Author: Jalatian Sonya

DIASPORAN ARMENIAN BOYS AND GIRLS TO LIVE IN FAMILIES OF ARMENIA UNDER "ARI TUN" PROGRAM OF MINISTRY OF DIASPORA

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Boys and girls aged
15-25 who were born and brought up in the Diaspora will be invited to
Armenia under "Ari Tun" ("Come Home") program of the RA Ministry of
Diaspora. They will live in local Armenian families for 3-4 weeks, the
RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian told reporters on October 22.

Ms Hakobian expressed conviction that after visiting Armenia for the
first time, any Armenian from the Diaspora becomes very attached to
homeland. "We should help Diasporan Armenian children grow up as
Armenians because any young person who set foot on Armenian land,
looked at Masis from Khor Virap, washed hands in Lake Sevan and bent
down at the Memorial Complex of the Armenian Genocide Victims will
grow up as an Armenian," she underlined.

The program’s success, according to her, depends very much on the good
will of Armenians from both the Diaspora and Armenia. "Armenians living
in the Diaspora should express a willingness to send their children
here, while those in homeland should meet them with pleasure," the
minister said.

In the minister’s words, before launching the program, they must become
acquainted with the living conditions of the families to receive the
children, after which they will decide the further steps. She said
that the host families will take care of children, while the ministry
will organize trips and meetings for them under the program.

She noted that at the start of the program, families from Yerevan and
nearby marzes (Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Ararat and Armavir) will receive
Diasporan children but later other marzes (provinces) will be also
involved in the program. The ministry envisages inviting 1,000 children
to Armenia at the first stage.

It was mentioned that families that want Diasporan Armenian children
to stay with them shall apply to municipalities of their cities or
regions in order to be put on the list of the program. H. Hakobian
has already held meetings with regional governors with the aim of
discussing the details of "Ari Tun" program.

JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCES THAT SINCERE APPROACH ON RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WILL PREVAIL IN THIER GOVERNMENT

Noyan Tapan
Oct 21, 2008

LOS ANGELES, OCTOBER 21, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Armenians for
Obama Chairman Areen Ibranossian has met with the U.S. Vice-President
candidate Democrat Senator Joe Biden.

As Public Relations Department of ARF Western America’s Central
Committee reports, during the meeting, a number of Armenian-American
core issues, as well as the activities being undertaken by Armenians
for Obama to provide the votes of Armenian-Americans for presidential
hopeful Barack Obama were discussed.

Areen Ibranossian thanked the Senator for his permanent support to
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as well as for the steps
the Senator has undertaken so that military aid is equally allocated
to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Joe Biden, expressing his thanks to Armenians for Obama for the work
carried out, announced that in case of being elected, publicity and
sincere approach in Obama and Biden’s administration will play a
dominating role in recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

FRIDAY PHOTO: WEDDING DAY FOR 1,400 IN THE CAUCASUS

Foreign Policy
Fri, 10/24/2008 – 5:01pm

In Azerbaijan’s breakaway majority-Armenian province of
Nagorno-Karabakh, 700 ethnic-Armenian couples were wed in a mass
ceremony on Oct. 16. Anahit Hayrapetyan reports for Eurasianet:

Russian-Armenian businessman Levon Hairapetian, a native of the
Karabakh village of Vank, financed the ceremonies. Each couple received
a payment of $2,000; newlyweds living in villages received a cow. That
financial support will continue with each child born: couples will
receive $2,000 for their first child, $3,000 for a second child,
and increasing sums up to $100,000 for a seventh child.

The ultimate aim of the event was to stimulate a baby boom in the
territory. A 2005 census put Karabakh’s predominantly ethnic Armenian
population at just over 145,000.

It’s certainly a novel nation-building strategy, though I’m not sure
a few thousand more babies is really going to turn Nagorno-Karabakh
into the next Kosovo. Then again, it is one of the former Soviet
Union’s more obscure frozen conflicts, so I guess anything that gets
a bit of press is at least a small victory.

NO LEADER OF FACTION IS NEEDED AS LONG AS HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN IS THERE

Lragir
16:05:42 – 23/10/2008

This was the overall impression from Republican MP Rafik Petrosyan’s
speech on the election of leader of the Republican faction, who was
hosted at the Pastark press club on October 23. The point is that
the former leader of the faction Karen Karapetyan was appointed as
head of the president staff three weeks ago, and the post of leader
of the Republican faction has been vacant since then.

The reporters asked Rafik Petrosyan why the election of the faction
leader is postponed, and whether it is determined by the complicated
external situation, and the Republican Party is reluctant to focus on
this minor issue. Rafik Petrosyan said the function of the leader of
the faction is to have the members of parliament come to parliament and
to coordinate nomination affairs. According to Petrosyan, the leader
of the faction has no other functions which affect the activities
of the National Assembly. In this sense, he said after election as
speaker Hovik Abrahamyan performs that function, he has the members
of parliament come, stay and work.

