Dat" committees in the
whole world return the Armenian nation, which did not have statehood,
to the arena of international politics. The Soviet Armenia did not
use to deal with such problems, and after all she could not do that.
But always there were people who were ready to sacrifice for the
sake of restoring the historical justice and their rights," Vahan
Hovhanissyan said.
Panorama.am
15:05 10/03/2007
DEFENCE MINISTER TO MEET WITH CHARLES AZNAVOUR
The delegation headed by Serge Sargsyan, Minister of Defence of the
Republic of Armenia, Secretary of the National Security Council under
RA president, has left for France on an official visit. The delegation
will have meetings with Michel Alio-Mari, Defence Minister of France,
and with the Commander of General Headquarters of the Army of France,
General Jean-Louis Georgeline.
According to Press Secretary of the RA Defence Ministry, Seyran
Shahsouuvaryan, within the framework of the visit, the minister will
visit the Defence Ministry of France, where he will make a note in the
”Golden book” of Ministry of defence. It is envisaged that the
Armenian delegation will visit the national school of military police
of France. On March 13 Serge Sargsyan will meet with world-known
singer Charles Aznavour. On March 14 the delegation will return
Yerevan.
Source: Panorama.am
WebWire (press release), GA
March 8 2007
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Drink "Jermuk" Brand Mineral Water
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to
drink certain brands of mineral water imported from Armenia due to
the risk of exposure to arsenic, a toxic substance and known cause of
cancer in humans. Symptoms of acute arsenic exposure usually occur
within several hours of consumption. The most likely effects include
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain. Over the period of a
few days to weeks, the kidneys, liver, skin, and cardiovascular and
nervous systems could be affected. Extended exposure could lead to
cancer and death.
The products were distributed nationwide. The following products are
being recalled:
-Zetlian Bakery, Inc., Pico Rivera, CA is recalling product with
labels that read:
"Jermuk Original Sparkling Natural Mineral Water Fortified With
Natural Gas From The Spring". The product is additionally labeled as
`2006 Jermuk Mayr Gortsaran CJSC’ and `Imported by: Zetlian Bakery
Inc.’
-Importers Direct Wholesale Company Los Angeles, CA is recalling the
product with labels that read: "Jermuk Sodium Calcium Bicarbonate and
Sulphate Mineral Water". The product is additionally labeled as
`Bottled by ARPI Plant, Republic of Armenia’ and `Exclusive US
importer and distributor: Importers Direct Wholesale Co., Los
Angeles, CA’.
-Kradjian Importing Company, Glendale, CA is recalling the product
with labels that read: "Jermuk, Natural Mineral Water Sparkling". The
product is additionally labeled as `Bottled by Jermuk Group CJSC’ and
`Sale Agent Kradjian Importing Co. Inc.’ in Glendale, CA
FDA sampled 500 milliliter (mL) green glass bottles and detected the
problem. FDA is investigating whether other sizes or packaging are
involved.
FDA testing of this water revealed 500 – 600 micrograms of arsenic
per liter. FDA’s standard of quality bottled water allows no more
than 10 micrograms per liter.
There have been no illnesses reported at this time. Consumers who
drank this water and have concerns are encouraged to contact their
health care provider.
FDA will continue working to remove all such bottled water products
from the marketplace. FDA may provide additional updates as more
information becomes available.
"AZGAYIN MIABANUTIUN" TO SUPPORT AT COMING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS CANDIDATURES OF A NUMBER OF OTHER OPPOSING FIGURES AS WELL
Noyan Tapan
Mar 07 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The Chairmanship of the "Azgayin
Miabanutiun" (National Unity) party made a decision at the March
6 sitting to support candidatures of a number of opposing figures
nominated for the coming parliamentary elections. As party Deputy
Chairman Gagik Tadevosian informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, the
"Azgayin Miabanutiun" party will support candidature of NA deputy,
"Zhoghovrdavarakan Ughi" (Democratic Path) party Chairman Manuk
Gasparian at electoral district No3 of the Yerevan communities of
Kanaker-Zeytun and Nor Nork, candidatures of NA Deputies, former
"Azgayin Miabanutiun" members, at present non-partisan Aghasi Arshakian
and Napoleon Azizian at correspondingly electoral districts No6 and
No9 of the Yerevan communities of Ajapniak and Kentron, candidature
of NA deputy "Azgayin Zhovordavarneri Dashink" (National Democrates’
Alliance) party Chairman Arshak Sadoyan at electoral district No12
of the Yerevan communities of Shengavit and Erebuni. The "Azgayin
Miabanutiun" party will, naturally, support No143 school director,
"Azgayin Miabanutiun" member Garegin Kostanian, party Deputy Chairman
Sargis Muradkhanian, non-partisan Khoren Sargsian and "Azgayin
Miabanutiun" member Lyova Galstian proposed by it at electoral
districts No2, 4, 24 and 35. G.Tadevosian also stated that to hold
free and fear elections, the "Azgayin Miabanutiun" party intends to
negotiate with all parties, irrespective of their orientation, and
with a number of parties – in the direction of founding an electoral
coordinating headquarters, also jointly assisting opposing candidates
in other electoral districts as well, after registration of nominated
candidates.