Author: Garnik Tadevosian

Volkswagen has disclosed that a robot has killed a contractor involved in its installation. The fatal accident happened at VW’s Baunatal plant, north of Frankfurt on Monday, reports. 

Human error was likely to have been to blame and not a problem with the robot, said VW spokesman Heiko Hillwig late on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old victim was a member of a team setting up the stationary robot. It grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate, Hillwig said.

The man was resuscitated at the factory but died later in hospital, he said.

The Baunatal plant in Germany’s central state of Hesse produces mainly transmissions and electric motors and employs about 15,500 workers.

The contractor worked for a firm from Germany’s eastern state of Saxony.

The Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme was launched in June by the European Union to support the cultural and creative sectors’ contribution to sustainable humanitarian, social and economic development in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

“The Programme will reframe the debate on the 21st century concept of culture among state bodies and key cultural players in the region and  promote an understanding of the positive impact creative industries can have on employment, small and medium businesses, the role of municipalities and social engagement,” said Renate Utzschmid, Programme Manager, EC Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations.

Although a regional programme, it will be heavily country-focused with designated professional country coordinators as an essential part of our core team. The Programme will run for three years. The budget of the Programme is €4,2 million.

The Programme will focus on four main areas including research development of evidence-gathering mechanisms, capacity-building, raising awareness and providing opportunities for international cultural cooperation. Topics covered by the Programme will include project cycle management, cultural leadership, cultural and statistical research, advocacy, fund raising, cultural journalism and communication capacities.

The Programme’s activities will be carried out through workshops, intensive training, online learning platforms, study visits and partnership fairs, bringing together public and private actors, government and civil society.

“The need for partnership between the state, civil society and the commercial sectors in culture is central to any modern state. This can only be achieved through inclusive, jointly formulated national policy initiatives which have as their starting point a wide but clear understanding of culture and the role of culture in reform and positive change”, said Terry Sandell, Head of Programme.  

The culture and creative sub-sectors includes architecture, archives, libraries and museums, artistic crafts, audio-visual (film, television, video games and multimedia), tangible and intangible cultural heritage, design, festivals, music, literature, performing arts, publishing, radio and visual arts. Together they provide jobs in the EU for 8.3 million people and are worth €558 billion. The cultural and creative industries are also growing faster there than the manufacturing and the service industries.

Following a competitive tendering process the Programme will be managed by a consortium led by the British Council, in partnership with the Soros Foundation Moldova, the National Centre for Culture of Poland and the Goethe-Institut. The Programme builds on the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme I (2011-2014) that consisted of technical assistance and grant-funded projects.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on French Presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande in 2006-12, Wikileaks says, the BBC reports.

The whistleblower website cites “top secret intelligence reports and technical documents” from the NSA.

A French official said spying “between allies was unacceptable”. Mr Hollande is to discuss the issue with security chiefs.

The US would not confirm the veracity of the documents.

In 2013 the NSA was accused of spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On Tuesday, Wikileaks said it began publishing the files under the heading “Espionnage Elysee” – a reference to the French presidential palace.

It said the secret files “derive from directly targeted NSA surveillance of the communications” of the three French presidents as well as French ministers and the ambassador to the US.

 

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan attended today the opening of the 8th annual DigiTec Business Forum in Yerevan.

The forum has been organized by the Union of Information Technology Enterprises under the high auspices of the Prime Minister.

Greeting the participants of the forum, PM Hovik Abrahamyan said “the forum is an opportunity for the companies offering new technologies and services to present their achievements, approaches and solutions.”

“The field of Information Technologies is one of the most rapidly developing ones in Armenia, and is one of the key directions of the Government program. We greatly value the implementation of far-reaching programs through close cooperation between the public and private sectors targeted at the development of technologies, which help attract foreign investments, promote entrepreneurships and contribute to the creation of new companies and jobs,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Abrahamyan noted that the new ICT solutions and proposals are being successfully implemented in different spheres of Armenian economy, which contributes to the overall progress of the economy and boosts competitiveness.

The 8^th DigiTec Business Forum has brought together more than 70 companies representing the IT, business and other spheres. For the first time 10 companies will be honored with  DigiBusiness Awards.

President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan will meet with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Twitter post.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić will visit Armenia on 3 June 2015. He will meet President Serzh Sargsyan, Speaker of Parliament Galust Sahakyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, as well as members of leading political parties, and visit the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Dačić and Nalbandian will hold a joint press conference on Wednesday, 3 June at 11.00 AM at the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In an effort to promote collaboration amongst women’s resource centres, the OSCE Office in Yerevan hosted a delegation from European Association of Women Resource Centres (WINNET) Europe.

The Office in Yerevan established Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs) in Goris, Kapan, and Meghri, southern Armenia, in 2009.  The centres formed a Syunik Women Resource Centers’ Network and became a member of the WINNET Europe in 2014.

“The centres have made an amazing progress in the past few years,” said OSCE Democratization Officer Oliver McCoy. “The establishment of WINNET Armenia is a testament to multi-lateral co-operation and can serve as an example to others in the country and wider.”

