Author: Kalantarian Kevo

HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II TO PAY A SIX-DAY PONTIFICAL VISIT TO GEORGIA
Gita Elibekyan

“Radiolur”
09.06.2011 15:39
Tbilisi

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, will pay a six-day interchurch and pontifical visit to
Georgia at the invitation of the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian
Orthodox Church and the Georgian Armenian Diocese.

Within the framework of the visit His Holiness Karekin II will meet
Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Ilya II, Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili, as well as diplomats accredited in Georgia, leaders of
religious communities and Armenian intellectuals.

On Sunday His holiness will anoint the St. Etchmiadzin Church of
Havlabar. This Armenian Church was reopened last year after an interval
of five years. “This is the second functioning church in Tbilisi, and
Georgian Armenians are grateful to His Holiness for its reopening,”
Primate of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan said.

The reconstruction of the church built in 1805 was financed by the
Argentine branch of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund, Armenians of
California and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. “During his visit
to the United States in 2006 the Catholicos managed to raise money
and undertook the reconstruction upon his return.”

Registration of the Georgian Diocese, the return of six Armenian
churches of Georgia and other issues will be discussed during the
Patriarch’s visit. “The visit will provide an opportunity to the
two Pontiffs to discuss issues of bilateral interest and I hope that
the centuries-old friendship between the two countries will further
reinforce,” Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan said

June 13-15 his Hiliness Karekin II will leave Tbilisi for Javakhk
accompanied by the Georgian Patriarch.

No Armenian Catholicos has ever paid an official visit to Javakh
after Khrimyan Hayrik’s visit in 1894.

SEFILIAN BELIEVES SERZH SARGSYAN DECEIVED HAK, ENCOURAGES HAK LOYALISTS TO JOIN SARDARAPAT

epress.am
06.09.2011 12:36

Jirair Sefilian, one of the founders of local Sardarapat civic
movement, considered and considers dialogue between the Armenian
National Congress (HAK) and the Sargsyan administration to be an
extremely harmful process. The activist and commander of the Shushi
battalion during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, said this himself during
a press conference in Yerevan today.

“As a result of this, a great wave of despair has risen in our people,
since the public considers this process to be… resignation from
the struggle by the opposition,” he said.

According to Sefilian, HAK leader Levon Ter-Petrossian made an
irredeemable statement by saying that the potential for a regime
change doesn’t exist in Armenia. “In this case a question arises,
as to why he entered active politics and introduced a claim to get
rid of this regime.”

In the Sardarapat member’s opinion, it’s too early to begin election
campaigning.

“This entire operation can be called an operation to be re-appointed
in the next presidential elections – the parliamentary elections are
derivative. [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan, long following the
process, counting the opposition leader’s teeth, realizing that he,
besides changes through elections, doesn’t know of another path,
started a dialogue,” he said.

Sefilian noted that now that Sargsyan has “thrown off” (that is,
deceived) the Armenian National Congress, HAK is confused; it doesn’t
know what to say.

Sefilian then called on a few HAK sympathizers not to continue to
follow Ter-Petrossian, since, according to him, they “will again be
discredited and the Sardarapat movement will lose good people.”

“We now live in the period of the death of the third republic, but
our generations will see the birth of the fourth [republic],” he added.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN: “IT IS NECESSARY FOR OUR AZERBAIJANI PARTNERS TO BE READY TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL BE THE BASE FOR FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS”

Noyan Tapan

09.06.2011

(Noyan Tapan – 09.06.2011) “We are interested in the regulation
of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations”, said RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan on June 8 in answer to the question of the participants
during the sitting of the World Economic Forum dedicated to Europe
and Central Asia with the title “The look at Russia”.

According to the department of information and public relations of
RA government, RA Prime Minister noted that the OSCE Minsk group is
close to success and the last announcement of the presidents of the
USA, France and Russia is its evidence. In Tigran Sargsyan’s words
the Armenian side agrees to those theses existed in that announcement
and is ready to show political will and quickly come to an agreement.

“From our point of view all objective preconditions exist for that. It
is necessary for our Azerbaijani partners to show political will and
be ready to sign an agreement too, which will be the base for further
negotiations” noted RA Prime Minister.

MAMMADYAROV ATTEMPTS PRESSURE ON ARMENIA, EXPERT SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 10:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – It’s not for the first time that Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov speaks about deployment of peacekeepers
in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, an Armenian expert said.

“Such statements are not new at all and Armenian diplomats react calmly
to them,” director of Regional Studies Center Richard Giragosian told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, it’s just a diplomatic trick targeting the
Azerbaijani public and used as attempt to expert pressure on Armenia.

As to the forthcoming presidential talks in Kazan, Mr. Giragosian
did not rule out that some document will be signed. “However, if
Azerbaijan dares frustrate Kazan talks, it will have deplorable
consequences for Baku,” he emphasized.

ARMENIA, QATAR SIGN AGREEMENT ON USE OF ARMENIAN LABOR FORCE IN QATAR

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 12:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On June 6-8, Armenian Minister of Labor and Social
Affairs Artur Grigoryan visited the State of Qatar on the invitation
of Nasser bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, Minister of Social Affairs and
Acting Minister of Labor.

A meeting with Mr. Al-Hamidi and other Qatar officials was on Armenian
Minister’s visit agenda.

During the meeting, the parties stressed the importance of the
involvement of efficient Armenian specialists in the sectors of
healthcare, engineering, architecture and technologies.

To regulate the issue, an agreement on the use of Armenian labor force
on the territory of Qatar was signed, Armenian Foreign Ministry’s
press service reported.

