Author: Hovhannisian John

DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS TO START IN ARMENIA THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan

Jan 8, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. 315 water use permissions were granted
in Armenia in 2008, including 101 permissions to natural persons and
214 ones to legal entities.

According to the RA Ministry of Nature Protection, the development
of basin management plans will start in the country this year. There
are currently 5 units on territorial management of basins in Armenia.

ADDRESS OF THE CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS ON CHRISTMAS

armradio.am
06.01.2009 17:26

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"A new king is born in Bethlehem Bless (Him) sons of mankind, For He
became incarnate for us."

Armenian Church Hymnal

Dear pious faithful in Armenia, Artsakh and the Dispersion, With
songs of praise and prayers of thanksgiving we celebrate the Feast
of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ today,
conveying the good news of the incarnation of God and the revelation
of the Savior.

The prayerful fathers of our Church called the Holy Nativity a
"mystery great and wondrous". They named it as such, since it is
impossible to describe how the uncontainable, the eternal and the
boundless was contained in a manger; how the Word and Wisdom of God
was born in a stable of incognizant animals. It remains beyond the
comprehension of the human mind how the Only Begotten Son of God –
the Creator’s Light of Glory – became a created being, and the Lord
took on the form of the servant.

We do not know how this great miracle of God came to pass nor can
it be explained; however we do know the reason for the miracle,
"For He became incarnate for us". Truly, these few words explain the
Almighty’s providential will, guiding and directing the Holy Nativity
and Theophany.

God is Lord and Creator "of heaven and earth, of things visible and
invisible". His glory is shown by His temporal and spiritual creations
– the universe, mankind and the angels. The God of all has no need for
body nor time. The Savior seated on the eternal throne of God had no
need to descend from the heights of heaven to this sinful earth. The
Prince of Peace had no need for persecution, torture, and crucifixion;
there was no need for a crown of thorns, death, or resurrection. But
all of this the Savior took upon Himself for our sake. The Love of
God took on flesh to liberate us from the power of sin and death,
and to make us worthy of the blessedness of eternal life. "In this
is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the expiation for our sins." I John 4:10. God Whom we lovingly
worship does not desire our death or condemnation, and for that reason
He Himself came to live within us. He came to transform our lives,
to grant us the hope of salvation and eternal life.

Indeed, our songs of praise and giving of thanks have no value,
if within the depths of our soul we do not have the unshaken faith
that God "became incarnate for us". Our prayers will not be heard,
if God does not abide in the very center of our existence.

Holy Nativity marks the beginning of reconciliation between God and
man; it is the invitation to inherit eternal life and the exhortation
to remain under the grace of salvation with Jesus Christ. God revealed
Himself to us in His fullness, so that we do not remain apart from that
fullness of divine and human perfection, and so that our lives hoping
for salvation become satiated with that fullness of perfection. We
believe that God is one. Is unity not essential for us? We preach
that God is love. Do we not feel the need for love? Can we live
without love? Can we create without love? God, to Whom we constantly
pray, is holy, righteous and benevolent. Let us examine our hearts –
do we not feel the need for holiness? Let us examine our actions –
are they always truthful, good and benevolent? We declare that God is
just. Do we not long for justice every hour of every day? We confess
that God is our Father; that He is merciful, the unending source of
peace and the grantor of goodness. Is peace not our daily appeal and
wish? Does the earth not yearn for mercy and care every day? He who
recognizes God in this manner, cannot live without Him; cannot live
without binding his own hope for salvation with the faith of the
incarnation of the Son of God; and cannot live without aspiring to
always be under His blessings and graces.

The world loses its path without the light from the star of Bethlehem.

Without Christ, the world will always be in distress, troubled and
lacking morality. Material progress alone will not secure the avoida
nce of crisis situations, the prevention of conflicts and discord,
or the elimination of disasters and poverty. The disregard of
spiritual values and the tendencies of secularization unequivocally
damage sacred traditions, distort moral concepts and understanding,
as well as the inner-world of man, causing him to be indifferent to
and alienated from God, from himself and the world. It is God who
sustains the human soul. Human life shall be repaired by the soul that
loves God and the power of faith, so that there is no blurring of the
boundaries between philanthropy and egoism, so that there is no failure
to differentiate between the just and the unjust, truth and falsehood,
good and evil. Many issues shall be decided, many disparities shall be
leveled and wounds shall be healed by the discerning comprehension and
belief that the Son of God became man for our sake. This example of
perfect love is light and direction for our lives and a commission
to work with love. "Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and
beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience,
forbearing one another; and if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must
forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything
together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:12-14.

