Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Head of Communist Party of the Russian Federation: It will be hard to
find a solution to Karabakh conflict without Russia’s efforts

by David Stepanyan

ARMINFO
Saturday, September 7, 13:50

The topic of the Karabakh conflict settlement is very sensitive and
painful, says Gennady Zyuganov, Head of the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation. The wounds are healing slowly, therefore, it is
necessary to sit down at the negotiation table and look for a
solution, he says.

“I think the solution is in the offing. But it will be hard to find it
without Russia’s efforts. Those who would like to humiliate Russia and
to prevent it from developing effectively will do their best to
protract the conflict. One should remember that both Yerevan and Baku
will find peace only in cooperation with Russia”, he says.
Zyuganov says that the Caucasus is a unique land and Russia has always
had good relations with Georgia, cordial and friendly relations with
Armenia, and close industrial contacts with Azerbaijan. He thinks
that these relations should be developed and strengthened. He
stresses the need to respect the traditions and customs of nations.

EU INTEGRATION MAY SLOW DOWN BUT WILL GO STRAIGHT FORWARD

The leader of the National Democratic Union and chairman of the Public
Council Vazgen Sargsyan commented on Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to
join the Customs Union.

Since the first day of independence Armenia has changed 3 president,
5-6 parliamenta, 6-7 prime ministers and nevertheless pursued the
same foreign policy with its main priorities – strategic partnership
and links with Russia not only in the economic but also defense and
security spheres.

However, according to Manukyan, Armenia walked step by step towards
the EU, borrowing European values, bringing the European reforms into
our country and achieved big results (this is also Europe’s opinion)
unlike other post-Soviet states.

Manukyan notes that Armenia is linked to NATO, has taken part in NATO
exercises, and this never caused a controversy.

12:23 07/09/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

ZHAMANAK: ‘GANG CASE’ CONVICT ARMAN DALLAKYAN DIES IN PRISON

11:05 07/09/2013 ” DAILY PRESS

According to Zhamanak daily, ‘gang case’ convict Arman Dallakyan,
41, died at Hospital of Convicts at 20:40 yesterday.

Spokesman for the Justice Ministry’s Penitentiary Department, Gor
Ghlechyan, confirmed the news to the paper, saying that the cause of
the death was still unclear and a medical expertise was appointed.

“He had several diseases and was being treated for them. His health
condition deteriorated sharply and they called ambulance, but he died
10 minutes later,” the spokesman said.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIA SHOCKS CZECH REPUBLIC TO FURTHER MUDDY GROUP B

NBCSports.com
Sept 6 2013

Kyle Bonn
Sep 6, 2013, 3:21 PM EDT

With four matches remaining coming into today’s play, Europe’s World
Cup qualifying Group B was already a mess. Now, it’s even more so.

25-year-old striker Gevorg Ghazaryan (pictured, right) scored a crazy
rebound header in extra time as Armenia stunned the Czech Republic
2-1. The three points means the top four teams in the group all sit
within five points of one another – pending results later in the day
of course.

Italy are still relatively comfortably in first place with 14 points,
but behind them it gets clogged. Bulgaria sit on 10 points in second
place, and Armenia’s win puts them level with the Czech Republic
for third with nine points each. Even Denmark still has a prayer –
albeit with lots of help needed – back in fifth place with six points.

Looking at the standings, the Czech Republic had a fantastic chance to
firmly grab second place if they could have won, with Bulgaria playing
at Italy later tonight in a match with now massive implications.

Denmark also play bottomfeeders Malta, and a win could draw them
level with the Czech Republic and Armenia.

It will be an interesting home stretch for the group. Both the
Armenians and Czechs have matches with Italy and Bulgaria remaining
on the docket, while the Danes creeping up from behind get to play
Malta twice, including the one later today.

As for Ghazaryan, the goal is his first of the 2014 World Cup
qualifiers, and his first goal for Armenia since June of 2012 when
he bagged a brace in a friendly with Kazakhstan. The striker plays
his professional ball in the Kazakhstan Premier League with Shakhter
Karagandy, having just moved to there in July from Ukranian side
Metalurg Donetsk.

