Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA’S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM SINKS IN CORRUPTION – EXPERT

news.am
Sept 5 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Educational system of Armenia sinks in corruption, linguist
David Gyurjinyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“If they show biased approach in selection of textbooks, I should
expect they will appoint a headmaster in the very same manner. Our
educational system sinks in corruption, that’s why we do not produce
good results. We have plenty of problems and, frankly speaking, the
prospect of their solution is pretty vague to me,” said the linguist.

Gyurjinyan argues that Prime Minister’s statements that our country
should form a knowledge- based society are nothing but fairy tales. He
mentioned that he has sent an open letter to the PM concerning textbook
competitions but it was left unanswered.

TOP MODEL DUO INVITED TO WEAR FIREWORKS RING
By Kat Adamski

Cumberland Courier Newspapers

Sept 6 2011
Australia

AUSSIE models Sarah Murdoch and Megan Gale have an open invitation
to wear a firecracker of a ring designed by a Chatswood jeweller.

Appropriately called The Fireworks ring, Berj Ohanessian handcrafted
the piece after he was mesmerised by the fireworks on Sydney Harbour
last Christmas.

And now the ring is a finalist in the Red Carpet Category of the 2011
Australian Jewellery Awards.

Born to Armenian parents in Iraq, Ohanessian moved to Australia
with his family when he was 14. He first followed in his father and
brother’s footsteps as a carpenter before finding out, by accident,
that he wanted to be a jeweller.

“I started a trial apprenticeship (in jewellery design), and liked
it so I stayed,” Ohanessian, 52, said.

“I love the creative side of it, and I like the challenge – I’ve got
an eye for something new, it’s like art to me.”

He has been in business for almost 30 years and his Chatswood boutique
and workshop, Berjani, is going strong.

He enjoys working with precious metals and gemstones.

One of his favourite pieces is still a little ring with Australian pink
diamonds that he made for his daughter when she was only six-months-old
– she’s now a university student.

“It is a magnificent piece, and I made the same ring for my wife with
white diamonds.

“But I would like to see Megan Gale or Sarah Murdoch wearing my
Fireworks ring because they both seem very down to earth.

“They could borrow the ring for next New Year’s Eve on the harbour.

“I like to see joy on all of my customers’ faces, and I’ve never had
any complaints.”

Ohanessian was also a finalist in the same competition in 2005 and
won the Diamonds Only category for his Zig Zag earrings.

In 2009 he was a finalist in the Reinvention Category for his Bloom
ring.

ISRAELIS QUESTION WISDOM OF NO APOLOGY TO TURKEY

Today’s Zaman
Sept 5 2011
Turkey

Prominent members of Israeli society, varying from bank governors to
politicians and columnists, have begun to loudly question whether their
government made the right move by not caving into Turkey’s demands
for the normalization of bilateral relations with their country.

Israeli media has given place to a considerable number of articles
reviewing the dire consequences of Israel’s refusal to offer an apology
and compensation to Turkey since Ankara on Friday ejected the Israeli
ambassador after Israel refused to apologize for a deadly military raid
on a Gaza-bound ship that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American
last year. Israel expressed regret for the loss of lives, but was not
prepared to apologize for upholding its naval blockade on Hamas-ruled
Gaza, which the ship had tried to breach. The dispute has brought
relations between the once-close allies to the verge of collapse,
and injected a new element of instability into an already volatile
region, prompting different voices in Israel to speak against their
government’s stubbornness.

Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was one of those voices.

“I’m the last one who would say that the statements made by Turkish
prime ministers and chief representatives over the last two years
and the last few days are music to my ears,” Olmert said late on
Sunday while speaking at a regional conference held in Tel Aviv. “But
based on my personal and intimate acquaintance with this leadership,
I would like to say — it isn’t automatically and necessarily an
enemy of Israel.

Over the years we have succeeded in building a relationship with Turkey
that we, across the political map, have defined as relations of the
utmost strategic importance to Israel,” Olmert cautioned. “Turkey
is not Israel’s enemy and Israel is not Turkey’s enemy. Turkey has
previously functioned as a bridge to important and sensitive contacts
of the highest importance to our interests, and it can continue to
be so in the future,” he said.

Delivering a speech at the same conference on Monday, Bank of Israel
Governor Stanley Fischer warned that the consequences of not having
trade relations with Turkey would be expensive for Israel.

“[The] Turkish economy is growing at an exceptional rate,” Fischer
was quoted as saying by Israeli daily Haaretz. “They have great
entrepreneurs and a European trained labor force. Turkey will be a
big market in the region and a major exporter. The consequences of not
having trading relations with Turkey will be expensive,” Fischer said.

Stressing that inter-regional trade in the Middle East region is small
and that it will still remain so even if it opens up, Fischer added:
“Our inter-regional trade does not amount to very much at the moment,
but it would be of benefit if it grew.”

