LEVON ARONYAN TO PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT IN MAINZ
ArmRadio.am
15.06.2007 15:04
Preparing for the World Championship to be held in Mexico, leading
Armenian Grand Master, World Cup holder Levon Aronyan will participate
in an international tournament in the German city Mainz.
Armenpress was told at RA Chess Federation that he may hold preparatory
matches both in Armenia and Germany.
GREEK PRESIDENT KAROLOS PAPOULIAS ARRIVING IN ARMENIA JUNE 26
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.06.2007 13:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Karolos Papoulias, the President of Greece, will
arrive in Armenia on a state visit June 26, the RA leader’s press
office reported. The 2-day visit will be held by invitation of Armenian
President Robert Kocharian.
The Greek delegation will include the Minister of Interior, Public
Administration and Decentralization Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos,
Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kasimis and other officials and
entrepreneurs.
Armenia Fund USA, Inc.
152 Maiden Lane, Suite 301
New York, NY 10038, U.S.A.
T/1-212-689-5307
F/1-212-689-5317
e-mail: [email protected]
Armenia Fund Is 15 Years Old
Celebrating 15 years of nation-building in Armenia and Karabakh
NEW YORK, New York – The year 2007 marks the 15th Anniversary of Armenia
Fund – a pillar organization created after Armenia’s independence and
mandated with the vital task of uniting all Armenians around the world to
direct efforts toward development and revival of the nation. For 15 years
the Fund, with its 20 affiliates across the globe, has touched countless
lives in Armenia and Karabakh. Combining aid, development and direct
investment, Armenia Fund has engaged Armenia’s leaders, its people and the
worldwide Diaspora to promote education, create jobs, improve public health
and develop infrastructure, among other critical humanitarian needs. Today,
Armenia Fund’s contributions to social and economic prosperity of Armenia
and Karabakh are unprecedented.
The 15th Anniversary of Armenia Fund is a celebration of the past, present
and future of the Armenian people. It is a celebration of overcoming
challenges by working together. Above all, it is a celebration of humanity,
courage and hope.
Beginnings: Armenia Fund 1992
In 1991, after refusing to participate in Gorbachev’s planned referendum on
preserving the Soviet Union, the Armenian people went to a national
referendum with over 99 percent of the population approving the republic’s
commitment to independence. A declaration of independence followed the vote.
With that courageous choice, our people fulfilled a historic dream – the
Republic of Armenia, an independent state with all the privileges of
official statehood bestowed upon its citizens. Armenians in Armenia and
around the world, united in a historic mission of nation-building, pledged
to support the newborn Republic.
Despite widespread expectations for a smooth road to development and
balanced transfer to an open market economy, harsh days awaited the Armenian
people. The disintegration of the Soviet Union not only changed the
geopolitical landscape of the region, but posed serious security issues for
Armenia. The armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which has not found a
peaceful solution up to this date, triggered a war in 1992 between the two
neighbors – Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The recovery from the disastrous 6.9 magnitude earthquake of 1988 that had
left over 40% of Armenia’s territory devastated and taken more than 25,000
lives was still a day-to-day reality. With more than half a million people
left homeless, the political instability both internally and externally, the
economic blockade from the east and west and an on-going war made recovery
almost grind to a halt. The situation was further aggravated by a deep
socio-economic crisis when, as a result of the transportation blockade, most
of the industrial activity within the country was shut down, factories
liquidated and basic energy supplies disrupted. These and other devastating
factors imposed a widespread impoverishment throughout the country, leaving
many of its people with little hope and desperate for help. A time of trial
began for Armenia, propelling the nation through intense growing pains as it
fought for survival.
It was under these harsh circumstances that, by a special decree from the
first President of the independent Armenian Republic, "Hayastan"
All-Armenian Fund was founded in April of 1992. Armenia needed to combine
all efforts and means of the Diaspora and direct them toward rebuilding and
strengthening the very foundations of statehood.
