Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ZIAD ATALLAH: ARMENIAN- LEBANESE POLITICAL TIES NEARLY PERFECT

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 22, 2011 – 10:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Lebanon and Armenia have been long-time friends;
since the unfortunate events of early 20th century, the Lebanese of
Armenian descent are highly involved in cultural, political, social
and economic life of the country, Lebanese charge d’affaires a.i. to
Armenia Ziad Atallah stated in a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.

On November 22, Lebanon is celebrating the 68th anniversary of
independence, with the country having greatly contributed to salvation
of Armenian Genocide survivors. Lebanon’s unique governmental structure
allowed Armenians’ active involvement in the social and political
life of the country. Lebanon’s becoming the first democratic state in
Middle East promoted the country’s cosmopolitan governmental structure,
freedom of speech, media and religion.

“We have 6 Armenian MPs, 2 ministers, one is minister of industry.

This is a part that can’t be removed from Lebanon’s reality,” the
diplomat stressed to point out close ties between the two countries.

Mr. Atallah assessed Armenian President’s oncoming visit to Lebanon
in early December and agreements to be signed as a big push for
bilateral cooperation.

“Armenian-Lebanese relations are nearly perfect politically; we
don’t have any pending issues or problems. However, the economic
relations are far below expected. This is where we should work very
hard by encouraging Lebanese businessmen to invest in Armenia and
vice-versa,” the charge d’affaires stressed, noting sectors of IT,
agriculture, trade, business, educational programs and cultural
exchange as promising.

MOD: RESPONSE OF THE ARMENIAN SIDE TO THE DEATH OF EACH ARMENIAN SOLDIER TO BE DISPROPORTIONATE

armradio.am
21.11.2011 12:05

Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense David Karapetyan issued a
statement on the killing of two Armenian soldiers – Aren Simonyan
and Mihran Margaryan by Azerbaijani snipers on November 19 and 20.

“Recent conspiratorial actions by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces,
which resulted in the death of two Armenian soldiers, show that the
Azerbaijani side has not learned a lesson from its previous adventures
and does not care about the security of its soldiers.

Since the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan does not think
about the lives of its soldiers, we are forced to appeal directly
to the population of Azerbaijan and recall that today, just like
in the past, the response of the Armenian side to the death of each
Armenian soldier will be disproportionate. Quantitative indicators of
disproportionate responses of the Defense Army of Artsakh are well
known to the irresponsible leadership of Azerbaijani Armed Forces,”
the Spokesman declared.

ONE COULD BE EXPELLED FROM THE TELEVISION EVEN FOR AN INSIGNIFICANT MISTAKE – NARA SHLEPCHYAN

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 21, 2011
YEREVAN

In December 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21
November as World Television Day commemorating the date on which the
first World Television Forum was held in 1996. The Armenian television
with a history of more than half a century has its peculiarities and
traditions, on which Armenpress conducted an interview with one of the
most vivid representatives of the Armenian television Nara Shlepchyan.

Nara Shlepchyan is the first Armenian TV host, she is the symbol of
the Armenian television and member of the Council of Public Television
and Radio Company of Armenia.

“The television has wide opportunities today, but every period of
time has its peculiarities, advantages and disadvantages,” noted
the TV host. Comparing the past and the present of the television,
Nara Shlepchyan stressed that in contrast to the soviet years, today
the television is more free, but previously the employees of the
sphere had higher responsibility. “Everything was strict, one could
be expelled from the television even for an insignificant mistake,
the text was more meaningful,” said Mrs. Shlepchyan.

Nara Shlepchyan also addressed her good wishes to the TV spectator
and television through Armenpress. “Armenpress” news agency, too,
congratulates its partners – employees of Armenian TV companies,
on the holiday, wishing them fruitful work and broadcasting of TV
programs rich in peace and kindness.

3 ARMENIANS ACCUSED OF COLLABORATING WITH AZERBAIJANI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

Tert.am
21.11.11

Three Armenian citizens have been charged with high treason and three
others accused of failing to report to law-enforcers that they knew
that they collaborated with Azerbaijani intelligence service.

