Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SERZH SARGSYAN: WE ARE VERY SATISFIED WITH THE FACT OF BEING SO CLOSELY TIED WITH FRANCOPHONE FAMILY

ARMENPRESS
19:30, 26 October, 2011

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS: President Serzh Sargsyan
participated today in the annual session of the General Assembly of
the International Association for French-Speaking Cities and welcomed
the delegations arrived from more than 50 countries. Presidential
press service told Armenpress that the head of the republic wished
them efficient work.

In the welcoming speech Serzh Sargsyan first expressed gratitude
to Paris Mayor, Chairman of the International Association for
French-Speaking Mayors Bertrand Delanoe for the warm words addressed
in his speech to our people and Yerevan, noting that it is pleasant
to see delegations of so many countries in Yerevan.

“We are very satisfied with the fact of being so closely tied with
the Francophone family. We deeply share the merits proclaimed by
the organization, like the cultural diversity, the right of peoples
of living free, in peace and self-dependently. We try to build our
statehood on those very merits,” Serzh Sargsyan said in his speech

ARMENTEL LAUNCHES DWDM-BASED NETWORKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 26, 2011 – 13:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – ArmenTel announces expansion of fiber-optic network
coverage and launch of DWDM-based fiber-optic backbone networks.

The new network stretches from Armenia~Rs northern to southern
frontier, providing transport network reservations, passing throughout
the country.

In second halfyear of 2011, ArmenTel laid over 100 km of fiber-optic
cable, also setting direct connection to backbone fiber-optic network
in NKR.

Total length of ArmenTel~Rs fiber-optic network of exceeds 2770 km,
with 326 km covering Yerevan.

In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)
is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals
onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths (colours)
of laser light. This technique enables bidirectional communications
over one strand of fiber, as well as multiplication of capacity.

RUSSIA CONFIRMS ITS WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN FUNDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW NUCLEAR POWER UNIT AT ARMENIAN NPP

arminfo
Wednesday, October 26, 17:41

Russia confirms its willingness to participate in funding the
construction of a new nuclear power unit at the Armenian Nuclear
Power Plant (ANPP) and in its commissioning even after the tragic
developments in Japan, Deputy Director General of Rosatom state
corporation Nikolay Spassky told journalists in Yerevan after the
12th sitting of the CIS Commission on the Use of Atomic Energy for
Peaceful Purposes.

“We are ready to participate in forming the financial package to
implement this project and exploit the future second line”, Spassky
said. Thus, the representative of Rosatom refuted the rumors in
the mass media that after the developments in Japan Russia lost
its interest in constriction of a nuclear power unit in Armenia. He
added that this project for Russia is one of the priority projects
of international cooperation.

The status of the project may only be determined by an
intergovernmental agreement, which was signed in 2010 during Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Armenia, he said.

“A year has passed since the signing of the intergovernmental
agreement. Over this year we did much work in terms of elaboration of
all packages on the agreement, including the financial one”, he said.

To remind, on 4 Dec 2009 the Government of Armenia took a decision on
creation of the Armenian- Russian CJSC “Metsamorenergo” on a parity
basis to build a new nuclear power unit in Armenia. The Russian side
in the joint venture is represented by “Atomstroyexport” (structure
of Rosatom) and the Armenian side – by the Ministry of Energy and
Natural Resources.

The project is preliminarily estimated at about 4-5 bln USD.

TURKEY HAS NOT APPLIED OFFICIALLY TO ARMENIA FOR DISASTER AID

ARMENPRESS
17:05, 26 October, 2011

Turkish “Ankara” agency informed that the official Ankara has
instructed the corresponding state bodies to apply to those countries
that have expressed readiness of assistance earlier. The agency noted
that Turkey has asked assistance from Armenia as well. An official from
the RA Emergency Situations Ministry told Armenpress that Turkey has
not yet officially applied to Armenia with the request of assistance.

