Author: Jilavian Emma

ITALY TO HOST FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CAUCASUS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.05.2009 14:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The First International Conference on Caucasus
is due in Rondina, Italy, on May 16-19. The event is organized by
"Rondine-Citadella della Pace" Association in the frameworks of Le
Piazze di Maggio "Le Piazze di maggio – Irrompere nel futuro" project.

Ventidi pace su Caucaso (war winds in Caucasus) conference will
be attended by experts from different countries representing
different Caucasian nations, University Professors and human rights
defenders, people working in the sphere of culture, art and economics,
journalists, religious figures, as well as those who lost their loved
ones in military conflicts and those who devotedly fight for peaceful
conflict settlement.

The objective of the conference is the elaboration of a document
containing "14 clauses on peace in Caucasian region". It’s a
kind of answer to the "14 clauses proposed by President Wilson"
(1918) and the obsolete methods of conflict settlement. "We offer
political institutions innovative projects and moral support in
settling political crises. We aim to involve large masses of people
with active participation of students from Russia, South Caucasus,
Balkan region, Near East and Africa, i.e. people who learnt in to live
in peace in their homelands," forum organizers say in their statement.

WB APPROVES US$25 MILLION CREDIT FOR ARMENIA SECOND EDUCATION PROJECT

ARKA
May 13, 2009

YEREVAN, May 13. /ARKA/. The World Bank Board of Directors today
approved a US$25 million credit for the Armenia Second Education
Quality and Relevance Project (APL II).

The credit by the International Development Association (IDA) will
assist Armenia in its efforts to improve the quality and relevance
of its educational system, to ensure that students graduate with
competitive skills. This is the second phase of the second education
project supported by the World Bank over the past 12 years in Armenia.

The project will enhance the curriculum and teaching methods in
education, the readiness of children entering primary schools, and
the integration of the Armenian tertiary education system into the
European higher education area.

Past projects have accomplished a great deal. The National Curriculum
Framework has been developed, a transparent examination system and
enhanced capacity to assess student performance has been introduced,
along with the creation of the Assessment and Testing Center, the
National Center of Education Technology, and an effective Computer
Revolving scheme which has allowed 85 percent of the schools in the
country to set up computer labs.

In addition, a massive in-service teacher training effort has been
carried out through an improved National Institute of Education and
consolidation of a successful per capita funding system resulted in=2
0 substantial efficiency gains and enhanced school autonomy.

"This new project builds on the achievements of Armenia’s reforms so
far, while extending the agenda to encompass preschool and higher
education," said Juan Manuel Moreno, Leader of the World Bank team
for the project. "It will comprehensively support the Government’s
efforts to accelerate the implementation of preschool, general and
tertiary education reforms despite the adverse consequences of the
global economic crisis."

The project will help the Armenian Education system meet critical
challenges. These include reversing the current deterioration – in
enrollments and in quality – of preschool education; supporting the
implementation of the 12-year general education system; improving
teacher quality through pre-service and in-service training; and,
contributing to Armenia’s integration in the European Higher Education
Area.

The Second Education Quality and Relevance project focuses on enhancing
the Quality of General Education. Activities will aim to increase
the readiness for general education of approximately 8,750 children,
while 140 of the poorest communities will benefit from targeted grants
to enhance the quality of preschool education. The quality of teaching
will be improved through training of 2750 high-school teachers and 150
principals, and by creating a school improvement network. In addition,
investments will ensure that all scho ols in Armenia are equipped with
up-to-date technologies, that about 400 of the most remote schools
are connected to the Internet, and that these technologies effectively
enhance learning. Further, the curriculum and assessment of the 12-year
general education system will be improved so that future graduates
will be equipped with relevant and competitive knowledge and skills.

The project also aims at supporting tertiary education reforms to help
achieve standards similar to education systems in Europe. The project
will establish and strengthen the capacity of the National Quality
Assurance system for tertiary education. An integrated Tertiary
Education Management Information System (TEMIS) will be created to
support policy planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of
performance of education. The component will also support the design
and piloting of a sustainable financing system for tertiary education,
including student loans and a Competitive Innovation Fund for the
financing of Universities.

The Credit will be provided to Armenia on standard IDA terms, including
20 years maturity and a 10-year grace period.

Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, Armenia has
received approximately US$1187 million.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

May 11, 2009

ST. VARTAN CATHEDRAL IN NYC TO UNVEIL AND CONSECRATE NEW BRONZE ENTRY DOORS,
ON SUN. MAY 31

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, the "mother cathedral" for Armenians across
the country, celebrated the 40th anniversary of its consecration last year.
The majestic structure located in Midtown Manhattan was arguably the most
ambitious undertaking of the Armenian American community; and the resulting
structure stands as an enduring monument to the Armenian presence in U.S.

Although the structure itself has long been completed, a number of the
refinements of the original cathedral project were put on hold, for
financial and other reasons, at the time of its construction and
consecration in the mid-1960s. These have been approached in a piecemeal
fashion over the years, gradually fulfilling the larger creative intention
of the cathedral’s designers.

This month, one of those long-delayed elements will reach its completion,
and will be officially unveiled to the public.

On Sunday, May 31, new bronze entry doors will be blessed in an outdoor
ceremony on the St. Vartan Cathedral plaza. The doors are remarkable works
of art, depicting in a three-dimensional relief the baptism of Armenia’s
King Drtad III by St. Gregory the Illuminator. That development marked
Armenia’s conversion to Christianity, making it the first nation in the
world to do so.

Providing a bronze entry portal for St. Vartan Cathedral has been a project
"on the drawing board" for some time. Indeed, the unveiling and
consecration of the doors will be the culmination of three decades of
effort, according to Fr. Mardiros Chevian, the cathedral dean.

"Back in the 1970s, the St. Vartan Cathedral Guild seized on the idea," Fr.
Chevian said. "At the time the Guild was led by Mrs. Alice Kavookjian, and
she and her group-all very vibrant, strong, enterprising ladies-started the
fundraising. Over time they assembled a significant sum for the doors."

Those funds lay dormant for a while, as the cathedral (and the community
itself) turned its attention to other matters. But recently, a sizable
contribution from the Dadourian family-descendants of one of the original
benefactors of the cathedral-allowed the project to move forward.

"The Dadourian family’s generosity allowed us to complete the doors project,
and finally let it see the light of day," Fr. Chevian said.

A committee comprised of Fr. Garabed Kochakian, Yeretzgin Yefkin Megherian,
and Michael Haratunian designed the doors, conceived the artwork, and guided
the engineering. Fabricating the doors was a labor of love for Setrak
Agonian and his International Creative Metal firm.

Fr. Chevian sees the ceremony on Sunday, May 31 as a fitting conclusion to
St. Vartan Cathedral’s year-long 40th anniversary observance.

"The doors were in the original plan for the structure, and fulfilling that
plan was the dream of the people who devoted so much time and labor to the
cathedral-especially for that early generation, many of whom have now
departed this world," he said. "They started raising the money, mostly from
people of average means, giving small amounts over the course of many years.
They kept the idea alive. And now, to fulfill their dream-it will be a way
of honoring those people, and celebrating what they have given to our
community."

The surviving members of the St. Vartan Cathedral Guild, as well as members
of the Dadourian family, will be on hand at the consecration, to be
recognized and honored.

In addition, as part of the day’s events two other families-the Gulbenkians
and the Diarbekirians-as well as the Knights and Daughters of Vartan
organization will be recognized for their contributions to the realization
of the building of the Diocesan Center.

The ceremonies on Sunday, May 31 will begin with the celebration of the
Divine Liturgy in the cathedral sanctuary, at 10:30 a.m. The unveiling and
consecration of the new bronze doors will take place on the cathedral’s
outdoor plaza, directly after the services, at around 12:30 p.m.

His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Diocesan Primate, will
celebrate the Divine Liturgy and consecrate the doors.

A reception will take place after the consecration, in Haik and Alice
Kavookjian Auditorium; a special photo and art exhibit will be on display in
the adjacent Guild Hall. All events are free and open to the public.

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral is located at 630 Second Avenue, at 34th
Street, in New York City. For information on the consecration, contact the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) at (212) 686-0710.

–5/11/09

* * *

PHOTO CAPTION:

Detail of the new bronze entry portal for New York’s St. Vartan Armenian
Cathedral, which will be unveiled to the public and consecrated on Sunday,
May 31, 2009.

FRANCE URGES AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA TO ADVANCE IN NEGOTIATION PROCESS
J.Babayeva

Trend News Agency
May 12 2009
Azerbaijan

France urges Azerbaijan and Armenian to advance in the negotiations
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

"Besides, the United States and Russia, France also urged the conflict
sides to advance in their next meetings, including the St.-Petersburg
meeting to be held in early June at the co-chairs’ initiative," the
statement of the French Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said
on May 12.

