Author: Kalantarian Kevo

STUDENTS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSTED AT ARMENIAN MFA

armradio.am
26.03.2012 14:25

On March 26 Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
received a group of students from the Department of International
Relations and Political Science of the Cambridge University.

Deputy FM Mnatsakanyan referred to a number of regional issues and
presented the main directions of Armenia’s cooperation with European
structures.

He also spoke about the relations with neighbor countries and the
process of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the history of the
Artsakh issue and the latest developments.

HERITAGE LEADER WITHDRAWS CANDIDACY

Tert.am
26.03.12

The leader of the opposition Heritage party, Raffi Hovhannisyan,
decided to quit the campaign for a majority seat in parliament after
it became known that another opposition candidate, Editor-in-Chief
of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper Nikol Pashinyan, is his contestant
in the same majority constituency.

At a news conference on Monday, the Heritage leader said he had
withdrawn his candidacy from electoral district No. 7.

“I declare that our party will now have seven single-member nominees,”
he told reporters.

According to Hovhannisyan, the Heritage members have met with
representatives of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC)
to discuss possibilities of a split ticket ballot but the alliance
rejected the proposal.

“I have to mention with regret that the ANC turned our cooperation
proposal. But I wish them all to succeed and withdraw from the
single-seat campaign,” he said.

TEGHOUT VIDEO:”SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF CELEBRITIES””

13:47, March 27, 2012

The Teghout Defense Initiative is launching a new series of videos
entitled “Teghout-Seen Through the Eyes of Celebrities”.

The videos will feature a variety of well-known Armenian personalities
stating why the Teghout forest must be saved from destruction. The
attached video kicks off with Sos Sargsyan, the renowned actor of
stage and screen.

Sos Sargsyan – Lori is the jewel of Armenia and the Teghout forest is
the jewel of Lori. We must have an unspoilt, natural and virgin corner
somewhere in Armenia. To destroy the forest signifies committing a
grave crime against ourselves, making us poorer and desiccated.

Yervant Manaryan – I believe that this environmental movement is our
greatest hope for integrating ourselves into the 21st century. This
movement will put down deeper roots as it continues. I believe that
the generations to come will greatly thank those in the vanguard
today for creating such a movement.

Forsh – What do humans need to live? Air, oxygen. It’s nature, green
forests, that produces this oxygen. Sure, molybdenum is also good
but you can’t breathe it.

Ashot Adamyan – To not see the big picture, that destroying the
forest damages the people and the state, is simply stupidity. Thus,
all violations against our environment are to be viewed as attacks
against the people and the state.

Tigran Khzmalyan – We support Teghout for our children. We have
inherited this paradise, even while diminished and damaged, from our
forefathers. We cannot, and will not let, this paradise to be turned
into a hell.

Yegor Glumov – If we don’t have large and small successes, then we
won’t be able to look our children in the eyes; because they will be
growing up in a country with no trees, clean wayer, animals and nature.

Sergey Danielyan – We cannot eat, breathe or drink money. If we
destroy all that surrounds us, then we’ll have no place to spend all
that money.

Mkrtich Arzoumanyan (Mko) – It was a terrible decision by the
government. There is no self-respecting country in the 21st century
that would allow such a thing. It’s a serious problem and we must do
all in our power to see that it is resolved in nature’s favour.

Anna Mayilyan – By destroying the forests, we’ll be launching the
beginning of our own destruction. This is a test for us and we must
come through with flying colors. Whatever we do, let it be with the
sponsorship of God. We are a chosen people and God must assist us so
that we don’t take the wrong steps.

Teghout Defense Initiative

VETERAN AP REPORTER, ESSOYAN, DIES

ARMENPRESS
MARCH 27, 2012
YEREVAN

NEW YORK, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS: Born in a Japanese fishing village
just after his refugee family landed there in a desperate 1919 escape
from Russia’s Bolshevik revolution, Roy Essoyan arrived in the Soviet
Union nearly four decades later as an American journalist, reports
Armenpress citing Asbarez. But after three years of hobnobbing with
Premier Nikita Khrushchev and other communist leaders, The Associated
Press reporter’s Cold War adventure ended abruptly. In 1958, he was
expelled for reporting that a serious breach had developed between
the USSR and Mao Zedong’s China.

