Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Yerevan Mayoral Candidates and Their Finances
Grisha Balasanyan

13:10, April 13, 2013

What follows is a breakdown of assets owned by those heading their
respective party proportional tickets in the upcoming May 5 Yerevan
municipal elections.

The data is culled from the financial disclosures filed by the
candidates covering the period March 1, 2012 – March 1, 2013.

Taron Margaryan (Republican Party) – The current Mayor of Yerevan’
sole income is his salary of 4.730 million AMD.

He had bank accounts of 115 million AMD, $50,000 and 50,000 Euros.

Vardan Oskanyan (Prosperous Armenia) – His sole income is derived from
his monthly 300,000 AMD as a member of parliament. He declared
$150,000 in band deposits.

Vahagn Khachatryan (Armenian National Congress) – This former Yerevan
mayor declared no revenue for the period mentioned. He declared
600,000 AMD and $1,500 in bank depsoits.

Armen Rostoumyan (ARF) – This MP declared annual wages of 3.350
million AMd and interest income of 150,000 AMD.

He declared banks deposits of 15 million AMD, $10,000 and 2,000 Euros.

Armen Yeritsyan (Country of Law) – He is currently the Minister of
Emergency Situations and declared 3.817 million AMD in wages and a
police pension of 3.401 million.

He declared 34 million AMD in bank holdings.

Mesrop Arakelyan (Mission Party) – He is 28 years-old and teaches at
Yerevan State University. He declared 17.863 million AMD in wages from
VTB Bank and 772,000 from the university, plus 375,000 in interest
income.

He declared bank deposits of 2 million AMD and $48,000.

Armen Martirosyan (Barev Yerevan) – He serves as the Vice-President of
the Heritage Party.

He declared 1.208 million AMD in wages from the State Institute of
Physical Culture and 741,000 AMD from the National Assembly when he
served as an MP. He declared no bank holdings.

Non-competitive business environment prevents development of
innovative business in Armenia, UITE says

YEREVAN, April 13. / ARKA /. Non-competitive business environment is
the main obstacle preventing the development of innovative businesses
in Armenia, according to Karen Vardanian, the executive director of
the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE).

“The oligarchic business system in Armenia is affecting competition.
When there is no competition, entrepreneurs are not interested in the
modernization of their businesses,” he said at the 13th congress of
UITE.

According to him, some of the best IT solutions in the world are
being designed in Armenia, `but the problem is that by producing the
best IT solutions, Armenians do not use them because of the weak
competition.’

Presenting the work done in 2012 by UITE Vardanian singled out the
concept and suggestions for improvement in the areas of e-commerce and
IT procurement, designed by UITE.

In 2000 the government announced IT sector as a priority. Today there
are around 350 IT companies in the country, which employ some 10,000
people. According to UITE, in 2012 this sector grew by 25 percent to
an annual turnover of $250 million. UITE was founded in 2000 to
protect the interests of IT companies, stimulate progress and
encourage research. It has now 60 member companies. -0-

Centuries old walls of Diyarbakir could enter UNESCO World Heritage List

16:26 13.04.2013

The historic walls of Diyarbakir (Tigranakert) could soon enter the
UNESCO World Heritage List. A meeting was recently held with the
attendance of officials from 15 countries to exchange information
about what should be done, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

`We have to keep and restore the historic walls, and present them to
the world history of humanity as a cultural heritage,’ Food,
Agriculture and Livestock Minister of Turkey Mehdi Eker said during a
meeting titled `Diyarbakir Castle and Historic City ICOMOS/ICOFORT
2013.’

Ouest-France
lundi 8 avril 2013
nantes Edition

L’artiste sanmaritain Artak Sakanyan coté à Drouot

En octobre 2012, Artak Sakanyan, artiste-peintre à l’atelier situé
dans le bourg de Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer à Pornic, recevait la médaille
d’or en peinture au concours international « Le chemin des arts » de
Tourty (Bourgogne), organisé par Denise Warin, directrice de l’Échange
culturel pour la France, artiste peintre internationale, conseillère
agréée Drouot cotation et présidente de l’association Ice blue. Une
reconnaissance professionnelle qui propulse Artak Sakanyan dans le
cercle convoité des artistes côté à Drouot. « J’ose espérer que cela
m’ouvrira les portes des galeries du monde entier »,lance Artak
Sakanyan, qui signe ses oeuvres du petit nom Arttuche que lui donnait
sa grand-mère.