It follows from Rafik Petrosyan’s words that as long as Hovik
Abrahamyan is there, there is no need for leader of faction. However,
Petrosyan says soon the issue of the faction leader will be
solved. According to him, the problem is that the country’s leadership
is busy with the visits of high-ranking guests, and he has had no
time to discuss the issue of the leader of the faction.

According to Rafik Petrosyan, there are two candidates, Galust Sahakyan
and Edward Sharmazanov. Petrosyan says he has learned about it from
the media and talks among the members of parliament but there is no
official decision yet. As to who will be preferred, Petrosyan says on
his behalf only that he endorses both, and the members of the faction
will affirm any nomination of the country’s leadership which is also
the Republican leadership. Rafik Petrosyan says they will affirm
after discussion. But he also says the Republican faction has over 60
members of parliament, and each of them can be leader of the Republican
faction, and whoever the government nominates, the faction will affirm.

ARMENIA: THE OPPOSITION TAKES A BREAK FROM YEREVAN PROTESTS
Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
NY

EURASIA INSIGHT

Nearly eight months after Armenia’s presidential election, Yerevan cars
may still fly the national tricolor to show support for ex-President
Levon Ter-Petrosian, but the opposition’s recent decision to call
a temporary halt to rallies suggests that its appeal is sagging,
some observers believe.

At an October 17 rally in downtown Yerevan, Ter-Petrosian cited the
need to support the government in talks with Azerbaijan over the
disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as the reason for the decision
to stop the protests, ongoing since Armenia’s February presidential
vote. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"The suspension of the rallies and the marches does not mean that the
movement gives up its political struggle and the demands made with it,"
Ter-Petrosian told demonstrators.

One independent political analyst, however, argued that a
better-organized and mobilized opposition would not have needed to take
a break. "In this situation, when the authorities are taking active
steps in the foreign policy domain and making the opposition weaker,
it is important what stance the opposition leaders will have," said
Yervand Bozoian. "Had the opposition had clear programs, I think it
would not have to take a break. I think they made wrong calculations
and the statement that they’re taking a break for awhile because of
foreign tensions is not that convincing."

The "clear action plan" promised by Ter-Petrosian a few days after the
February 19 election has not yet surfaced, leaving some to wonder if
the opposition is fragmented, or just cannot come up with concrete
policy proposals. More than 120 opposition activists and supporters
still remain in jail after the March 2008 crackdown on protestors,
while police remain on watch at Yerevan’s Liberty Square, the
opposition’s traditional gathering place.

Nikol Pashinian, the editor-in-chief of the largest and best-selling
opposition daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, and, along with Ter-Petrosian,
a driving force behind the opposition rallies, has gone into hiding
abroad. He now encourages supporters via a series of articles and
editorials.

With the start of construction on an underground parking garage for
Liberty Square, though, some supporters believe that the government
has gotten a permanent jump on Ter-Petrosian’s movement and its
rallies. The construction will last two years; the city government
has denied, however, that the project is intended to block protests.

For many Armenians, the opposition’s rallies have failed to produce
results. "To be frank, I don’t understand why so many people lost
their lives. What is this struggle for?" asked one Yerevan cab driver
about the eight people who died in the March 2008 clash between
protestors and police. "People had such great expectations, but the
victory promised by the opposition appears to have remained only an
unfulfilled promise."

Yerevan engineer Mkrtich Hakobian counters that eight months is too
short a time period to realize any of those expectations. "Society
wants a power change very quickly, but politicians are there
for providing realistic solutions to emerging problems based on
pragmatism," said Hakobian, who took part in the October 17 rally.

Meanwhile, President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration has exhibited
policy pragmatism designed to prevent the opposition from gaining
traction. For example, reforms have been launched in customs and tax
administration, while Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian (no relation
to Serzh Sargsyan) declared an official campaign against corruption,
leading to the firing of several senior officials.

In foreign policy, the unprecedented invitation to Turkish President
Abdullah Gul to visit Yerevan in September is seen as another display
of Sargsyan’s pragmatism. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

Yet that pragmatism has its limits. No dialogue between the opposition
and the government has yet taken place, and the general level of
democracy in Armenia, according to international organizations,
remains questionable.

Senior Ter-Petrosian supporter Suren Sureniants argues that a strong
public desire for democratic change does, in fact, exist; it all
comes down to tactics, he adds. "Tactics need to be developed on a
day-to-day basis, hour by hour, and this is being done. In the coming
months, I think, we will witness the opposition’s materialization."

