Author: Kalantarian Kevo

10 PERCENT OF ARMENIA’S POPULATION SUFFERS FROM ALLERGIC RHINITIS

July 12, 2013 | 12:42

YEREVAN. – The most widespread seasonal allergy is allergic
rhinitis, and 10 percent of Armenia’s population suffers from it,
allergologist-immunologist Armine Hakobyan said during a press
conference on Friday.

>From the seasonal allergies, the physician also set aside bronchial
asthma, which gets worse in summer.

“For the most part, allergies are caused by pollen and some mildew
fungi. These may also cause bronchial asthma to grow worse,” Hakobyan
added.

She also pointed to the acute allergic reactions caused by insect
bites.

“Primarily the bee and wasp stings cause allergic reactions, but the
bee stings are more dangerous,” the allergologist-immunologist stated.

Armine Hakobyan also informed that five to seven people die in Armenia
each year because of insect bites.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Analyst: Azerbaijan’s acquisition of arms endangers security of not only Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the whole region

by Marianna Lazarian

ARMINFO
Friday, July 12, 11:36

Azerbaijan’s acquisition of arms worth about 1 bln USD endangers
the security of not only Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the
whole region, Richard Giragosian, Head of the Regional Studies Center,
said in Yerevan on Thursday.

He said that Armenia is in a very dangerous situation and such steps
of Azerbaijan should not be left without response. Unfortunately,
in the current situation Armenia has to take part in the arms race
to ensure its own security, the expert said.

Giragosian believes that Azerbaijan spends the major part of its income
on acquisition of arms and equipment from both Pakistan and Russia. In
the meantime, the analyst stressed that under conditions of undeclared
war Armenia manages to gain progress and it gives high priority to
quality, not quantity. He said that Armenia is the only country in
the region that does not endanger the security of other countries.

To recall, on June 15 the mass media reported about the sale of
Russian military hardware to Azerbaijan. The total value of the
systems delivered under contracts ranges from 700 mln to 1 bln USD. In
2010-2011 Russia supplied Azerbaijan with military hardware worth
almost 3 bln USD.

Head Of The Union Of Local Manufacturers Of Armenia: Armenia Should Shift To A New Policy Of Economic Mobilization

by Samvel Sarksyan

Friday, July 12, 12:44

Armenia should shift to a new policy of economic mobilization, Vazgen
Safaryan, Head of the Union of Local Manufacturers of Armenia, told
media, Thursday.

He said that to shift to the given policy it is necessary to establish
a new investment and development bank, separate tourism and industry
from the Economy Ministry and create relevant ministries, as well as
give these ministries and the ministries of agriculture, energy and
natural resources a status of economic- functional departments instead
of the current status of functional departments. Safaryan believes
that such change of the status will allow better managing the given
sectors through cooperation of the government and the private sector.

Safaryan thinks that another element of the new economic policy of
Armenia should be improvement of the copper processing line. At
present, Armenia exports copper concentrate with 26%-28% copper
content, in the meanwhile, downstream processing allows recovering
blister copper and refined copper with a 99.9% copper content. In
addition, he said, in cooperation with the private sector it is
necessary to build a copper mill and a chemical and metallurgical
combine in the Syunik region. These enterprises will operate on over
1.5 bln tons of waste accumulated in the tailing storage facilities.

According to Safaryan’s forecasts, in case of annual processing of 50
mln tons of waste, the profits will total $1.4 bln and the GDP will
be increased by $10 bln drams. It is possible to extract 106,000
tons of refined copper, 3.6 tons of gold, 142 tons of silver, 176
tons of tellurium, 70 tons of selenium, 220,000 tons of free sulphur,
and 5.6 mln tons of iron from the tailing storage facilities. Safaryan
thinks that downstream processing will allow developing the ferrous and
non-ferrous metal industry. Up to 1 mln tons of iron was used in the
Soviet Armenia. Processing of the tailing dumps will allow creating
15,000 jobs at the average monthly salary of $700 and improving the
environmental balance in the region.