The conference at which Olmert’s and Fischer’s remarks on relations
with Turkey came was hosted by Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Silvan
Shalom.

An analysis published on Monday by leading Israeli daily The Jerusalem
Post also focused on what losing Turkey’s friendship meant for Israel
as a country surrounded with high security concerns in the volatile
Middle East region.

The article penned by Yaakov Katz and titled “More to lose in crisis
with Turkey than meets the eye,” argued that for Israel, “Turkey was
more than just a country with airspace and waters in which to train.”

Katz highlighted Turkey’s bilateral cooperation with Israel in the
fight against terror, while calling Ankara a “confidant when it came
to sensitive intelligence information regarding attacks against Israel
or terrorist plans throughout the region.”

“In short, Israel could be losing not only a diplomatic and military
ally but also a partner in the war on terror. This could mean that
Israel will not have someone to pass on information to in the event
that it knows of plans to perpetrate attacks in Turkey or elsewhere
in the region, and that the Turks might no longer have as strong an
interest in intercepting weapons shipments that may pass through their
country on their way to Iran’s various terror proxies,” Katz said.

Israeli diplomats officially told to leave Turkey In Ankara, Ella
Alphek, the undersecretary of the Israeli Embassy, was summoned to
the Foreign Ministry on Sunday and officially notified of a set of
sanctions against Israel, including the expulsion of senior-level
diplomats from the Israeli Embassy, Turkish officials said on Monday.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced on Friday a five-item
sanction package against Israel after it refused to apologize for
the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American on an aid ship
that was trying to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza on May 31,
2010. A UN panel set up to investigate the deadly takeover of the Mavi
Marmara found that Israeli soldiers used “excessive and unreasonable”
force against passengers, but contrary to Turkey’s argument, the
report defended Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip as legal.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE CHAIR CONDEMNS ARMENIA

news.az
sept 5 2011
Azerbaijan

The head of a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) has condemned Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani land.

Christos Pourgourides, chairman of the PACE Committee for Legal Affairs
and Human Rights, described himself as a critic of Armenia’s policy
of occupation.

During a meeting with Hidayat Orujov, chairman of Azerbaijan’s
committee to supervise religion, Pourgourides said he consistently
called for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani land.

Religious freedom

The Cypriot MP said that the European public appreciated the atmosphere
of ethnic and religious tolerance in Azerbaijan.

“Freedom of conscience and tolerance in Azerbaijan are protected not
only by the constitution, but also by national and religious values,”
he stated.

Freedom of religion, respect for faith and state care in this field
have a prominent position in Azerbaijan’s social concept, Hidayat
Orujov claimed.

The State Committee for Work with Religious Associations, which
marked its 10th anniversary a few months ago, was created to regulate
relations between religion and the state in a fair and democratic
manner in the multi-ethnic and multi-faith state that is Azerbaijan
and to support inter-religious dialogue and the development of civil
society, Orujov said.

“It aimed to coordinate the efforts of religious associations and local
and central authorities in the process of building civil society,”
he told the visitors.

Prisoners’ rights

Christos Pourgourides and PACE committee member Elsa Papadimitriou
also met members of the Public Committee of the Justice Ministry’s
Penitentiary Service.

The coordinator of the public committee, Alimammad Nuriyev, outlined
the committee’s work and the projects done.

Committee members Sahib Mammadov, Zaliha Tahirova, Nazir Guliyev and
Elmari Mamishov also spoke about reforms in the penitentiary system,
problems and challenges.

They said that the committee has a mandate only to visit penitentiary
facilities which prevents them from protecting prisoners’ rights in
other places of detention.

They also made clear that the committee was self-financing.

The meeting discussed political prisoners in Azerbaijan too.

REPUBLICAN SPOKESMAN: WHERE ARE ARMENIANS OF BAKU, SUMGAYIT AND OTHER AZERBAIJANI CITIES

Panorama
Sept 5 2011
Armenia

“The demarche by Azerbaijani President may have only one reason –
Azerbaijani destructive approaches have made mediating states angry,
and now Aliyev is escaping any meeting with the heads of the Minsk
Group co-chairing states. It’s not once that Azerbaijan ignores calls
from the international community and is unfaithful to the agreements.

Kazan-hosted meeting is a perfect example of this,” Republican
spokesman Edward Sharmazanov told Panorama.am referring to Azerbaijani
President missing CIS Summit.

According to E. Sharmazanov one thing is obvious – problems aren’t
solved when escaping them, they’re getting tougher even.

“If they’re intended to resolve the conflict escaping communication,
they make it even more complicated,” said E. Sharmazanov.

Referring to Azerbaijani PM’s statement at the summit that Armenia
exercised aggression against Turkey, the MP said: “I wouldn’t
like being impolite, but still I think that a part of Azerbaijani
officials is not educated, and assuming higher positions they
don’t get acquainted with the conflict or are simply guided by the
propaganda of Ottoman Turkey or Nazy Germany. As for the aggression,
Azerbaijan has exercised it in front of everyone. If Armenia has
exercised aggression where are Armenians living in Baku, Sumgayit
and in other Azerbaijani cities?”

