Author: Kalantarian Kevo

JORDAN, ARMENIA SIGN EDUCATIONAL AGREEMENT

Petra News Agency, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
June 24 2013

Amman, June 24 (Petra)–Jordan and Armenia signed on Monday an
educational and scientific cooperation agreement, under which both
sides will provide the other with scholarships to attend higher
education and scientific institutions in either country.

Both countries will also work to support educational and scientific
issues through joint work with international organizations and will
encourage the exchange of visits among scholars, professors, teachers,
and students, with the aim of exchanging expertise in the educational
and scientific domains.

The agreement also aims to boost cooperation and relations among
institutes from both countries, implement programs and projects,
and exchange data in educational and scientific fields.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amin Mahmoud, who
signed the agreement on behalf of Jordan, highlighted the contribution
of Jordan’s 25,000-member Armenian community in assisting the country’s
development process over the past few decades.

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan, who signed
the agreement on behalf of the Armenian side, said the bilateral
cultural and scientific relations would be strengthened further with
the signing of the agreement .

? ? //Petra// ON

THE POTENTIAL OF 102ND RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN GYUMRI WILL BE IMPROVED

20:31, 24 June, 2013

GYUMRI, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS: Secretary of the Security council of the
Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev was in Gyumri on an official visit
on June 24. “Armenpress” was informed from Information and public
relations department of regional administration of Shirak that the
delegation headed by Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of National Security
Council of the Republic of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan and head of
Shirak regional administration Feliks Tsolakyan visited Russian 102nd
military base. During the day the guests put a wreath in the memorial
“Honor hill” which symbolizes Armenian-Russian friendship.

Secretary of Security Council of Russia awarded with medals several
soldiers of Russian military unit.

Nikolai Patrushev estimated the works of 102nd Russian military base
as good adding that it is a modern military base and will continue its
work. Hi highlighted that the potential of the base will be improved
in future.

GOVERNMENT IS IN PANIC

Those beneficiaries of benefits for civil servants who want to spend
the benefit on travel will have to borrow money. Civil servants and
employees and teachers complained to Lragir.am that they were informed
that in order to use their benefit on travel, they will have to borrow
the money from banks.

Note that the benefit of civil servants is an annual lump-sum payment
of 132,000 AMD. Half of the sum is for mandatory medical insurance.

The rest can be spent for three purposes. The money is not disbursed
to the beneficiary. The three purposes are a mortgage loan installment,
tuition fee and a trip to Armenia or Artsakh.

The minister of finance Vache Gabrielyan said at the beginning of this
year that the policy has been improved, and the amount of beneficiaries
has increased by 30,000. The beneficiaries receive 11,000 AMD to their
bank accounts every month. If the beneficiary does not spend the money,
it is rolled over to the next year, as the government promised. Vache
Gabrielyan says this year 21.1 billion AMD will be directed to the
program instead of last year’s 15 billion.

The beneficiaries who receive approximately 50 to 120 thousand AMD
per month are dissatisfied with the policy. They note that they are
forced to borrow money from banks for their holidays.

We learned from a government official that those people who want to
spend the money for their holidays will have to borrow money from the
bank because tour operators do not accept the government’s condition
to disburse money in monthly installments.

Usually, people go on holiday in July-August when only part of the
benefit has been transferred to people’s bank accounts. So people
will have to borrow money to go on holiday which will later be repaid
by the government but interest will have to be paid either by the
government or by the beneficiary.

Our source said that according to the agreement with the banks,
the interests should be the lowest – 12-14%. Negotiations with tour
operators are still going on. The government hopes they will agree
over monthly payments.

By the way, our sources say that this issue has sent the government
into a panic. The authors of the benefit are trying to return the
previous arrangement of lump-sum disbursement.

Roza Hovhannisyan 16:41 24/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

ROBERT KOCHARYAN’S ENTREE

Serzh Sargsyan left for Poland, Hovik Abrahamyan for Strasburg, Edward
Nalbandyan as well, Catholicos Garegin II for France andSwitzerland.

Only Tigran Sargsyan and those who are openly trying to make him
resign are in Yerevan.

What new revelations will be made on these days? Will new players
appear who have been in the shadow for months and years? What will
Gagik Tsarukyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan say? May Robert Kocharyan
appear?

Over the past five years Robert Kocharyan has been keeping a mysterious
silence, making statements from time to time. The most symptomatic
statement was issued on the eve of the presidential campaign. Kocharyan
said that it does not befit a Karabakhi to hinder another Karabakhi
to be re-elected as president.

