Author: Kajoyan Gevork

SECRETARY OF ARMENIAN SECURITY COUNCIL TO TENDER HIS RESIGNATION AND DEAL WITH ELECTION CAMPAIGN OF “ORITANTS YERKIR” PARTY

arminfo
Tuesday, November 22, 16:20

The resignation of a number of Armenian top officials will continue
and this time Secretary of Armenian National Security Council, Artur
Bagdasaryan, which is also the leader of the Oritants Yerkir party,
will be dismissed and start dealing with the election campaign of the
party. As “168 Zham” newspaper reported, referring to its trustworthy
sources, the resignation will happen according to the resignation
scenario of the ex-speaker of the National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan.

In particular, Bagdasaryan will say he tenders his resignation so that
to coordinate the activity of the electoral headquarters of his party.

The calculation of the authorities is based on the situation that
after leaving his position Artur Bagdasaryan will try to play a part
of the opposition force. And if he manages to do it in some way, in
that case Orinats Yerkir party will take part in the parliamentary
election independently. “But if it does not manage, it is very much
possible that Orinats Yerkir party will be given 2-3 seats in the
proportional list of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, and
Artur Bagdasaryan will get the position of deputy chairman of the
RPA electoral headquarters”, – the newspaper said.

VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN IS “AN OPEN WOUND” FOR ALL ARMENIANS

arminfo
Tuesday, November 22, 16:11

Vahagn Chakhalyan is “an open wound” for all Armenians. Just the
same as the whole body directs its forces to the “treatment of the
open wound”, the whole Armenian people in Javahkh, Armenia, Artsakh
or Diaspora should do everything possible to gain his discharging, a
member of the Union of Armenian Writers, Levon Khechoyan, said during
the discussion dedicated to the problems of Javahkh and organized
by the initiative group of “Sardarapat” movement and “Arax-Kura”
foundation.

Chakhalyan was arrested by Georgian authorities in 2008 and in April
2009 was sentenced for 10 years for and .

“For this reason, on the threshold of Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan’s visit to Georgia, it is very much important to organize
signatures collection among the members of the Armenian Writers’
Union as soon as possible with a demand to discharge Vahagn Chakhalyan
like a dissident writer, and then to appeal to the London PEN-club
and the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe”, – he said.

For his part, historian Gevorg Yazichyan added that Javahkh still
remains a part of Armenia, as Armenian speech sounds there and Armenian
spirit flies. He said that in general protection of Chakhalyan’s
rights and the rights of the Armenian of Javahkh is the headache of
the Armenian authorities, which watch Armenians of Javahkh like a
subject of making profitable bargains and ignore human and national
dignity of the local population.

ARMENIAN “CIVIL DEFENDERS” AS WEAPON OF AZERI PROPAGANDA
Hayk Khalatyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 22, 2011 – 19:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Over the last week, 2 more Armenian soldiers were
killed at contact line over Azeri ceasefire violation. Tragic incidents
prove the war is not over, with the enemy waiting for a chance to
strike. As it turns out, some of our compatriots are waging their
own “war”, ready to sacrifice their motherland in pursuit of their
own ambitions.

Yesterday, Nov 21, as reported by Armenian TV, a certain Armenian human
rights advocate accused official Yerevan of “violating the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)” at Brussels-hosted
NATO session.

As PanARMENIAN.Net discovered, the person in question was identified
as Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor Office NGO president Artur
Sakunts. Even the fact that Azeri propaganda already excelled in
vilifying Armenia, conveniently forgetting of Baku-initiated “arms
race” and provocations at contact line was unable to stop Mr. Sakunts’
unfounded accusations.

So far, no international mission was able to accuse Armenia of
CFE violation for one clear reason: the country does not violate
the Treaty.

Sakunts, however, wasn’t in the least perturbed by an indignant
response of other members of Armenian delegation, who were clearly
unaware of “good intentions” of the human rights advocate.

One might ask himself, how is such a “defender of human rights”,
the rights of Armenians, better that the threesome recently charged
with state treason over spying for Azerbaijan?

DESCENDANT OF GENOCIDE SURVIVOR PRESENTS HER BOOK ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Tert.am
22.11.11

Union County College hosted a discussion led by alumna Virginia
Matosian Apelian, daughter of Armenian genocide survivors, to kick
off the college’s Alumni Association Authors Series on Nov. 20 in
the Roy Smith Theater.