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com
in Yerevan.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV PAYS HOMAGE TO THE MEMORY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

armradio.am
21.10.2008 13:23

President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev today visited
Tsitsernakaberd and laid a wreath at the memorial to the Armenian
Genocide victims. Dmitry Medvedev was accompanied by the Foreign
Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, the First Deputy Mayor of
Yerevan, Kamo Areyan, the Armenian and Russian Ambassadors Nikolay
Pavlov and Armen Smbatyan, members of the Russian delegation.

The President of Russia later visited the Armenian Genocide Museum
Institute, where the Director of AGMI Hayk Demoyan presented the
history of the Armenian Genocide, the mechanisms of its perpetration
and the cultural and demographic losses the Armenian nation and the
whole humanity suffered.

Mr. Medvedev left a note in the Memorial Book.

"The Armenian Genocide Museum and the Memorial are evidences of the
horrible tragedy of the 20th century. It simultaneously reminds that
life is the supreme value that civilized peoples preserve."

Hayk Demoyan awarded Dmiry Medvedev with a "Gold Medal" of the AGMI.

The President of Russia planted a tree in memory of the victims of
the 1915 genocide.

ARMENTEL TO SECURE UNINTERRUPTED INTERNET ACCESS WITH TURKCELL ASSISTANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2008 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ArmenTel (Beeline brand) and TurkCell are negotiating
a possibility to diversify Internet channels to secure uninterrupted
communication for Armenia, ArmenTel’s spokesperson Anush Begloyan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Given the recent regional developments, Armenia often loses access
to Internet. We intend to establish cooperation with the Turkish
operator to resolve this problem and have an additional channel,"
she said, adding that the talks will apparently be finished by the
end of the year and an agreement will be signed.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SPEAKS ON DOMESTIC, FOREIGN POLICY IN STATE-OF-NATION ADDRESS

Public Television of Armenia
Oct 2 2008

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has called the country to develop
such culture in which corruption will not be acceptable. His first
ever state-of-the-nation address delivered at a special session of
parliament on 2 October was broadcast pre-recorded by the Armenian
Public TV later the same day.

He said it is critical to fight corruption in the country and called
upon Armenians to adhere to the letter of law. "Property rights as
well as legal relations should be observed sacredly, and independent
courts of independent Armenia should be on guard [of this principle],"
he maintained.

Calling for observance of national interests by bureaucrats, he
said no-one should feel untouchable and abuse their offices. "I am
stating this clearly, there is no explanation for this to me. No-one in
Armenia should feel immune and assume functions of the state," he said,
adding, however, that officials, opposition, journalists and public
figures should stop the practice of publicly offending each other.

Sargsyan urged parliament to not only pass laws but also be
an institute of political dialogue. To ensure better cooperation
between parliament and other branches of government, he is going to
appoint a special representative to parliament. "I do not understand
when lawmakers complain about laws being inactive. It is as if an
architect complained about the unreliability of a building he has
built," he said.

Touching upon the South Ossetian conflict, Sargsyan said it "sobered"
many. "Ask any resident of Armenian villages and towns ‘When did
the Karabakh war end?’ and the answer will be ‘It is not over yet’",
Sargsyan said, adding: "Yes, the war is not over yet. It will not be
over until there is an arms race, until we congratulate the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh on making a voluntary decision
on peaceful settlement of the conflict."

Moving on from politics to economy, Sargsyan shared plans to initiate
several projects, which he described as "ambitious", including the
construction of a new nuclear power plant, a railway line between
Iran and Armenia, as well as the opening of a pan-Armenian bank and
an investment fund. "Those three initiatives, three projects will
be under our attention. I would like foreign and local businessmen,
who are mulling future programmes, our citizens and diaspora to be
know about these projects," Sargsyan said.

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS LEAVE IRAQ BECAUSE OF DISBANDMENT OF POLISH DIVISION

ArmInfo
2008-10-14 20:20:00

ArmInfo. Armenian peacekeepers have left Iraq because of disbandment of
the Polish division, chairman of the permanent parliamentary commission
on defence, security and internal affairs Artur Agabekyan told ArmInfo.

‘Actually, we are ready to return back to Iraq if needed and if the
relevant new format will be set up to make possible for us to do it’,
– he concluded.

To recall, the last turn of the Armenian peacekeepers returned from
Iraq on 7 October.

TURKEY DESERVES A NON-PERMANENT SEAT IN THE UN SC?

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.10.2008 14:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said his
country deserves a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council
because of Ankara’s growing influence on international affairs.

Ali Babacan was speaking Sunday before departing for New York for a
final round of lobbying for the seat which comes to a vote on Oct. 17,
the AP reports.

The UN General Assembly will elect five nations to serve two-year
stints on the council. Turkey is racing against Austria and Iceland
for two Western European seats.

The mostly Muslim country which is seeking European Union membership
has been acting as a bridge between the West and the Muslim world,
is involved in peacekeeping missions and has been working toward
Middle East peace.