Dear faithful Armenians, on the "great and wondrous" feast of the Holy
Nativity and Theopha ny, our Church commemorates the holy baptism
of Jesus Christ with the Blessing of the Waters service, so that
through the graces of Christ’s revelation to mankind, the blessed
water be distributed throughout our families, increasing the love and
blessings of God in our lives. Through our baptism, we are adopted by
God. Through our baptism, we are one – regardless of where we may be;
we are the sons and daughters of our Holy Apostolic Church, our nation
and our homeland. Let us live and work with this sense of unity and
love towards one another, so that we may be empowered to overcome all
difficulties and challenges, to progress toward the achievement of our
hopes and aims. As the oldest Christian nation and as God’s people, let
us bring our participation with our God-pleasing lives in the creation
of a peaceful and prosperous world – a world filled with solidarity
and happiness. Today our Lord and Savior comes to live within our
hearts and to renew us with His grace. Let us receive the Lord in our
souls, be reinforced with faith, and remain loyal to our spiritual
inheritance and Christian values. With reliance on our Lord and Savior
and the steadfast hope and strength granted from Him, let us make our
lives flourishing in all aspects, continue to build our native land,
and care and strive for the manifestation of all national aspirations
and the rights of our people in Artsakh. May our virtuous works and
benevolent souls filled with love towards one another always shine
brightly in our lives, whereby we shall bear witness that we love God.

It is with these emotions, prayers of joy and warm Pontifical love,
from the cradle of our faith – the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
– that we greet all sons and daughters of our people in Armenia,
Artsakh and the Diaspora.

With fraternal love in Christ, we greet the incumbents of the
hierarchal sees of our Holy Apostolic Church: His Holiness Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Torkom
Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude Mesrob
Mutafyan, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; and the oath-bound
ranks of our clergy.

We extend our Pontifical blessings and greetings to the President
of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsian; the President of the
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, Bako Sahakian; all state officials of
the Armenians, and leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions
accredited to Armenia.

On this grace-renewing day of the Holy Nativity, let us offer
thanksgiving with prayers to God in heaven for the blessings and
consolation He grants us; for the successes and achievements in our
ecclesiastical and national life, and ask that He care for us with
His boundless love as is His will.

May He make us worthy to remain steadfast on His path, reinforce
us, illuminate us and make His saving grace shine within us, today
and always.

"Bless (Him) sons of mankind, for He became incarnate for us."

Christ is Born and Revealed Great Tidings to you and us.

Art Daily
Jan 7 2009

Art Institute Celebrates the Life and Work of Master Photographer
Yousof Karsh

CHICAGO, IL.- The Art Institute of Chicago has organized an exhibition
that focuses on Yousuf Karsh–the man responsible for some of the 20th
century’s most famous photographic portraits of celebrities and public
figures. Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes–on view January 22-April 26,
2009 –highlights the remarkable depth, skill, and poignancy with
which Karsh captured such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Audrey
Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway, Georgia O’Keeffe, Albert Einstein,
Christian Dior, and Marian Anderson. To mark the centenary of his
birth, this retrospective displays Karsh’s best portrait subjects in
the prints he himself preferred. The 100 photographs in the exhibition
are drawn from a set of more than 200 master prints given to the Art
Institute as a promised gift by his widow, Estrellita Karsh.

Yousuf Karsh arrived in Canada as a teenage refugee, escaping the
genocide in Turkish Armenia. He was trained by his uncle–and later
by John Garo in Boston–as a professional portrait photographer. At
first this meant pleasing his sitters, rather than the editors and
publishers who, with their staff photographers, kept an eye on
fashion and celebrity. In 1941, after nine years as a struggling
young photographer in Ottawa, Karsh captured the unforgettable image
of Winston Churchill that became known as "the roaring lion." His
name and his career were made almost instantly. Despite his success,
Karsh still lived in a period of uncertainty, especially concerning
the fate of European democracies and indeed the future of Western
civilization. It was in that period that Karsh captured, like no
other photographer, the faces of the people who defined the age. It
is this notion of heroism and its stylistic rendition that the
exhibition Regarding Heroes examines and illuminates.

Yousuf Karsh’s lifelong ambition was to search for a form within a
face, one that could become a symbol for a life that was purposeful,
meaningful, and generally virtuous. "I speak with some experience when
I say that I have rarely left the company of accomplished men and
women without feeling that they had in them real sincerity,
integrity–yes, and sometimes vanity of course–and always a sense of
high purpose." In his 60-year career, Karsh seldom wavered from this
goal, even when fame and fortune came his way. Neither did he discard
his trademark variations in lighting style that he perfected in the
late 1940s while other fashions came and went. Unchanging, too, was
his genius at capturing the revealing and ephemeral psychological
expressions, those fleeting disclosures of character and purpose for
which his famous sitters trusted him.