Armenia was one of the countries that offered its assistance for the
elimination of the consequences of the destructive earthquake that
hit Turkey October 23. Turkey refused the help saying it will apply
in case of necessity.

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ADDRESS AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF YEREVAN
Nvard Davtyan

Radiolur
26.10.2011 17:12

The Armenian Human Rights Defender, representatives of about 10 NGOs
assisting persons with disabilities and handicapped citizens handed
an open letter to Yerevan Mayor Karen Karepetyan today.

The letter refers to the absence of public transport suitable for
persons with disabilities, the inaccessibility of buildings.

Participants of the rally headed from the Republic Square to the
Yerevan City Hall. They tried to use public transport and made sure
that the transport was inaccessible, and the streets were inconvenient.

The letter calls on local self-government bodies to take measures to
solve the above-mentioned problems.

TURKISH P.M. ERDOGAN: WE CANNOT DENY OUR OTTOMAN PAST
Ishaan Tharoor Thursday

September 29, 2011

17 Comments Related Topics: Democracy, Minorities, Geo-political
tensions, Middle East, Central Asia, arab uprisings, Egypt, religion,
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stands among Justice and
Development Party (AKP) members during a meeting at the party
headquarters in Ankara, September 28, 2011. (Photo: Adem Altan /AFP /
Getty Images)

Our interview with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
published earlier this week on Global Spin, dwelled mostly on the
growing shadow cast by the charismatic premier across the face
of Mideast geo-politics. One question edited out of the earlier
transcript raised the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose dominion
once stretched over much of the region. As they now swagger through
Cairo, Tripoli and other former Ottoman strongholds, Erdogan and –
perhaps to even greater degree – his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
have earned the monicker of “neo-Ottomans.”

Few democratically-elected statesmen in this day and age would
welcome the label of imperialists. And, for whatever connotations
“neo-Ottomanism” invokes abroad, it’s a far more sensitive subject
domestically in Turkey. Nearly a century of Ataturk-inspired,
Western-facing secularism meant those raised in modern Turkey looked
with wariness upon the decadence, decay and religiosity of Ottoman
times, when, after all, Istanbul was the veritable capital of the
putative Caliphate.

But much has changed since Erdogan’s rise to power. Turkey no longer
pines after Europe – indeed, see Erdogan’s matter-of-fact retort at
the close of our interview with him – is ruled by a moderate Islamist
party, and has signaled clear intent to influence events in many
of the countries once ruled by Ottoman Sultans. Below is Erdogan’s
response to a question I posed to him on whether he accepted donning
the neo-Ottoman mantle:

Of course we now live in a very different world, which is going
through a scary process of transition and change. We were born and
raised on the land that is the legacy of the Ottoman empire. They
are our ancestors. It is out of the question that we might deny
that presence. Of course, the empire had some beautiful parts and
some not so beautiful parts. It’s a very natural right for us to use
what was beautiful about the Ottoman Empire today. We need to upgrade
ourselves in every sense, socially, economically, politically. If we
cannot upgrade ourselves and the way we perceive the world, we will
lag behind tremendously. It would be self-denial. That’s why whether
it be in the Middle East or North Africa or anywhere in the world,
our perception has in its core this wealth that is coming from our
historical legacy. But it’s established upon principles of peace. And
it all depends on people loving one another without discrimination
whatsoever.

Critics may wonder how willing Erdogan and other Turkish leaders are
to actually admit to the empire’s “not so beautiful parts”, not least
the grisly massacre of Armenians when the Ottoman Empire itself was
on its last legs. Turkish diplomats on the sidelines of U.N. meetings
spoke to TIME of Erdogan’s professed commitment to values of peace,
tolerance and neighborly love – a lofty sentiment not exactly on
display during the continued Turkish offensive against rebel Kurds
in the country’s east.

