Author: Kalantarian Kevo

FILMMAKER AND ACTIVIST ARA SOUDJIAN TO BE HONORED AT ANCA-WR BANQUET

Thursday, October 24th, 2013

Ara Soudjian

GLENDALE-The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
announced on Friday that it will honor filmmaker and activist Ara
Soudjian with the “Vahan Cardashian” Award at its annual banquet,
taking place on Saturday, November 30 in Hollywood, California.

“You Reap What You Sow.” It’s an idiom most widely used to describe
the basic nature of God’s justice, but equally applicable when used
to assess the abundant contributions of innovative individuals
who have been educated, cultivated, and empowered by the vibrant
Armenian community within which they were brought up. Ara Soudjian
is a shining example of a product of the community in which he was
raised; a diasporan-born who attended Armenian schools throughout
his life and was actively involved as a young boy and teenager in
the Armenian Youth Federation’s Roupen Chapter in Glendale. What’s
most commendable about his journey is that despite his success and
personal ambitions, Ara never hesitated to assist his community and
serve its needs whenever they called upon him – all in the name of
further advancing the Armenian Cause. As fate would have it, it was
through his involvement in AYF as a teenager that Ara met his wife
Garinee Soudjian.

Ara was born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1976 to Maurice and Ruth
Soudjian. His parents, understanding well the importance of instilling
in their children the experience of a “second Armenian family” that
only an Armenian school could provide, enrolled Ara in Mekhitarian
Armenian School, Vahan & Anoush Chamlian, and Rose and Alex Pilibos
Armenian School, from which he graduated high school in 1994.

Thereafter, Ara went on to major in Radio, Television and Film
Production at California State University Northridge, earning his
degree in 1999. Although he earned his formal education in film and
media in university, Ara credits his vast knowledge and hands-on
training in film to his involvement with then-ANC TV’s weekly news
show, which he helped establish and run from its inception. Through
his work at ANC TV, the community was kept up to date on a diverse
range of topics, including current events and news from the homeland
and Diaspora, as well as the various outreach and advocacy work of
the ANC on both national and international levels.

After garnering firsthand experience at ANC TV, Ara went on to build a
vibrant career for himself in Hollywood specializing in digital media.

He participated in the making of such films as “13 Going on 30,”
“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Intolerable Cruelty,” and “The Ring
2.” His talent as a director is evident in his creative vision, which
has earned him several awards and a reputable role in the commercial
and music video industry. His clientele includes Sony Music, Warner
Bros. Records, Gatorade, Ralph’s, Expo Line, Metro and Rock the Vote,
to name a few. He has also directed reality TV pilots for Fox and Sony
Television. His music videos for hip hop artist Wiz Khalifa and Grammy
award winning singer Serj Tankian of System of a Down earned him two
MVPA awards. In 2010, he directed and produced a short film, “A Nice
Old-Fashioned Romance” based on William Saroyan’s short story with
the same title, which premiered at the prestigious LA Shorts Festival.

In addition to being a rising star in cinema, television, and film
in his professional career, Ara has never passed up an opportunity to
lend his talents to further enhance the Armenian community’s objectives
through such organizations as the ANCA. It is through Ara’s work in
film and media over the past decade that the ANCA-WR’s projects,
branding, messaging, internship programs, as well as the national
office’s Capital Gateway Program and Leo Sarkissian Internship
program have been widely exposed to ANCA supporters and to outside
constituents. Much of his work on film has lent itself to be packaged
and produced in the form of DVD’s, videos, and You Tube segments,
which are marketed and disseminated throughout the world.

Ara has also been crucial in directing and filming ANCA’s “Get
Out The Vote” videos. He has consistently worked hard to produce
campaign videos for political candidates which the ANCA has endorsed
or supported, including Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric
Garcetti, Councilman Paul Krekorian, Rafi Manoukian, and Ardashes
Ardy Kassakhian, to name a few. Through his work on such campaigns,
he has assisted the ANCA in disseminating its political voice. Year
after year, Ara produces and films the ANCA-WR’s Annual Banquet video,
which summarizes the year of accomplishments for the region’s active
involvement in the global struggle for Armenian Genocide recognition.