>From Hong Kong, a pulsating world away from the dreary Soviet capital,
Essoyan continued a career that took him around the globe, with stops
in Cairo, Beirut and finally, Tokyo. Returning to Shanghai in 1939,
Essoyan and a friend teamed up to publish small newsmagazines, and
he was working as an editor for the English-language Shanghai Times
when World War II finally reached Asia in late 1941, trapping many
foreigners in China.Life became hard during the occupation. Roy’s
older brother was killed by a hit-and-run Japanese army truck, and
the Essoyans found that being stateless did not protect them from
the harsh treatment endured by citizens of western countries living
in Shanghai’s famous International Settlement.As the conflict ended
in 1945, Roy, then 26, got a $90 a month job with the AP in Shanghai,
and impressed his boss enough to be offered a visa and assignment to
Hawaii. There, he became a U.S. citizen and burnished his English,
his third language after Russian and Japanese.

Then, after a brief stint in Cairo, Essoyan was named the AP’s chief
of Middle East operations in Beirut in 1965 and became its chief of
North Asia services, based in Tokyo, in 1973 – coming full circle to
the land of his birth.

Colleagues admired Essoyan as a plain-speaking, old-school professional
with a lively sense of humor but always ready to battle with editors in
New York, where the news cooperative is headquartered, when he deemed
it necessary.James Abrams, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer who joined
the AP in Tokyo in 1979, recalled Essoyan as “everyone’s mentor”
in a bureau stocked with legendary AP veterans and ambitious newcomers.

In interviews after retiring, Essoyan offered a nostalgic view of
the fast-paced, demanding craft of wire service reporting.

“It was a great life, 40 years of expenses-paid vacation,” he told
one interviewer. “Think of all the places that people want to go to,
whether it’s the Pyramids or the Sphinx or the Great Wall or the Taj
Mahal, I’ve been there.

“We used to say, ‘How else do you get to talk to kings and emperors
and presidents and prime ministers?’

“The AP was more than a family to me,” Essoyan said. “It was like
a nationality.”

In 1985, he retired to Hawaii, where he died Thursday at age 92.

ARMENIAN ARCHITECTS WAITING FOR INVITATION FROM TURKEY FOR ANI’S RESTORATION

ARMENPRESS
MARCH 27, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. Restoration works are expected to
launch in the ancient capital of Armenia Ani in spring. The Armenian
architects are ready to participate in the restoration of the town
in case the Turkish side implements the ICOMOS resolution one of
the important provisions of which intends engagement of Armenian
specialists in the restoration and fortification works in Ani. “We are
following the developments and the launch of the restoration works in
Ani. They will start immediately after favorable weather conditions
are established,” Secretary General of ICOMOS Armenia Hasmik Azizyan
said speaking to Armenpress.

After adoption of any resolution by the ICOMOS General Assembly maximum
in two months it undergoes final amendment, is being translated into
English, French and Spanish languages and is being handed to the
UNESCO ambassador of the country where the heritage is situated. The
resolution adopted by the Assembly on Ani Main Cathedral and the
Savior Church has more probably been handed to the Turkish side,
but there is no response yet.

Authoring this resolution the Armenian side was basing on a resolution
adopted in 2005 in the Chinese city of Sian which referred to the
preservation of heritage “outside of the border”. Hasmik Azizyan
also pointed out that today all the countries accept that heritage
should be preserved with joint efforts irrespective of unfavorable
political pre-context.

Le Populaire du Centre, France
Samedi 24 Mars 2012
Limoges Edition

L’Arménie au coeur de la région

Le peuple arménien aime la France. Deux géographes limousins leur
rendent cet amour avec passion.

Cela fait une douzaine d’années que deux géographes limousins se
mobilisent pour les Arméniens au sein de Caucase-Arménie-Plus (CAP).
Depuis février 2000, date de la création de l’association, le
président Olivier Balabanian et la vice-présidente Françoise
Ardillier-Carras ont effectué chacun une cinquantaine de missions
scientifiques sur ce petit territoire coincé entre Occident et Orient.
Avec l’aide d’une vingtaine de membres actifs, ils ont ainsi engagé
plusieurs microprojets de développement. Autant dire qu’ils
connaissent parfaitement les contours du plus ancien état chrétien au
monde.