Né le 16 juillet 1982 à Erevan, en Arménie, il vit et travaille à
Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer, au bord de l’océan. Cet océan qui l’inspire.
Peintre-céramiste et poète, l’artiste trouve son inspiration en
ouvrant sa fenêtre« qui donne sur la mer ou en me baladant le long du
chemin côtier ».

Ses dessins, pastels, acryliques ou encre de chine, font sonner les
musiques de ses origines lointaines, Arménie par son père et Russie
par sa mère. Les femmes, omniprésentes dans ses tableaux, sont ses
muses, ses déesses. Véritable hymne à la création et à ses
conséquences, Artak est un artiste sensible qui s’attaque« au rêve
d’un monde meilleur ». Sa devise, il l’a tiré d’une phrase de
Dostoievski : « La beauté sauvera le monde ».

Depuis février 2013, il est coté par le Guide’Arts et inscrit sur les
sites officiels de cotation. Il est aussi entré dans le Dictionnaire
des Artistes Cotés 2013. Cette belle reconnaissance, confirme qu’Artak
Sakanyan est un artiste à part entière au style personnel, puissant et
singulier.

Pour découvrir une partie de son travail : ou au
1, rue Pasteur, bourg de Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer, Pornic. Renseignements
: 06 37 50 60 50.

The Idaho Statesman
April 14 2013

BOOK REVIEW: Introducing the world to Armenian genocide

By RICK BENTLEY – THE FRESNO BEE

Chris Bohjalian wrote a novel 20 years ago based on the Armenian
genocide. It was never published.

“It was a train wreck. Then I started thinking why should I write a
book about the Armenian genocide when there were so many good ones
already, including ‘Rise the Euphrates’ by Carol Edgarian,” says
Bohjalian. “The manuscript now resides in the archives of my alma
mater.”

The Amherst College graduate went on to write 11 other books –
including his best-known work, “Midwives” – before finally getting
back to the subject with “The Sandcastle Girls.”

The book was inspired by his grandparents – Leo and Haigoohi – who
survived the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians, starting in 1915.

It’s that larger meaning that helped Bohjalian write his novel, when
his first effort failed. He was determined to use the genocide as a
backdrop, despite being told by people in the publishing industry –
fortunately not his editor – that a book like “The Sandcastle Girls”
would be a career killer. They said a lack of knowledge of the
killings outside the Armenian community would make the book a tough
sell.

He proved them wrong by telling two stories – one about lovers who
meet in Syria during the genocide and the other about their
granddaughter’s efforts a century later to understand why they were so
silent about their youth.

The author’s own grandparents never talked about that brutal period.
Bohjalian was able to get a lot of information from his father, Aram,
who also didn’t talk about the genocide while the author was young.

When Aram’s health began to deteriorate in 2009, father and son spent
a lot of time looking at old family photographs that sparked
conversations about the family. “The Sandcastle Girls” is dedicated to
Aram, and Bohjalian’s mother-in-law, Sondra Blewer, who both died in
2011.

This information helped the author write the opposite of a “train
wreck.” The book – which could become a feature film – has earned high
praise, including being selected as an Oprah Winfrey Book of the Week.

“I have written so many books that were successful, where people
thought they were crazy ideas. When I started writing a book about
midwives, I was told no one outside of New England would know what I
was talking about,” says Bohjalian.

He was glad that he didn’t let the critics stop him. “The Sandcastle
Girls” has been an educational tool for many readers. There are
thousands of comments on Bohjalian’s Facebook page from people who
were clueless until reading about it in his book.

“Because so many people outside the Armenian community hadn’t heard
about the genocide, I was determined to get it right when I started
this book,” says Bohjalian.

He is also determined to talk about the book as often as possible. The
trips give him a chance to thank the members of the Armenian community
who have embraced the book.

April 14 marks murder anniversary of first NKR leader Artur Lazarian
[image: April 14 marks murder anniversary of first NKR leader Artur
Lazarian]

April 14, 2013 – 18:27 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Artur Lazarian, the First Chairman of Supreme Council
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was murdered on April 14.

Lazarian was the first Artsakh leader to challenge the forces that
initiated a geopolitical catastrophe.

It was under his guidance that a political decision to start a war was
taken.