Several years ago, Ara assisted in digitally documenting and archiving
the testimony of Armenian Genocide survivors with his work on the
“Genocide Project.” Through such projects, Ara helped educate the
generations past, present, and future about the history of the Armenian
Genocide. Ara’s activism has not gone unnoticed. In 2012, Los Angeles
City Councilmember Paul Krekorian recognized the contributions of Ara’s
community activism, as well as others, during the Commemoration of
the 97th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at Los Angeles City Hall.

“The Vahan Cardashian award is given to an activist who unrelentingly
strives for the advancement of Hye Tahd,” stated Aida Dimejian,
co-chair of the ANCA-WR’s 2013 Annual Banquet. “Ara is a true example
of what Vahan Cardashian stood for. Through his creative work, he has
been and continues to be one of the champions of our cause. His video
productions have educated, activated, and motivated our activists
both young and old in the spirit of his first film company’s name
‘Treaty of Sevres’,” concluded Dimejian.

“Ara has made great strides and contributions to Hye Tahd through his
work in the entertainment and media industry,” added Sareen Bezdikian,
Esq., co-chair of the banquet. She continued, “As one of our very own
activists, he has used his creativity and talent to capture the ANCA’s
accomplishments on the local, state, and national levels and projected
those accolades into the mass media for global consumption, playing
a pivotal role in placing the ANCA brand on the public’s agenda.”

The ANCA-WR banquet will take place on November 30 at The Ray Dolby
Ballroom, the site of the Oscar’s Governors’ Ball. Legendary chef
Wolfgang Puck will be catering a special menu for the ANCA-WR Banquet.

Individuals interested in attending the banquet and Grassroots
Conference are encouraged to contact the ANCA-WR office at (818)
500-1918 or purchase tickets online at ItsMySeat.com/ANCAWR.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy
organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the
Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country,
the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community
on a broad range of issues.

KAZAKH PRESIDENT SUGGESTS ADMITTING TURKEY TO CUSTOMS UNION AND DISSOLVING EURASEC

by David Stepanyan

ARMINFO
Friday, October 25, 01:53

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has suggested admitting Turkey
to the Customs Union and dissolving the EurAsEC.

“The Turkish President has asked me if his country can join the Customs
Union. Let’s admit them. When I go abroad, people often ask me if we
are creating something like a new USSR or something to be controlled
by Russia. Perhaps if we admit Turkey, they will stop saying such
things,” Nazarbayev said during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian
Economic Council in Minsk on Thursday.

Concerning Armenia, he said that in order to be able to join the
Customs Union, that country will have to go through all the procedures
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia have already gone through.

Nazarbayev also suggested dissolving the Eurasian Economic Community
and enlarging the Customs Union, since the goals of the two
organizations are similar. He thinks that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
may join the Customs Union as observers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, pointed out that one
should not liquidate EurAsEC at once, because it will undermine
the legal framework of the Customs Union. He thinks that relevant
mechanisms should be worked out for that. In the meantime, he shared
Nazarbayev’s opinion about the need to liquidate EurAsEC and said that
“one should not forget the partners in the Common Economic Space”,
i.e. the other members of EurAsEC.

N. ZOHRABIAN CONSIDERS BILL ON OFFICIALS’ SALARY RISE AS UNFAIR

The bill was presented by a government that views the parliament as its
appendage. Secretary of Prosperous Armenia party (BHK) faction Naira
Zohrabian made that statement during the parliamentary discussion of
the draft law on remuneration of labor of persons holding state posts.

In her words, the draft was submitted by a government whose head,
at the time when he was chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA), invited – from the parliament rostrum – MPs to work in CBA as
cleaners because some MPs had expressed an opinion that CBA cleaners’
wages are higher than those of parliamentary deputies.

Naira Zohrabian considered it unfair that salaries of teachers and
doctors are raised insignificantly, while high coefficients are used
to raise salaries of ministers and other high-ranking officials.

