Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Arthur Abraham wants to develop professional boxing in Armenia

18:42, 26 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: Professional boxing is not yet
well developed in Armenia. Armenpress quoted WBO Super Middleweight
Champion Arthur Abraham as saying during interview with journalists.

According to Armenian sportsman amateur and professional boxing are
at different scales and they cannot be developed by only one person.

“There is a progress in Armenia; therefore it hasn’t reached
international level. Television has a core role in the development of
sport,” Arthur Abraham said. In his words everything is connected with
big sums of money while foreign systems are still not invested here.

In near future Arthur plans to found amateur boxing school in his
native Charbakh district.

ARF NOMINATES NO CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENCY
Lusine Vasilyan

“Radiolur”
17:34 26.12.2012

The Armenian Revolutionary federation will not nominate a candidate
at the presidential elections scheduled for February 18, 2013. It
won’t support the candidate nominated by the authorities and will
follow the developments and will not boycott the elections.

There are four reasons that have made the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation refuse from participating in the elections, ARF
representatives told a press conference today.

“The first reason is the nature of the elections. The political
relations are in the shadow, and we have not managed to change this,”
Secretary of the ARF faction Aghvan Vardanyan said.

The second reason is the failure to form a united opposition front
and nominate a single candidate.

“Participation in the predetermined elections would mean being part
of a ready-made scenario, while we have said on many occasions we do
no play the game of others and are never guided by the scenario of
others,” he said.

Finally, Dashnaktsutyun is confident that its’ not only elections
that provide the parties with an opportunity to present their own
approaches.

The decision not to nominate its own candidate does not mean ARF
withdraws from the electoral processes. According to Armen Rustamyan,
this will allow the AR to be more unbiased.

“Therefore, this does not mean our political activity is coming to an
end. On the contrary, we’ll be trying to ensure that the electrical
processes develop in the right direction,” he said.

ARMENIA’S RAILWAY PROBLEMS

By Messenger Staff

Wednesday, December 26

Armenia’s railways were purchased by Russian railways and they
function under the name of South Caucasus railways. So far these
railways have had limited opportunities. They do not go to Turkey
because of the closed border between Turkey and Armenia and they do
not obviously go to Azerbaijan. The only international destination
for the South Caucasus railways is Georgia. Thus the idea has become
very interesting to establish a railway connection between Armenian
and Iran. The issue of the restoration of the railway connection
with Russia through Georgia and later Abkhazia is also an issue of
speculation, although there are many obstacles for this possibility
to be implemented in reality.

ARMENIA-EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT MAY CREATE LEVERAGES FOR PRESSURING TURKEY-EXPERT

YEREVAN, December 26./ARKA/. The possible ratification of Association
Agreement between Armenia and the EU and the perspectives for Armenia
to enter EU Trade Union may create additional leverages for pressure
over Turkey, Vahram Ter-Matevosyan told reporters on Wednesday at
Novosti International press center in Yerevan.

Vahram Ter-Matvevosyan is an expert at Institute of Oriental Studies
of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences.

Negotiations on the Association Agreement Armenia-EU started in July
2010 in Yerevan. The upcoming agreement will substitute the agreement
on partnership and cooperation and is aimed at strengthening the
relations between Armenia and the European Union in different spheres,
particularly in the sphere of foreign policy, democracy, economic
integration, movement of people and energy.

“Turkey joined the Trade Union in 1995, and if Armenia enters the
Union, Turkey will be challenged by the new issues, such as closed
borders with Armenia-EU Trade Union member state” the expert implied.

Ter-Matevosyan noted that the Armenian authorities should constantly
reiterate the issue of the closed borders with Turkey.

Trade Union member states can import and export goods within the
Union borders without any customs duties.

Official Ankara closed borders with Armenia in 1993. The relations
between the two states were tensed as Turkey supported Azerbaijan’s
position in the Karabakh conflict and kept denying the fact of the
Armenian Genocide of 1915. -0-

IRANIAN PLAYS TO BE RELEASED IN ARMENIA

26 Dec 2012 16:10

Backed by the Dramatic Arts Center of Iran

Behzad Sedeghi, an official of Iranian Theatre Forum, announced that
12 Armenian plays will be released in Persian while the translation
of Iranian works is on the agenda as well.