Karsh was the preferred photographer of kings, queens, princes,
presidents, prime ministers, generals, and other political figures
because he rendered them with an unbiased and unfailing regard for
their dignity. Karsh and the musicians, artists, writers, scientists,
actors, and intellectuals he photographed shared a parallel ambition:
to create works of art of lasting value. In making what now seem
singular, monumental statements honoring those he considered his
contemporary heroes, he stood alone in his field, so much so that it
could be argued he was the last of his kind.

Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes is organized by the Art Institute of
Chicago. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated
catalogue, written by exhibition curator David Travis, former Curator
of Photography at the Art Institute, and issued by Boston publisher
David R. Godine. The 192-page book traces Karsh’s artistic development
and reassesses his place in the history of photography. It will be
available in January 2009 and can be purchased at the Art Institute’s
Museum Shop.

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ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK TO EARMARK 5 BILLION DRAMS FOR MORTGAGE FUND’S ESTABLISHMENT

ARKA
Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, December 29. /ARKA/. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) plans
to earmark 5bln drams for the establishment of the first mortgage
fund in the country in 2009, CBA Chairman Arthur Javadyan said today
at a reception in the Central Bank.

Establishment of mortgage funds and companies is among Armenia’s
short-term objectives, the CBA chairman said, pointing out elaboration
of a relevant concept. "Moreover, the Central Bank will assign 5bln
drams from its capital expenditures for the establishment of the
first mortgage fund in 2009," he added.

Twenty-two banks with 367 branches operated in Armenia as of September
30, 2008. Total assets and capital of Armenia’s banks amounted to
954.1bln drams and 214.9bln drams respectively, with their liabilities
reaching 739.2bln drams.

Total assets of local bank are around 27% of the country’s GDP,
with crediting of economy reaching 617.5bln drams in end-2008,
compared to 434.5bln drams earlier this year. Consumer loans totaled
172.5bln drams, with mortgage loans amounting to 81bln drams.($1-
308.01 drams).

ELDENIZ GULIYEV: "TURKEY LOSES MUCH MORE FROM STRENGTHENING RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA"

Today.Az
olitics/49877.html
Dec 29 2008
Azerbaijan

"The strengthening of relations between Turkey and Armenia is of
negative nature", said chairman of the Azerbaijan Intellectuals
Movement Eldeniz Guliyev.

He said strengthening of relations between the countries should be
considered from various positions.

"First of all, Turkey must not forget the historical facts and the
evil Armenia brought to it. Second, it must bear in mind that 20%
of Azerbaijani lands are occupied.

Naturally, each country pursues its goal while strengthening the
relations. In particular, the opening of borders is profitable for
Armenia, while Turkey tends to join EU. However, both countries should
not forget that the things they achieve will be insignificant against
what they lose. Turkey loses much more by strengthening relations
with Armenia", noted he.

Guliyev also added that the campaign held by representatives of
Turkish intellectuals by apologizing to Armenians for 1915 events in
the Osman Empire and the reverse campaign were planned incompetently
and incorrectly.

TRT BLAMES PRODUCER ON SCREENING SCANDAL

Hurriyet
Dec 29 2008
Turkey

ANKARA – Turkey’s national public broadcaster caused a scandal when it
screened a documentary in which murdered Armenian Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink was portrayed as the provocateur of the deadly MaraÅ~_
incidents of 1978.

In response to the strong public reactions to the documentary,
the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or, TRT, blamed the
producer of the documentary, the daily Hurriyet reported yesterday.

The 13-part documentary, "The Labyrinth of the Shahs," featured
controversial images in its episode, shown Dec. 24, on the MaraÅ~_
Massacre in which more than 100 people, most of Alevi origin, died. The
program showcased the statements of OkkeÅ~_ Kenger, who later became
OkkeÅ~_ Å~^endiller, the number one suspect of the massacre and one
of the founders of the Grand Unity Party.

In the documentary he said, "What happened in MaraÅ~_ at the time
was not a conflict between the Alevis and Sunnis. Hrant Dink and his
friends caused the events. Moreover, among the corpses there were
six or seven uncircumcised bodies."