“I cannot look the unemployed in the eye because we yesterday,
thanks to your vote, deprived them of the opportunity to receive
benefits of 20,000 drams. I cannot explain why my salary should be
increased 12-fold, but salaries of others will grow only 3-4-fold,”
N. Zohrabian said in conclusion.

BILL TO ELIMINATE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS PROVOKES OPPOSITION’S CRITICISM IN ARMENIA

22:06 ~U 24.10.13

The proposal for eliminating the unemployment benefits has spurred
criticisms by the opposition despite the promises that it will help
make considerable savings in the public sector.

Under the bill that passed the National Assembly’s first reading on
Wednesday, the monthly payments of 18,000 Drams ($44) will no longer
be paid to the unemployed, increasing the government’s annual savings
to 1,990,656,000 Drams ($4,909,01).

The estimates were made based upon findings by the State Employment
Agency. The available data suggest that of the 66,990 unemployed
people in Armenia, 9,216 qualified for the benefit as of October 1.

The mechanisms of eliminating benefits and involving beneficiaries
in active social programs are known widely to be from the series of
measures aimed at “teaching to fish”.

But Vahagn Khachatryan of the opposition Armenian National Congress
approaches the thesis very critically, giving it another definition.

“The fish stinks from the head,” he said, commenting on the bill.

The opposition MP thinks the proposed amendments to the Law “On
Employment” will deteriorate poverty statistics Armenia. “Instead
of boosting competitiveness, fighting corruption and eradicating
unemployment, they choose the easiest way. People who are in extreme
social conditions, hardly managing to cover minimal costs with [the
unemployment benefits], are simply deprived of that,” he told Tert.am.

Khachatryan, who is an economist by profession, said the bill will
boost the migration from Armenia, increasing the poverty rate from
30 to 45-50 percent.

Armen Martirosyan, the deputy leader of the opposition Heritage party,
thinks adherence to the former policies would be the best and the
only way of “teaching to fish”.

“It is inhumane to cut people facing social hardships from such
benefits. Even our Constitution says Armenia is a social state, which
means the state has to fulfill certain objectives to offer social
guarantees. And the unemployment benefit is one of them,” he explained.

Martirosyan noted that their party’s earlier proposal for reducing the
shadow and liberalizing the economy and the governance system did not
meet any approval by the authorities. “Instead of doing all that, they
are wasting the country’s resources, and the situation we are facing
now shows a decline in even the trade turnover volumes,” he said.

After the Wednesday parliament debate that saw the bill pass the first
reading Nikol Pashinyan of the opposition Armenian National Congress
criticized the measure, saying that it was being adopted against the
backdrop of proposals for raising the salaries of the president and
the National Assembly speaker by 203% and 218%, respectively.

Naira Zohrabyan, the secretary of the Prosperous Armenia faction in
parliament, described the move as a change in the nation’s psychology.

Armenian News – Tert.am

SERZH SARGSYAN ARRIVES IN BELARUS FOR SUMMITS

Belarusian Telegraph Agency
Oct 24 2013

24.10.2013 12:57

MINSK, 24 October (BelTA) – Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has
arrived in Belarus to take part in the summits, BelTA has learnt.

Serzh Sargsyan was invited to attend the session of the Supreme
Eurasian Economic Council on the level of the heads of state that
will take place on 24 October. He will also take part in the session
of the CIS Council of Heads of State on 25 October.

Belarus is an important trading partner of Armenia and its third
biggest trading partner among the CIS member states.

In 2012 the bilateral trade made up $46 million (up by 40.3%).

Belarus’ export to Armenia expanded by 44.2% up to $38.7 million. The
import stood at $7.4 million, up by 22.9%. Belarus had a positive
trade surplus of $31.3 million. Belarus’ major exports to Armenia
are tires, trucks, tractors, oil products, paper and butter.

Armenian-Belarusian Trading House Ar-Be was set up in Armenia. It
offers over 11,000 names of Belarusian products. A joint venture to
bottle Armenian cognac opened in Belarus in July 2012.