He said that local production of leather and wool and the related
sectors also need a new approach. For instance, one of the local
carpet producer companies is ready to start processing of over 4,000
tons of wool accumulated in the country – up to 1,000 tons of wool
is accumulated in the country every year. Reactivation of the local
leather manufacturing enterprises will allow creating 3,000 jobs at
the shoe factories.

To raise funds from the citizens of Armenia, the Diaspora Armenians,
and foreign investors in such nation- wide projects, he said, it
is necessary to start issue of debt securities. In addition, the
government should take up the shares of the privatized enterprises with
foreign capital. The government should also participate in imports of
goods, which reached $4.2 bln drams in 2012. If the government’s share
in imports makes up 30%-40%, it will become possible to transform
that commercial capital into investment capital sufficient for
economic development.

“Our internal capital resources are sufficient to modernize economy
without raising foreign funds,” Safaryan said.

He believes that to achieve economic efficiency Armenia needs to reduce
the fiscal burden by 35%-40%. This will allow increasing the taxpayers
base. For conclusion, he said that the aforementioned measures should
pave the way for uneven development of economy, as the average annual
growth of GDP by 6.3% (400 bln drams) of the last several years is
insufficient for significant increase of salaries and pensions –
the spending capacity of the population.

In response to a question from ArmInfo as to whether it is possible to
conduct a mobilization economic policy in the current system of the
state governance, Safaryan said that to become a senior executive in
the Soviet period one was to progress up the career ladder, but now
‘a man in the street can be appointed a minister’ and this situation
should be corrected as well.

VICE SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT AND HIS BELARUSIAN COUNTERPART DISCUSS PROSPECTS FOR BELARUSIAN PARLIAMENT’S RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ARMINFO
Friday, July 12, 11:40

Vice Speaker of Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov and his
Belarusian counterpart Viktor Guminsky discussed the prospects for
the Belarusian Parliament’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in
the Ottoman Empire.

Sharmazanov said that the year 2015 will mark the centenary of the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. “The non-recognition and denial
of the Armenian Genocide paved the way to nazism and fascism”, said
Sharmazanov. He expressed hope that the Parliament of Belarus will
touch on this issue.

During the meeting the sides also pointed out the need to promote the
Armenian-Byelorussian cooperation, as well as the interaction between
the two countries’ parliaments within both the CIS Inter-Parliamentary
Assembly and the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

ILLUSIONS OF ARMENIAN POLITICIANS

According to the Golos Armeniy, the U.S. Secretary of State Kerry
made a special statement on the 18th anniversary of the genocide
in Srebrenica.

“On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I join the
people of Bosnia and Herzegovina today in honoring the memory of
those lost in the horrific act of genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995,
which stole the lives of over 8,000 innocent people. As we know from
history, truth and reconciliation are essential to moving beyond the
past towards a better tomorrow.

We applaud those who continue to seek justice for the victims
and work to ensure that all citizens have the right to return and
to live peacefully in their pre-war homes. We reject efforts to
rewrite or manipulate history, deny the genocide, or negate Bosnia
and Herzegovina’s multi-ethnic character. We must always challenge
falsehood, we must combat it, and we must counter it with truth,
wisdom, and compassion.”

This statement sounds more than cynical since the United States
has refused to recognize the genocide of Armenians. No doubt their
“refusal” allowed ignoring the interests of Armenia by some other
states, including Russia.

All the state secretaries and other high-ranking U.S. government
officials have spoken up about genocides in different countries and
regions over the past two decades. In other words, genocides elsewhere
have been recognized except the genocide of Armenians in Turkey. At
the same time, the leadership and politicians of the countries that
underwent genocide officially put forth this issue in their foreign
affairs. For whatever reason, Armenia is an exception. At best,
it will thank for a relevant decision.

The primary and key issue that the Armenian government and official
representatives must put forth in negotiations and relations with the
United States is the issue of the genocide. This has never been done
before, at least publicly. The second issue should have been supply
of arms.