According to NJ.com, the 1973 graduate of Union County College shared
story after story from her recently released memoir, Musa Dagh Girl:
Daughter of Armenian Genocide Survivors, published by Xulon Press.

The memoir delves into Armenian history, touching back all the way
to the year 300, when Armenia became the first nation to declare
itself Christian.

Much of the book, however, focuses on how Apelian’s life was affected
by the Armenian Genocide, during which leaders of the Ottoman Empire
ordered the extermination of the Armenian people in 1915, leading to
the deaths of over one million Armenians.

The book’s title refers to Mount Moses, “Musa Dagh” in Turkish,
the site at which a group of Armenians resisted against Turks during
the Armenian Genocide, as well as the area in which Apelian was born
about fifteen years after the end of the genocide.

Apelian lived as a refugee in Lebanon until she was twelve and
told the audience of the harsh conditions her family faced there,
explaining that many refugees died of malaria and other diseases in
the swamp-like conditions.

“That was place was not a place for human beings to live, but that
was a place away from the Turks,” she said. “So our people were happy.”

Apelian had a near-death experience as a refugee in Lebanon after being
given an experimental cholera vaccination, because, she explained,
refugees were used for many medical tests. The vaccination left her
temporarily unable to move or breathe properly.

When she was twelve, Apelian moved to Paterson, New Jersey after her
parents determined that political instability in the region had made
it too unsafe to continue living in Lebanon.

She told the audience about the culture shock she faced after arriving
in the United States, and how, despite having started high school in
Lebanon, she was placed in the second grade in school.

Through persistent goading of teachers, principals, and other members
of the school administration, Apelian was able to get back on track
and moved into high school.

She began taking classes at Union County College after moving to
Clark, getting married, and having four children, whom she took care
of throughout her time at the college. She then studied psychology
at Douglass College of Rutgers University and went on to lecture on
motivational speaking for over 25 years.

Apelian also served in local government in Clark for about ten years
and became the first female council president of the township in 1982.

She told the audience that she hopes her story will inspire others
to remain determined and hardworking, even in the face of difficulty
and hardship.

“Be the best you can be and make a difference,” she said.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OF “PERSIAN TOWER” IS SEISMICALLY UNSAFE- EXPERT

/ARKA/
November 23, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, November 23. /ARKA/. Academician, specialist of seismic
construction Eduard Khachiyan considers unlikely that the building
of so-called “Persian tower” will be seismically stable.

In March 2009 Yerevan Municipality gave a permission to construct
25-storey building in two years of the project “Persian tower” near
the cinema theatre “Moskva” (“Moscow”) and the building of the Union
of Artists of Armenia. The permission deadline has been expired in
March 2011, but despite the fact that the Iranian company periodically
takes initiatives for the construction of the skyscraper in that place,
the given space continues to stay his ownership.

“I don’t mind that in Yerevan many beautiful skyscrapers were built ,
but I think that it should correspond to the necessary norms, because
here is permissible construction of the maximum 24-storey building of
steel construction”, said Khachiyan during the scientific conference
on the topic “Scientific-research works implemented in the country
in the construction of seismic and seismically stable buildings”.

Besides the expert, Union of Architects of Armenia also expressed their
negative attitude towards the construction of this building which
considers that it will fully disrupt the architectural integrity of
the city.

Khachiyan said that in any seismic region construction of many-storey
buildings are permitted but it is related to large expenses.

He assessed the level of seismically stable level of the buildings
in Armenia as medium.

He also said that public discontent for residential buildings on the
North Avenue in Yerevan does not violate any seismic standards.

“On North Avenue there was a necessity to construct new residential
buildings as the old buildings were worn out that even with a weak
earthquake they may collapse. New buildings correspond to the norms
and the fact that they are closely located to each other, does not
impact their seismic stability”, he said.

On December 7, 1988 in Armenia took place a destructive earthquake
which almost completely destroyed two cities in the north of Armenia –
Spitak and Leninakan (current Gyumri) and over hundred villages.

Several other cities were destroyed partially.

In the epicenter of the earthquake – in the city Spitak (north of
Armenia) the earthquake was 10 points. That day, according to official
data, 25 thousand people died, 140 thousand became invalids and half
a million of people became homeless.

