Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA DROPS ONE NOTCH IN THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2012-2013 TO 81ST POSITION

YEREVAN, December 18. / ARKA /. Armenia dropped one notch in The Global
Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 compiled by the World Economic Forum,
to 81st position among 144 countries.

The rating is topped in the fourth consecutive year by Switzerland,
which is followed by Singapore and Finland respectively. Northern and
Western European countries continue to dominate in the top ten. Sweden
is 4th, the Netherlands is 5th and Germany is 6th.

According to the report, Russia was ranked 67th, Azerbaijan – 46th,
Kazakhstan -51st (it has improved its position by 21 points) and
Georgia -77th.

The Global Competitiveness Report is an annual report of the World
Economic Forum. The first report was released in 1979. Since 2004,
the Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries based on “Global
Competitiveness Index” (GCI), which assesses the ability of countries
to ensure the well-being of their citizens.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss non-governmental
organization, best known for organizing annual meetings in Davos. -0-

ARMENIA’S DIASPORA MINISTER VISITS VENICE

news.am
December 18, 2012 | 14:58

Armenia’s Minister of Diaspora, Hranush Hakobyan, was in Venice,
Italy, on Sunday and Monday, to attend the events devoted to the
500th anniversary of Armenian printed books.

The events kicked off Sunday with a Holy Liturgy that was celebrated
at the Mother Cathedral of the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation on
Saint Lazarus Island.

Subsequently, an exhibition on ancient printing equipment and
tools opened at Saint Lazarus. In her opening remarks at the event,
Hakobyan highly appreciated the Mekhitarist Congregation’s undeniable
contribution to the development of Armenian book printing, and she
noted that the activities to digitize the cultural heritage of the
Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice will soon get underway. Also, a
musical-poetic play was staged on the same evening. In her welcoming
remarks, the Diaspora Minister extended her thanks to the Italian
members of this performance for their wonderful presentation.

A symposium entitled “With the Traces of Armenian Book” was convened
Monday. Father Yeghia Kilaghbian, the Abbot General of the Mekhitarist
Congregation, delivered opening remarks at the event. In her turn,
Hranush Hakobyan reflected on the significance of the first Armenian
book that was printed in Venice, and she spoke about the past
track-record of and outlined today’s tasks for Armenian printed books.

This symposium also signified the end of the festivities that had
started exactly one year ago, and which were devoted to the 500th
anniversary of Armenian printed books.

ETHICS COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS THE APPLICATION REGARDING THE PAP MP
Tue, 12/18/2012 – 13:32
Trending topic

On December 21 during the NA session the NA ad hoc Ethics Committee
will discuss the application of the ~QCenter for Strategic Development~R
social organization from December 11. In the end the Committee has to
make a decision on taking the matter under examination or rejecting
it.

The application published in mass media and certified by the signature
of the Chairman of the Center for Strategic Development~R social
organization Hrant Meliq-Shahnazaryan, suggests the Committee taking
the behavior of the NA PAP fraction member Michael Melqumyan under
examination, based on the video material previously appeared in the
internet. According to the video material, as it is stated in the
application ~Qthe NA PAP fraction member Michael Melqumyan, personally,
was telling that he is an owner of many land plots and was negotiating
on the rental conditions as a regular broker on the phone, was
offering land plots and was not at all hiding who he was, moreover,
was telling that cooperating with him would be beneficial~R.

The applicant highlighted that according to article 65 of the RA
Constitution the NA MP cannot be involved in entrepreneurial
activities, hold a position in state or self-government bodies or
trade organizations and perform other paid work, with the exception of
scientific, pedagogical and creative.

According to the NA Ad-hoc Ethics Committee webpage the question of
sending an inquiry regarding examination of ARF fraction leader Armen
Rustamyan’s application is on the agenda of the session of December
21.

The Committee at the session of December 7 took under examination A.
Rustamyan~Rs application with the request to examine and make a
relevant decision regarding the violation of the ethic rules by the 83
MPs, who did not register and participate in the NA extraordinary
session convened on November 21, provided by the NA regulatory-law.
With the objective to discuss and provide a conclusion to the
Committee, the member of the ~QHeritage~R fraction Zaruhi Postanjyan was
appointed as a representative of the Committee.

Let us recall that at the NA extraordinary session on November 21 by
the initiative of 48 NA MPs it was expected to discuss the package of
the law projects about making changes and additions to the law on the
population state register of the RA Electoral and Criminal Codes, the
authors of which were the members of the ANC fraction. However the
session did not take place, since the quorum prescribed by the NA
regulatory-law was not ensured: only 46 MPs registered instead of the
66 required.

Author:
Factinfo

APARTMENT PRICES ARE CONTINUALLY GROWING

Tuesday, 18 December 2012 14:26

As compared to the first 9 months of the previous year apartment
prices have mainly grown in the same period of this year except to
two regions of the Republic. By the data of the Real Estate Cadastre
adjunct to the NKR Government during the first 9 months of 2012 there
was performed state registration of rights on part of 1248 purchase
and sale transactions in total; as compared to the same period of the
previous year their number has increased by 16,3 %, state registration
of rights of 244 and 150 purchase and sale transactions on part of
apartment houses and dwelling houses respectively was performed.

According to the information of the Committee the prices on apartment
houses have risen by 8.7 % in Stepanakert as compared to the first
9 months of the previous year; the average price per 1 square metre
amounts to 250 thousand drams. The prices on dwelling houses rose
by 1.7 %. The average price of an average house of 200 sqm with a
personal plot of 1000 sqm is 29 500 000 drams.