This mission was entrusted to Armenia Fund.
Initially mandated to meet basic humanitarian needs, Armenia Fund soon
became the united voice of the Armenian Diaspora around the world. The aim
was one – to correctly assess the core area needs for development and help
Armenia stand on its feet at a historical juncture of nation-building.
The Fund’s first major initiative was the $22 million Winter Humanitarian
Project, which alleviated pressing social needs, particularly providing
heating and preventing a humanitarian crisis as a result of electricity and
gas supplies disruption across the country. At the same time, the Fund
initiated a house-building program following the Spitak 1988 earthquake,
providing accommodation to those left without shelter in Gyumri, Vanadzor,
Stepanavan and Spitak.
The Diaspora’s help to Armenia was not restricted only to humanitarian aid,
but soon began to draw on major investments and a comprehensive strategy to
implement grassroots development projects. A moral responsibility emerged,
and many caught the vision – they could and would make a difference. Many
non-governmental organizations were created with specific missions to
address concrete issues. Armenia Fund USA, with its international affiliates
around the world and with All-Armenian Fund in Yerevan, focused its efforts
on providing sustainable socio-economic development through large-scale
infrastructure such as healthcare centers and clinics, major roads and
highways, schools and cultural centers, drinking and irrigation water
systems, housing and more. Further initiatives of the Fund started to
include more of capacity-building programs with a special emphasis on rural
development and economic revitalization.
Over the past 15 years, Armenia Fund has invested more than $160 million in
sustainable development in Armenia and Karabakh. This makes the Fund the
largest contributor to critical infrastructure projects in all aspects of
social and economic activity. Securing long-term development solutions, the
Fund has had an outstanding impact on the lives of countless citizens of
Armenia and Karabakh. Armenia Fund has evolved over the years into an
organization that has an unprecedented track record of affecting change. In
recognition to its development work, Armenia Fund was accredited to the
United Nations in spring of 2006, as one of the most credible international
organizations working in Armenia and Karabakh.
To recognize and thank the Diaspora for its 15 years of continuous support
to Armenia and Karabakh, Armenia Fund will hold a 15th Anniversary Gala
Banquet at the United Nations on October 6, 2007. Join Armenia Fund as it
celebrates the tenacity of the Armenian people and strength of the Armenian
Diaspora!
VIMPELCOM’S PR-CAMPAIGN FOR PROMOTION OF BEELINE CELLULAR BRAND IN ARMENIA MAY TURN INTO SERIOUS SCANDAL
arminfo
2007-06-14 01:03:00
VimpelCom’s PR-campaign for promotion of its trademark Beeline in
Armenia may create problems with reputation and turn into a serious
scandal as the company hasn’t yet received an official right to use
this cellular brand in Armenia.
ArmInfo learned from reliable sources that ArmenTel company, Armenia’s
phone monopolist, that was purchased by VimpelCom from the OTE company
(Greece) in 2006, has faced the problem with egistration of trademark
Beeline, because this name is completely consonant with the firm-name
of Bi Line Co.Ltd, which is the largest company engaged in sales
of computer equipment and IT solutions in Armenia and juridically
owns the identical Bi Line brand. Bi Line refused to provide ArmInfo
correspondent with any details on the situation. The company just
expressed indignation at the behavior of the Russian company, which
actually evaded the legislation and the acknowledged standards of
conduct of business and started promoting in Armenia a trademark not
belonging to it through official statements of VimpelCom leadership
and, probably, ordered "image" publications.
Moreover, a fragment of commercial telling about Beeline in Armenia has
been telecast on some domestic Russian channels for several times. At
the same time, the source did not deny the information about unofficial
meetings with the leadership of VimpelCom and ArmenTel initiated by
the Russian side on this problem. At the same time it could hardly
call these meetings negotiations. President and Co-founder of Bi Line
Co. Ltd Hayk Khanjyan told ArmInfo.