During the visit, WINNET Europe representatives shared their experience in promoting women’s role and competitiveness in the social, economic, and political spheres at the national, regional and local levels.

President and Manager of WINNET Sweden and WINNET Europe, Britt-Marie Söderberg Torstensson, said: “Until gender equal conditions and opportunities in terms of work, working conditions, national and regional development for sustainable growth, including innovation and entrepreneurship for women and men prevail, and until a uniform balance of power and influence throughout society is recognized we have a value of discrimination.”

The President of WINNET Armenia, Ruzanna Torozyan, highlighted the impact of the resource centres in rural communities, where the network has created around 100 job opportunities for women. “Being involved in handicraft projects, these women not only create carpets, souvenirs and other products, but also restore the old traditional crafts. The WINNET Armenia also works towards women political empowerment, which reflects in the fact that Syunik has the highest number of women representatives in local authorities.”

Over the course of the visit, the WINNET Europe delegation met the government officials in Yerevan and travelled to Goris to see activities and explore further collaboration. WINNET Armenia includes women’s resource centres from Goris, Kapan, Meghri, Sisian, Dilijan, Ijevan and Eghegnadzor.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declined an invitation from counterpart Vladimir Putin to attend the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Moscow’s victory in World War II, in an apparent diplomatic reprisal againstRussian leader’s decision to label the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide last month, the reports.
Russian diplomatic sources told daily Hürriyet on May 5 that Turkey would be represented by Ambassador Ümit Yardım at the May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow.
Upon a question from a Russian journalist, Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek said during his visit to Moscow on April 15 that he “was sure that President [Erdogan] would try to come” to Moscow for the ceremony.
“April 24, 1915 is a melancholy date, related to one of the most horrendous and dramatic events in human history, the genocide of the Armenian people,” Putin said in a letter to the World Without Genocide commemorative event on April 23, the text of which was also posted on the Kremlin website. Furthermore, the Duma voted on April 24 to pass a resolution that described the 1915 events as genocide.
Putin and French President François Hollande were among the leaders to join the commemorations in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on April 24 to mark the 100th anniversary.
After the Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Putin and the Duma, President Erdogan personally dove into the issue.
“We wish that Mr. Putin and Mr. Hollande had not gone to Armenia [on April 24]. Two heads of states went there [in Yerevan]. Thank God, 20 heads of state came to us,” Erdogan said.
Diplomatic sources in Moscow told Hürriyet that Putin’s invitation was conveyed toAnkara in March, but Putin’s stance over 1915 prompted Turkey to decline it.

ISRAELI ARMENIANS HELD PROTEST NEAR TURKISH EMBASSY

news.am
April 23 2010
Armenia

A group of Israeli Armenian community members organized a rally
denouncing Armenian Genocide near Turkish Embassy in Tel-Aviv.

The demonstrators condemned Turkey’s denial policy, carrying banners
and Armenian flags.

During World War I the government of Ottoman Empire organized barbaric
extermination of about 1.5 Armenians, turning Western Anatolia into a
desert. April 24, 1915 Armenian intellectuals of Turkey were arrested
in Constantinople. April 24 is a Remembrance Day of Genocide victims
and is commemorated in many countries each year.

Armenian Genocide is recognized and condemned by a number of countries
and international organizations. It is officially recognized
by Uruguay, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia,
Argentina, Canada, the Vatican, Lebanon, Chile, Sweden and others.

Forty-two out of 50 states of U.S. officially recognized Genocide
and proclaimed April 24 – Genocide Remembrance Day.

RESOLUTIONS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WILL NOT DO ARMENIA ANY GOOD: ERDOGAN

Tert.am
13.04.10

Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide resolutions adopted by the
parliaments of different countries, Turkish Prime Minitser Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said during a lecture at the George Mason University
in Washington after his meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

"Historical events should be studied by historians. The history is
not being written in the parliaments and it cannot be condemned in
the parliaments either. The realities of history will emerge in this
universities, in these academies of science. We have never avoided
discussions and are not avoiding them now either. On the contrary,
we have opened our archives, we have made our documents public and
said ‘let others too open their archives.’ Let the third, the forth
sides too open their archives. The call on creating a commission of
historians was made by us. In 2005 I wrote a letter to Mr [Robert]
Kocharyan. We said ‘let the 1915 events be studied by historians. Let
they reveal all the details.’ But our call did not get a response . No
one will benefit from condemning the history in the parliament. I am
declaring openly that the decisions adopted by parliaments will not
do Armenia any good, and cannot do so," said Erdogan.

Edward Sharmazanov: Determination of the status of Nagorno Karabakh
most important to Armenia
26.03.2010 14:44

Lusine Vasilyan
`Radiolur’

Armenia does not aim to solve the Karabakh issue at any cost, the most
important for Armenia is the determination of the status of Karabakh,
Spokesman for the Republican Party of Armenia Edward Sharmazanov told
a press conference today.

Assessing the current stage of the settlement process, Sharmazabnov
voiced hope that Armenia’s initiatives would succeed and pointed to
the differences that exist in the current stage.

`Before the milestone of the settlement was the principle of
territorial integrity, while today it is the principle of the right of
nations to self-determination,’ he said.