Still, it’s noteworthy that the Turkish P.M. sees in the Ottoman past
a “wealth” – a soft-power cachet, based presumably on the empire’s
extraordinary diversity and tolerance of many faiths – to inform
the present. We tend to forgive many Western powers, say the French,
British and even the Americans, for tracing their foreign policies
sometimes in memory (or nostalgia) of lapsed empire. An ascendant,
capable Turkey has every right to walk its own post-imperial path
as well.

THE GAP
Garen Yegparian

No, this not about a clothing store, rather, a 20-year lapse in service
that seems to be almost universal, at least in Armenian communities.

It’s the period that starts with marriage and ends around empty nest
syndrome, ranging from people in their twenties to fifties.

For obvious and understandable reasons, those of us in that period
of life are pre-occupied with career and family commitments and issues.

Consequently, they tend to drift out of active involvement in whatever
their organization of choice was prior to hitting that time crunch.

Often, the decreased participation is attributed to loss of interest,
both by the organization and even the person her/himself, when it is
nothing more than sheer lack of time and higher immediate priority
obligations (job, kids, spouse). This is a loss of talent to our
community, but it need not be permanent.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, people end up drifting away and
being “forgotten” by their organization and peers therein. So, even
when they try to return, they find themselves in a somewhat alien
environment. This usually leads to tremendous loss, and is usually
permanent.

I know some of the most productive workers in our community are those
who are successful at “returning” to active involvement after that
life stage.

Given this unavoidable reality, our organizations really should
gear their approaches to members/activists such that they are not
forgotten and can return easily. Such gearing could be something as
basic as sending materials via electronic communications to them or
as complex as having annual get-togethers directed specifically at
people in this class.

Please, start including this concern in your thinking, especially
if you have not yet reached the stage under discussion. The loss in
experience, training time, and most of all- good will, is huge and
not something we can afford.

SEISMOLOGIST: ARMENIAN RESIDENTS DO NOT KNOW SIMPLE RULES OF CONDUCT DURING EARTHQUAKE

arminfo
Tuesday, October 25, 17:43

“Armenia is located in one of the planet’s three most seismically
dangerous zones”, – seismologist Vladimir Balasanyan said during a
press conference on Tuesday.

He also added that citizens of Armenia do not know the elementary
rules of conduct during an earthquake. For this reason, they can
hardly protect themselves in case of an earthquake, he said.

“There have been, there are, and there will always be earthquakes in
Armenia. What’s important is to think as to how to build and prepare
for earthquakes,” Balasanyan noted, advising not to panic in any way.

And in this regard, he emphasized.

“Actually, we are not prepared to encounter earthquakes in such way
that we may suffer little damage,” – the seismologist said and called
not to trust in various talks about the specific time of the expected
earthquake. He also said after the Turkish earthquake, one should
not wait for an earthquake in Armenia.

To note, last Sunday Yerevan residents felt earthquake shocks as
a result of the strong earthquake on Van province of Turkey with
magnitude 7,2, which was 9-10 on the Richter scale in the epicenter.

COMMITTEE FOR U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING WELCOMES APPO JABARIAN AS NEW ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

October 24, 2011

Recently, Appo Jabarian, Executive Publisher and Senior Editor of
USA Armenian Life Magazine, joined Committee for U.S. International
Broadcasting (CUSIB) Advisory Board. He is also President of HYE
Media Group and Calencorp Calendar Company of Glendale, California., A
grassroots political activist for more than 25 years, Appo Jabarian
has broad experience in multi-ethnic media marketing and community
organizing in minority communities on several continents., As a
public speaker, a publisher, a writer, and professional actor, Appo
Jabarian reads, writes, and speaks fluently five languages and is
conversational in at least four more.

