Author: Kajoyan Gevork

PRISON BETTER SCHOOL THAN CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY – ARAM MUGHALYAN

20:50 ~U 16.10.13

In an interview with Tert.am Cambridge University graduate Aram
Mughalyan, who was sentenced to a 2.5-year-long prison term, but
has been released under the recently declared amnesty on Tuesday,
tells about the lessons he has learned in prison and his plans.

Asked if he feels sorry about returning to Armenia, Mr Mughalyan said:
“No, I do not, but I am trying to draw lessons for the future. In my
country I have been treated badly, but I am not getting angry with my
country. I am ready to do good to my country in waging the struggle
that I began in prison in the form of hunger-strike and refusal to
drink. Public opinion is of high importance for me, and the general
public considered the court verdict absurd.”

With respect to the impact the court verdict may have on his career,
he said that he, as well as the other convicts (Robert Piloyan,
Gagik Arakelyan and Artur Klyan), intends to appeal the verdict and
is ready to go as far as the European Court.

As to the reasons for his prosecution, Mr Mughalyan said that it was
a “snowball effect” – detention, arrest, a charge of hooliganism,
and so on.

“They do not care. All of us have received higher education and have
never been involved in any crimes,” he said.

“I have met any kind of people in prison. Some of them do not regret,
but others got inadequate prison terms for their crimes. Many people
were ‘brought’ there [penitentiary institutions] like me. As to me,
I have never betrayed my principles. I decided to get out of there
in triumph. You can learn lessons everywhere. In prison I learned
lessons that I did not learn at Cambridge.

“The most important thing is to remain strong. Once you give in, you
can by no means regain you foothold. For example, if we had pleaded
guilty, the Prosecution would not have any problems. After you learn
prison lessons you do not fear any more. And I am so strong now that
I have nothing to fear.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

ROSATOM SERVICE AND ARMENIAN NPP SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF THE PLANT’S 2ND UNIT TILL 2026

by Alexander Avanesov

ARMINFO
Wednesday, October 16, 16:40

Rosatom Service and Armenian Nuclear Power Plant have signed an
agreement to extend the life of the plant’s 2nd unit till 2026,
says Armenia’s draft budget 2014.

The parties have agreed to jointly inspect the unit and to negotiate
with potential investors.

Meanwhile, the Armenian-Russian Metsamorenergoatom JV will continue
the preparations for the project to build a new reactor.

During a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on Sept
3 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Rosatom State Corporation
and its Armenian partners would draft a project to extend the life
of the 2nd unit of Armenian NPP till 2026.

Armenian NPP was launched in 1980 to be stopped in 1989 following
the Spitak Earthquake. In 1995 its 2nd WWER-440 reactor was restarted.

ARMENIAN CHURCH TO PARTICIPATE IN WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES 10TH ASSEMBLY

18:42 16.10.2013

Armenian Church

The Armenian Church will participate in the 10th Assembly of World
Council of Churches.

The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) begins at the
end of October and promises to be one of the most diverse gathering
of Christians in the world.

The assembly will be an opportunity for renewing the worldwide
ecumenical movement – infusing it with honesty, humility and hope,
according to the WCC general secretary.

As to why this is the case, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general
secretary, and a Lutheran pastor from the Church of Norway says,
it is “through humility, honesty and hope that we can live together
as humanity and a Church in a world, where justice and peace are
fundamental initiatives and not merely words.”

The theme of the WCC assembly is a prayer “God of life, lead us to
justice and peace”.

The assembly will take place from 30 October to 8 November in Busan,
Republic of Korea.

It will bring around 3,000 participants from Asia, Pacific, Africa,
Europe, Middle East, North America and Latin America, including a
large number of young people and several thousand Korean Christians.

NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS WILL NOT AFFECT ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

17:10 16.10.2013

Karen Ghazaryan

The nationalist movements in Russia cannot affect the Armenian-Russian
relations, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told a press
conference today. He added that it is particularly unlikely against
the background of the recent upward development of relations connected
with Armenia’s wish to join the Customs Union.