Here’s video of his goal. It appears in real time to be a poor bit
of goalkeeping by Czech keeper Petr Cech. However, upon watching the
replay, the Chelsea netminder saves the first shot on a tough angle,
but a brilliant bit of reaction time allows Ghazaryan to head in
the rebound.

AZERBAIJAN NOT RULES OUT PARTICIPATION IN EASTERN PARTNERSHIP FM’S MEETING IN YEREVAN

September 06, 2013 | 13:21

Azerbaijan is considering possibility of participation in an informal
meeting of the FMs of the Eastern Partnership member countries to be
held in Armenia.

This meeting is the last ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit in
Vilnius, Azerbaijani Deputy FM said. “Therefore, we will probably
participate in the meeting in preparation for the summit,” Mahmoud
Mamedguliyev said.

The informal meeting of the FMs of the Eastern Partnership member
countries will be held on September 12 and 13 in Armenia’s capital
city Yerevan, and ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit to be held
in Vilnius, Lithuania.

To note, Yerevan will simultaneously host the informal meeting of
the education ministers of the Eastern Partnership member countries.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIANS GOING TO NEW YORK FOR SHOAH GALA HONORING GEORGE CLOONEY

Friday, September 6th, 2013

The event will honor actor George Clooney

LOS ANGELES-The USC Shoah Foundation, whose digital archives soon will
include the filmed testimonies of 400 Armenian Genocide eyewitnesses
and survivors, will honor actor George Clooney at a gala dinner on
October 3, in New York City – and significant Armenian attendance
at the event is expected. The gala, chaired by Shoah founder Steven
Spielberg, also will feature special guest Sandra Bullock and a
musical performance by Norah Jones.

Armenian Film Foundation Chairman Jerry Papazian said, “We are
thrilled to be participating in this event, paving the way for the
inclusion of these Armenian Genocide eyewitness testimonies into
the Visual History Archive of the USC Shoah Foundation. We are
encouraging a large Armenian presence at the event in support of
the project.” Papazian confirmed that former U.S. Ambassador to the
Republic of Armenia John Marshall Evans will attend the banquet as
part of the Armenian contingent.

Jon Stewart will emcee the gala honoring Clooney for his humanitarian
work. The gala committee includes a broad spectrum of celebrities and
influential people, including Matt Damon, Ralph Lauren, Jerry Seinfeld,
William P. Lauder and Andrew Tisch. All of them are committed to
helping raise money for the USC Shoah Foundation, whose mission is
to overcome prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry – and the suffering
they cause – through the educational use of the Foundation’s visual
history testimonies.

Shoah is actively engaged in an international fund-raising campaign
to ensure completion of the integration of the Armenian testimonies so
that they can be presented to the world in time for the commemoration
of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in April 2015.

“It’s crucial that we take the vital and precious words of those
who went through the Armenian Genocide and make their testimonies
available for students, educators and scholars so that they can learn
directly from these eyewitnesses of history,” said Stephen Smith,
executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation.

In April 2010, the Armenian Film Foundation and founder J. Michael
Hagopian, along with his wife, Antoinette, entered into an agreement
with the USC Shoah Foundation to license the 400 Armenian Genocide
testimonies filmed by Hagopian to Shoah’s Visual History Archive. Next
month, Shoah will receive the digitized interviews from The Armenian
Film Foundation. Upon delivery, these eyewitness accounts will be
incorporated into the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.

Shoah’s Visual History Archive is the largest digital collection of
its kind in the world, with 105,000 hours of video testimony. The
collection is available at 44 institutions around the world, and
approximately one million students, researchers, teachers and lay
people view the testimonies every year. In addition, thousands of
high school students across the country can view the testimonies
through IWitness, the Shoah Foundation Institute’s educational
website that makes 1,300 full life histories and testimonies of
survivors of genocides from the Visual History Archive available to
secondary students so they can create multimedia projects and complete
interactive activities.

TWINNING PROJECT NOT SUSPENDED IN ARMENIA – EU

September 06, 2013 | 14:14

YEREVAN. – The allegations on the suspension of the Twinning Project
in Armenia are untrue.