IBNA: According to the public relations department of the Iranian
Theatre Forum, the spokesman and the deputy of the board of directors
of the Forum’s playwrights’ center said: “Supported by the director
of the Dramatic Arts Center of Iran, Qader Ashena, a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) will soon be signed between the Dramatic Arts
Center and the Forum’s playwrights’ center.”

Following the activities of the international section and a MoU which
was signed with the Writers’ Union of Armenia, Forum’s playwrights’
center has decided to release 12 Armenian plays, which will be
translated by Andranik Khechoumian, and publish Iranian plays into
Armenia, he added.

Currently “Wall” by Alireza Naderi and “A romantic narrative of a
death in Ordibehesht” by Mohammad Charmshir have been rendered into
Armenian which are supposed to be staged in Armenia as well.

EXPERT PREDICTS EU ROLE INCREASE IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

December 26, 2012 – 16:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The director of the Center of Regional Studies
noted little change in Karabakh conflict settlement in 2012.

“The only perceptible change occurred in Azerbaijan, which the country
having grown more unpredictable and unreasonable to its won detriment,”
a political expert Richard Giragosian told a news conference.

“However, the faulty Baku policies only strengthened Armenia’s
position, with heroization of a criminal Safarov proving that Nagorno
Karabakh cannot be annexed to Azerbaijan,” he noted.

The expert expects no breakthrough in Karabakh settlement in 2013
due to unconstructive stance of Azerbaijan.

Mr. Giragosyan predicted an increased role of the EU in the settlement,
which doesn’t rule out OSCE Minsk Group activities.

ARTHUR ABRAHAM TO GET MARRIED NEXT YEAR

15:09, 26 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Next year Arthur Abraham wants to
exceed his achievements of the current year. The WBO World Champion
expressed this opinion during the press-conference. Arthur Abraham
stated: “I don~Rt have any Christmas wish, but I want to record more
achievements next year.” Regarding his future undertakings Abraham
stressed that the construction of his gym is in process. He has
already bought a piece of land for this purpose. Also the Armenian
athlete wants to get married in 2013, notwithstanding he still keeps
the name of his beloved in secret. Arthur Abraham said: “I would love
to compete under the Armenian flag, although I have no right to do
it now, but this desire of mine will come true one day.”

Arthur Abraham was born on 20 February 1980, in Yerevan, Armenia to
parents Grigor and Sylvia Abrahamyan. His little brother, Alexander,
is also a professional boxer. He moved to Germany with his parents
and brothers at the age of 15. He became a citizen of Germany in
August 2006.

“THE CONGRESS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN,” AN ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) MEMBER SAYS

DECEMBER 25, 2012 15:37

“I respect Levon Ter-Petrossian’s decision. The decision he made
is not a decision of an insignificant person. The political stage
has become somewhat dull and uninteresting,” Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, a
member of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, which is in the ANC,
made this comment on ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrossian’s decision not
to announce his candidacy during a conversation with

In response to our question whether this decision hadn’t put members
of the Congress in an awkward position, he said: “The Congress will
never be the same again. If the Congress remains, it will have a
different status and will undergo some transformations. Now we have
a lot of things to think of, because the political stage has emptied.

There is a very serious thing to think of. All those braggarts,
those stupid people who made judgments – this is this way, that is
that way – you know, everything became very unserious. Including the
presidential election. We have travelled a glorious road with Levon
Ter-Petrossian. I myself can remember that road very well. Admittedly,
it was full of prickles and thorns, we have been in prison, persecuted,
are persecuted and will be persecuted by the tyranny, but I can say
that we have travelled a glorious road. I am very grateful to Levon
Ter-Petrossian that I was a member of his team, and I travelled
that road.”

