Author: Jirair Kafian

Yuri Grigorovich awarded Order of Honor of Republic of Armenia

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. By a December 29 decree of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan, several members of the creative team were
awarded an order and medals of the Republic of Armenia for their
significant contribution to the development of culture and for a
highly artistic staging of Aram Khachatrian’ Spartak ballet in a new
choreographic version at the Alexander Spendiarian National Academic
Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

The Order of Honor of the RA was awarded to:

Yuri Grigorovich, the choreographer.

The Movses Khorenatsi Medal was awarded to:

Karen Durgarian, the conductor,

Ruben Muradian, a solo-dancer,

Zhakelina Sarkhoshian, a solo-dancer,

Narek Martirosian, a solo-dancer,

Maria Divanian, a solo-dancer.

ARMENIA’S NATIONAL CIVIL DEFENCE DOCTRINE TO BE WORKED OUT IN LINE WITH IPAP

ARKA
Nov 27, 2009

YEREVAN, November 27, /ARKA/. Armenia’s National Security Council
said today the National Civil Defence Doctrine will be worked out in
line with Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

It said during today’s sitting chaired by the Secretary of the National
Security Council of Armenia, Arthur Baghdasaryan, the inter-agency
commission decided to submit the Doctrine to the National Security
Council for ratification in May 2010.

The National Security Council said Arthur Baghdasaryan emphasized
the importance of formation of a civil defense system corresponding
to contemporary requirements,. He also noted that the adoption of the
Doctrine would be of great applied significance for the implementation
of strategic reforms in the field of civil defense and withstanding
the contemporary challenges.

The adoption of the Doctrine envisages the assessment of the
current state of civil defense, formation of a civil defence
system corresponding to international standards, improvement of the
crisis-management.

A regional crisis-management centre will be established in Yerevan,
which will later have regional divisions.

SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAY READY FOR OPENING OF THE BORDER
Nelly Danilyan

"Radiolur"
21.10.2009 18:26

The South Caucasus Railway is preparing for the opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border, Executive Director of the Company Shevket
Shaydullin told reporters today, adding that the opening of the border
is not just a new direction of transportation, but also an opportunity
to get to an international arena.

The South Caucasus Railway is already ready for the opening of the
Turkey border. The Akhuryan station will be opened in a month as a
main link for communication with Turkey. Executive Director of the
Company informed today that the prospects of Armenia’s joining the
Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor are also under discussion.

According to Shaydullin, Armenia has a good chance to become a transit
country for international freights.

The Company still has to clarify the legal bases and methods of
cooperation with the Turkish side.

ON ROAD TO MEMBERSHIP, EU WANTS MORE POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS REFORM IN TURKEY

armradio.am
14.10.2009 18:11

The European Union told Turkey on Wednesday to speed up reforms to
boost its chances of joining the bloc and made a special appeal to
protect the freedom of expression of Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk.

The European Commission’s annual progress report on Turkish membership
said Ankara has improved its handling of human rights issues and the
Kurdish minority. But it said that overall, a lot more work needed
to be done for membership.

The report did not yet take on board Turkey’s recent moves to end a
century of enmity with neighboring Armenia, a new momentum which has
been welcomed around the world and which EU Enlargement Commissioner
Olli Rehn also highlighted.

"I’m encouraged by the historic steps Turkey and Armenia have just
taken toward normalizing their relations. This process should now lead
to full normalization as soon as possible," Rehn said in a statement,
AP reported.

ARF WILL APPLY TO CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT

ahos15515.html
15:06:39 – 12/10/2009

The ARF Hay Dat responsible for political issues Kiro Manoyan
today presented the ARF Dashnaktsutyun statement on the Armenian
and Turkish protocols which in particular runs that the protocols
include the three main preconditions that Turkey imposes us from the
first day of the Armenian independence, which was also showed by the
president’s address.

The proof of the Turkish unconstructive behavior was that Turkey
fulfills the process for the sake of its own preconditions which was
enough grounds to refrain from signing. According to the ARF statement,
the presence of the U.S., Russia, France, EU and Switzerland during the
ceremony was an evident repression on Armenia. Under these conditions,
the ratification of the protocols must be prevented by all possible
means.

"TRUTH ALLEGEDLY NOT RECOGNIZED BY TURKS", BOOK BY HOVHANNES CHILINKARYAN, PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.09.2009 21:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian National Library has today hosted the
presentation of historian, political scientist Hovhannes Chilinkaryan’s
book titled "Truth Allegedly Not Recognized by Turks".

