Author: Frangulian Shushan

"BIG WEDDING" IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

DeFacto Agency
2008-10-16 16:11:00
Armenia

STEPANAKERT, 16. 10. 08. DE FACTO. A large-scale measure titled "Big
Wedding" is being held in Nagorno-Karabakh. 700 young pairs from
Artsakh are getting married within the frames of the action.

According to DE FACTO own correspondent in Stepanakert, now all wedding
corteges are heading from the Stepanakert Revival Square, where the
wedding ceremony will be held. Some pairs headed for Gandzasar. In the
second half of the day the secular wedding ceremony will be held at
the Stepanakert Stadium after Stepan Shahumian. The newly-weds will
get certifications on marriage and first presents – plastic cards
of Unibank.

To note, the initiative of holding the unprecedented action in
Nagorno-Karabakh that belongs to a philanthropist Levon Hayrapetian
was supported by Nagorno-Karabakh government.

The wedding ceremony will be accompanied by a big concert program.

ARMENIA: AIRPORT TO BE BUILT IN DZHERMUK

Express.am
October 3, 2008 Friday

The Government of Armenia has allocated Dr 84mn (US$ 279,417.88 EUR
178,302.69) to designing of a new airport in Dzhermuk. Dr 44mn (US$
146,361.75 EUR 93,396.64) will be invested in land plot searching
works, Dr 30mn (US$ 99,792.1 EUR 63,679.53) in designing of facilities
on the premises of the idle airport, and Dr 10mn (US$ 33,264.03 EUR
21,226.51) in designing of a helicopter landing site and a maintenance
station.

M. BRYZA: PRESIDENTS SHOULD MEET

Panorama.am
15:53 14/10/2008

The OSCE Minsk group American co-chairmen Matiew Bryza believes that
after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Bishkek, the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will take an
initiative to meet, Bryza said to Azeri "APA" agency.

The American co-chairmen said that he is going to visit Azerbaijan
to observe the Presidential Elections.

Regarding the announcement of the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran
Sargsyan, Bryza said that he could repeat the words of Dick Cheney,
"We are looking for a common agreed solution taking into account the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan".

Note that the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan announced that
Armenia is willing to continue the negotiations with Azerbaijan in the
frames of the OSCE Minsk Group recommendations and Madrid principles.

ARMENIA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC ENHANCES ECONOMIC RELATIONS THROUGH CULTURE

RIA OREANDA
Economic News
September 29, 2008 Monday
Russia

Yerevan. ">OREANDA-NEWS . September 29, 2008. The Prime Minister
welcomed the cooperation development-oriented initiatives coming
from the two ministries of culture and the arrangements reached
during Mr. Madaric’s stay in Armenia. Tigran Sargsyan said closer
bilateral relations in culture may lead to strengthened economic ties
and enhanced cooperation between Armenia and Slovakia. The Armenian
Prime Minister highlighted the cooperation agreement signed with the
RA Ministry of Culture in the frame of this visit of the Slovakian
Minister of Culture by noting that this interagency instrument may
propel new interesting initiatives on either side to raise the Armenian
and Slovak peoples’ awareness of each other’s culture.

Highly appreciative of the newly signed cooperation agreement, Minister
Madaric noticed that cultural and economic exchanges between the two
countries fall short of the high-level political relationship. The
great potential available in these areas has so far failed to be used
in full and there seems much to be done yet in this respect. The
interlocutors also spoke about Armenia’s euro-integration efforts,
the activities of the Armenian community of Slovakia, the latest
developments in South Caucasus. In conclusion, Mr. Madaric conveyed
Slovak Prime Minister’s warm greetings to his Armenian counterpart
and a strong willingness to back Armenia in different areas inclusive
of euro-integration.

THE ONLY MUSICAL LIBRARY IN CIS TO BE REPEAIRED

Panorama.am
20:32 10/10/2008

The only musical library of CIS countries located in Armenia will
be repaired. "Since 2006 the library is listed in a project to be
repaired. It was planned to start the repairing activities this year
but the project has been postponed. The library will be repaired in
the next year," said Gulo Nahatakyan, the director of Musical library
to Panorama.am.