Besides the OSCE Minsk Group U.S. and Russian co-chairs, French
co-chair said he is making all efforts to assist Azerbaijan and
Armenia in fairly settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

France said the last meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents set an example for the current negotiations and confirms
a constructive character of attitude established between them.

"France urges the parties to exactly follow rules of primary ceasefire
and documents which were directed to strengthen it," the statement
said.

ARMENIAN LEADER SAYS MEETING WITH TURKISH COUNTERPART "USEFUL"

Armenian Second TV Channel
May 8 2009

[Presenter] [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan also met with Turkish
President Abdullah Gul in Prague. This was the second one after the
meeting in Yerevan [in September 2008.] The leaders of the two states
have positively assessed the Prague meeting and decided to respect
all previous agreements and move forward in the direction of settling
Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions and in reasonable
periods of [time].

[Correspondent reports over video of the meeting] Past midnight
by Yerevan’s time [past 1900 gmt] and at 2230 by Prague’s time
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Turkish President Abdullah Gul
arrived at the Mandarin hotel, where the meeting of the Armenian and
Turkish presidents was planned. This is the second meeting of the
presidents after Gul was in Yerevan in September [2008] at Sargsyan’s
invitation. The foreign ministers of the two countries also took part
in this meeting. After the meeting the sides positively assessed the
Prague meeting and said that an agreement was achieved to respect all
previously achieved agreements aiming to move forward Armenian-Turkish
relations without preconditions and in reasonable periods of time.

[Sargsyan speaking in Armenian to journalists] Useful – we agreed to
respect our agreements.

[Two unidentified journalists speaking in Armenian] What are those
agreements? Are there preconditions?

[Sargsyan speaking in Armenian to journalists] It is excluded that
there be any preconditions, it is simply excluded.

MAJORITY OF TURKS ARE AGAINST OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.05.2009 12:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Majority of Turkish citizens are against the possible
opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, a study conducted by Genar
research company found. The Turkey Society Politics research survey
conducted in late April polled 2,044 individuals across 17 largest
Turkish cities between April 17 and 26.

According to the survey, 67.6 per cent of polled say they are against
a potential opening of the border with Armenia and normalization of
diplomatic ties, while 32.4 percent say they will support such a move
in Armenia-Turkey relationship.

The survey tried to reveal attitude of citizens to a variety of
political and diplomatic issues, from the normalization of relations
with Armenia to voter behavior.

US STATE DEPARTMENT CALL ON IRAN AUTHORITIES TO LIBERATE SILVA HAROTONIAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.05.2009 15:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Silva Harotonian was arrested on June 26, 2008
and was reportedly charged with unspecified activities related
to promoting a "velvet revolution" in Iran. She was subsequently
convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. We understand her
second appeal is pending and that she is in poor and deteriorating
health as a direct consequence of her confinement.

"We once again urge Iran’s leadership to grant the release of
Ms. Harotonian. The charges against her are without foundation,"
US State Department statement ran.

EU TEAMS UP WITH EX-COMMUNIST STATES
By Tony Barber in Prague

FT
May 8 2009 10:04

A European Union initiative to establish closer relations with six
ex-Soviet states was overshadowed on Thursday by the absence of many
leaders from the summit that launched the project.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s
prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s premier,
and Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, each stayed away from the
Prague summit, as did Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Voronin,
presidents of Belarus and Moldova respectively.

A senior Georgian official warmly welcomed the initiative, saying it
offered the six states the prospect of association agreements with the
EU, free trade accords, easier visa requirements for their citizens
and close political co-operation.

"This project has great potential to bring the countries in the region
closer to Europe," Eka Tkeshelashvili, secretary of Georgia’s national
security council, told the Financial Times. "It will bring Georgia
home to the family where we see ourselves as belonging."

She said the Eastern Partnership was "wisely designed" because, instead
of treating all six countries as a bloc, it accepted that each state
was likely to develop its relationship with the EU at its own pace.

Nevertheless, the absence of some of the EU’s most important national
lead ers from Prague highlighted a potential weakness of the project,
which was conceived in 2007 by Poland and Sweden partly in response
to a French-led initiative for the EU’s southern neighbours known as
the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

Whereas France and other EU states with a Mediterranean shoreline have
been most involved in the UfM, the Eastern Partnership is of interest
mainly to the ex-communist EU countries of central and eastern Europe,
together with Finland, Sweden and to some extent Germany. The 27-nation
EU as a whole appears not fully engaged in either project.