At the same time, ArmenTel Press Secretary Hasmik Chutilyan stated that
normal negotiations are underway on the given problem. However, she
has no information on registration of Beeline brand in the category
of. In the meanwhile, according to reliable information, ArmenTel
has registered this trademark in the category in Armenia and has a
right to disseminate them as Beeline Armenia. It is still a secret
why the new news source of Beeline disseminates news exclusively on
the telecommunication brand.
Talking to ArmInfo, experts well-informed of such problems supposed
that VimpelCom refuses from making official proposals, probably,
thinking it unnecessary applying unwritten rules of civilized business
to the Armenian market and preferring levers of influence. The most
harmless of them may become the promoting the brand to make the rival
that is weaker with its agree with its factual defeat in this.
EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH LABORATORY FOR INFORMATION PROTECTION AND PROCESSING OPENS AT SEUA
Noyan Tapan
Jun 13 2007
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The Educational and Research Laboratory
for Information Protection and Processing at the State Engineering
University of Armenia (SEUA) will be used as a center for imparting
future specialists both theoretical knowledge and practical skills,
SEUA prorector Ruben Aghgashian stated at the opening ceremony on
June 13.
The founder of the laboratory – chief engineer of Aviainfotel CJSC
Samvel Muradian said that the laboratory will play an important role
in preparing specialists for structures and economic entities with
considerable database and information flows and in the testing of
information systems.
According to him, the company has long been cooperating with SEUA,
while the newly created laboratory will enable to attract new
beneficiaries. S. Muradian said that the RA National Security Service
will become one of the first beneficiaries of the lab. Besides, the
State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre adjunct to the RA government
will train its staff at this laboratory.
In the words of William Douglass, transnational crime affairs officer,
acting deputy ambassador of the US to Armenia, the US embassy is
cooperating with Aviainfotel under the Border Electronic Control
Information System Program. He expressed confidence that the lab will
help increase the security of Armenian borders.
It is noteworthy that the educational and research laboratory for
information protection and processing is fitted with two systems
with 4 and 12 processors of Sun Microsystems company (with the total
operative memory of 30 gigabytes) and other modern equipment.
IRAQ: VIOLENCE NOW CORNERS CHRISTIANS
By Mohammed A. Salih
Inter Press Service, Italy
June 13 2007
ARBIL, Iraq, Jun 13 (IPS) – For Janet Petros’s family it all started
when the al-Mahdi militia of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
took control of their mixed neighbourhood Hay Muwasalat in Baghdad
last year.
That was after long fighting between Shia and Sunni armed groups for
dominance in the area.
One summer morning, Janet’s younger daughter Maha Faiq, 26, was hit
in the leg by a bullet as she slept. She was lucky it was no worse.
It was not an accidental shot. Janet’s family, the only Christian
family in that district, had been harassed and threatened by the
militias on both sides for long to follow their imposed Sharia rules.
"It was a very bad situation in Baghdad," said Sahar Faiq, 28, Janet’s
elder daughter. "We couldn’t mix with the neighbours any more and
were so afraid." Sahar quit her job with a British security company
after being threatened by militias.
Last February, Janet’s family decided to move to Arbil, in the
relatively safe Kurdistan region in the north. "After what happened,
I was afraid that someone will come in and do something bad to my
daughters," Janet, 55, told IPS in her two-room house in Arbil’s
Christian district Ainkawa.
Christians, who have lived in peace with their Muslim neighbours for
years are today badly hit by the rising tide of religious extremism.
In his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in the Vatican last
week, the Pope expressed concern that "the society that is evolving
(in Iraq) would not tolerate the Christian religion."
That is already happening. Hundreds of Christians have been killed,
their churches bombed and a ferocious campaign is under way to
intimidate them, particularly in the insecure parts of the country.
Iraq’s Christians are divided into a number of sects like the
Chaldeans, who form the majority, Assyrians, who are descendants of
the ancient Assyrian empire, Armenians and Syriacs.