According to the website of the Office of General Prosecutor, the
prosecutor overseeing that investigation has confirmed the indictment.

The investigation revealed that K. Mehrabyan, R. Matevosyan and A.
Chtrkyan were recruited by officers of Azerbaijan’s intelligence
service during a visit to Turkey.

The three were offered to collaborate with them in exchange for
money. They received tasks to find and provide the Azerbaijani
intelligence service information about armed forces in Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh.

The investigation also found out that Armenian citizens K. Petrosyan,
A. Avetikyan, and D. Avetikyan were aware that K. Mehrabyan had agreed
to find the required information and transfer it to Azerbaijani
officers in exchange of payment but failed to inform Armenian
law-enforcers.

The case was sent to the Court of First Instance of Yerevan’s
Nork-Marash administrative district on November 15 for examination.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IRREFUTABLE FACT – ARMENIAN FM

Tert.am
22.11.11

Armenia’s leadership has repeatedly stated that the fact of the
Armenian Genocide and importance of its international recognition
can never be challenged, Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian stated in an
interview with the Holland-based De Volkskrant newspaper.

The Turkish FM’s statements on setting up a commission of historians
to deal with the 1915 year are nothing but an attempt to challenge
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by France and by many other
states and international organizations. It is nothing but continuing
the dangerous denial policy, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
made a relevant statement in Armenia.

With respect to the Turkish FM’s claims that the Armenian president
never answered Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan’s letter in 2005,
Minister Edward Nalbandian noted that Robert Kocharyan (then Armenia’s
president) answered the Turkish premier’s letter on Apr. 15, 2005. The
letter was published as well.

Both Turkey and the international community are well aware of the
letter except for a few persons. The Turkish FM’s statement leads to
such a conclusion.

Times of India
Nov 20 2011

C-DAC sets up ICT centre in Armenia

TNN | Nov 20, 2011, 11.31AM IST

PUNE: An India-Armenia centre of excellence (COE) in information and
communication technology (ICT) has been inaugurated by the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The centre has been set up at the Yerevan State University and will
have access to the ‘Param’ supercomputer. It will be mainly used for
scientific research in areas such as weather forecasting,
bioinformatics and oceanography among others. The COE is a joint
initiative between the Indian and the government of Armenia and close
to $200 has been invested by the Armenian government in the
establishment of the centre.

C-DAC has also trained the centre’s teachers to use the system. The
Prime Minister of Armenia, during the launch, said, “The centre will
carry out new research work that is expected to focus on 20 sectors.”

The objective of the COE is to expand cooperation in the field of
information technology, create a special climate for ICT professional
education, conduct research and to leverage opportunities in ICT
sector to achieve development. “Under this COE, a scientists exchange
programme will be conducted between the two countries, for meaningful
purposes and share knowledge in high performance computing,” said
Goldi Misra, group coordinator and head, HPC Solutions Group. The
Centre will offer short and long-term certified training in various IT
related areas.

Hemant Darbari, executive director, C-DAC, said, “the centre will seek
to deepen bilateral cooperation in the IT industry and promote the
involvement of world-class IT workforce in India and Armenia in joint
research projects to mutually benefit both nations”.

South Caucasus countries must consider economic unification- expert

November 20, 2011 – 15:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Karabakh conflict is a vulnerable issue, professor
emeritus of history at Yale University, the author of `The Struggle
for Transcaucasia (1917-1921)’ said.

`A conflict between nations populating the South Caucasus, Armenians
and Azerbaijanis, is one of the reasons why region fell under the
power of Soviet Russia,’ according to Firuz Kezimzadeh.

To resolve the conflict, the expert suggested economic, and later,
political unification of Transcaucasia, citing Germany and France as
an example of reconciliation between long-term rivals.

`The reality is that Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have close
cultural and geographic ties, so there must be a way to eventually
settle the existing problems, long as they might remain pending,’
1news.az quoted the expert as saying.