In his book, the author thoroughly describes Turkish Government’s
attitude to Armenian Genocide and makes arguments as to why Turkey
should recognize the fact of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman empire and
return occupied Armenian lands.

Chilinkaryan himself was not present at the ceremony, but gave 150
copies of his book as a present to National Library, as well as
to schools in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The book has been also
published in English, Turkish and French languages.

Hovhannes Chilinkaryan was born in 1924 in Constantinople (Turkey). In
1955, he had to leave the town and move to Nice. Despite living and
working in France, Chilinkaryan wrote articles about Armenian-Turkish
relations which were always published in Armenian Nayiri daily
(Beirut, Lebanon).

The historian was brave enough to draw parallels between Armenian
Genocide and Jewish Holocaust. He contributed to the opening Ruben
Sevak museum in Nice, which keeps the poet’s works and handwritten
pieces are. Museum also keeps 200 canvases by Armenian marine
painters. Chilinkaryan is the nephew of renowned western Armenian
poet Ruben Sevak.

37 KILLED AT KAZAKHSTAN DRUG TREATMENT CENTER

Panorama.am
13:49 14/09/2009

Fire roared through a drug treatment centre in Kazakhstan killing 37,
foreign media reports. Earlier it was reported 38 people died.

According to official sources in Kazakhstan 41 people have been
evacuated and 14 of them taken to hospital.

The blaze broke out at about 5.30am local time and quickly spread. The
cause of the fire was not immediately known.

DAVID HARUTYUNYAN DOES NOT HAVE SERIOUS EXPECTATIONS FROM THE NEW MODEL OF FORMING CITY AUTHORITIES
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
12.05.2009 16:24

Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on State-Legal
Issues David Harutyunyan touched upon two topics at today’s press
conference – the elections for the Yerevan City Council scheduled
for May 31 and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe. The Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE first commented
on the intention of the opposition to express non-confidence in the
co-rapporteurs on Armenia, John Prescott and Georges Colombier. Let
us remind that the question was raised by Zaruhi Postanjyan from the
"Heritage" Party.

"Any Deputy is entitled to raise the issue. First of all, I’d like
to note that Zaruhi Postanjyan is not a member of the Monitoring
Committee.

Besides, it is an important issue, and the Monitoring Committee has
been discussed the implementation of the principle of rotation,
i.e. appointment of rapporteurs for a certain period of time. We
have been discussing the issue at the Monitoring Committee since
2008. It’s natural for a delegate of the country to disagree with
this or that rapporteur, but it is up to the Monitoring Committee
to take a decision. Rotation is spoken about, we are discussing it,
but the issue is connected with all countries, not just Armenia,"
the Deputy said.

As for the elections, David Harutyunyan does not have great
expectations from the new system of formation of city authorities
with regard to the process of elections and democracy. However, he
considers that the model is the best one, on the whole. Unlike other
opinions, which state that the municipal elections are not politicized,
David Harutyunyan declared today: "Election of any authority is a
political process."

RA GOVERNMENT MUST SUPPORT DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS UNDER GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2009 18:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The National Assembly of Armenia must pass a Law
on Industry and set up a Ministry of Trade & Industry," the Head of
Armenian Manufacturers Union Vazgen Safaryan told a news conference
on Friday. "Under new CBA floating exchange rate policy and world
financial crisis the Government should take care of local manufacturers
and the Armenian industry."

"In the 1930-s, when the crisis hit America for the first time,
the US Government passed a law on Industry Restoration". Armenia is
in similar situation now, so to strengthen our industry we need to
create an investment fund in charge of import strategy, which will
help decrease the import volume ( AMD 4,4 billion in 2008). The
Armenian Government is already conducting negotiations with leaders
of industry and importers urging them to invest in local production,"
Safaryan said.

AKIpress News Agency (Kyrgyzstan)
February 25, 2009 Wednesday

Almost half of Russians condemn their Government for assistance to CIS
countries

Almost half of the Russian population (49%) believe that the
Government should spend funds to support its own economy in crisis,
instead of providing assistance to other countries, according to the
findings of the poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion
Studies Center on February 14-15, reported Lenta.ru.47% of respondents
described anti-crisis loans extended by Russia to its states-allies as
"non-refundable spending". 40% of respondents said these funds are
investments that will bring many benefits to Russia in future.Since
late 2008 the Russian authorities have extended stabilization loans to
several allied states, including former CIS countries. Belarus and
Kyrgyzstan received $2US billion, Armenia – $500US million. Russia
also extended funds to Cuba.In early February Eurasian Economic
Community member states made a decision to set up the joint
anti-crisis fund worth $10US billion. Russia will contribute $7US.5
billion for this fund.