Author: Kalantarian Kevo

‘LIGHT TO ARMENIAN EYES’ OPHTHALMOLOGIC PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.05.2009 14:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the fringes of the ‘Light to Armenian eyes’
program the Armenian Ophthalmologic Center (AOP) will provide medical
assistance to dwellers of Kotayk, Tavush, Shirak and Lori Armenian
regions between May 25 and 31.

In the fringes of the ‘Light to Armenian eyes’ program implement
by the Armenian Ophthalmologic Center Charitable Fund since 2003,
medical assistance has been provided to more than 230.000 people.

9400 people have been operated on or received laser treatment in mobile
ambulances of AOP. 1500 specialists, including 61 ophthalmologist
and 37 nurses from regions have participated in trainings.

Mehr News Agency, Iran
May 23 2009

Iran sees 10-fold rise in trade balance with Armenia

Tehran, 23 May: A Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) official
here on Saturday [23 May] stated that Iran-Armenia trade balance has
increased ten-fold in favour of Iran during the ten-year period of
March 1999 to March 2009.

Abdolhamid Asadian, the TPOIs bureau director for trade with European
and American countries, said that Iran-Armenia trade balance was 11.8
million dollars in March 1999 in favour of Iran, but the figure surged
to 119.61 million dollars in March 2009, showing a nearly ten-fold
growth.

In 1999, Iran’s value of exports to Armenia stood at 37 million
dollars which increased to 141.18 million dollars in the Iranian
calendar year ending in March 2009, the official added, noting that
Iran’s imports from Armenia declined to 21.57 million dollars in March
2009 from 25.2 million dollars in 1999, according to the Mehr News
Agency.

Establishment of a joint chamber of commerce, building Iranian stores
in Yerevan, establishment of the Iranian Trade Association, and
launching Bank Mellat branches in Yerevan were the main measures the
sides have taken to boost relations.

Hurriyet, Turkey
May 23 2009

Dutch Ambassador proves a true trekker

SASON, Batman – Former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris, who
served in Turkey between 1997 and 2000, was known as the first trekker
diplomat. Parris in fact climbed Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest
mountain. Now it seems another diplomat, the Dutch ambassador to
Ankara, Marcel Kurpershoek, will be challenging Parris’s reputation.

Kurpershoek walked northeast from the southeastern city Batman’s Sason
district to MuÅ?’s Hasköy district on Thursday. He was
accompanied by Ã?akırpınar village’s headman
Mehmet Sait Arslan and translator Bilal
Alıçdalı. He returned to Sason by car.

Kurpershoek said he was very much affected by the book "Xenophon" and
was inspired to walk from Sason to Hasköy. He added that he had
"a nice adventure."

"This trip was good exercise for me. We walked for six hours, came
across some very interesting people; we met them and spent time with
them. Hospitality, people’s sincerity, and nature Ã? Everything
was very beautiful. We met an 80-year-old Armenian gentleman; he
offered us cheese and bread," said the diplomat. Kurpershoek added: "I
would prefer coming to Sason over going to Antalya; I like Sason more
than Antalya. I plan to come again and climb the Mereto Mountain."

AZERI FM: SUPPLY OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS TO ARMENIA LEADS TO INVOLUNTARY ARMS RACE IN THE REGION

Today.Az
/52483.html
May 21 2009
Azerbaijan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan remained
at its previous positions on the issue the transfer of weapons to the
Armenian side, said spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Elkhan Poluhov, commenting on a statement by the Deputy
Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
Valery Semerikov that "Russian military equipment is supplied to
Belarus and Armenia within CSTO frames".

"The position of the Azerbaijani side has been repeatedly announced,
and we, as has been repeated, continue to monitor this type of facts",
said E. Polukhov.

"Once again, I want to reiterate that this kind of transfer of
Russian weapons to the Armenian side impedes the negotiation process
to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, create
obstacles to stability in the region and lead to the forced arms race
to maintain a balance of armed forces. Such statements of the CSTO
Secretary confirm that the Azerbaijani side has properly assessed
and evaluated the situation on the transfer of weapons in a grant or
other form to Armenia which is an aggressor", he stressed.

ARMENIA’S FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS RELATIONS WITH TURKEY MAY GET WORSE

Today’s Zaman
May 21 2009
Turkey

Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s minister of foreign affairs from 1998 until
April 2008, has said Turkey and Armenia will not be able to make
progress in their efforts to normalize relations if Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brings the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
between Azerbaijan and Armenia to the table, noting that relations
may even get worse if Turkish officials start to politicize issues
such as Armenian workers in Turkey.