Indian-Armenian IT centre opens in Yerevan

12:05 – 20.11.11

An India-Armenia centre of excellence (COE) in information and
communication technology (ICT) has been inaugurated by the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Times of India reported.

The centre has been set up at the Yerevan State University and will
have access to the ‘Param’ supercomputer. It will be mainly used for
scientific research in areas such as weather forecasting,
bioinformatics and oceanography among others.

The COE is a joint initiative between the Indian and Armenian government.

C-DAC has also trained the centre’s teachers to use the system.
Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigrsan Sargsyan said during launch that the
“centre will carry out new research work that is expected to focus on
20 sectors”.

The objective of the COE is to expand cooperation in the field of
information technology, create a special climate for ICT professional
education and conduct research and to leverage opportunities in ICT
sector to achieve development.

“Under this COE, a scientists exchange programme will be conducted
between the two countries, for meaningful purposes and share knowledge
in high performance computing,” said Goldi Misra, group coordinator
and head, HPC Solutions Group.

The Centre will offer short and long-term certified training in
various IT related areas.

Hemant Darbari, executive director, C-DAC, said, the “centre will seek
to deepen bilateral cooperation in the IT industry and promote the
involvement of world-class IT workforce in India and Armenia in joint
research projects to mutually benefit both nations”.

Tert.am

Getty protest demands pages be returned to Armenia

Associated Press Saturday, November 19, 2011

About 30 protesters stood outside the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los
Angeles demanding the return of pages ripped from a sacred handwritten
Armenian book from the 13th century.

The Los Angeles Times () says protesters Saturday
held signs that read “Shame on Getty” and “Our history is not for
sale.”

A U.S. Armenian church is suing the Getty and seeking to eventually
return the pages to be reunited with the rest of the sacred manuscript
in Yerevan, Armenia.

The lawsuit says the pages went missing in the late 1940s.

Getty officials say they were legally acquired in 1994 from an
anonymous private collector, and museum attorneys say the statute of
limitations for a lawsuit has expired.

But a judge ruled earlier this month that the lawsuit can go forward.

AZERBAIDJAN
L’Azerbaïdjan consolide un pouvoir autoritaire (Amnesty International)

L’ONG de défense des droits de l’homme Amnesty International accuse le
régime du président Ilham Aliev en Azerbaïdjan de consolider un
pouvoir autoritaire, de violer les libertés publiques et de
criminaliser les agissements de l’opposition dans un rapport publié
mercredi. `Ces dernières années, le gouvernement a consolidé ses
règles autoritaires et son contrôle sur la vie publique en adoptant de
nombreuses lois et en renforçant les mesures pour harceler et
intimider ceux, toujours une petite minorité, qui osent faire part de
leur point de vue critique`, a relevé l’ONG. Le rapport accuse
également cette ancienne république soviétique de réprimer les
manifestations, d’abuser de la force contre ceux qui prennent part à
des rassemblements non autorisés, de restreindre la liberté des
médias, de harceler les défenseurs des droits de l’homme et les
blogueurs défendant la démocratie et de réprimer les groupes de
défense des droits de l’homme. `Les manifestations pacifistes ont
effectivement été criminalisées`, a estimé Amnesty International.
Néanmoins, les autorités de ce pays riche en hydrocarbures, à majorité
musulmane, affirment de leur côté que le président Ilham Aliev
soutient la liberté d’expression et la démocratie. Cette année,
plusieurs manifestations de l’opposition ont été dispersées par la
police antiémeutes et de nombreux militants ont été interpellés, alors
qu’ils tentaient de manifester contre le régime en place en suivant le
modèle des révoltes populaires dans le monde arabe. Mardi, la police
azerbaïdjanaise a battu et interpellé une dizaine de militants dans la
capitale Bakou, qui manifestaient pour défendre la liberté de
rassemblement, selon l’opposition.
dimanche 20 novembre 2011,
Stéphane ©armenews.com