Moreover, the German government, backed by other western European
states, is wary of making promises about visa-free travel to the EU
for citizens of the six ex-Soviet states, a reservation made clear
in a draft version of the Prague summit’s final communiqué.

The draft statement, obtained by the FT, spoke of "gradual steps
towards full visa liberalisation as a long-term goal for individual
partner countries on a case-by-case basis, provided that conditions
for well-managed and secure mobility are in place".

The statement also described the ex-Soviet states as "eastern
European", a statement that some western European government
officials regard as stretching a geographical point in the case of
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, but which nevertheless represented
a concession by the Czech hosts, who wanted the plain adje ctive
"European" applied to the six.

Russia, meanwhile, has warned the EU not to use the Eastern Partnership
as an instrument for encroaching into what it regards as Moscow’s
natural "sphere of influence".

But diplomats said the Kremlin would view the involvement in the
region of Nato, the western military alliance which began military
exercises in Georgia this week, as a far more serious matter than
the Eastern Partnership.

Moreover, Russia understood that the EU’s new initiative might
involve more talk than action, they said. Georgia’s president Mikheil
Saakashvili on Tuesday accused Russia of backing an attempted coup
against his government in a bid to mar the Partnership meeting,
while his defence minister said it was timed to coincide with the
launch in Georgia of Nato military exercises.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: TO SUCCEED, EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PROJECT SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED ON PRINCIPLE ‘FOR WELFARE AND NOT AGAINST’

ArmInfo
2009-05-08 12:26:00

ArmInfo. To achieve success, Eastern Partnership project should be
implemented on the principle ‘for welfare and not against’, President
of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at EU Summit devoted to launch of
Eastern Partnership project in Prague on May 7.

‘Nowadays the idea ‘Europe’ has become a synonym to tolerance,
constructive approach and peaceful solutions. We want Eastern
Partnership to strengthen this perception of Europe in Armenia. We
want this project to be a success demonstrating that policy based
on the system of values can give an exclusive result. This day is
very important for the Armenian people and for other states involved
in the Eastern Partnership. Irrespective of the prospects each of
us sees in the relations with the EU, it is evident that we have a
long way to pass. I’d like to thank EU member-states on behalf of
the Armenian people for the invitation to pass this way together’,
the president said.

‘We are aware that it was not an easy decision for the EU
especially in conditions of global financial crisis. Nevertheless,
Eastern Partnership is a brave decision. It is mutually obliging and
advantageous. We join this process to make our market more accessible,
to promote the dialogue between our citizens and the world community
as well as mutual aspiration to build new future and enrich our
culture. I believe we will succeed’, President Sargsyan said. He
highlighted Armenia’s devotion to fulfilling the commitments to the
European Neighborhood Policy and said that he has already signed a
decree confirming the program of nearly 200 measures to coordinate
Armenia-EU cooperation for the coming three years.

‘Since the European Neighborhood Policy was launched, Armenia has
got an opportunity to join the foreign political statements by the EU
and has already joined almost 80% of these statements which testifies
commonness of our approaches, views and stands,’ the president said.

JETHRO TULL TO GIVE CONCERT IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.05.2009 17:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within the frames of its European tours, Jethro
Tull legendary rock group will organize one concert in Yerevan on
May 22. Armenian rock fans and connoisseurs of the British rock
group can attend the concert in Sports-Concert Complex after Karen
Demirtchyan. During the concert which will last two hours, the group
conducted by Ian Anderson will perform both old and news songs of
its repertoire.

"World-famous celebrities, Jethro Tull musicians turned out
exceptionally modest, and unlike Scorpions, didn’t demand 7 limousines
of latest fashion," Head of Vibrographus company Vardan Grigoryan
told a news conference.

The group’s music is a mixture of blues, folk-rock and a little bit
of jazz. Jethro Tull was formed in 1963, out of the amalgamation of
the John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, two blues-based local UK
groups. Over the 40 years of its existence Jethro Tull has released
40 albums and sold over 60 million recording discs.

Concert organizers say they are now negotiating with Deep Purple,
Paul McCartny and Russian DDT and Mashina Vremeni groups for inviting
them to Yerevan.