A 100GW NPP IS NEEDED TO ENSURE THE ENERGY SECURITY OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS, TURKEY AND IRAN

by Arthur Yernjakyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, October 24, 17:58

A 100GW NPP and a 10bln c m underground gas storage facility are needed
to ensure the energy security of the South Caucasus, Turkey and Iran,
Vice President of the Georgian Academy of Natural Sciences Alexander
Tvalchrelidze told ArmInfo on Thursday.

He said that the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Department
of Energy forecast a steady growth in global energy consumption till
2040. “In order to keep pace, Armenia and Georgia should increase
their generating capacities by respective 0.6% and 1% annually,”
Tvalchrelidze said.

He said that the 1,060MW NPP Armenia is going to build will be enough
for this country only but not for the whole region. “It should be
a European-type NPP, like those in France, and should be built in
Northern Turkey, Northern Iran or Armenia,” Tvalchrelidze said.

He also recommends building a large underground gas storage facility.

“The Abovyan facility in Armenia can hold no more than 180mln c m.

This will hardly do for more than 30 days, while the new facility
should hold as much as 10bln c m – a quantity that will meet the
whole region’s needs for as long as 3-4 months,” Tvalchrelidze said,
adding that the new facility may be built in Georgia.

“In order to synchronize our energy systems, we need no less than 500KV
lines. The existing ones allow Armenia to synchronize its system with
Iran and Georgia but not with Turkey and Azerbaijan – for political
reasons. In its turn, Georgia’s system is synchronized with Armenia
and Azerbaijan but not with Russia, Iran and Turkey. There must not be
politics in the energy sector. Israel and the Gaza Strip effectively
cooperate in this field despite their political problems.

The same is true for Turkey and Cyprus. So, we should come together
and form a joint wholesale energy market involving not only the South
Caucasus but also Turkey and Iran,” Tvalchrelidze said.

CRUEL CUT: PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL TO ANNUL UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

SOCIETY | 24.10.13 | 16:00

Photolure

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

The National Assembly has passed a bill by first hearing annulling
the unemployment benefit system, which implies that since January
1 the government will no longer pay the monthly 18,000 drams’ ($45)
unemployment benefits.

Introducing the law on Employment, Republican Hakob Hakobyan, chairing
the committee on social welfare, said it is “immoral to give 18,000
drams’ benefit to citizens”.

“Rather than giving money and saying goodbye, we have given you your
money, now go away, but we have to offer real help with education,
direct funding, direct advice, direct employment chances,” he said.

Prosperous Armenia Party member Naira Zohrabyan takes as an offense
the claim that people give up work when they get unemployment benefits.

“There are no workplaces, no jobs, and to say ‘let us cut the
unemployment benefit and direct that to training people’ is not
serious. We have wonderful professionals, scholars, scientists who
are today, sorry to say this, in retail business, working as street
or market vendors. The inflated budget draft that’s been submitted
is a balloon, a myth that can never be brought to life, hence they
are simply trying to cut that expenditure,” says Zohrabyan.

Official statistics show more than 70,000 unemployed registered in
the country, 10,000 among whom receive 18,000 drams’ benefit.

Heritage’ s Zaruhi Postanjyan says the budget has its last means left,
more than a million people in the country are famished.

“This is the consequence of this criminal policy we have been unable
to get rid of for years now,” she said.

Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun MP Artsvik Minasyan
,terming the bill as strictly unsatisfactory, says depriving people
of unemployment benefits breaches the European Social Charter. The
government is eliminating several programs, not offering anything to
its unemployed citizens. He says he believes the state is playing a
trick to show international structures another official statistics
by which Armenia will have five percent unemployment, when in reality
it will be twenty percent.

“How can we benefit from it? Together we have to think how to reduce
the emigration rates by offering employment opportunities. We cannot
stop emigration if things remain as they are. We talk about the
demographic crisis, while families with children have to be first of
all engaged in employment projects. “This program suggests nothing
of the kind. They [the authorities] can claim now that they’ll do it
later, but I do not believe. I don’t trust the feasibility of anything
that’s to be left for the government to implement,” said Minasyan.

