Author: Jalatian Sonya

Jack Kevorkian’s papers will be made public to better understand the role of ‘Dr Death’ in right-to-die debate, reports.

University of Michigan library has said it wants to provide access to ordinary people to help them understand his role in the right-to-die debate, according to the Associated Press.

The Bentley Historical Library in Ann Arbor said Ava Janus, Mr Kevorkian’s niece and sole heir, donated the collection, which has documents from throughout his life. It includes correspondence and manuscript drafts as well as files on assisted suicides, including medical histories, photographs, video and audio.

“Long before Jack Kevorkian was known as “Dr Death,” he was a child of Armenian immigrants, a successful student, a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School, a musician, composer and scientist,” the library’s director, Terrence McDonald, said in a statement.

“The release of his papers will allow scholars and students to understand the context of and driving forces in an interesting and provocative life.”

The collection, which spans eight feet, also includes published works, photographs, court records, news coverage and interviews. The assisted-suicide files, which involve cases between 1990 and 1998, include medical histories, photographs, and video and audio recordings of consultations with patients, the AP said.

Mr Kevorkian died in 2011 in suburban Detroit at age 83. He sparked the national right-to-die debate with a homemade suicide machine that helped end the lives of about 130 ailing people, using the term “medicide” to describe physician-assisted suicide.

“Many of the medicide patients and their families – who remain very close to this day – are still advocates of their family member’s choice to die, so anonymity was not an issue,” said Olga Virakhovskaya, Bentley’s lead archivist who processed the materials.

“We felt very strongly that by not providing access to this collection and to the medicide files, we would be choosing to hide a very important story.”

Mr Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 for assisting in the 1998 death of a Michigan man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was released from prison in 2007.

Top officials from Armenia and Iran pledge to expand the bilateral cooperation on the basis of the deeply rooted friendship between the two countries.

At a meeting in Yerevan Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan and Iran’s First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri discussed a wide range of issued related to the expansion of trade and economic relations, energy projects, transport infrastructures, the perspectives of cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education and culture.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Armenian Prime Minister said they  discussed the construction of the third high-voltage power line, which is expected to e completed by 2018. They also agreed on the future steps connected with the construction of Meghri HPP and gas distribution network in Armenian villages bordering Iran. The parties referred to the North-South highway and the Armenia-Iran rail project, stressing their key role in the improvement of regional cooperation and economic growth.

PM Hovik Abrahamyn assured of the willingness of the Armenian Government to contribute to the establishment and deepening of cooperation between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), particularly in the context of a future free trade agreement.

The Armenian PM praised the positive momentum reached in the talks on Iran’s nuke program and stressed that agreements reached within that framework will benefit the region, contribute to regional and international security and steady development, as well as open perspectives for the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Iran’s First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri noted, in turn, that “there is no obstacle for the development of relations between the two countries.”

“The success achieved within the framework of 5+1 talks creates new and positive conditions for the development of relations and opens new spheres for the development of bilateral economic cooperation,” he said.

He said construction of the third high-voltage power line that had been halted for a while is currently under way and will be completed in the shortest term.

“We held discussions on the railway and cargo transportation, and we are confident we’ll link the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea within the framework of cooperation with other countries of the region,” the Vice-President said.

He added that Armenia’s accession to EEU opens a new window from the perspective of development of economic relations between the two countries.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released video footage showing its nighttime cruise missile strikes from the Caspian Sea against Islamic State targets in Syria, Sputnik News reports.

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) decided last week that no OSCE PA delegation will deploy to observe the 1 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, in line with an earlier decision made by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The President announced his decision during the Assembly’s Autumn Meeting, saying on 17 September that if ODIHR would not send observers due to restrictions imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities, than neither would the Parliamentary Assembly.

Speaking at the PA’s Standing Committee meeting last week in Ulaanbaatar, President Kanerva said, “The Azerbaijan government has imposed restrictions on the work of our traditional OSCE partner, ODIHR. As a result, ODIHR has been forced to cancel their planned observation mission in Azerbaijan. I think it is only appropriate that if our very vital and close partner ODIHR cannot observe, that we also don’t observe in Azerbaijan.”

On 11 September, ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link said that restrictions on the number of observers being imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities would make credible election observation impossible in Azerbaijan. “Regretfully, we are compelled by these actions to cancel the deployment of ODIHR’s observation mission for the parliamentary elections,” said Link.

The Assembly’s decision was confirmed today by OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver. “As an OSCE participating State, Azerbaijan agreed in the 1990 Copenhagen Document to invite the OSCE to observe its elections. It is therefore regrettable that the authorities’ insistence on a restricted number of observers has undermined the effectiveness and credibility of our election observation. The President of the Assembly has announced that we will decline to send observers to these elections if ODIHR does not,” Oliver said.

Since 1993, more than 5,000 OSCE parliamentarians have observed nearly 150 elections in more than 30 countries.

Armenians of Philadelphia welcome Pope Francis to the US with special digital billboards to thank the Pontiff for his recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

“Thank you Pope Francis for Recognizing Armenian Genocide. #NeverForget 2015” the posters read.

Pope Francis has begun his tour of the US, where he is expected to greet millions of American Catholics and address thorny issues like climate change and income inequality.

US President Barack Obama welcomed the Pope as he landed on Tuesday – a rare honor for a foreign dignitary.

The Pontiff will visit Washington DC, New York and Philadelphia.