DEFENSE MINISTER IS FIRST AND FOREMOST PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INCIDENTS IN ARMY – ARMENIAN OPPOSITION

news.am
Sept 5 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The South Caucasus region should not have an army like the
Armenian army, said ANC representative Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, during a
press conference held today, reflecting on the recent death of Aghasi
Abrahamyan at Yeghnikner military unit in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

“Murderers must stand trial and answer for their actions. Damned is the
parent whose child is viciously killed at the hands of his compatriot,”
Yeghiazaryan underscored, adding that “the first and foremost person
responsible for all incidents occurring in the army is the Minister
of Defense, who could not improve the state of our army.”

Aghasi Abrahamyan, 18, a soldier of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
was taken to hospital unconscious on August 26, and he died there
an hour later. Despite evident traces of brutality on his body, it
was initially reported that he was poisoned and had died as a result
of falling from his bed at the medical care unit. The soldier’s death
caused a great stir among the public, and an officer and a soldier were
arrested within the framework of the criminal case that was launched.

CASE OF VAYK MATERNITY HOSPITAL UNDER INVESTIGATION

ARMENPRESS
18:08, 5 September, 2011

The Healthcare Ministry set an every-day permanent control over
the process of the professional study of the case of Vayk Maternity
Hospital both in connection with the treatment of the newborn infant
and the case in general.

An official from the Healthcare Ministry told Armenpress that
the infant died yesterday at 3.25 a.m. and the body was moved to
pathological-anatomic center. The commission, headed by Karen
Kostanyan, head of the Healthcare Ministry program and quality
management department, is now at the maternity hospital to study the
case and assess the state of obstetrical-gynecological service at
the medical establishment.

The case is under the proceedings of the law enforcement bodies.

According to requirements of the RA Criminal Procedure Code, the
Healthcare may publish information on the preliminary investigation
only upon an authorization by the body carrying out the proceedings.

THE COMPETITION OF THREE UNIVERSITIES RECTOR’S VACANCY TOOK PLACE

Noyan Tapan
05.09.2011 | 13:49

Social

On September 3, took place the council session of Armenian State
Engineering University, during which, with 30 favors and 1 against
votes, the rector was selected Ara Avetisyan.

During the council session of Gyumiry State Pedagogical University
after M. Nalbandyan with 21 favor votes, the rector was selected
Vardan Grigoryan.

During the council session of Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas,
with 18 favor votes, the rector was selected Shahen Shahinyan.

EXPERT: TURKEY’S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TOO NATIONALISTIC

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 5, 2011 – 14:09 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s educational system is too nationalistic
and does not breed pluralism in society, according to a sociology
professor who is involved in a groundbreaking educational project with
teachers to develop educational methods to eliminate discrimination.

As Today’s Zaman reported, professor Kenan Cayır said they develop
educational courses for primary and high school teachers who often
feel uneasy talking about the sensitive topic of discrimination in
their classrooms because they lack materials to refer to.

Funded by the Open Society Foundation, Turkey, Global Dialogue and
İstanbul Bilgi University, Cayır heads the project to help teachers
in that regard and develops texts for classrooms on the topic of
discrimination and hate speech.

“Students have the topic of stereotypes in their social science
textbooks. They are being educated against such stereotypes as “gypsies
are thieves,” “blondes are stupid” and “women are sentimental.” In
order to be against discrimination, students and teachers need to be
educated about stereotypes. For example, having the stereotypical
belief that “women are sentimental,” which may be partly true for
anybody, leads to discriminatory practices while employing women. The
same goes for stereotypical beliefs with regard to Kurds, Armenians,
Alevis, Muslims and so on, who are subject to stereotypes that lead
to discriminatory practices against them. I first gave the example
of discrimination against women because it is a really big problem,”
Cayır said.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH RANKS SECOND IN CIS

Tert.am
11:00 05.09.11

Armenia’s economy performed well in January-July 2009, according to
the CIS Interstate Statistical Committee.

With a 12.4% economic growth rate, the country ranks the second on
the CIS territory. The first country in the list is Kazakhstan whose
economic growth was estimated at 15.1%.

The lowest growth ~V 2.3% – was recorded in Azerbaijan.

As for the industrial output, it grew 10.9% in Belarus, 4.8% in
Kazakhstan, 9.1% in Moldova (in the first six months of 2011), 5.3%
in Russia, 5.2% in Tajikistan, 6.8% in Uzbekistan (in the first six
months of 2011) and 8.7% in Ukraine. As to Turkmenistan, no records
are available about the country.

In the first seven months of 2011, the overall industrial output of
the CIS countries had grown by 5.9% compared to the same period 2010.