Serzh Sargsyan has been re-elected, and now nothing constrains Robert
Kocharyan’s political ambitions. It’s time, as they say, for entree,
especially that all the prerequisites are there. The prime minister
is involved in an offshore scandal, Russia is pulling Armenia to
the Customs Union, the social situation is worse than ever, and the
opposition is more monolithic than ever.

Political fight between Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan over the
past five years has been reduced to the issue whether Serzh Sargsyan
will stay for one or two terms. The issue has been resolved in Serzh
Sargsyan’s favor, and a new electoral campaign is starting.

Robert Kocharyan who is the author of the current system does not need
to change anything. He will only need to place everyone on the old
tracks. Apparently, everyone understands this, and this is the reason
why the authorities literally took up guns against Tigran Sargsyan
who is a “stranger” in this system. He was a stranger even as head
of the Central Bank during Kocharyan’s presidency because he used to
work with money and did not take part in the division of feeder.

Most probably, Robert Kocharyan will continue following the
processes from shadow, “helping” from time to time to choose the right
direction. When necessary, compromising materials can be released, the
government can be scolded through Hovik Abrahamyan’s lips, it could
be said privately that Tigran is leading Armenia to a disaster. And
when the moment comes, it will be possible to come out of the shadow
as a winner, “upon the people’s request”.

Although in Armenia they are speaking about the monolith power headed
by Serzh Sargsyan, in reality Robert Kocharyan has been participating
in everything over the past five years – in the capital, management,
elections and international affairs. Now that everyone is abroad,
only Tigran Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan are in Armenia.

Naira Hayrumyan 15:31 24/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

SERZH SARGSYAN DECIDED TO KEEP SILENCE

The feeling is that Serzh Sargsyan is looking for an excuse to be
away from the country until autumn. He was on holiday over the past
ten days. Having been back from Vienna, he is leaving today for Poland.

Serzh Sargsyan’s silence starts being suspicious. It was expected that,
once back from Vienna, he would call a Republican Executive Committee
meeting after which Eduard Sharmazanov would either announce about
Tigran Sargsyan’s resignation or he would say that Serzh Sargsyan
had personally registered his offshore assets.

However, judging from his television appearances, Sharmazanov’s task
is to deal with the “alternative”, and now he is actively convincing
that they built the power together, so they are guilty together.

Serzh Sargsyan has left for Poland and we do not know yet where he
will go from there. Perhaps, he will take a leave and fly to the
United States to mark time. The number one task for the Armenian
leadership is to mark time until autumn.

Only the secretary of Russian Security Council has been able to have
a meeting with Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan during the weekend. Perhaps,
it is impossible to hide from him. Moreover, the issue of enhancing
security at the Armenian borders was discussed.

It is not known why this issue required such an urgent discussion but
we can presume that the European partners of Armenia demand revising
the agreement between Armenia and Russia on border control. If Armenia
intends to sign the Association Agreement with the EU and to set up
a free trade area, its borders cannot be defended by the troops of
a third country which has tense relations with the EU.

These two months will probably be the most challenging months of Serzh
Sargsyan’s tenure. He may choose silence without uttering a word about
Tigran Sargsyan or the Control Chamber revelations but he cannot avoid
two main tasks – reduction of dependence on Russia and prevention of
change of government in Armenia because of the Kremlin. Moreover,
internal vicissitudes in Armenia are the derivatives of these two
tasks.

Naira Hayrumyan 12:42 24/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

SIGNATURES COLLECTED IN TURKEY TO PRESERVE ARMENIAN HOUSES IN MUSH PROVINCE

A signatures collection action has been launched in Turkey to prevent
the destruction of the historical Armenian houses in Mush Province. As
reported by Armenpress, the Turkish imzakampanyam.com website published
a statement, which says that currently the Turks demonstrate violation
towards all the ancient nations, “the issues of which have been left
unsettled since 1915”.

“The Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians are subjected to systematic
massacre. The process, launched by the Armenian Genocide of
1915, is now continued as a cultural and economic genocide”, –
says the statement. The organizers of the signatures collection
raised their voice of protest on the occasion that the “Justice and
Development” Party, governing in Mush Province, intends to destroy
the historical Armenian houses in Mush and give them to the TOKI
building company. “They aim at getting maximum profit and destroying
the collective memory”, – stated the organizers.

To preserve the historical Armenian heritage, the participants of
the launched signatures collection action intend to collect 10,000
electronic signatures.