According to him, those movements could contribute to repatriation,
but it would be wrong to solve the issue of repatriation by creating
more serious problems in another place.

Melik-Shahnazaryan said the nationalist movements are a serious
threat to Russia’s territorial integrity. Therefore, even if those are
directed by the authorities, there is a red line they will never cross.

Will these movements have any impact on the formation of the Customs
Union? According to the political scientist, there are more serious
problems here like the Russia-Belarus or Russia-Kazakhstan relations

POLITICAL EXPERT: IN ORDER TO STAY IN POWER, ILHAM ALIYEV WILL CONTINUE BLACKMAILING WORLD COMMUNITY WITH POSSIBLE WAR AGAINST ARMENIA

by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Wednesday, October 16, 16:52

In order to stay in power, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his clan
will continue blackmailing the world community with a possible war
against Armenia, political expert Sergey Shakaryants told journalists
on Wednesday.

“Aliyev’s reelection means that the Azeris will continue their
provocations against our army. Today, they are firing in Tavush region,
tomorrow, they will fire in Noyemberyan. We are simply doomed to
bear their provocations – for their only goal is to stay in power,”
the expert said.

He is sure that no single state – neither the United States, nor
Russia, not even Turkey – is interested in a new war in Nagorno-
Karabakh.

YEVGENY KASPERSKY COMES TO ARMENIA

13:00, 16 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS: The founder director of “Kaspersky
Lab”, the professor Yevgeny Kaspersky is in Armenia.

The SPRIN Group informed Armenpress that on October 18 at the State
Engineering University of Armenia at the meeting with the journalists
and the bloggers, the professor will present the seven levels of
cyber threats – evolution, the developments of the means of struggle
against them beginning from the formatting of the floppy discs to
the negotiations on the international control over the cyber arms use.

In the framework of the visit to Armenia Yevgeny Kaspersky will be
awarded with the title of the honored doctor of the State Engineering
University of Armenia.

Back in 2009 the Armenian Ministry of Economy and “Kaspersky Lab”
signed “Secure Armenia” memorandum on cooperating in the sphere of
information technologies in Yerevan. Yevgeny Kaspersky informed
that the sides would unite efforts in organizing infrastructural
solutions to secure antivirus protection of information systems in
state governance bodies and educational institutions in Armenia.

According to him, Armenian government set itself the “ambitious task”
to computerize the entire country and make internet popular, and
the signed memorandum would also contribute to spreading knowledge
in the sphere of information security. Yevgeny Kaspersky informed
that the memorandum provided for active participation of “Kaspersky
Lab” in organizing and realizing training programs for secondary,
secondary specialized and higher educational institutions in Armenia,
as well as centers for increasing qualification among teachers and
state officials.

NO JOY FOR ARMENIA AS ITALY RALLY FOR NAPLES DRAW

The Star, Malaysia
Oct 15 2013

by terry daley

(Reuters) – Italy ended Armenia’s hopes of progressing to next year’s
World Cup with a 2-2 draw in their final Group B qualifier in Naples
on Tuesday.

Armenia twice went in front but they were pegged back by a first
international goal from Alessandro Florenzi and a Mario Balotelli
strike.

Italy booked their ticket to the finals in Brazil by topping the
group while Armenia finished second from bottom after starting the
day with an outside chance of claiming second spot and a place in
next month’s playoffs.

“We started really badly with an embarrassing opening 20 minutes. Then
we raised the tempo and from then on played quite well,” Italy coach
Cesare Prandelli told Rai Sport.

“Unfortunately we conceded from a corner that we gifted them and came
close to throwing everything away (but) I saw players who never gave
up and that was a positive sign.”

Spartak Moscow striker Yura Movsisyan capitalised on a sloppy start
from the hosts to give Armenia a fourth-minute lead after Alberto
Aquilani had given the ball away cheaply in front of his own penalty
area.

Italy slowly took a grip of the game and in the 24th minute Napoli
forward Lorenzo Insigne, playing on his home ground, clipped a perfect
cross for Florenzi to head in.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan put Armenia back in front when he rose above
a sleepy defence at a 70th-minute corner to head powerfully past
Federico Marchetti.