During Saddam Hussein’s reign, Christians lived in a largely secular
atmosphere and were protected from extremism. But many did face
discrimination and attempts to get them to conform to Arab cultural
ways.
A small minority, many Christians have either left the volatile parts
of the country for safer areas, or moved outside Iraq.
The Kurdish region is now home to thousands of Christian families who
have escaped violence in cities like Baghdad and the northern city
Mosul. The recent killing of several Christian clergymen in Mosul
could push many others to leave.
About 2,800 Christian families have moved to Arbil, and another 1,550
to Zakho on the Iraqi-Turkish border, according to the Hizel Cultural
Centre, a Christian group that offers aid to displaced families.
Life in the north is safer but not easy. The huge influx of tens
of thousands of refugees has led to a sharp increase in rents and
prices. Inflation is rising and job opportunities are decreasing.
Janet’s family pays 600 dollars a month for their two-room house.
Father Sabri al-Maqdasi, a priest in Ainkawa’s largest church
Saint Joseph believes that given the continuous flow of refugees,
accommodation will be extremely hard to find. The group Hadyab
Financial Aid for Refugees offers 100 dollars a month to each Christian
family coming to Arbil, but that money does not go far.
With attacks and pressure rising, there are attempts by some leaders
to create a Christian zone in the historically Christian populated
areas of Nineveh and Dohuk provinces in the north.
But there is no agreement on this. Some are asking for an autonomous
territory within Kurdistan region where Christians will have their
own regional government and parliament. Others demand a self-rule
arrangement where Christians control the local administration and
police force in the areas they constitute the majority.
Father al-Maqdasi says a separated homeland will isolate Christians
from the rest of Iraq and would "destroy our mission of building
bridges and relations with other religions." Instead, he encourages
a plan for Christians to have self-rule in effect as in Ainkawa in
Arbil, where the local administration is run by Christians.
The wounds caused by the ongoing violence against Christians are not
going to be healed easily. The suffering has given rise to a sense
of alienation and detachment among many.
"The only dream we now have is to leave Iraq," Janet told IPS. "We
don’t feel that we belong to this country any more."
s=38149
PRESS: RUSSIA’S SISTEMA WANTS TO ACQUIRE ARMENIAN MOBILE OPERATOR
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
June 13, 2007 Wednesday 1:25 PM EET
Russian holding AFK Sistema is interested in buying Armenian mobile
operator K-Telecom, Sistema’s Chairman Vladimir Yevtushenkov said,
business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.
Yevtushenkov said Sistema was considering acquiring K-Telecom but no
agreements had been reached yet, Kommersant reported.
However, K-Telecom’s spokesman said that the company was unlikely to
change shareholders anytime soon, the daily reported.
K-Telecom, one of two mobile operators in Armenia, has over 650,000
users and works under the Vivacell brand. Livan’s Fatush Investment
Group is K-Telecom’s majority shareholder, Kommersant reported.
Sistema has 52.8% in Russia’s largest mobile company Mobile
TeleSystems (MTS), which in turn controls wireless operators in
Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and has a minority stake in a
mobile operator in Belarus.
Armenian political expert: Karabakh problem can be solved only by war
Arminfo
2007-06-11 13:07:00
Karabakh problem can be solved only by war, a political expert Levon
Melik-Shahnazaryan said at today’s press-conference.
Having assured that the war will happen not earlier than in 2025, the
political expert said the time frame to the indicated date will work on
the party which better uses it. He recalled that Azerbaijan
continuously increases the military budget and tried to strengthen the
Army. "Adequate steps are necessary, otherwise, we shall either lose
the war or yield without fight", M-Shahnazaryan said. At the same time,
he said that the pledge of victory is not only in the number of
armament. The armament of Azerbaijan in the beginning of the Karabakh
war exceeded that of Armenia by 94 times. However, this was a moot
point by the moment of armistice signing", the political expert said.