"53 million AMD will be disposed to start the repairing activities
of the musical library in 2009, 39 million 166 thousands for the
regional library of Vayots Dzor, 49 million drams for regional library
of Tavush region," said Luiza Berbeyan, of the Ministry of Culture.

ARMENIA: 20 YEARS ON AND 22,000 CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES ADVOCATED FOR

World Vision
Reuters AlertNet
09 Oct 2008 20:25:54 GMT
UK

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this
article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are
the author’s alone.

Photo: Karen, 7, of south Armenia, won a prize for this drawing in
the World Vision Armenia 20th Anniversary drawing competition World
Vision MEERO, By Ani Chitemyan

The Armenian prime minister and other government officials viewed
a World Vision documentary advocating for child rights during the
international organisation’s recent 20th anniversary celebrations.

Some 36 Armenian children were the voice of the country’s children
via the documentary ‘Listen to Me’, viewed at the celebration in the
capital, Yerevan recently.

The documentary and seven Public Service Announcements are based
on the interviews of Armenian children from the remote areas of the
country and Yerevan.

The children talked about various topics such as faith, immigration,
healthcare, child rights, family, water, bad roads, harsh winters. The
Prime Minister was visibly moved during the documentary’s airing.

The documentary and PSAs will be broadcast by national and local TV
channels, as well as through satellite to Europe and USA. The aim is
to increase public awareness of the children’s concerns and to show
the contrast between the capital and the regions.

World Vision International President Dean Hirsch, the Prime Minister
of Armenia, the First Lady, government ministers, church leaders,
representatives of the Armenian diaspora, international donor
organisations, ambassadors, international and local NGOs, community
members, journalists, and children attended the event.

The event was a great opportunity to highlight the past achievements
and thank the partners for the past and the future cooperation. ‘World
Vision Armenia already has a strong foundation for advocacy at
regional and national levels – this event provided further support
and confidence of our partners that will enable even more effective
advocacy into the future,’ said Mark Kelly, World Vision Armenia
National Director.

World Vision Armenia displayed a multi-media presentation about the
areas of work during the past 20 years. Children also participated
in essay writing and drawing competitions in the lead up to the
celebration.

Today, World Vision Armenia works in 130 communities in six ‘marzes’
of the country and in Yerevan, supporting 22,000 children and their
families.

In close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues,
the Ministry of Education and Science, and the National Committee for
Child Protection, World Vision Armenia supports inclusive education
and advocates for the rights of vulnerable children.

World Vision provides access to primary healthcare for 90,000 people
in hard-to-reach communities of Armenia. Health facilities are being
renovated and equipped.

World Vision Armenia partners with the Armenian Apostolic, Evangelical,
and Catholic Churches to support Christian education through summer
camps and Bible study classes for children with disabilities, orphans
and other vulnerable children.

World Vision Armenia co-ordinates the five-year grant of $7.2 million
provided by the Global Fund to care for people living with HIV and
AIDS, and to prevent the spread of the virus in Armenia.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and
not of Reuters. ]

ACCORDING TO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AVETIK ISHKHANIAN, TRADITION OF ELECTIONS ACCOMPANIED BY RIGGINGS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan

Oc t 8, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. During the latest local
self-government elections the observers of Helsinki Committee of
Armenia witnessed many violations and acts of violence. Committee
Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian reported at the October 8 press
conference. He said that the most obvious acts of violence were
recorded during the elections of Kentron prefect when proxies of the
opposition candidate were just forced out of some polling stations. And
the Committee recalled its observers from Noragyugh polling station
due to the aggravated situation.

Besides the above mentioned violations, Committee’s 55 observers
recorded cases of control over voting, guiding voters, as well as
observed social workers voting instead of pensioners. There were
representatives of the Police inside the polling stations, part of
which took part in the process of counting the votes. There were
cases when two or three voters were simultaneously near a voting
cabin. According to A. Ishkhanian, cases of open voting, voting
with another person’s passport, and voting without a passport were
also recorded.