In response toArmenian News-NEWS.am’s article, EU delegation to
Armenia issued the following statement:

“The claims about any suspension are not true. In the light of the
recent decision of Armenia we will, naturally, need to review those
programmes which are directly linked to the signature of the AA/DCFTA
and together with the Armenian authorities consider what to do. But
as we said before, at this stage we continue our assessment of the
new situation and are informing our member states and consulting with
them; we also pursue ongoing consultations with our Armenian partners.”

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST ATTACKED IN ARMENIA’S CAPITAL

16:43 06.09.13

The civil activist and member of the Pan-Armenian Environmental
Front Arman Alexanyan was attacked near Yerevan’s Mashtots park on
September 4.

Ten to fifteen skinheads with clubs attacked him.

“This is one more attack over the past few days. Such actions pose
a threat to citizens’ health and life. However, the police do not
launch investigations. If the police keep silent, it will give rise
to suspicion that the police are either criminally failing to take
the necessary legal measures or are in criminal collusion with the
groups of hooligans. The orders are given from above to silence active
citizens create an atmosphere of fear,” says a statement.

Arman Alexanyan is a 21-year-old student at the Department of Applied
Mathematics, Yerevan State University.

Armenian News – Tert.am

TEHERAN READY TO COVER ITS PART OF IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION

16:48, 6 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Iran is ready to cover the expenses
for the construction of the Iranian part of the IranArmenia railway.

This was stated by the Secretary of the National Security Council of
the Republic of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan at the press conference
held on September 6. “Armenia continues the negotiations with Iran
on the launch of the construction works of the Iran-Armenia railway”,
– said Arthur Baghdasaryan, as reported by Armenpress.

The Secretary of the National Security Council of the Republic
of Armenia noted that works are being carried out to provide for
the financial assistance for the Armenian part of the railway’s
construction. “Russian, Chinese and Iranian companies are interested
in the issue”, – said Arthur Baghdasaryan.

The NSC Secretary stated as well that during the visit of the President
of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the Russian Federation
different agreements on transport security have been achieved.

The construction of the Armenia-Iran railway will cost $2-4 billion.

EXPERT: ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION IS LOGICAL STEP TOWARD INTEGRATION

15:32, 6 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s accession to the Customs
Union would be quite a logical step toward integration, Professor
Galina Shmarlovskaya, PhD in Economics, Dean of the International
Economic Relations Department of the Belarusian State Economic
University, as reports Armenpress citing to BelTA, said as she
commented on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement concerning
the country’s intention to accede to the Customs Union and take part
in further formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

According to Galina Shmarlovskaya, the dissolution of the USSR led
to the disruption of ties between the former USSR republics and
triggered many economic and social problems. This necessitated the
adjustment of the countries’ specialization and the search for their
place in global economy. In recent years Armenia has been seeking to
expand international cooperation. The country has recently signed
a memorandum on the cooperation model with the Customs Union and
discussed cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Commission. To
materialize its plans Armenia needs to join the CIS free trade
zone, which was created in line with the agreement signed in 2011
and approved by eight CIS countries out of eleven: Belarus, Russia,
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Moldova. “So,
Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union is quite a logical step toward
further integration. This will entail more intensive interregional
cooperation in the form of trade, international industrial ties,
investments and cooperation in R&D,” Galina Shmarlovskaya said.

The professor also commented on the information in the media about
Armenia’s intention to sign a free trade zone agreement with the
European Union. After Serzh Sargsyan made a statement concerning
the country’s intention to join the Customs Union, the EU made it
clear that Armenia would not be able to accede to the EU free trade
zone. “In this case we can refer to international experience. In
today’s world there are large-scale projects where free trade zones
are established not only between particular states but between entire
international integration groups. In the future the free trade zone
may be established between the Customs Union and the EU, so if Armenia
joins the Customs Union it will in any event become part of the free
trade zone,” Galina Shmarlovskaya said.

According to Galina Shmarlovskaya, the accession of new states to the
Customs Union will be a positive factor: the Single Economic Space
is being formed, its member countries will get the opportunity to
penetrate bigger markets, while manufacturers will be able to sell
products taking into account consumer demand in these countries, which
will, of course, open additional opportunities for the development
of joint entrepreneurship and will encourage investments, including
the FDI.

“In the future all CIS counties will get closer to the Customs Union,”
Galina Shmarlovskaya is convinced.