Why is it so? There can be only one explanation. The Armenian
politicians are still trying to exchange silence on genocide in
official talks with their personal image. This is so stupid and
meaningless that it is hard to believe that such motivation could
exist.

Similarly, for a long time the Armenian government preferred not
to raise the issue of military cooperation and supply of arms to
Azerbaijan with Russia (as well as the existence of the Armenian
issue in the talks between Russia and Turkey).

At present, a question occurs which the Armenian politicians and
commentators are not ready to answer. Would it be possible to avoid
currently obvious deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations? We
think that it would be possible to avoid deadlock, particularly by
way of consistent relations with Russia regarding supply of weapons
to Azerbaijan (at least).

These issues have been brought up by the Armenian government
immediately after Moscow found out that it can conduct its policy of
military trade. It was not too late even in 2010. However, the Armenian
government was highly vulnerable and could not afford avoiding risks
that, according to Armenian politicians, would occur in this case.

Real risks occurred now that Armenia has been unable to prevent supply
of modern Russian weapon to Azerbaijan. There were political resources
for that. Now there is only one thing – fast integration with the EU
and NATO and receiving necessary armaments from the countries of the
West. This decision was made in mid-2012, and it will be necessary to
develop these relations which will soon become more interesting. In
addition, the motives are obvious.

One would like to hope that in building relations with the
Euro-Atlantic community Armenia will use its experience of relations
with Russia. Despite Turkey’s efforts to lay claims on development of
relations between Armenia and NATO it will have no formal levers of
influence on NATO member states because the alliance cannot interfere
with export and import of armaments. The European Union has the right
to influence and control military supplies of member states but Turkey
is not an EU member.

Ostensibly, the issues of supply of arms to Armenia by the states of
the West have been worked out in a multifaceted way. However, there
may be problems as well therefore there is no need to be hypocritically
modest – this time the image of politicians will not improve.

Igor Muradyan 22:13 11/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

SURIK KHACHATRYAN IS BACK

Ex-governor of Syunik Marz Surik Khachatryan attended the ceremony
of introducing the next governor Vahe Hakobyan who is the son of the
director of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine Maxim Hakobyan.

During the event Surik Khachatryan said that he had nominated Vahe
Hakobyan and urged the governor’s office to work properly. He also
said that he left his office on his own decision.

Surik Khachatryan is telling the truth indeed. No one could fire him.

In Armenia no one is sacked for such “trifles”.

He said the same things before though there were rumors on
controversies between the ex-governor and Maxim Hakobyan. These rumors
were aimed to show something was changing. Later everything cleared
up. Maxim and Liska were found out to be friends for 30 years, the
press reported about their financial and other deals.

The party after which the tragedy happened was organized by Maxim
Hakobyan. It is symbolic that his son now replaces Surik Khachatryan.

Surik Khachatryan who broke down after the tragedy in front of his
house is now “coming back”. The investigation follows his instructions,
and his “friends” continue supporting him. But the most important
thing was the ceremony at the governor’s office which was not aimed at
introducing the new governor as much as at reconfirming the role and
status of the ex-governor. Had it been stated that Surik Khachatryan
was fired, and the new governor was appointed without his consent,
Liska would “end”. This is the logic of the ruling regime.

It is hard to tell whether he was authorized to make the statements
he made but this is not important. The important thing is that nothing
will change for the “proud people” of Syunik.

11:11 12/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

ARMENIA IS ONE OF THE WORLD LEADERS IN THE SIZE OF THE HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT BY ABEL AGHANBEGYAN

Armenia is one of the leading countries in the world by the size of
hidden unemployment, according Aghanbegyan Abel, head of the department
of economic theory and policy at the Russian Academy of National
Economy and Public Administration.