Génétique animale. Avec un éleveur du Dorat, Clément Lemoine, ils ont
notamment lancé des projets d’aide à la génétique animale. Un éleveur
arménien est venu en Haute-Vienne, en 2005, acheter 44 taurillons. «
C’était pour notre association un projet emblématique, précise Olivier
Balabanian (professeur à l’université de Limoges durant plusieurs
décennies, retraité). Malheureusement, une grande partie de son
troupeau a été abattue en Arménie pour une histoire de brucellose non
avérée. Au moment des faits, il disposait d’environ 175 animaux et en
avait vendu à d’autres éleveurs. Mais nous gardons espoir, il lui
reste douze taureaux et autant de génisses, les croisements se
poursuivent. La race limousine est bien présente en Arménie ». Des
chèvres, des boucs, des porcs originaires du Limousin complètent cette
aide auprès de villageois heureux de diversifier leurs productions.

L’association a aussi oeuvré à la réhabilitation d’une laiterie et à
la création d’un site loisirs-pêche. Deux jeunes arméniens ont
également été accueillis en Limousin pour suivre une formation de
découpe de la viande et pour un stage lié au tourisme vert. On se
souvient aussi du mois de l’Arménie proposé en 2009 à la Bfm de
Limoges. Bref, la liste des actions menées est longue.

Tourisme vert. « Nous aidons au développement de la francophonie,
poursuit Françoise Ardillier-Carras. Nous apportons des livres dans
une école et nous soutenons une bibliothèque francophone. L’aide à la
création d’un atelier familial de couture et de broderie avec
notamment le don et l’envoi de machines à coudre est aussi bien avancé
».

Cette ancienne enseignante à l’université de Limoges (désormais à
Orléans), met également en avant le projet de création d’une
entreprise de développement de petits fruits rouges, ainsi que
diverses actions en faveur du développement du tourisme rural. « En
Arménie, il y a une clientèle pour le tourisme solidaire », apprécie
la géographe.

è Pratique. Pour soutenir cette association : Caucase-Arménie-Plus, 1
rue Kléber, 87100 Limoges ([email protected], ;
[email protected])

Gilles Deville [email protected]

Interfax, Russia
March 23 2012

OSCE Minsk Group countries again urge Baku, Yerevan to peacefully
settle Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

BAKU. March 23

The foreign ministers from the OSCE Minsk Group countries have called
on Baku and Yerevan to display political will to peacefully settle the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We urge the leaders of the sides to complete work as soon as possible
on the framework agreement and subsequent final settlement – based on
the Helsinki Final Act principles of non-use or threat of force,
territorial integrity, and self-determination and equal rights of
peoples; the United Nations Charter; and norms and principles of
international law – which will allow the entire region to move beyond
the status quo toward a more secure and prosperous future,” says a
statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe
circulated on Thursday.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is the stumbling block in the negotiations.
In its settlement, the mediators are trying to combine two
international law principles, i.e. the principle of territorial
integrity pursued by Baku and the nations’ right to
self-determination, which is Yerevan’s approach.

Summit Daily News , Colorado
March 24 2012

A different sort of adventure
Exploring Armenia and Georgia

By Bill Penoyar
Special to the Daily

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on travel to
Armenia and Georgia.

During February and March, I had the opportunity to spend seven weeks
working in Armenia and visiting Georgia. On the third weekend that I
was in Armenia, I went with a friend to one of the oldest churches in
Christendom; the Khor Virap church, located near the Turkish border
and Mt. Ararat. According to Armenian history and Wikipedia, this area
was a Roman Empire outpost (before the church was built).

The Kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as
its religion when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates
III and members of his court, an event dated to AD 301. Details of the
conversion may be found in Wikipedia. However, the short of it is that
King Tiridates made the conversion after Gregory restored the king’s
health, even though the king had imprisoned Gregory in a pit for 13
years. When Gregory healed Tiridates, he immediately declared Armenia
to be a Christian nation, becoming the first official Christian state.
Armenia and Georgia both claim being the first Christian country.

