Author: Jilavian Emma

MCA-ARMENIA SIGNS CONTRACT FOR FIRST IRRIGATION PROJECT

ARMENPRESS
Jan 10, 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: Millennium Challenge Account –
Armenia SNCO announced the award of a civil works contract to
"AGAT-777" LLC for rehabilitation of tertiary canals in Abovian,
Arevshat and Lanjazat communities of Ararat marz and Griboyedov
community of Armavir marz under the Irrigated agriculture project.

The contract was signed at MCA-Armenia SNCO office by MCA-Armenia
CEO Ara Hovsepian and "AGAT-777" LLC Director Aghvan Karapetian.

According to the contract, "AGAT-777" LLC should: construct canals
from reinforced concrete flumes; construct steel pipelines from
pipes of various diameter; prepare and install flat steel gates,
paint steel structures, and arrange joints.

The contract value is 116,862,152 AMD. The communities mentioned
above have contributed 15% of the overall construction costs. They
are being served by Aknalich and Azat Water Users Associations. The
duration of works will be 6 months.

This construction project will ensure reliable irrigation to an area
of about 70 ha and rehabilitation of 1,100 meters of tertiary canal
in Abovian community, 110 ha and 448 meters of canal in Arevshat
community, 230 ha and 3,249 meters of canal in Griboyedov community,
and 50 ha and 1,706 meters of canal in Lanjazat community.

Overall, MCA-Armenia program will invest US$ 108 million into
rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure in Armenia, including up
to 68 pumping stations, 7 reservoirs, 6 main canals, 18 gravity schemes
as well as up to up to 300 km of tertiary canals in the rural areas.

Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia (MCA-Armenia), a State Non
Commercial Organization established by the Government of Armenia,
is responsible for overseeing the transparent implementation of the
Compact signed between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the
Government of Armenia.

NEGATIVE NET INVESTMENT POSITION OF ARMENIA INCREASES BY 7.04% IN THIRD QUARTER OF 2007

Noyan Tapan
Jan 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In late September 2007, the net
investment position of the Republic of Armenia was negative by 1 bln
856.35 mln USD, increasing by 7.04% or 122.08 mln USD as compared
with early July 2007.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, Armenia’s assets
grew by 7.3% or 159.58 mln USD, while its liabilities grew by 7.2%
or 281.66 mln USD in the third quarter of 2007.

MANUK GASPARYAN PASSED AWAY AGED 58

armradio.am
10.01.2008 12:12

This morning President of the People’s Way Party, politician Manuk
Gasparyan died of cardiac insufficiency at the age of 58. Everyone
remembers him as a man who always stood out for his courage and humor
peculiar of his birthplace.

Sure, the death of this political figure is great loss for the society.

A few years ago Manuk Gasparayn underwent a heart surgery. Over the
past years he was constantly complaining of the disease.

Manouk Gasparyan was born on September 16, 1949 in the village of
Kasakh in the Aparan region.

Mr. Gasparyan graduated from the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute
in 1976 and from Belgorod Institute of Consumer Corporation in Russia
in 1989.

He served in the Soviet Army from 1968-1970. For nearly twenty years
he was a chief accountant in the Armenia SSR Ministry of Trade. 1990
to 1997 he was presi¬dent of the Orion Ltd. 1997 to 1999 he headed
the financial division of Kanaker-Zeytoun district community office
in Yerevan.

1999-2003 was his first term as a Deputy in the Natioanl Asswembly
(electoral district # 24) where he served at the NA Standing
Committee on Financial-Credit, Budgetary and Economic Affairs and
was not involved in any of the factions or deputy groups. However,
later he joined the People’s Voice Deputy Group.

On May 25, 2003 he was reelected to the NA from electoral district # 4.

–Boundary_(ID_JldOiETCqaxPyQKPHvM6qg)–

EXPERIENCED OBSERVERS HAVE ARRIVED IN ARMENIA

Lragir
Jan 10 2008
Armenia

n January 9 the Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan met with
the delegation of the OSCE ODIHR observation mission for the Armenian
presidential election of February 19, 2008, led by Dr. Geert-Hinrich
Ahrens. The foreign minister of Armenia welcomed the ambassador and
emphasized the importance of the mission to the crucial Armenian
election and mentioned that it will be a real confirmation of
establishment of democracy in Armenia, the press service of the
foreign ministry reports.