Balotelli equalised six minutes later when he raced on to a perfect
through pass from Andrea Pirlo to score in stylish fashion.

The AC Milan striker then almost grabbed a wonder goal in stoppage
time, shooting just wide after charging almost the entire length of
the field and taking on the Armenia defence on his own.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

OPPOSITION YOUTH ACTIVIST TO SEEK FULL ACQUITTAL AFTER RELEASE BY AMNESTY

News | 15.10.13 | 09:58

Photolure

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

A freed opposition youth activist has vowed to seek full exoneration
despite a partial acquittal and release from the appeals court under
the general amnesty act on Monday.

The court in Yerevan ordered Tigran Arakelyan’s release after ruling
that parts of the charges against him must be dropped and his six-year
prison sentence reduced to three years.

Arakelyan, a leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) youth wing, had spent more than two years in jail after being
arrested in August 2011 and later sentenced on charges of assaulting
a police officer.

Interestingly, the incident that happened two years ago and as a
result of which seven activists were detained (four of whom, including
Arakelyan, were then indicted and tried) put an end to a political
dialogue between the opposition bloc and the authorities. All along
the opposition has considered the cases against Arakelyan and three
other activists to be politically motivated.

Arakelyan, who at the previous court hearing stated that he did not
need amnesty and that he wanted acquittal, announced that he was
going to appeal the decision at the Court of Cassation in order to
achieve a complete acquittal.

In the evening Arakelyan met with ANC members and supporters in
Yerevan’s Saryan Park. He thanked them for the support during these
two years and said that he would be more active and would take steps
aimed at finding more “in-depth solutions”.

ANC parliamentary faction secretary Aram Manukyan said that their
struggle was not only for the release of Arakelyan, but to exclude
the presence of people persecuted for their political views in Armenia.

“Our goal is to make sure no one becomes a political prisoner no
matter what party affiliation they may have,” he stated.

ANC faction leader Levon Zurabyan, meanwhile, again accused the
authorities of thwarting the dialogue two years ago with unreasonable
action.

“These authorities have proved that they are ready to sacrifice the
best processes that could lead to the recovery of our society for the
sake of revenge, for political persecution, for creating an atmosphere
of intimidation,” he claimed.

“We had been in dialogue over holding early parliamentary and
presidential elections to form a legitimate government in Armenia. Are
they ready to talk about these issues today? Probably not. But our
cause from now on will be to force this talk on these authorities,”
Zurabyan concluded.

ARMENIAN PM RECEIVES GEORGIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER

October 15, 2013 | 17:56

YEREVAN. – Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan received the delegation headed
by Georgian Agriculture Minister Shalva Pipia.

During the meeting, Premier Sargsyan noted that Armenia attaches
importance to deepening and strengthening of relations with Georgia.

The head of the Cabinet underscored importance of creating favorable
climate and information exchange for Armenian and Georgian businessmen.

Minister Pipia informed about the results of his meetings in the
Armenian Agriculture Ministry and State Revenue Committee.

The sides discussed priority areas for deepening of cooperation on
agriculture. They touched upon the issues of imports and exports
and exchanged views on development of agriculture sector in Armenia
and Georgia.

Premier Sargsyan extended greetings to his Georgian counterpart.

MOSCOW POLICE TO DETAIN CAUCASUS NATIONALS CARRYING KNIVES, PISTOLS

October 15, 2013 – 14:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Moscow police was instructed to detain Caucasus
nationals carrying knives or guns, following anti-migrant riots that
targeted a vegetable warehouse in the city’s south over the weekend,
RBC reported.

According to RIA Novosti, hundreds of people were detained by police
overnight Sunday, October 13 and on Monday in response to the violence
that erupted after protests over the fatal stabbing of a 25-year-old
man on Saturday spiraled out of control.

The killer, who police identified Tuesday as being from the former
Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, remains at large.

Police said Tuesday morning that around 70 people are facing minor
administrative charges over the clashes in the neighborhood of
Biryulyovo.