I had an opportunity to climb down into the pit where Gregory was
imprisoned for 13 years, but declined. In retrospect, I should have
taken a look.

According to legend, Noah and his Ark eventually ran aground on Mt.
Ararat. I’ve re-read the story of Noah in the book of Genesis and
didn’t find any mention of this. However, that’s the legend.

The city of Yerevan, Armenia, likes to remember Noah (Noy) in many
ways. The most common reminder is one of two predominant cognacs
(brandies) that are distilled here. A weekend tour included the Noy
distillery. When I saw the old stills used for making the cognac, it
reminded me of my high school extra-curricular chemistry activities.
At the conclusion of the tour we had the opportunity to taste some of
their product. It is pretty good!

The only weekend that I had no other engagements, I did a walking tour
of Yerevan. It is a typical ex-Soviet city. However, it does have its
unique history, culture and places to visit.

One interesting place was the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, built
into the side of a very large hill and terraced into different floors
and art galleries. The benefactor of the center is Gerard Cafesjian,
who is an Armenian-American success story. He made his fortune in the
publishing business and used his wealth to finish a project, the
`Cascades,’ which was started by the Soviets, and now houses the
center.

The most interesting aspect of the center is its very large private
collection of glass art by a Tacoma, Wash., artist, Dale Chihuly. I
was surprised and pleased to see Tacoma, represented by Chihuly’s art,
half way around the world in Yerevan. I also spent an interesting
couple of hours touring the long, turbulent and sometimes tragic
history of the Armenian people at their National History Museum on
Republican Square, not far from the apartment where I was staying.

One of the nice things about the career which I recently retired from
is that, after a few years and a few different assignments around the
world, good friends whom I’ve met in one country are re-discovered in
a very different time and place. The reunion with these friends is
always a treat and frequently, their familiarity with a new location
makes the experience that much more rewarding.

While in Yerevan, I met two friends, John and Maria, whom I knew and
worked with 10 years earlier in Kyiv, Ukraine. Both have lived in
Yerevan for several years and know the area well. Soon after we
re-connected, they invited me to join them for a Saturday day trip to
a pre-Christian temple; a 1,500-plus-year-old monastery and another
ancient church on Lake Sevan in northern Armenia.

I also had the opportunity to hitch a ride to Tbilisi, Georgia, with
colleagues. They drove down to Yerevan and were returning to their
home on Friday in Tbilisi. I never pass up an opportunity to visit a
new place on the cheap, for a Saturday of site seeing in a very
picturesque capital city. Tbilisi is only a five hour drive over the
mountains from Yerevan.

Since the Rose Revolution, which took place in 2003, when Mikheil
Saakashvili, a Kyiv, Ukraine University and George Washington Law
School educated Georgian lawyer inspired the population to peacefully
protest against the rampant corruption of the existing government of
President Eduard Shevardnadze on Nov. 23, 2003. He succeeded in
creating a more democratic and far less corrupt new government of
Georgia. Saakashvili has had his share of problems. But, he has done a
good job with transforming a dangerous and corrupt country with a
stagnant economy into a reasonably safe country with a growing
economy. In addition to the very picturesque drive to and from
Tbilisi, my one day walking tour (perhaps 6-8 miles) was well worth
the trip.

I stayed at an inexpensive hostel for $40 per night, which is what I
usually do when I’m traveling alone. I much prefer to visit more
interesting places than to spend three times as much to stay at
Western hotels which look the same in Detroit or D.C. as they do in
Tbilisi or Yerevan. Besides, the people that I meet along the way are
far more out-going and interesting than the usual three- or four-star
hotel crowd.

Unlike Yerevan, Tbilisi has retained its historic, 19th century
architecture and buildings, and ensured the new architecture
complimented what was already there. Yerevan removed most of what may
have existed prior to 1920. So, although Yerevan is a very pleasant
walkable city, it doesn’t have a fraction of the charm that Tbilisi
does.

During the Spring Equinox, the Iranians celebrate their New Year. Many
use this time of the year to travel on vacation to neighboring, less
restrictive Armenia and Georgia. I noticed many cars and busses with
Iranian license plates full of families on holiday. Perhaps some
Americans, who are influenced by the hype from some American TV
networks and hawkish politicians, think that Iranians are very
different and have very different values than the U.S.