"The moment we leave Karabakh out, we can improve Turkish-Armenian
relations. If we bring Karabakh in, I really don’t see this
happening. Karabakh is a separate issue. My conviction is that if
Turkey normalizes its relations with Armenia first, then the Karabakh
solution will be much easier," he said, speaking to a group of Turkish
journalists this week.

Oskanian said he first heard Erdogan bringing the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute to the forefront three months ago.

"Until that time, I was really hoping that there was a change of
policy on the part of Turkey and we would get results," he said in
response to questions from a group of journalists who are in Yerevan
for the International Hrant Dink Foundation’s Turkey-Armenia Journalist
Dialogue Project, funded by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Association.

Following talks with Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev in Baku,
Erdogan said last week that the Azerbaijan’s sensitivity about
Nagorno-Karabakh was Turkey’s sensitivity, too. Erdogan said Turkey
had closed its border gates with Armenia because Nagorno-Karabakh was
occupied and that it would be impossible to reopen the gates as long
as the occupation continues. He also said the Minsk Group (co-chaired
by the US, Russia and France) should speed up the negotiations on
the issue, which have been continuing for 18 years.

On the other hand, Armenian leaders have been criticizing Erdogan
for making the normalization of ties with Armenia conditional on a
settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Oskanian also said Erdogan’s remark about Armenians working in Turkey
was not helpful.

The prime minister had said recently that Turkey could send the
Armenians who work in Turkey without the necessary permits back to
their home country. Some Armenians who are feeling the pressure of
the economic crisis have come to Turkey in the hope of landing a job
after obtaining non-immigrant tourist visas at the border and simply
overstay their visas after being hired for jobs such as babysitting,
cleaning and seasonal work.

"I am beginning to be concerned that not only will Turkish-Armenian
relations not improve, but they may even get worse," said Oskanian,
who had served during the administration of former Armenian President
Robert Kocharian. He is the founder of the Yerevan-based Civilitas
Foundation, which advocates peace and stability in the Caucasus
through multifaceted dialogue and promotes democratization.

Oskanian argued that the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations
would make the Caucasus coalesce into a functional region.

GDP VOLUME IN ARMENIA DECREASED BY 9,7% IN JANUARY-APRIL 2009

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.05.2009 20:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to RA National Statistic Service data,
GDP volume in Armenia decreased by 9,7% in January-April 2009 to
comprise AMD 638,9 billion.

Industrial production volume comprised AMD 176 billion and 967.6
million in January-April 2009, showing a decrease of 11.1% compared
with 2008 results. Most significant slump is registered in construction
sphere: 42.4% (AMD 51,5 billion).

A 2,3% increase in consumer prices was registered in Jan-April 2009
as compared with 2008 results.

Inflation rate comprised 3,9% in January-April 2009.

‘MOST INNOVATIVE’ UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA ENGINEERING DESIGNS WIN AWARDS

US Fed News
May 18, 2009 Monday 8:31 PM EST

GRAND FORKS, N.D., May 15 — University of North Dakota issued the
following news release:

A device that enables a helicopter to hover in place using a
vision-based autopilot was judged to be the most innovative engineering
design by a team of judges in the annual Freeman Innovative Design
Competition held at University of North Dakota School of Engineering
and Mines (SEM). The competition, held in honor of Andrew Freeman, UND
School of Engineering and Mines alumnus and former general manager
of Minnkota Power, requires individuals or teams of engineering
students to present their senior design projects to a panel of local
engineers. The first place cash award of $1,250 was presented to Armen
Lazarian, senior in electrical engineering. Lazarian designed the
ViSAR, a vision-stabilized autonomous system for rotorcraft.

The device consists of a single camera onboard the helicopter that
is used to estimate the attitude and the position of the vehicle. The
system could potentially be used to autonomously control the helicopter
either indoors or when GPS data is unavailable. Lazarian is from
Yerevan, Armenia. Taking home the second place award of $750 was a
team of chemical engineering students. The team designed a process
for liquefied petroleum gas recovery from Bakken associated natural
gas in the southern half of western North Dakota. Team members are:
John Degenstein, The Woodlands, Texas; Raymond Dobratz, Fargo, N.D.;
James Foster, Grand Forks, N.D.; and Christopher Longie, Tioga,
N.D. Tied for third place were civil and mechanical engineering
projects. The civil engineering project developed a public water system
for Hidden Valley, Ariz., a community currently without a public water
system. The project also developed a water conservation plan using
gray (recycled) water systems to reduce the amount of clean drinking
water being used for irrigation and landscaping purposes. Andrew
Tischleder, senior in civil engineering from Apple Valley, Minn.,
developed the plan. A system to collect solar energy from thin film
attached to manufactured windows and turn it into electrical energy
was researched for feasibility by a team of mechanical engineers. The
team included Ian Dickmeyer, Pequot Lakes, Minn.; Eleanor Gillespie,
Northeast Minneapolis, Minn.; Michael Grimestad, Moorhead, Minn.;
Gregory Krayer, Arden Hills, Minn.; Shawn Tisher, Wahpeton, N.D.; and
Nicholas Graziano, Grand Forks, N.D. Andrew "Andy" Freeman was noted
for his creativity and visionary leadership of the electric utility
industry. An endowment was established in 1996 by Minnkota Power and
others to honor Freeman. The interest earned by the endowment funds
the annual design project awards, which are given in Freeman’s name
to individuals or teams of UND students participating in outstanding
senior design projects that exhibit open-ended, innovative design
work.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:-
[email protected]