He says the draft law has to suggest economic, tax and financial
solutions, which the submitted document lacks, meaning that no progress
can be ensured in the sphere.

“The government has submitted a program on creating a hundred thousand
workplaces, consequently we can now predict the directions in which
those jobs will be created, and how that issue will be solved. Rather
than ceasing to exist, like now they are trying to deprive the
unemployed of their benefits by this bill, employment projects have
to develop active plans, and a lot of them, to gradually replace the
passive, ineffective ones,” says Minasyan.

Parallel to the draft law cancelling the unemployment benefit,
the parliament discussed another bill by which the RA president’s,
parliament speaker’s and prime-minister’s salaries should be raised.

Comparing the two bills, Armenian National Congress MP Nikol Pashinyan
said: “We were discussing the employment law and there were eleven
law-makers present in the session hall. As soon as we got to the salary
bill, the hall suddenly got crowded. We have adopted the disgrace of
a bill on cancelling the 18,000 drams benefit, and now with serious
faces are discussing the issue of raising the president’s and the
premier’s salaries.”

MATERNAL MORTALITY, INFANT ILLNESS RATES DOWN IN ARMENIA

14:28 24/10/2013 ” HEALTH

A WHO seminar on “Improvement of the Quality of Antenatal and Postnatal
Aid and Redirection System” is taking place in Yerevan.

Representatives of 11 countries of WHO European Region as well as
Russia and development partner organizations participate in the
seminar.

At a press briefing before the seminar, Head of the WHO Country
Office in Armenia Tatul Hakobyan said that maternal mortality and
infant illness rates have decreased in Armenia in the past years.

“Of course we should work to achieve further reduction of those rates,
but undoubtedly we have positive trends,” he said.

Asked what he can say about the comparison of maternal mortality and
infant illness rates of Armenia with those of our neighboring counties,
Mr Hakobyan said that in this respect, Armenia is in a more favorable
condition compared to its neighbors.

Source: Panorama.am

Zvartnots airport’s old terminal cannot be demolished without expertise study – Union of Architects of Armenia

October 24, 2013 | 00:45

YEREVAN. – The old terminal of capital city Yerevan’s Zvartnots
International Airport cannot be torn down without an expert conclusion.

Mkrtich Minasyan, Head of the Union of Architects of Armenia, told
the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He stressed that the buildings of importance in Armenia cannot be
demolished solely by the wish of the proprietor, or the managing
company.

“Expert opinion is required to tear down such buildings,” Minasyan
stressed.

In his words, it is apparent from the very first study that there is
no need to demolish the old terminal it; but it needs to be renovated
and its armatures need to be strengthened.

“If the building will have to be torn down just for that, with such
reasoning, 80 percent of the city’s [i.e., Yerevan] high-rises can
be demolished,” Mkrtich Minasyan concluded.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

IRAN HANDS MINISTER’S SON OVER TO ARMENIA – NEWSPAPER

October 24, 2013 | 08:17

YEREVAN. – Interesting facts are emerging in connection with the recent
arrest of Armenian Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Yuri Vardanyan’s
son, Zhoghovurd daily reports.

“Zhoghovurd’s well-informed sources claim that the Islamic Republic
of Iran law enforcement detained him on the Armenian-Iranian border on
suspicion of transporting drugs. But verifying that he is an Armenian
citizen, [and] the son of a senior official, they immediately sent
him back to Armenia to avoid unnecessary uproar. At the same time,
they informed the Armenian border guards of what transpired, and
asked them to detain Davit Vardanyan.

“The Iranians acted in this way because in their country they
sentence people to death for possession of drugs. And so that an
Armenian citizen would not be sentenced to death, they preferred to
‘hand him over’ to his local law enforcement.

“[But] Zhoghovurd was unable to verify this news from Yuri Vardanyan,”
Zhoghovurd writes.