According to the observation of the head of Helsinki Committee,
use of voting cabins without curtains should be stopped henceforth,
as other people control a voter near the ballot-boxes and instruct
him what to do. "It is my only proposal to improve the electoral
process. However, in general, I already do not know how to liquidate
the tradition of elections accompanied by riggings and to come out
of this closed circle," A. Ishkhanian said.

STATE FOOD SAFETY AND VETERINARY INSPECTION REVEALS VIOLATIONS AT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AS WELL

Noyan Tapan

Oc t 9, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The State Food Safety and Veterinary
Inspection of the RA Ministry of Agriculture consucted checks at
1,100 economic entities of Armenia in January-September 2008. The
inspection head Grisha Baghian said at the October 9 press conference
that as a result of the checks, some economic entities were subjected
to administrative responsibility. The total amount of fines made 45
million drams (about 150 thousand USD), exceeding by 12 million drams
the amount of fines imposed in the same period of 2007.

According to G. Baghian, among the most widespread violations are
the sale of old foodstuffs, as well as foodstuffs without the
required marking, certificates and the necessary technological
instructions. Following the checks, some shops were closed down,
and the sale of certain meat products was banned. As a result of the
checks, 27 tons of dairy products and 7 tons of meat products were
disposed of, the same amount of meat products was sent from the check
point back to Georgia. Besides, 6 tons of fish, 26 thousand bottles
of beer and 12 thousand bottles of vodka were disposed of.

G. Baghian said that the inspection is conducting checks at
comprehensive schools and kindergartens as well. The checks revealed
that the food given to kindergarten babies and that sold in school
lunchrooms does not meet the food safety standards. The inspection head
announced that numerous violations were disclosed within a week, and
the directors of these educational institutions and the food-selling
companies were warned to eliminate the shortcomings. The inspection
will continue checks in November.

It was mentioned that no checks were conducted in Armenia’s schools
and kindergartens in the past 20-25 years.

In the words of G. Baghian, checks of the weight and quality of bread
on sale in shops are underway, while the results will be announced
in a month.

SERZH SARGSYAN: EACH MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY SHOULD REALIZE THAT THE STATE PROTECTS HIS/HER INTERESTS THOUGH THIS WILL BE HARD TO DO

ArmInfo
2008-10-02 19:09:00

ArmInfo. Each member of the society should realize that the
state protects his/her interests though this will be hard to
do, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in his Oct 2 speech in
parliament. "Everybody should feel themselves protected in the Republic
of Armenia and realize that not a single country will protect their
rights the way their Motherland does. This will be very hard to do
as our citizens have heard about this not so often, they have looked
for it and received it not so often", the president said.

At the same time, Sargsyan stressed that "the rules of the game
should be the same for everybody. These rules should become a part
of the public conscience in the form of customs and traditions which
have a much bigger institutional force in such a society as ours. For
instance, our drivers should realize that one mustn’t make violations
not because of the fear to be fined but simply realizing that one
shouldn’t do so. What I have said can be applied with respect to any
sphere of nowadays reality", Sargsyan said in conclusion.

SERZH SARGSYAN WILL RECEIVE SERGEY LAVROV

A1+
[01:59 pm] 02 October, 2008

President Serzh Sargsyan will receive Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov, who will be in Armenia on the 2nd and 3rd of October with the
invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, as stated
in the press release of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two ministers will discuss issues concerning federal relations and
strategic cooperation. On the sidelines of the bilateral political
dialogue, Lavrov and Nalbandyan will particularly touch upon refer
to the fulfillment of agreements made during the meeting of Armenian
and Russian presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitri Medvedev.

The sides will also touch upon the Nagorno-Karabagh peace process
and the latest events that took place in the region. At the end of
the meeting the ministers of both countries will hold a joint press
conference.