Interestingly, the Iranians that I observed, as we toured the same
places and stopped at the same rest stops between Armenia and Georgia
are, surprisingly, just like Americans in appearance, family values
and civility. I enjoyed watching Iranian children play near an ancient
Georgian church and wondered what Sen. McCain was thinking when he
said, `Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.’ These kind of threatening
statements that are made by U.S. politicians to please the unknowing
and unthinking Americans among us certainly seem immoral when watching
these innocent children at play.

My final weekend in Yerevan was capped by helping organize the
walk/obstacle course/run for the drinking club with the running
problem, the Yerevan Hash House Harriers. It was a nice Saturday and
an amicable group of hashers.

The trail was set along, over and under the river in the gorge that
ran through Yerevan. A fellow hasher used his pedometer to measure the
distance start to finish, being about 3.6 kilometers. Since I had to
do this twice, once to set the trail and next to walk it with the
hashers, plus walking halfway through the city to the YH3 meeting
place, I was pretty tired by the end of the day and ready for the
drinking part of the activity. As always, the Hash House Harrier
outing was fun.

If you’re looking for a different sort of adventure vacation that
combines a different mountain scenery, history, gracious people and
relative safety, Armenia and Georgia may be two interesting small
countries to consider visiting.

Bill Penoyar recently retired from the U.S. Agency for International
Development. In addition to enjoying the Colorado winter from his
condo in Silverthorne, he is completing an action/adventure movie
script inspired by his experience working in the Iraq Provinces during
2009-2010. You can contact him at [email protected].

ARMEES
Avec 666 576 militaires, l’armée turque est la 7e du monde par son effectif

Par son effectif, l’armée turque est selon le journal turc « Milliyet
» la 7e du monde. La Turquie dont la population est de 72 millions
d’habitants dispose de 666 576 militaires. Alors que nombre de pays
réduisent leur effectif militaire, Ankara de son côté
l’augmente…Notons qu’aucun pays d’Europe ne dispose d’autant de
militaires ! Ces chiffres sont issus de l’ONU. La première armée du
monde est celle de la Chine avec 2 250 000 militaires, suivie des
Etats Unis (1 580 000). L’Inde est à la 4e place avec un effectif de 1
137 000 militaires. La Corée du Nord est 5e avec 1 106 000 soldats,
devant la Russie (1 037 000) et la Corée du Sud (687 000).

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 25 mars 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

eTurboNews
March 24 2012

Armenian PM calls on Israeli tourists to visit country

Mar 23, 2012

Have you been to Armenia yet? Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
invites Israeli tourists to visit the Caucasus country. Armenia
borders with Iran and Turkey, and opts to attract Israeli tourists,
who are now more reluctant to go to neighboring Turkey.

In a special interview, Sargsyan said Armenia is working to prepare
the infrastructure to welcome more tourists as early as spring 2012.
“We plan to accommodate up to 3 million tourists in the coming years,
many of them from Israel,” Sargsyan said. Armenia currently hosts
about 750,000 tourists annually.

Preparations include upgrading the hotel infrastructure and training
travel agents. “Armenia is proud of its history and Christian
heritage,” Sargsyan added. “We have great potential for religious
tourism, and we wish to learn more from Israel in this area.”

Identify with Israel

Armenia shares common features with Israel and views it as a role
model for coping with tragedy. The Armenian people suffered through
genocide during World War I, a horrific event that is still being
denied by many nations. Armenia also deals with prolonged territorial
disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Armenia offers many attractions to Israeli tourists. The lush
sceneries of the Caucasus are spotted with remote villages and lakes.
The first country to accept Christianity, Armenia has numerous ancient
Christian sites from the early middle ages, part of its rich cultural
heritage. One can also visit the famous Armenian Brandy factory, and
the small and unique Jewish community in Yerevan.

Sargsyan promised to find ways to improve accessibility to Israeli
tourists. Today, Israelis can easily receive a tourist’s visa at the
Yerevan airport. However, Armenian tourists seeking to visit Israel
are encountering more obstacles since there is no Israeli embassy in
the country, and are required to apply for a visa in neighboring
Georgia.

Source: ynetnews.com