In response to our observation that he was talking about it as a
thing of the past, what the reason for that was, whether everything
had ended, he said: “Nothing has ended. Just respecting Levon
Ter-Petrossian’s decision that he is 68 years old and will not be
a candidate; that’s what I was talking about. Unfortunately, the
presidential election has become uninteresting.”

Taking into account the intrigue related to the silence recently, we
inquired whether Levon Ter-Petrossian had just found out that he was
68 years old, Yeghiazaryan said that the man had thought and hadn’t
known what decision he would make, “Let us just respect the reason he
mentioned. When I said that the ANC would surely have its candidate,
it was my innermost desire that it was so, because there can be no
political struggle without Levon Ter-Petrossian.”

Gurgen Yeghiazaryan assured that they would not lay down their arms,
since the country really was in an extremely bad condition, “At the
beginning of the spring, it is possible that the country will behave
adequately. Even given the fact that Levon Ter-Petrossian will not
announce his candidacy, even given that, one should be sorry for
Serzh Sargsyan. Because

saying try again and again and again, what next? It is not a cheap
lottery ticket that one can buy and try again. This is a country.

There are a lot of poor kids in this country, no matter what he says.

People are hungry, and a party that is called the Republican Party
of Armenia (RPA) is to blame for that.”

Hripsime JEBEJYAN

MONUMENT EXPERT: WE HAVE LOSSES, THERE IS LITTLE CARE ABOUT MONUMENTS

Panorama.am
27/12/2012

There are monuments in Armenia which are in a bad condition, Makaravank
situated next Pemzashen in that number. The Monuments this year have
neither been reconstructed nor affirmed, said Samvel Karapetyan, expert
in monuments, head of the Research on Armenian Architecture Fund.

“The dome of Makaravank has been destructed. It needed to be at list
affirmed, if it was impossible to reconstruct. We should help such
monuments to survive, till we have the possibility to reconstruct
them. But there is not enough care about them, and we have losses,”
the expert said.

As for the monuments that are being reconstructed and the complaints
that there are deviation and the construction work has no quality S.

Karapetyan gave the example of Haghartsin monastery and noted that the
reconstruction here is with high quality. He added that different parts
of the monastery are being reconstructed by different groups of workers
and it is possible that one group may do good work the other not.

He touched upon the monuments that are out of Armenia and are situated
in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and said that none of the 8 Armenian
churches in Agulis exists today. “All the pictures and information
speak about the fact that Armenian churches are being distorted,”
mentioned he with sorrow.

The monuments that are located in West Armenia are being reconstructed
by the support of Turkish authorities. They are mainly consternated on
the monuments in Ani. He mentioned that there will be only few Armenian
churches in Turkey which will survive in Turkey, these however have
been preserved for political reasons. S. Karapetyan also noticed that
no Armenian churches have been reconstructed in Georgia this year too.

LE NOMBRE DES HETELS A ETE MULTIPLIE PAR DEUX EN ARMENIE EN 5 ANS
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 27 decembre 2012

Une etude de la societe de conseil “Ameria” montre que le nombre
d’hôtels en Armenie a ete multiplie par deux.

La societe de conseil “Ameria” a etudie la sphère du tourisme en
Armenie ainsi que celle des services des hôtels. Les experts ont
analyse en profondeur l’environnement macroeconomique, l’hospitalite,
la part du PIB, la moyenne des tarifs annuels des chambres dans les
hôtels de differentes classes dans le Caucase du Sud, les analyses
comparatives sur l’occupation, et les tendances de developpement du
tourisme en Armenie et dans la region dans son ensemble.

La recherche a montre que le nombre d’hôtels a ete multiplie par deux
alors que le nombre de lits dans les chambres a grimpe de 1,4 fois.

En 2011, près de 5,2 millions de personnes ont visite le Caucase
du Sud pour les vacances, les affaires ou pour d’autres fins, selon
la recherche.

Au cours des 10 dernières annees, la Georgie a declare le taux le
plus eleve de croissance annuel. Elle est suivie par l’Armenie et
l’Azerbaïdjan. Cela signifie que le tourisme est essentiel pour le
developpement de l’Armenie et de la Georgie.

jeudi 27 decembre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com