After Å~^endiller’s statements, Dink’s photographs were featured
in the program. TRT officials, meanwhile, said what was said in the
program was not TRT’s opinion and TRT had purchased the documentary
from external sources. "They are not TRT’s views. The target of the
program was not Hrant Dink. It deals with many political topics from
that period and one of them was the MaraÅ~_ events. There are many
people interviewed in the documentary and Å~^endiller is among them,"
said TRT officials. "He says a few sentences. It is an allegation and
the documentary was made in a particular journalistic style. If Dink’s
family or lawyer said something, they would have been broadcast too,"
he said.

–Boundary_(ID_CRx0qE9KlJr0DD66pZ6m1A)–

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Dec 24 2008

Fraud revealed in Turkish apology campaign

24-12-2008 03:50:24

An apparent fraud has been revealed in an online signature campaign
launched by a group of Turkish citizens to apologize to Armenians for
the alleged World War I-era killings of their countrymen.
It has now been revealed that most of the Turks included in the list
of people voting for the "apology" have either died or are
non-existent. Additionally, some of the persons listed were not aware
that they had been included in the campaign.

The initiative, launched on the website on
December 15 by up to 200 Turkish scholars, journalists, men of art and
NGO representatives, seeks to extend an apology for the alleged mass
killings in the Ottoman Empire that Armenians term as genocide, a
claim strenuously denied by Ankara. Supporters of the campaign vote by
including their names, city of residence and email addresses on the
web-page. An opportunity has also been created for non-users of the
Internet to submit their votes by mail. The campaign is expected to
last a year.

The website claimed that among those apologizing to the Armenians was
Turkey`s ambassador to France Ismayil Erezi, who was slain by Armenian
terrorists in Paris in 1975.

The web site further says that over 13,000 people have already joined
the campaign, but it is unknown which of the published names are
forged. After the persons whose names had been included in the list
without their knowledge appealed to the prosecutor`s office, the
website`s sections saying "Katilanlar" (Those joining) and "Katilmak
ichin tiklayin" (Click to join) were removed.

It is of note that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other
Turkish officials have condemned the campaign.

"I do not understand the organizers of this campaign and believe they
are wrong," the Turkish premier said. "One has to commit a crime to
ask for an apology afterwards.

Treating matters with good will is one thing, while apologizing in the
absence of any crime is completely another."The Turkish Armed Forces
Headquarters has labeled the online "apology" campaign as a move that
will be harmful to the country, with Armed Forces official, Metin
Gurak, calling the move erroneous.

Turkish Ambassador in Baku, Hulusi Kilic, has also come out against
the initiative, saying Turkey is not apologizing to Armenians, but, on
the contrary, is expecting an apology from them.

"The Turkish nation does not owe an apology to any other nation,"
Kilic told reporters.

Some 60 former ambassadors denounced the "apology" initiative as
running opposite of the country`s national interests. In a statement,
they said the re-settlement of Armenians carried out in 1915 in the
conditions of war had caused bitter consequences. However, the Turks`
losses due to Armenian terror and riots, were no less heavy.

To counter the initiative, Turkish intellectuals have lately launched
a campaign called "We are not apologizing." The signature collection
campaign is being carried out on the website.

Meanwhile, the Turkish embassy in Baku has expressed concern over the
baseless reports in local as well as Azerbaijani media claiming that
President Abdullah Gul`s maternal side is ethnic Armenian. A source
from the embassy told AssA-Irada that Gul has made a formal statement
regarding his family`s roots, saying his generation comes from
traditional Muslim Turks.

After all officials in Ankara except President Gul condemned this "act
of propaganda", a representative of Turkey`s opposition Nationalist
Movement Party claimed that Gul`s relatives on his maternal side are
ethnic Armenian Turkish citizens who originally come from the Kayseri
region. The embassy said Armenia was sticking to its unequivocal
stance on the purported genocide and its relations with the
neighboring country. It noted that the head of state has repeatedly
offered to Yerevan to open up historical archives to study the Ottoman
Turkey developments, in order to prove the falsehood of the genocide
claims.Armenia and Turkey maintain no diplomatic ties and the border
between the two countries has been closed since 1993 on Ankara`s
insistence in response to Armenia`s policy of occupation of
Azerbaijani territories and the Armenian "genocide" claims. However,
relations between the two countries have begun to improve of
late. Following secret talks between Turkish and Armenian diplomats in
Bern in July, the two countries` leaders attended a 2010 World Cup
qualifying soccer match together in Yerevan early in September when
Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish president to visit
Armenia. Further, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian visited
Turkey on November 24 where both countries discussed ways of
normalizing relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Documented evidence

A document has been discovered that exposes the fraudulent nature of
Armenia`s genocide allegations. According to the Turkish media, the
document says that the then Armenian patriarch and a group of
Armenians from his entourage launched a signature-raising campaign to
put forward territorial claims against Turkey. "The Turks tormented us
in 1917 and endangered our lives and property", the document said.