Ambassador Ahrens thanked for the invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR for
observation of the election and noted that they will strive for
transparency which will add reliability and objectivity to their
activity. He said interest in Armenia was great. 28 long-term observers
will arrive in Armenia, 250 short-term observers from the OSCE members
are expected.

Ambassador Ahrens has considerable experience and has led OSCE/ODIHR
observation missions to different elections in Ukraine, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia and Serbia.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National Treasures Foundation
Contact: Atineh Haroutunian
(818) 388-3136

January 8, 2008

Armenian National Treasures Foundation
Debut Holiday Concert a Grand Success

GLENDALE, CA- The first holiday concert of the Armenian National
Treasures Foundation succeeded in brining together Armenian community
members and local residents to celebrate together, setting a new trend
in the style reminiscent of the annual Vienna New Year Concerts. The
Cilicia Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Mikael Avetisian, with
over 50 performers, kept the audience engaged while performing Armenian
classical and contemporary works, some of which were specially
orchestrated for the concert, which took place on December 27, 2007, at
the Glendale Presbyterian Church. Several traditional instrumentalists
performed along with the orchestra, including Ruben Harutiunyan on the
duduk and Lilit Khoyoyan on the kanon. Soloists Anahid Nersisyan, Razmik
Mansuryan, Marine Abrahamyan, Mannik Manukian, Bakoor Kalantarian and
Ruben Telunts also performed national and patriotic songs, and opera
arias.

His Eminence Prelate Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, Fr. Antoine Saroyan
of Armenian Catholic Exarchate of North America & Rev. Joseph Matossian,
Minister of Armenian Evangelical Union of North America attended the
concert along with over 1,000 people including a wide range of the
community leadership, representatives of organizations, as well as a
contingent of the youth. The event was made possible with the financial
support of those who appreciate the Armenian culture from as far away as
Fresno and as south as Long Beach and Montebello. An aspect of the
concert that made a significant impression on the youth was the slide
show, that preceded the concert, of famous Armenian athletes, inventors,
writers and composers from down south in Australia to Armenia, all the
way to those in north and south Americas. "Appreciation of the universal
culture is contingent upon understanding your own roots" said Bianca
Manoukian, co-founder/chair of the organization, which aims to foster
pride in Armenian heritage, educate Armenians and preserve Armenia’s
cultural legacy at sites and monuments.

The newly formed organization has already had its mark on the of
Dzaghgashad (Ghshlagh) village of famous leading revolutionary figure
Nigol Touman, with a revitalization effort which included the
home-museum. The museum is located in the Askeran region of the
Mountainous Karabagh (Artsakh).

Future plans include production of a series of multi-lingual
documentaries about the customs and traditions of over 30 different
regions in Western Armenia, Armenia, Artsakh, Nakhichevan, and Javakhk.
Every region will be explored in details, both historically &
geographically, exposing the hidden gems and treasures that few know
about. Each documentary will include ethnographic information such as
the cuisine of the region, its arts and crafts, dialects, songs &
dances, as well as traditions and celebration. ANTF hopes that the
creation of these contemporary resources will contribute to the
worldwide recognition and pride of our ancestral heritage and in turn
the appreciation of our legacy as a nation. The group plans to broadcast
them on the net & internationally, as well as distribute the series to
colleges, universities, libraries, and Armenian schools and
organizations all around the world. Directing efforts to educating the
youth to revive the Armenian cultural heritage, crafts and traditions is
to ensure that successive generations will appreciate and nurture the
culture, in ways that ensures its survival in the new global cultural
environments.