“The unemployment rate in Armenia is extremely huge. Officially,
there are 265,000 people unemployed but in fact over 2.3 million
people of working age are employed only 1.1 million, the rest is
not considered unemployed. These figures can not be found in another
country, “he said.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the number
of officially registered unemployed in February 2013 was 61,300 or 8.6%
less than in February 2012

Friday, July 12, 2013, Stephane © armenews.com

EU OFFICIAL URGES ARMENIAN EFFORTS TO AGREE ON PEACE OUTLINE

AzerNews. Azerbaijan
July 11 2013

11 July 2013, 14:40 (GMT+05:00)
By Nigar Orujova

The European Union is ready to continue facilitating a settlement
of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, EU Commissioner
for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said in Yerevan
July 10.

Fule arrived in Yerevan on July 9. According to the EU mission in
Azerbaijan, he will not visit the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Fule’s meetings are planned with the Armenian leaders, including
President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, as well
as the leaders of pro-government and opposition parties and civil
society representatives during the visit.

“We will continue to provide assistance to encourage progress in the
conflict settlement and to support related peace-building activities,”
he said.

Fule urged Armenia to step up efforts with Azerbaijan to reach an
agreement on the Madrid Principles, in accordance with the commitments
made by the presidents of the two countries within the Minsk Group.

“I know this is a painful and difficult subject, but it is one that the
European Union cannot hide from either in Baku or here, in Yerevan,”
Fule was quoted by Azerbaijan’s state news agency AzerTac as saying.

Recently, a European Parliament delegation paid an official visit to
Azerbaijan and met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

During the talks Mammadyarov expressed regret at the four relevant UN
Security Council resolutions’ being unenforced, and said the present
status quo in the conflict is unacceptable.

Azerbaijan also urged OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Leonid Kozhara to
intensify the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group at a meeting of the
Foreign Minister with the OSCE chief on July 8.

Kozhara in turn expressed concern over the problem of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and voiced support for the Minsk
Group’s activity, adding that “we also consider it necessary to step
up its activity.”

The Minsk Group, co-chaired by France, the United States and Russia,
has been mediating peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia since
the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in
1994 following a lengthy war.

The Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial
claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia occupied over 20 percent
of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial
claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy
war in the early 1990s. The UN Security Council has adopted four
resolutions on Armenia’s withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory,
but they have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of the peace outline dubbed
the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document
envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the
right of all internally displaced persons to return home.

THE LANGUAGE OF OUR TIME

The Harvell Gazette, MA
July 11 2013

Tom Vartabedian

I recall as a youth working the counter of my dad’s luncheonette and
greeting customers as they arrived.

Whether it was a simple cup of coffee or eggs over hash, I filled
the orders diligently and with a smile.

Dad had one piece of advice. “The customer is always right.”

“Even when they’re wrong?” I’d question.

“You don’t argue,” he replied. “If he doesn’t come back, who loses?

“Dad had a point. We needed his service more than he needed ours. The
place drew its regulars as well as its transients.

One day, a total stranger sat on the stool looking like a derelict. I
gave him the once-over twice and took his order. He requested the
works, easily a $3 fare. Back then, of course, a cup of coffee went
for a dime and it was 5 cents for a doughnut.

Our family had a secret code. We communicated in Armenian whenever we
wanted to hide something from our clientele. Armenian was our chosen
language at home and we carried it into the business.

My father minced no words when it came to getting his message across.

“Watch this man,” he said in Armenian. “He may be looking to fool you.

Make sure you get paid.”

“Before serving him the meal? That’s a little embarrassing, don’t
you think, Pa?”

“Not when he escapes without paying for his dinner. If that happens,
I’ll take it out of your earnings since you waited on him.”Just then,
the unthinkable occurred. The diner slapped his hand on the counter
in anger and introduced himself as an Armenian.He understood every
word and took us to task for what was said. He put $5 on the counter,
wanted his change back, gave me no tip and left saying, “Don’t expect
me back. You’ve ridiculed me in our language.”

I’ve been on trains and buses where people have spoken Armenian. One
day at the airport, I interrupted a conversation in Armenian with
some words of my own. Turns out, we had mutual acquaintances and
spent the next 20 minutes conversing in the mother tongue.

It drew no attention. People these days are accustomed to hearing a
foreign dialect in their everyday travels. The trouble with Armenians
is that we don’t exercise it enough, even when we know it. Maybe
because it’s not our first language.