ARMENIA RANKED 46TH IN FIFA RATING LIST

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
YEREVAN

Armenian national football team has been ranked 46th in the list
of FIFA. An official from the Armenian Football Federation told
Armenpress that the list is topped by the Spanish team, followed by
the teams of Holland, Germany, Uruguay, England, Brazil, Portugal,
Croatia, Italy and Argentina. The Russian team is ranked the 12th.

BILL CRIMINALIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL ON FRENCH SENATE AGENDA

armradio.am
23.11.2011 13:09

The bill criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide has been put on
the agenda of the French Senate again thanks to the efforts of member
of the Socialist Party of France, Senator of Armenian descent Philip
Kaltenbach, Turkish Dogan agency reports.

Representatives of left parties currently hold the majority in the
French Senate after the parliamentary elections in September. This
fact might contribute to the consideration of the bill criminalizing
the denial of the Armenian Genocide, since it was once submitted by
the left parties.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear during his visit to
Armenia earlier this year that the bill would be adopted should Turkey
fail to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

On May 4, 2011, the French Senate rejected the bill that would make it
a crime to publicly say the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey did not constitute genocide. The Senate voted 196
to 74 to block a formal debate on the issue.

MP: TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER NOT OPEN UNTIL NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IS UNRESOLVED

Trend
Nov 21 2011
Azerbaijan

Ogtay Asadov, Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, on Monday
received a team led by Volkan Bozkyr, Chairman of the International
Relations Committee of the Great National Assembly of Turkey, the
Parliament of Azerbaijan reported at its Website.

Asadov said Azerbaijani-Turkish relations develop in an ascending
manner on all directions and are an example for other countries. The
two countries have so far concluded some 170 legal documents, and the
President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Turkey signed a Joint
Declaration to establish a Top-Level Council for Strategic Cooperation.

This is an illustrative example of top-level relations between the
two states, Asadov noted.

He also voiced his satisfaction with the level of inter-parliamentary
links between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

For his part, Bozkyr highly appreciated current development of
Azerbaijan. He also touched upon the issue of settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The official said the Turkish-Armenian borders will
not be opened until this conflict is resolved. In this connection,
the Zurich Protocols also will not be submitted for discussion to
the International Relations Committee, he added.

In addition, Volkan Bozkyr voiced his gratitude to the Azerbaijani
nation and state for attention to and care about those who had suffered
from an earthquake in Van.

Prospects of development of inter-parliamentary links, and issues
of international partnership and struggle with terrorism were also
examined at the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Safa Mirzoyev, Head of the
Parliament’s Staff, Samed Seyidov, Chairman of the Parliament’s
International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Links Committee,
Ramil Hasanov, Secretary General of the Turkic Parliamentary Assembly,
Hulusi Kylyj, Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, and other officials.

UNESCO TO CONSIDER INCLUDING ARMENIAN VARDAVAR PROTECTED INTANGIBLE HERITAGE

news.am
Nov 21 2011
Armenia

Mongolian calligraphy, Armenian fertility rites or French
horsemanship? UNESCO envoys will meet this week to decide which of
84 traditions should join UNESCO’s list of protected “intangible
heritage”, reports British Columbia with a reference to France-Press.

UN cultural agency suspended the work this month after the U.S.
suspended the funding, a circumstance stemming from Palestinian
affiliation. The envoys, nevertheless, will meet on Bali Island on
November 22-29.

The delegates will determine which of the national traditions merit
being included into the list of world important practices and which
should therefore be protected for the future generations and join
the 215 practices already approved by the UN.

Armenia, for example, will be promoting Vardavar, a festival in honor
of pagan goddess of love Astghik. Armenians mark this day by spilling
water over each other and passers-by.

BRUSSELS TO HOST ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 22, 2011 – 10:08 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – From December 3, 2011 to January 7, 2012, Brussels
will host an exhibition of Armenian architecture.

On December 5, the event will feature screening of the Armenian
legacy of Europe documentary shot through financial and organizational
support of Kharkiv-based Renaissance Charitable Fund., analitika.at.ua
reported.

Armenian legacy of Europe is a huge cultural project aimed at studying
and promoting history and development of Armenian communities in
Europe, their impact on various fields of these countries.

On November 20, 2011, the film was screened in The Hague and Lviv. On
November 23, it will be presented in Kyiv.