#####
The Armenian National Treasures Foundation (ANTF) – Established in 2007,
the ANTF fosters pride in the Armenian heritage. ANTF works to instill
the values of the Armenian people by stimulating broad-scale involvement
of all generations, and encouraging the preservation of the Armenian
traditions and customs. ANTF also contributes to the restoration and
conservation of sites and buildings of archeological and historical
importance to the Armenian population. For more information please
contact [email protected]

VISIT BY TURKISH PRESIDENT DEMONSTRATES GREATLY IMPROVED RELATIONS WITH US
By William C. Mann, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
January 8, 2008 Tuesday 3:07 AM GMT
Washington

The Turkish president’s visit with U.S. President George W. Bush on
Tuesday is seen as a major sign of sharply improved relations between
the NATO allies after five years of acrimony over the Iraq war and
U.S. policy on Turkey’s fight against Kurdish rebels.

President Abdullah Gul’s visit follows a visit by Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan two months ago that resulted in a
commitment by Bush to share intelligence on Kurdistan Workers’ Party,
or PKK, rebels and not to object to Turkish airstrikes against the
Kurdish guerrillas’ installations in northern Iraq.

The two sides have even established a coordination center in Ankara so
Turks, Iraqis and Americans can share information. The first Turkish
airstrike was Dec. 16 and used intelligence shared by Washington. Two
days later, a small Turkish ground force invaded Iraqi Kurdistan to
flush out Turkish Kurds sheltering there.

Washington tacitly approved.

The PKK has been fighting for two decades to win a Kurdish homeland
in Eastern Turkey.

Speaking about Turkish-U.S. relations with Turkish reporters last
month, Gul said, "Things are going well at the moment. Intelligence
is being shared. Now there is a cooperation befitting our alliance.

Both of us are satisfied. This is how it should be. We could have
come to this point earlier."

In the months leading to Erdogan’s Nov. 5 White House appearance,
however, U.S.-Turkish relations were at their lowest point in many
years. Neither side was blameless.

In 2003, during the buildup to the Iraq war, the Turkish parliament
rejected U.S. requests to send troops into Iraq through Turkish
territory. And a poll last summer showed just 9 percent of Turks saw
the U.S. favorably.

The U.S. Congress did its share to poison the atmosphere. Despite
pleas from the Bush administration and personal appeals from Gul,
then foreign minister, and other prominent Turks, the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a nonbinding
resolution last year that described as genocide the World War I-era
deaths of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey reacted by withdrawing its ambassador from Washington.

Despite the greatly improved situation since the Erdogan-Bush meeting,
the situation remains touchy.

"Certainly there is far greater satisfaction in Turkey than there
was as late as three months ago," John Sitilides, chairman of the
Southeast Europe Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars, said Monday. "It’s all related to the PKK. Now the
United States is seen not as an entity that is holding the Turkish
military back but is working with Turkey."

Still, Sitilides said, Turkey could "respond recklessly" to perceived
U.S. mistreatment with grievous results. "There are 150,000 U.S.

troops on the ground in Iraq whose well-being would be jeopardized
if Turkey decided on an action such as closing off access to the flow
of war supplies."

Gul is having breakfast on Tuesday with Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and is meeting Bush for talks and lunch. His schedule released
in Ankara said he also will meet with Vice President Dick Cheney on
Tuesday and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday before flying
to New York to meet at the United Nations with Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.

While in the United States, the Turkish president is to meet with
representatives of the Meskhetian Turks. A minority group ousted
from the Soviet Republic of Georgia, the Meskhetians were bounced
around to other Soviet republics until settling in Krasnodar Krai,
a territory of Southern Russia.

The Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program undertook
what it calls one of the largest refugee resettlement programs in
2005-6 to bring as many as 18,000 Meskhetians to about two dozen
cities in the United States.

ARMENIAN BONE MARROW REGISTER HAS 14,000 DONORS

ARMENPRESS
Jan 8, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS: The Yolian blood transfusion center
in Yerevan has 1,500 registered donors, not counting hundreds of
volunteers who are students, doctors and members of their families.

The Armenian Bone Marrow Register has now 14,000 donors. Its manager
Rubina Ghazarian said to Armenpress they helped to perform two
bone marrow transplantation operations, one in USA and the second
in Germany.

Armenians have a unique genetic structure of bone marrow. Therefore,
probability of finding matches for transplantation is higher among
Armenians.

Transplantation is the last hope for survival for people with blood
diseases, most of who are children.

The probability of survival by transplantation is 40-50 per cent
among adults and 60-70 per cent among children.