I only wish I were more assertive with my own children when it came
to teaching them the language. Having them each as Armenian School
students in church did me no good. What did help with the eldest
child was living with an Armenian-speaking grandparent.

Sonya didn’t use it. So she lost whatever she had learned early in
life. It’s not an isolated case, either. I can count on one hand
how many Armenian School students filtered through my class over 35
years and how many speak with any fluency. Now their children attend
and a new generation unfolds. The challenges are even greater. If
the parents don’t converse in Armenian, neither will they. On the
other hand, I am amazed by the truly impeccable Armenian spoken by
the American-born. Many non-Armenians have embraced our language by
translating books and giving dissertations on a university level.

I tend to be a stickler for tradition. If our beloved Mass ever
shifted dialects and went from classical to modern, it would never
be the same. You do not have to understand a language in order to
appreciate it. Leave it the way it’s been for the past 1,700 years.

When the Catholic Church dispensed with Latin and went to an
English-speaking format, I felt a certain loss. Sometimes change can
be irrepressible.

You need not know Italian to appreciate a Puccini opera. Nor must
you know Greek to dance a Tsamiko. I had five years of French in
high school and college. My vocabulary today is practically nil. But
hearing it spoken in Paris made it refreshing.

I’ve been to Armenia twice and was introduced to an entirely different
dialect, being Western. It took the second trip before I really caught
on to some nuances.

Some of the tourists on our bus trip were in limbo. They had no
background in Armenian and the tour guide stuck to his native
language. The sporadic translations got to be an ordeal.

I’m told there are between 2,500 and 3,000 languages spoken throughout
the world, not including that spoken by teenagers. Maybe it’s me,
but sometimes I have a difficult time understanding what they say.

Getting back to my dad’s charade in the diner, I did learn a very
valuable lesson from all that. No one has a better command of any
language than the man who knows just when to talk and when to shut up.

Writer and photographer Tom Vartabedian is retired from The Haverhill
Gazette. He contributes this regular column.

MPS OF BELARUS, ARMENIA TO PROMOTE NEW FORMS OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Belarusian Telegraph Agency
July 11 2013

11.07.2013 17:02

MINSK, 11 July (BelTA) – Belarus and Armenia need to switch to new
forms of trade and economic cooperation, and the parliamentarians
of the two countries can help make it happen, Chairman of the House
of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir
Andreichenko has said as he received a parliamentary delegation of
Armenia led by Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia
Eduard Sharmazanov on 11 July, BelTA has learnt.

Vladimir Andreichenko stated that the economies of Belarus and
Armenia are complementary and the potential of the trade and economic
cooperation has not been used in full. “Our countries are expanding the
bilateral trade, but we need to embrace new forms of cooperation, like
establishment of joint ventures, operations and assembly factories,”
Vladimir Andreichenko said.

The Speaker noted that Armenia might be interested in agricultural
machinery and fertilizers made in Belarus. Besides, Belarus has
greatly advanced in crop production and animal breeding technologies.

Vladimir Andreichenko emphasized the relevance of the forthcoming
session of the interparliamentary cooperation commission of
the National Assembly of Belarus and the National Assembly of
Armenia. The MPs are going to discuss prospects of the trade and
economic cooperation. He added that the Belarusian parliament
is investing a lot of efforts in promoting Belarusian products,
implementing investment projects and bolstering cooperation ties.

Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov
agreed that Belarus-Armenia cooperation is gaining momentum in
all the fields. “The interparliamentary cooperation commission has
great potential to intensify bilateral relations,” he said. Eduard
Sharmazanov also spoke about prospects of interparliamentary
cooperation: “Armenia and Belarus have synchronized their positions
in the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, CIS Interparliamentary Assembly,
and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. We need to make our cooperation
in international organizations even tighter”.

The Armenian delegation will stay in Belarus until 14 July. The program
of the visit includes a session of the intergovernmental cooperation
commission in Minsk and a visit to Brest Oblast and Minsk Oblast.