Armenian political expert predicts lull in the Karabakh negotiating
process till 2009
Arminfo
2007-06-11 13:07:00
The active phase on the Karabakh conflict negotiating process finished
by the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in St.
Petersburg and will not restart till 2009, political expert Levon
Melik-Shakhnazaryan made such a prediction at today’s press-conference.
He also added that on the eve of the mentioned meeting of the
presidents the leadership and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
used to place strong pressure upon the parties to the conflict, the
purpose of which was to lead them to an agreement. This was connected
on one hand with the Kosovo settlement and on the other hand with the
presidential elections in the NKR, Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the same
time the political expert said that over their trips to Armenia and
Azerbaijan the intermediaries made such statements which a specific
audience wanted to hear. But Robert Kocharyan’s and Ilham Aliyev’s
meeting did not give a result, and Melik-Shakhnazaryan thinks this
circumstance is in favour of the Armenian party. Touching on the
historical aspect, he said that Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region was
in the border of Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic but has never
been within that. , – he said.
Asked if Armenia needs foreign policy of complementarity, the political
expert replied that for today’s Armenia this is the best foreign policy
direction. But the point is how long the countries towards which
Armenia is conducting such a policy will agree to it.
POTI-CAUCASUS FERRY ROUTE AT RISK
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
The Messenger, Georgia
June 7 2007
Armenia remains Russia’s strategic ally in the South Caucasus.
Armenia’s economic sector has been for a long time tied to the Russian
market although, currently, the Kremlin has no transportation links
with Armenia.
Transportation blockade aimed to "punish" Georgia during the "spy row"
last October has negatively influenced Armenia in the process.
Last year, Russia unexpectedly blocked the Kazbegi-Lars customs
checkpoint – the only customs checkpoint controlled by Georgians on the
Georgian-Russian border. Russian authorities argued the checkpoints
needed renovations. The route continues to be blocked and it hurts
not only Georgia’s interests but also those of Armenia.
The checkpoint at the Roki Tunnel is not well- controlled, linking
Russia with Tskhinvali separatist authorities.
Russia hoped that the Georgian administration would get accustomed
to travelers and cargo passing through separatist-controlled customs
checkpoints. However, the Georgian government is not supporting
this idea. As a result, Russia has lost its transportation link
with Armenia.
The railway connection with Russia is very important for Armenia too.
Armenian experts calculated that Armenian economic sector was losing
USD 500 million annually because of the closed railway via Abkhazia.
A while back, Armenia actively demanded that Georgia open the railway,
although they also asked Russia to allow Georgians to control the
customs checkpoints at Psou (Russian-Abkhaz border) and the Roki
Tunnel. The Russian authorities did not do this and later imposed a
transportation blockade.
But to support Armenia’s interests, Russia was obliged to help create
the Poti-Caucasus ferry route.
This ferry route doesn’t make much sense as the cost to transport
cargo appears to be very expensive and if the railway via Abkhazia
is reopened, no one will need it.
According to the Chairman of Armenian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs Arsen Kazarian, currently the Poti-Caucasus ferry route
is not functioning, as it does not have any cargo to load. He also
expressed dissatisfaction about the tariffs for the route.
Armenian authorities worry that the new ferry route will not last
long. The Swedish company Reserve Capital Enterprising Corporation
that controls the ferry intends to sell 45 percent of the shares in
the near future.
According to the Armenian newspaper Aiots Ashkher, the Swedish company
wants to attract funding from Armenian companies to reduce its business
risk and to decrease possible losses to the company as well.
The newspaper reports that when the Poti-Caucasus ferry route was
opened, the company bragged that cargo transportation would not take
much time and it would be cheaper compared to the Poti-Ilichevsk
ferry route. Now it is clear that the cost is approximately the same
and cargo arrives in 2 days instead of 7.
At the same time the owner of the Swedish company wants to be the sole
cargo transporter from Yerevan to Poti and this could put Armenians
in a difficult position. If the existing problems are not solved,
the Poti-Caucasus ferry route will have no future.