The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry Charitable Trust was founded in
July 1998 in Armenia as a non-profit, non-sectarian, non-governmental
and independent organization. Its mission is to save precious
Armenian lives by creating a bone marrow donor registry which, with
the volunteer recruitment of Armenian donors worldwide, will increase
the pool of existing international donors and thus give a chance of
survival to patients with Leukemia or other blood related diseases.

The Trust’s honorary chairperson is the First Lady of the Republic
of Armenia, Dr. Bella Kocharian and the chairperson is Dr. Frieda
Jordan, a biochemist whose expertise is the establishment of bone
marrow registries.

The Register has obtained a stem cell harvester which separates blood
cells necessary for transplantation operation.

HISTORY COURSE PROPOSAL UPSETS CANADIAN TURKS
Louise Brown

The Toronto Star

Ja n 7 2008
Ontario, Canada

1,200 people sign petition against class that labels 1915 mass killing
of Armenians as a genocide

An unusual new course about genocide to be offered in Toronto high
schools this fall has sparked anger among Turkish-Canadians for
including the Turkish killing of Armenians in 1915.

The Grade 11 history course, believed the only one of its kind at
a high school in Ontario and possibly Canada, is designed to teach
teenagers what happens when a government sets out to destroy people of
a particular nationality, race or religion, through three examples:
the Holocaust which exterminated 6 million Jews in World War II, the
Rwandan slaughter of nearly one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus in
1994, and the Turkish killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1923.

"These are very significant, horrible parts of history, and without
sounding hackneyed, we hope we can learn something from them so we
can make a better world for our children’s children," said Trustee
Gerri Gershon, of the Toronto District School Board, who proposed the
course after a moving tour in 2005 of the Nazi death camps in Poland.

"This isn’t a course to teach hatred or blame the perpetrators – no,
no, no," said Gershon. "Our goal is the exact opposite: To explore
how this happens so we can become better people and make sure it
never happens again."

But the Council of Turkish Canadians has gathered more than 1,200
signatures on an online petition opposed to the course for calling the
Armenian killings a "genocide" and inciting anti-Turkish sentiment. The
Turkish government has long denied the slaughter was a genocide,
but rather part of the wartime casualties of World War I, with both
sides guilty of some provocation.

"To pick Armenia as a genocide when it is so controversial – especially
when there are atrocities by other countries that could have been
chosen – is just wrong, and will inadvertently lead to the bullying of
Turkish-Canadian children," argues Ottawa engineer Lale Eskicioglu,
executive director of the council and author of the petition, which
she will present to school board staff at a meeting this month.

"Children of Turkish descent already face bullying, racism and hatred
in the school yards. We rely on our schools to provide a shelter free
from hate-inciting propaganda and not contribute to the divisions
between ethnic minorities," she says.

School board Superintendent Nadine Segal says teachers already are
being trained to handle these issues "with sensitivity to the cultural
mosaic in our schools," and insists the course is not designed to
"point fingers, but to examine the early warning signs of genocide
and the role of the perpetrator and bystander.

"Our own Canadian government has recognized the Armenian genocide as
uncontestable reality, the original genocide of the 20th century, and
the course has been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education,"
says Segal.

"But students will also be doing independent studies of their own
choosing that will allow them to examine other examples of genocide.

The goal is to help students gain a deeper understanding of human
rights and their responsibilities as global citizens."

Kudos for the new course have been rolling in from historians and
human rights advocates, Segal adds, including former United Nations
special envoy Stephen Lewis, author Joy Kogawa and genocide historian
Frank Chalk, co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies at Concordia University.

The course is being designed with the help of experts from UNICEF,
York University, the Canadian Centre for Genocide and Human Rights
Education, the University of Toronto and the Holocaust Centre of
Toronto. Schools from as far away as Montreal have asked for the
curriculum, says Segal.

Both Segal and Gershon cite the International Association of Genocide
Scholars’ unanimous declaration of the Armenian killings as "genocide"
in 1997.

However, Eskicioglu calls the course "propaganda by the Armenian
diaspora" and notes that although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
recognized the Armenian tragedy as genocide, his government also
supports Turkey’s call for an "impartial" joint historical review of
events – a move Armenians refuse to take part in.