SCR READY TO ASSIST IN TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT IN ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.05.2009 19:17 GMT+04:00

South Caucasian Railways CJSC General Director Shevket Shaydulin has
met with Armenian Transport Workers and Freight Forwarders Association
members, the company’s press service reports.

Parties discussed issues concerning complex transport services,
particularly, container train dispatch, transfer to transparent
tariff rates, organization of legal activities in freight delivery
process, increase of train speed, as well as concessionary terms and
registration of some export products.

Mr. Shaydulin expressed willingness to provide maximum assistance
within cooperation frameworks. "Our mission consists in developing
national transportation company and raising efficiency and service
quality through specific strategic goals. The company particularly
focuses on long-terms effectiveness and financial stability,
service quality enhancement, enlargement of transport production on
RA territory and integration to Euro-Asian transportation-logistic
system," he noted.

Makar Arakelyan, Head of Armenian Transport Workers and Freight
Forwarders Association, expressed satisfaction with Shaydulin’s
professional approach to corporate client’s problems in the sphere
of transport services organization. "I strongly hope for mutually
beneficial cooperation contributing to Armenia’s economic development,
especially in the sphere of export. Our activities are mainly aimed at
protecting freight forwarders’ rights in Armenia and abroad," he said.

South Caucasian Railways CJSC is a 100% subsidiary of Russian Railroads
OJSC. Under a concessionary agreement dated February 13, 2008, it
passed under SCR CJSC’s concessionary management. The agreement was
signed for 30 years, with possible extension of additional 10 years.

BARGAVACH HAYASTAN MAKES THE OPPOSITION ACTIVIST HAPPY

LRAGIR.AM
14:57:21 – 19/05/2009

The member of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) Hovhanes
Hovhanisyan, dwelling on the situation on the eve of the Yerevan
Mayor election, stated that there is a last hope that the government
will take advantage of the Yerevan Mayor election to report procgress
towards democracy and carry out reforms in Armenia. At the same time,
Hovhanes Hovhanisyan noted that for the time being the government has
been doing everything in the opposite direction, it is trying not to
politicize the election, not to make it important as well as things
are happening which have nothing to do with legality and are illogical.

Hovhanes Hovhanisyan recalled the incidents in several communities
of Yerevan, in particular fights between the Republicans and BHK
members. Hovhanisyan says that he is surprised that they may beat up
the head of a community, then the Police arrive, put the community
head in the car and take him away. The HAK member says that he used
to be head of community and he cannot imagine that something like
that may ever happen to him.

Hovhanes Hovhanisyan stated that that would be the end. He stated that
the territory and the recourses of the government are already small,
which is why they fight. As Hovhanes Hovhanisyan stated, the stance
of the BHK party makes him happy when they tell the government to let
hold a free and fair election this time, at least they say so. Hovhanes
Hovhanisyan does not know what the position of the BHK will be in the
end, but at least now, they speak about free and transparent elections.

According to him, if the government holds the Yerevan Mayor election
like it held the 2008 presidential elections, it will be a great harm
to the country.

Hovhanes Hovhanisyan stated that in case of a fair election, the
Armenian National Congress will be the first having 40 percent of
votes and will be the majority in the Council of Yerevan. The second,
according to Hovhanes Hovhanisyan, will be the Bargavach Hayastan
and the Republican Party will be the third.

EDUARD NALBANDIAN RECEIVES PETER SEMNEBY

ArmInfo
2009-05-15 19:41:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian received EU
Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Ambassador Peter
Semneby, Friday.

As the Armenian Foreign Ministry press-service reports, Nalbandian
pointed out that the Eastern Partnership project launched in Prague
on May 7 will create new opportunities for further development and
promotion of cooperation between Armenia and European Union.

During the meeting the parties exchanged their thoughts on the
process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and Karabakh
peace process.