CUSIB Advisory Board is consisted of Harry Wu, Founder of the Laogai
Research Foundation; Tala Dowlatshahi, Senior Adviser and U.S.
Representative of Reporters Without Borders; Appo Jabarian, Executive
Publisher and Senior Editor of USA Armenian Life Magazine; Jing Zhang,
President of Women’s Rights in China; Reggie Littlejohn, Founder and
President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers; Joe Brown, President
of the Pasadena Chapter NAACP; Herbert W. Stupp, Adjunct Professor,
Graduate School of Public Affairs at Baruch College C.U.N.Y.; Robert
A. Senser, Editor/Publisher of Human Rights for Workers website; Manny
Papir, Media Consultant and Human Rights Campaigner; Timothy Shamble,
President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
Local 1812; Gary Marco, retired employee of the Voice of America
and former President of Local 1418, American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees; Marie Ciliberti, former Voice of
America writer, producer and broadcaster for programs directed to
the former Soviet Union; Karl Altau, Managing Director of the Joint
Baltic American National Committee and Robert Reilly, Senior Fellow
for Strategic Communication at the American Foreign Policy Council.

“We are honored to welcome such a diverse group of men and women
who bring experience from journalism and human rights advocacy
to our Advisory Board as we analyze the policies and plans of the
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the Federal agency in charge of
U.S. international broadcasting. The CUSIB has been formed in response
to the belief that the BBG lacks transparency especially after such
a serious rebuke by the U.S. Congress,” stated Ann Noonan, Executive
Director of CUSIB. “Last month we were encouraged to learn that the
U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations rejected the Broadcasting Board
of Governor’s plan to pull the plug on Voice of America’s uncensored
radio and television broadcasts to China and rely instead solely on
the vulnerable internet. With this Advisory Board in place, we hope
to assist the BBG’s transparency goals and avoid future mistakes.”

CUSIB co-founder Ted Lipien stated: “The CUSIB reviews U.S.
international broadcasting operations in an effort to develop solutions
for restoring U.S. broadcasting’s emphasis on freedom of the press
and on human rights. Some of our most recent concerns have included
censorship of the Voice of America’s news broadcasts to Ethiopia as
well as reporting from North Korea that covered local conditions,
notably the ongoing the food shortage, only in passing, while giving
extensive airing to the North Korean regime’s propaganda.

We hope our Advisory Board will be welcome in the BBG’s discussions.”

U.S. international broadcasting includes the Voice of America, which
provides international news as well as explaining U.S. policies and
providing information on American culture, society and politics,
and the surrogate broadcasters – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the
Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio
Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Martí)-
which focus more closely on internal news in countries without free
media. CUSIB believes both VOA and the surrogate broadcasters serve
very important functions and deserve support of all Americans.

CUSIB is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to
strengthen free flow of uncensored news from the United States to
countries with restricted and developing media environments. CUSIB
supports journalism in defense of media freedom and human rights
by the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio and TV Marti, Radio Sawa, Alhurra
TV and other U.S. taxpayer-funded media programs for international
audiences produced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). CUSIB
is working to make these programs more effective and better managed.

CUSIB also advocates for better working conditions for broadcasters
delivering news to countries without media freedom and defends their
journalistic independence. For further information, please visit

PARUYR HAYRIKYAN STATES ABOUT SUSPENSION OF ACTIVITY OF NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION UNION

ARMENPRESS
October 25, 2011
YEREVAN

The National Self-Determination Union party suspends its activity
and will be replaced by National United Party, leader of the party
Paruyr Hayrikyan told Armenpress, adding that being the head of the
party and seeing lack of interest toward its ideas he has decided to
return to previous position.

“The “perfect democracy” program the representatives of the National
Self-Determination Union chose yesterday did not receive a proper
attention. Taking into consideration this circumstance, National
Self-Determination Union will suspend its activity and together
with the National United Party, join the people in their fight,”
Hayrikyan stressed, saying that the party will participate in the
coming parliamentary elections.

“We have already made a proposal of forming an alliance with all
the political parties. Almost everyone positively responded to our
projects but these are just responses, no practical steps,” Paruyr
Hayrikyan said, adding that the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
has also responded.

“Galust Sahakyan phoned me and welcomed our program, at the same time
he stated that in near future the RA President will come forth with
a statement on this occasion,” Hayrikyan stressed.