Today Pope Francis will pray with U.S. Catholic Bishops at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

His Holiness, Pope Francis  during a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

France hopes that Azerbaijan and Armenia will spare no effort to ease tension on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier told APA on Sept.16.

The escalation of tension is leading to the death of both Azerbaijani and Armenian civilians, the ambassador said. “Recently, I have met with civilians in Azerbaijan, and they told me that Azerbaijanis and Armenians have lived in peace for hundreds of years. Many people hope these times will return. It also depends on external factors,” he noted.

The ambassador also commented on the possibility of holding a meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers. “I read about it. I am aware that the co-chairs are working on arranging a meeting of foreign ministers in New York. The main objective of this is to assist Azerbaijan and Armenia in finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Turkish historian Taner Akcam has released a new book (with Umit Kurt) on the plunder of Armenian properties.

The book titled “The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide” examines the confiscation of Armenian properties during the genocide and subsequent attempts to retain seized Armenian wealth.

Through the close analysis of laws and treaties, it reveals that decrees issued during the genocide constitute central pillars of the Turkish system of property rights, retaining their legal validity, and although Turkey has acceded through international agreements to return Armenian properties, it continues to refuse to do so.

The book demonstrates that genocides do not depend on the abolition of the legal system and elimination of rights, but that, on the contrary, the perpetrators of genocide manipulate the legal system to facilitate their plans.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$40 million loan for the Additional Financing of the Lifeline Road Network Improvement Project (LRNIP) for Armenia. This project will further assist the Government of Armenia in its on-going efforts to improve accessibility to markets and social services through the rehabilitation of an additional 155 km of the lifeline road network, and enhance employment opportunities,mostly for the rural population. It will also help Armenia to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) in road safety and management of the road network, including disaster risk preparedness.

Despite visible improvement since 2009, about half of the lifeline roads in Armenia remain in poor condition and there is still an important investment backlog for rehabilitation and maintenance. Trade facilitation and connecting local production to markets remain paramount in reducing rural poverty and promoting economic growth. Trade fromrural areas is less than optimal due to restricted connectivity to markets as a result of the poorcondition of roads. This has hindered trade facilitation for rural farmers, resulting in substantialcrop losses for some communities due to an inability to get produce to markets on time.

“As in the case of the original project, rehabilitation of additional lifeline roads would create temporary jobs in rural areas, and improve access to basic social services,” said Laura E. Bailey, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia. “It is vitalthat rural infrastructure is improved and maintained to promote agricultural trade, thus stimulating economic growth and local employment for the future.”

The implementation of the original project has progressed well.The proposed additional financing will raise the total length of roads to 360 km, 73km of which have already been rehabilitated. Since the launch of the Lifeline Road Improvement Project (LRIP) in 2009, the previous series of projects, there has been a noticeable improvement in localemployment, while journey time has declined on average by 40 percent. The World Bank-financed LRIP for a total amount of US$101.6 million has already upgraded 433 km of lifeline roads across the regions.

The Additional Financing of the LRNIP has two main components. First, it will support lifeline road improvementwith rehabilitation of 155 km of roads, located across the regions including through rehabilitation and maintenance contracts, which have been successfully piloted. A new Contingent Emergency Response (CER) sub-component is being introduced, as a precautionary measure that would allow the Government and the Bank to quickly channel the loan financing for emergency recovery efforts following an adverse natural or man-made disaster.

Secondly, in terms of institutional strengthening, it would finance: (i) preparation of a social monitoring and impact evaluation study; (ii) preparation of a strategic development plan for the lifeline road network; (iii) lifeline road network data collection for the Road Asset Management System (RAMS); (iv) development of a new road safety action plan and the implementation of selected activities; (v) technical assistance with regard to disaster risk preparedness for the road sector; (vi) purchase of road laboratory equipment for determining the chemical composition of bitumen; and (vii) installation of road safety signs.

“The sections of rehabilitated network help farmers and small businesses in rural areas to bring their produce to market more easily and at a lower cost,” added Maria Carolina Monsalve, Head of the World Bank project team. “The project will also continue supporting the “Safe Village” program through small road safety civil works combined with awareness campaigns at community level. While four schemes were envisagedby the end of the original project, a total of thirteen have been completed to date.”

The first year program of road works is comprised of seven road sections located in five regions,with the remaining road sections tobe identified during project implementation. The seven road sections total 50.5 km: all roads are bituminous roads in poor to very poor condition and serve in total 183,446 persons.

Total financing of this project is US$45 million, of which US$5 million will be the Government’s contribution. The World Bank will provide a US$40 million IBRD loan of variable spread, with a 14.5-year grace period and atotal repayment term of 25 years.

Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments to Armenia total approximately US$2,158.730 million.

The Russian and German translations of the collection of works by martyred writers were presented at the Union of Writers today. The books include works by 10 authors – Daniel Varuzhan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak, Grigor Zohrap, Ruben Zardaryan, Erukhan, Tlkatintsi, Gegham Barseghyan, Tigran Chyokyuryan and Artashes Harutyunyan.

The books published at the initiative of the Union of Writers of Armenia NGO are dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The German publication has already been presented to readers in Germany and Austria, Chairman of the Writers’ Union Edward Militonyan said at the presentation. He also informed that the two publications have been presented at international festivals and expos.

Armenian and Russian Prime Ministers Hovik Abrahamyan and Dmitry Medvedev will discuss the cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union on June 9, RIA Novosti reports.

“During the meeting the heads of government of the two countries will discuss urgent issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation and integration within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union,” the source reports.