Artur Lazarian was elected as the Chairman of Supreme Council on January
7, 1992. 98 days into assuming post, he made an important contribution to
reinforcing defensive capability of Artsakh. Lazarian was fatally shot
under unclear circumstances in April 1992.

FrontPage Magazine: Turkey still genocidal Muslim country

April 14, 2013 – 18:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey not only committed genocide against
Christians, but it still lies about it and locks up its citizens who
even mention the genocide. It’s also violently anti-semitic underits
current Islamist government, an article published in FrontPage
Magazine said.

`So that means the time is right for its government to hypocritically
warn Europe that the failure to accept Muslim immigrants could lead to
another Holocaust,’ the article notes.

European countries will face new humanitarian tragedies leading to
mass killings of people if they continue in their failure to embrace
tolerance toward different cultures and religions, President Abdullah
Gül has warned.

As he noted, Islam and migrants have been a reality in Europe for
centuries. `As long as the continent of Europe doesn’t approach
segments which are different from the majority with tolerance,
particularly in regards to religion, an occurrence of new inquisitions
and Holocausts, as well as incidents evoking Srebrenica, are
probable,’ Gül said.

`No doubt Turkey could be a model of tolerance for Europe,’ the
article ironized.

`Turkey has huge numbers of Kurdish political prisoners, some locked
up for merely speaking their language or singing nationalistic songs.

Turkey not only refuses to acknowledge its Armenian Genocide, but
Erdogan, its thuggish Islamist leader, threatened Armenians with
ethnic cleansing if they keep complaining about it,’ the article
concluded.

HALTEROPHILIE
Le titre mondial junior pour l’Arménien Simon Mardirossian (+94 kg)

Hier, samedi 13 avril le représentant de l’Arménie, Simon Mardirossian
(+94 kg) a remporté le titre mondial junior d’haltérophilie lors des
championnats du Monde qui se déroulent à Tachkent (Ouzbékistan). Simon
Mardirossian a soulevé un total de 365 kg (165 kg à l’arraché et 200
kg à l’épaulé-jeté) pour monter sur la première marche du podium.
L’Arménien laisse derrière lui l’Iranien Alireza Suleyman (358 kg) et
le Kazakhe Selimakhan Aboubakarov (351 kg).

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 14 avril 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ASTROPHYSIQUE
Un site dédié au célèbre astrophysicien arménien Beniamin Markarian
qui a découvert plus de 1500 galaxies

A l’occasion du 100ème anniversaire de la naissance du célèbre
astrophysicien arménien Beniamin Markarian (1913-1985), la Société
arménienne d’astrophysique a créer un site internet qui lui est
intégralement dédié, à l’adresse Le site
comprend de très nombreuses informations sur le scientifique ainsi que
ses découvertes et travaux. L’Arménie organisera en octobre prochain
une grande conférence internationale d’astrophysique qui sera à
l’honneur de Beniamin Markarian. Ce dernier, considéré comme l’un des
plus grands astrophysiciens du 20e siècle avait découvert plus de 1500
galaxies (appelées Markarian ou Mkn) typiques par leur luminosité. Ces
galaxies portent désormais le nom de Markarian complétés d’un numéro.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 14 avril 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ARMENIE-MYSTERES
Les villageois de Karpi terrorisés par la rumeur d’un « monstre » qui
attaquerait les habitants

Les rumeurs du « monstre » qui sévit au village de Karpi dans la
région d’Arakadzodn (Arménie) ne correspondent pas à la réalité selon
le responsable de presse de la police arménienne Armen Malkhassian.
Selon Garo Baghdassarian le maire de Karpi, la rumeur qui a saisi sa
commune entretient un climat de grande peur au sein des habitants du
village. « Ces attaques dont la rumeur en parle c’est sans doute
l’`uvre d’une personne déséquilibrée. Je n’en connais pas plus. Je
n’ai rien vu et je ne peux pas dire ce qui s’est passé. Mais la rumeur
a pris de l’importance, même si ces derniers jours elle commence à
baisser de volume » dit Garo Baghdassarian aux journalistes d’Erévan.
Le maire de Karpi affirme que les autorités ont dépêché au village un
groupe de policiers pour veiller à la sécurité des habitants. La
rumeur parlait d’un « monstre » qui attaquait les villageois et tuait
les chiens du village. La légende du loup garou version arménienne ?

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 14 avril 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com