In response to this statement, the Anatolian Armenians and Greeks
circulated a statement of their own.

"We, the Anatolian Armenians and Greeks, have lived in peace and
stability with the Turks for years, and this will continue," the
historical document says. "There is no pressure against us
whatsoever. This is a ploy by those interested in muddying the
waters. We are very pleased with our lives."

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NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan’s Congratulatory Address to
Artsakh People in View of New Year

December 27, 2008

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department

Dear Artsakh people

In view of the New Year and Christmas I convey to you my warmest
greetings, and wish you all the best and profound joy of full-blooded
life in the Homeland.
I hope that 2008 was a year of realization of new opportunities and
ideas for you.
The past 12 months were mostly of this kind for the Republic of
Artsakh. Though inevitable difficulties arose before us during the
year, we managed to implement the major part of the state programmes
outlined for the year, to provide definite economic growth, to achieve
a new level of social security for the population. Solid investments
were made in the sphere of agriculture; the reforms initiated in this
sphere as well as those in the spheres of energetics, healthcare and
other spheres assure great results. The hypothecary company gathers
momentum and one of our main aims is that all the Artsakh people attain
the happiness of having a private dwelling in the near future.
We would like to anticipate more from 2009, though it can already
be said that the forthcoming year will not be easy and plentiful from
the view point of economic progress, and this, chiefly because of the
serious split in the world financial and economic system. However, we
have considerable opportunities and a private programme of actions, the
realization of which will enable us to reduce the forthcoming
difficulties and to secure the successful vital activity of our
Republic. 2009 should become a year of unified, systematized and
purposeful work for us. There are important programmes outlined,
particularly, in the social sphere, in the spheres of urban planning,
education, small and middle enterprises, and in other spheres. The
realization of these programmes will allow to raise the welfare level
of our citizens, to create new conditions of life for them. The
Government will show great support to those, who will work and create
within the framework of our common interests and with their honest
labour, will contribute to the prospering process of Artsakh State.
I wish peace and labour, energy and health to all of you, dear
Artsakh people. Let light and harmony, mutual understanding and
solidarity dominate in your families. Let the forthcoming year be full
of kindness and good luck!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA DISCUSS SITUATION IN THE REGION

The Messenger
Dec 24 2008
Georgia

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze discussed
issues of bilateral cooperation and the situation in the region after
the developments in August on Monday.

"We discussed both tete-a-tete and in a broader format the problems our
countries are facing," Mamedyarov stated at the joint news conference
after the meeting. "First of all, we discussed the situation in the
region against the background of recent developments in Georgia. I
described the current state of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The broader spectrum of bilateral relations was
also discussed," he added.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, the development
of cooperation within the GUAM, UN and OSCE frameworks was also
discussed. "We emphasized the growth in commodity turnover between
the two states. It increased by 86% last year and was worth USD
700 million," the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan stated. "We also
touched on the issue of humanitarian and cultural cooperation and
the situation with Azerbaijani schools in Georgia," Mammadyarov
stated. Grigol Vashadze, in turn, said there was mutual understanding
on the issues discussed.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

amp;p=0&id=696&y=2008&m=12&d=23
19 .12.08

On October 8, 2008 the Azeri soldier who crossed the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and yielded himself prisoner to
the Armenian side declared that he would like to assume Armenian
citizenship. The Azeri captive stated in an exclusive interview: "I,
Hasanov Rafik Rahman Oghli, was born in 1989 in Yusuvjanli village,
Aghdam region. I currently reside in Seferli village in Aghdam region.

Why did I cross the border? I was humiliated at the 5th battalion of
the brigade #707 located in Ghazakh. I served there for three months,
and then I was glad to be moved to the base station where there
would be nine soldiers and one Officer. I thought the service would
be easier there. However, I was beaten and tortured also at Bazahli
base. Unable to stand it any longer, I decided to shoot at my left
foot from the gun, after which I was taken to hospital. I recovered
and returned to the base station. The commanders continued teasing
me comparing me with a donkey."

I am addressing my message to Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev,
asking to carry out check-up at the 707 brigade.

The captive said he does not wish to return to Azerbaijan where
he is beaten and humiliated. He added that he is treated well in
Armenia. Hasanov declared he will never return to Azerbaijan and said
he is going to become an Armenian citizen.

"I am announcing that I was a citizen of Azerbaijan for 19 years. Now I
wish to be a citizen of the Republic of Armenia and will never return
to Azerbaijan," Hasanov Rafik Rahman Oghli said.