ARMENIA IS 5TH AT GLOBE SPOT’S TOP 10 COUNTRIES TO TRAVEL TO IN 2013

YEREVAN, June 24./ARKA/. Armenia comes in at # 5 among Top 10 countries
to travel to in 2013, according to Globe Sports portal.

“Despite its rather well developed tourism infrastructure, Armenia
still flies under the radar of most travellers. Boasting having been
the first to embrace Christianity, the country provides ample proof
of that assertion, and following the guidebooks’ suggestions will
most likely leave anyone churched (or monasteried) out,” according
to the portal.

According to Globe Spot, fortunately, those willing to dig a
little deeper will discover a truly amazing country with a beautiful
landscape, but will also encounter genuinely nice people always ready
to offer them a shot of aragh (voda in Armenian language), introduced
by never-ending toasts, or welcome them at their khorovats picnic
(Armenian barbeque), or both.

“And with visa requirements being lifted for EU citizens, starting
in January, there’s even less reason to pass on this one.”

For compiling this rating, a group of professional travelers have
captured what’s happening on the travel scene focusing on destinations
they think will be “hot – or at least should be.”

Armenia was rated within a category of “adventurous places for those
who are going above and beyond, seeking out the best travel.”

Globe Spot rated Portugal as top country to visit in 2013. It is
followed by Mozambique, Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Armenia, Rwanda, Cuba,
Ukraine, Malawi and Canada. -0-

– See more at:

THE FORERUNNER OF THE ARMENIAN STATEHOOD’S REVIVAL

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 11:15

On May 28, our people marked the establishment of the First Armenian
Republic. This day, exactly 95 years ago, the Armenian National
Council proclaimed the independence of Armenia, which marked the
revival of the Armenian statehood. After many centuries, which were
full of tragic events, a new Armenian state appeared on the political
map of the world, which saved our people from imminent death.

The restoration of the independent Armenian statehood in the early
twentieth century was made possible through the truly historic victory
of our people in the Sardarapat battle, which took place on May 21-28,
1918 near the railway station of Sardarapat. It should be noted that
the Karakilis and Bash-Aparan battles took place the same period.

The Armenian Regular Army, together with the people’s militia, won
a convincing and brilliant victory over the Turkish aggressors who
invaded Eastern Armenia, thus writing a glorious page in the history of
the liberation struggle of the Armenian people. We can state without
any exaggeration that the success in the fields of the three crucial
battles saved Eastern Armenia from the Turkish massacres.

For better understanding and awareness of the significance of these
victories let’s recall the history. The World War I was underway that
period, and the events in the Transcaucasia were developing tragically
for our people. In January 1918, the actions of the Bolsheviks finally
collapsed the Caucasian front, and the Turkish troops decided to take
advantage of this favorable situation for them.

Meeting no resistance, they moved into the Transcaucasia. There
are documentary evidences confirming the Turkish government’s
plans to repeat the genocide of the Armenian people, but in Eastern
Armenia. In the secret instructions of February 27, 1918, Turkey’s
Minister of War Enver Pasha ordered the commanders of the Turkish
military units, which had started the intervention: “Today, thanks to
a happy coincidence, His Majesty commanded to exterminate the entire
Armenian nation”. It is worth noting that the Caucasian Tatars, or
as they are now called – Azerbaijanis, who planned to unite with the
kindred Turks,also decided to take advantage of the situation,. To
achieve this goal, they needed to remove the main obstacle for them –
Armenia, which separated Azerbaijan and Turkey. To resolve the Armenian
issue in accordance with the genocidal doctrine of pan-Turkism, the
Turkish troops crossed the Arax River in early May and invaded the
Transcaucasia for supporting Azerbaijan. On May 15, the Turkish Army
invaded Alexandropol (Gyumri), killing the civilians. The Turks were
moving in three directions, including to Yerevan. Armenia, which had
not yet recovered from the monstrous genocide of 1915, was under the
threat of further breakdown and loss of the remnants of its territory,
as well as the final loss of its statehood. That is why it is difficult
to overestimate the historical significance of the Sardarapat battle.

Surely, the victory in Sardarapat and the restoration of the
Armenian statehood had the greatest military and political
significance. Besides, their moral-psychological significance was
similarly great. For its long and in many ways tragic history, the
Armenian people has experienced incredible hardships and suffered
heavy losses – both human and territorial, and lost its statehood. As
a result, our people acquired a complex of victim that pursued it for
a long time and, to some extent, deprived it of the opportunity to
defend its own interests and the very right to a free and worthy life.

Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilis broke the series of heavy
defeats and revived our people’s confidence in its own strength.They
demonstrated to the world the unparalleled feat of the people and
became a testament to its unwavering will and spiritual greatness.

They became a symbol of the revival of the Armenian people and its
national sovereignty. It is noteworthy that even the commander of
the Turkish Army, General Vahib Pasha admitted: “It was the greatest
battle in the war. Armenians have demonstrated that they can be the
best soldiers in the world! “.

The First Republic of Armenia existed only two years. In the process
of Sovietization of Transcaucasia it ceased to exist, giving birth
to the Second Armenian Republic – the Soviet one.

However, the short history of the First Republic does not belittle its
significance for the future of our people, as it became the forerunner
of the Armenian statehood’s revival. The significance of the lessons
of the First Republic is also enduring. There is probably a lot of
them, but the main one is the awareness of the indisputable truth
that only the unity and consolidation of our entire people can pose
and solve the most important problems of national significance. The
First Republic was the child of this unity born in the heaviest
geopolitical situation in the early 20th century, when Armenia and
our people faced the sharpest challenge of to be or not to be. Today,
the Third and independent Republic of Armenia is the embodiment of
the age-old dream of the Armenian people for independent statehood
and is a full member of the international community. It is the core
of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity, and that’s why it is the
duty of the present and future generations of the Armenian people to
protect and strengthen the Armenian statehood, which has revived at
the cost of the lives of thousands of our compatriots.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

HOW WELL DOES THE GOVERNMENT PROTECT THE CITIZENS’ INTERESTS?

Wednesday, 12 June 2013 12:17

As we have already reported during its June 10 session the NKR state
committee on regulation of public services and economic competition
decided to increase the tariff rates on gas, electricity and water. If
the rise of the gas rate could be explained, on part of electricity
and water rates that is, to put it mildly, impossible to understand, as
during the recent years it has been announced at the higher instances
that the electricity rate will not change in the nearest future,
that soon we shall become a country exporting electricity and that
the electric energy rate will never exceed 30 drams. On part of water
there were various announcements as if we are able to export water
but it turns out this sphere as well can’t do without problems.

During the session the head of the committee kept emphasizing that
for the inhabitants the tariff rates would remain the same, they
would change only for legal entities. In answer to the question
“Will the committee manage to suppress the rising of the prices on
other services as a result of the growth of the mentioned tariff
rates?” the head of the committee only noted that they should do
their best to prevent any unwarranted rising. But these rises will
be justified by the growth of gas, electricity and water rates and
in the end people will have to put up with these prices as well.

The subsidy of part of the tariff rate of the electric energy consumed
by the inhabitants was also long discussed. They seem to lighten the
burden of the inhabitants but a question arises: where do they get the
necessary amount of money, again from the state budget which is the
inhabitants’ “common pocket” or they will search for other resources?

These are questions which have no answer yet.

Wasn’t it possible to maintain even only the prices of our resources
to avoid the additional tension among the population which is expressed
in any conversation about the rising of the rates? The chairman of the
committee on regulation of public services and economic competition
noted in his speech that it was impossible to avoid this growth of
tariff rates and “these rates should have been much higher, we just
tried to find the “golden mean” for the present-day situation”.

Some inhabitants, though, suggested other variants in their talk
with us. “They have nothing else to do but to blow up the country and
kill the people. Are our incomes so high to increase the tariff rates
so much? My husband is an invalid who gets a pension of 30 thousand
drams. He is a bed-ridden patient and we have to take him to Yerevan
once in two months. Just tell me how should I pay for these services,
buy the necessary medicine and live through the whole month?” This
question was directed to us by one of Stepanakert citizens.

YEREVAN TO HOST ARMENIAN-ARGENTINEAN SEMINAR ON ECONOMIC TIES

June 25, 2013 | 13:04

YEREVAN. – A seminar-presentation, titled “Bilateral Trade and
Investment Opportunities,” will be held on Friday in Armenia’s capital,
Yerevan.

The event is organized by the Embassy of Argentina and the Armenian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The seminar-presentation will bring together representatives from the
Armenian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, the Union of Banks
of Armenia, the international airport of Armenia, the Armenian Union
of Information Technology, Armenian and American tourism agencies,
Armenia’s ArmRusGazprom Company and from several other Armenian and
international organizations, and businessmen.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am