LEBANON’S FPM TO NOMINATE TWO ARMENIAN MINISTERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 13:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Two main hurdles delaying the birth of a new Cabinet
were knocked down Wednesday, June 8, as deliberations to speed up
the formation process gained momentum after Prime Minister-designate
Najib Mikati held “icebreaker” talks in Parliament with Free Patriotic
Movement leader Michel Aoun.

Sources close to the meeting said talks were able to resolve
difficulties related to the telecommunication and energy and water
resources ministries with parties agreeing for the FPM to retain the
two portfolios.

” We are working on putting the final touches on the Cabinet,”
a source said, Daily Star reported.

Nearly five months after the designation of Mikati as prime minister,
Cabinet formation efforts have been obstructed by snags over the
distribution of portfolios in a 30-member Cabinet lineup.

The FPM share will also include two Armenian ministers, whose names
have yet to be made available, one to head the industry ministry
and one minister of state. However, FPM sources warned that if the
agreement reached Wednesday among the groups involved in the formation
of the Cabinet fails to be swiftly implemented this can only mean
that a new government will never see the light of day.

COMPOSER VARTAN MELKONIAN TO PERFORM HIS SYMPHONY IN LONDON

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 9, 2011 – 13:09 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A composer from Chorleywood, who busked his way
from an orphanage in Lebanon to the stages in the West End of London,
will perform his latest symphony for the Queen next week.

Vartan Melkonian, who was left to roam the streets of Lebanon after
the Armenian Genocide, will conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra
at the GCC Polo Cup on June 16, Watford Observer reported.

This year, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the competition,
a special concert has been arranged the day after the polo match,
on June 16, in Westminster Central Hall. The theme is “Our Water,
Our Life”, and is dedicated to the environment, specifically to the
preservation of water in developing countries.

Mr Melkonian, from Chenies Village, said: “I will be conducting the
whole evening, from Mozart’s 40th and Beethoven’s 6th, to my symphony
about water. My symphony took four months from start to finish… I
hope the audience will experience something they have not before.”

Mr Melkonian is originally from Armenia, which has a strong tie with
western culture as it was the first country to adopt Christianity as
its state religion, the article in Watford Observer reads. Between
1915 and 1917, years before the Jewish Holocaust, more than a million
Armenians were killed or deported by the Ottoman Empire in one of
the first ever genocides, it reads.

“My parents were taken to Lebanon, where I was born, and I was sent
to the Birds’ Nest orphanage in Byblos, north of Beirut, which was
founded by Danish missionaries.”

After his mother’s death Mr Melkonian became one of the 4,000 children
cared for in the orphanage, of which 36 are still alive today. He
thinks his is 60-years-old. He added: “I don’t know my birthday
because I have no birth certificate. I can only guess that it is the
same time of year as the saint I was named after.

Fleeing the Lebanese civil war in 1972, Mr Melkonian came to England
and began touring clubs, before being scouted and performing in
the West End. He has worked with the London Philharmonic, the Royal
Philharmonic, the London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras, as
well as others in Europe.”

Today Mr Melkonian raises money for the orphanage through his charity
The Melkonian Foundation.

SCPEC STARTS ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST CITY PETROL GROUP

/ ARKA /
June 8, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 8. / ARKA /. Armenia’s State Commission for Protection of
Economic Competition (SCPEC) has decided today to start administrative
proceedings against City Petrol Group company in connection with
possible breaches of law on its part, SCPEC said in a press release.

City Petrol Group dominates Armenia’s petrol market controlling 41.7%
of gasoline and 40.8% of diesel fuel sales. The SCPEC said it had
commissioned a study of this market that revealed violations of the
law by several companies.

ARMENIAN NAMES AMONG OTHERS OFFICIALLY BANNED IN AZERBAIJAN

news.am
June 8 2011
Armenia

New principles will be applied when choosing names for children in
Azerbaijan. Some Armenian names also appeared under taboo. Various
spelling forms of the same name, two-lettered names or names consisting
of three words will be banned. In general, the number of names
consisting of two words will be reduced and such names as Allahverdi
or Imamgulu will not be encouraged, said the Azerbaijani chairman of
Parliamentary Committee on Culture Nizami Jafarov to Trend agency.

“Archaic names, borrowed names like Vera or Zara or names of occupants,
like Andranik [which is Armenian name] or Stalin, or Hitler will be
banned as well,” Jafarov added.

GENERAL ANDRANIK’S STATUE WILL BE ERECTED IN ADLER

PanARMENIAN.Net
21:20 ~U 08.06.11

Armenian General Andranik Ozanyan’s statue in the Russian city of
Sochi has been dismantled to be moved to Adler, the spokesperson of
Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora has said.

Speaking to Tert.am Tevos Nersisyan said that the local Armenian
community had ignored municipal regulations while erecting the
four-meter high statue.

“The Armenians initiated, ordered, get the statue ready and erected
it without asking the authorities [for permission], not observing
basic regulations,” said Nersisyan.

“A city’s architecture has its clear-cut rules, hasn’t it?” he asked.

The monument built by Armenian artist Marat Minasyan was to be
presented to the public on May 28, the day Armenia celebrates the
anniversary of its First Republic.

However, after it was erected, the mayor of Sochi, Anatoli Pakhomov,
issued a decision, urging the Armenians to tear it down. The statue
was demolished on May 27.

Further, Nersisyan played down the incident, saying that the statue
will not fade into oblivion as after days of negotiations the local
authorities permitted to transport it another Russian city – Adler –
whish is home to a larger Armenian community.