"We are asking either for the removal of the genocide course from
the curriculum," says the petition, "or removing any discussion of
the Ottoman-Armenian tragedy from its contents."

Gershon says she would oppose any such change.

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Jan 2 2008

Fatal bar fight sparked over broken necklace

An unidentified Armenian man accidentally broke a Latino man’s
necklace doing a dance move

By Jason Kandel, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 01/02/2008 11:21:50 AM PST

WOODLAND HILLS – A fight at a Woodland Hills nightclub that left a
man fatally wounded from head wounds after Thanksgiving was sparked
inside when someone accidentally broke a man’s necklace while dancing
on a dance floor, a detective said today.
Some 100 people were inside the Red Square nightclub at 20001 Ventura
Blvd. on Nov. 24 when the fight broke out between a group of Latinos
who were celebrating a Latin-themed night and a group made up mostly
of Armenians who were celebrating a birthday, said Los Angeles Police
Detective Joel Price.

An unidentified Armenian man accidentally broke a Latino man’s
necklace doing a dance move, sparking the fight. Security guards
escorted the brawlers outside where more fights broke out, Price
said.

At one point, Sidney S. Singleton, 19, and Dimitri Hermozshamoun,
19-year-old friends from Glendale, confronted Marco Antonio Herrera,
exchanged words with him, then struck him, knocking him down, before
stomping and kicking him, police said. Herrera died at Northridge
Hospital Medical Center three days later from major head trauma.

In a twist, Hermozshamoun and Singleton, returned Dec. 29 to the club
not knowing Herrera had died. Someone recognized them and called
police, Price said. Police recognized Singleton’s face from a
surveillance image taken from a nearby gas station where the suspects
went after the attack, Price said. The men were arrested without
incident and were being held on murder charges at the Los Angeles
County Jail, police said.

The suspects admitted involvement in the fight, telling police they
felt outnumbered and threatened, Price said.

It did not appear that Herrera was involved in the fight inside that
sparked the fracas out front, police said. Police were seeking to
question the men involved in the initial fight.

At the time of his arrest, Hermozshamoun was on probation stemming
>From grand theft conviction from March 2007, according to Los Angeles
Superior Court Records online. Singleton has an arrest for a
marijuana possession charge that was dismissed in October 2007,
records show.

Global Insight
January 2, 2008

Armenian Current-Account Deficit Widens Four-Fold in
January-September

by: Venla Sipila

According to the newest data from the Armenian National Statistical
Service, the country’s current-account deficit amounted to just under
$327US million in January-September 2007, ARKA News reports. The
deficit widened by over $249US million compared with the first nine
months of 2006. The external gap corresponds to 5.7% of the country’s
GDP in the first three quarters of the year, whereas the
corresponding ratio in the previous year had posted 2%. The
deterioration in the overall balance of payments was mainly brought
about by the sharply widening trade deficit. Indeed, the balance of
payments-based trade gap for January-September amounted to nearly
$1US.02 billion, against some $612US million a year earlier.

Specifically, exports totalled $841US million, rising by 22.8% in
annual comparison, while imports reached almost $1US.9 billion,
surging by 43.2% year-on-year (y/y). Further, it was reported that
the current transfers account registered a surplus of $636US million,
rising by 42.1% y/y. Figures from the Statistical Service also show
that Armenia’s gross foreign debt totalled $2US.4 billion in the
third quarter of 2007. The share of private debt of the total was
reported at some 16%. Meanwhile, the share of long-term credits of
total debt stood at over 69% at the end of the third quarter.

Significance:The widening of Armenia’s current-account deficit in
both absolute terms as also as a percentage of the GDP, fits our
projections well, even though the deterioration over 2007 has proved
sharper than originally expected. The relatively strong current
transfers balance reflects Armenia’s reliance on workers’ remittance
inflows. Looking further, the deep trade gap is likely to keep the
overall current-account deficit large in the medium term, while
growing net income should curb its widening. Armenia’s reliance on
private transfers and remittances leaves it vulnerable to external
shocks. On the other hand, strong FDI inflows still finance a large
part of the deficit, reducing the need to increase foreign borrowing.