In Shoushi the prices on apartment houses rose by 6.1 %, in Martouni
by 4.1 %, in Askeran by 3.8 % whereas in Martakert and Hadrout these
prices decreased by 1.2 % and 2.0 % respectively. Among the regions
the most expensive houses are again in Shoushi where the price per
1 sqm forms 65 500 drams.

The prices on dwelling houses have remained unchanged in Stepanakert
and Hadrout, they rose by 5% in Shoushi, 4.8% in Askeran and 2.6%
in Martouni. The most expensive dwelling houses after Stepanakert are
in Askeran where an average house of 200 sqm and a personal plot of
1000 sqm costs 4 400 000 drams.

WHO STAND BEHIND WIRETAPPING?

07:40 PM | DECEMBER 17, 2012 | POLITICS

The practice of publishing bugged political conversation was started
in Armenia five years ago. Leader of the Country of law Party (OEK)
Arthur Baghdasaryan was the first to be secretly recorded in 2007 in
a Yerevan cafe before the parliamentary election.

In the recorded conversation, Baghdasaryan was persuading a British
diplomat to give a negative assessment of the parliamentary election
to be held in the country in May of the same year. The recording was
immediately libeled as black PR and no one charged for the secret
recording. In its turn, the National Security Service denied its
connection with the wiretapping and publication of the conversation.

Robert Kocharyan (Armenia’s President from 1998 till 2008) called
Arthur Baghdasaryan a parricide. The same Baghdasaryan today is
holding the position of National Security Council Secretary.

The teammates of Armenia’s first president and leader of the opposition
Armenian National Congress were the next in Armenia to be secretly
bugged in 2008. Following the deadly post-election clashes of March
1, 2008, a covert recording with the conversation between Alexander
Arzumanyan [head of Ter-Petrosyan’s election headquarters] and Nikol
Pashinyan [member of the headquarters] was put into circulation. The
recording was later attached to the material on March 1 clashes where
the Procurator’s Office tried to shift the responsibility for the ten
victims on Arzumanyan and Pashinyan as its spokesperson had earlier
announced that the police had not open fire at the demonstrators.

Today the opposition press and political forces blame Robert Kocharyan
and Serzh Sargsyan for the March 1 tragic events.

In the newly-wiretapped recording HAK Coordinator Levon Zurabyan and
ex-Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian are discussing the possibility
of fielding their candidates in the upcoming presidential election.

The National Security Service has again denied its connection to the
covert recording which has caused a stir among political circles and
on online social networking sites. Many say the recording aims to
quarrel Levon Zurabyan, Nikol Pashinyan and Hrant Bagratyan. During
the conversation, Zurabyan says that if HAK leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan
decided not to run for president himself, and the opposition bloc was
discussing the possibility of fielding former Prime Minister Hrant
Bagratyan as a candidate instead. No one cares to ask why opposition
figures are bugged and who is wiretapping ordered by. The question
still remains unanswered.

LES SERVICES DE LA SECURITE NATIONALE DEMENTENT L’EXISTENCE D’UN ” EREVANGATE ”
Gari

Les Services de la Securite nationale d’Armenie ont dementi lundi 17
decembre les informations selon lesquelles ils auraient ete impliques
dans une affaire d’ecoutes illegales.

Cette affaire porterait sur l’enregistrement d’une conversation
privee dans laquelle un proche collaborateur du leader d’opposition
Levon Ter-Petrosian aurait exprime ses preoccupations concernant
des dissensions croissantes au sein de son Congrès national armenien
(HAK), alliance de partis d’opposition dirigee par (…)

NATHALIE GOULET: AT PRESENT, THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT HAS NO BILL CRIMINALIZING THE DENIAL OF THE SO-CALLED “ARMENIAN GENOCIDE”

APA
Dec 17 2012
Azerbaijan

Member of the French Senate visited Marneuli

Georgia. Nizami Mammadzadeh – APA. Deputy chairperson of France-
Caucasus friendship group, senator Nathalie Goulet and representative
of the French embassy in Georgia visited Marneuli on Sunday.

APA’s Georgian bureau reports that Nathalie Goulet met with the
youth and intellectuals at the Azerbaijani’s Cultural Center (ACC)
and announced the reason of her visit: “I am visiting Georgia for
the first time, our aim is to establish the relations with the new
government and meet with the parliament’s leadership.”

Nathalie Goulet expressed her satisfaction with peaceful life of
Azerbaijanis with Armenians: “If Azerbaijanis and Armenians live
peacefully in Georgia, I hope that one day they will live so in
Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. These peoples must be ready to live
peacefully. But it takes time. The history demands it. In Marneuli
among the Azerbaijanis, I feel myself at home. Important and great
activities are being carried out at the Cultural Center. Intercultural
integration exists here. You even can be estimable citizens of
Georgia. It is good for you.”

Goulet noted that Georgia and Azerbaijan must always develop as
friendly countries: “It is necessary for the independence of Georgia.

Azerbaijan and Georgia are cooperating in economic and energy spheres
and Azerbaijan has helped this country much.”

Following this, the senator responded the questions of the youth and
intellectuals. Responding to the question on Khojaly, Goulet said that
she didn’t call Khojaly tragedy genocide: “Of course, what happened
in Khojaly is terrible. But it happened during the war. That’s why it
is not called genocide. Few people were killed there. Such accident
also happened in France. A French village was completely destroyed
during World War II. We don’t call it genocide, either.”

Head of the Cultural Center Fazil Hasanov presented the book on
Nagorno Karabakh and Khojaly genocide to the guest at the event.

Nathalie Goulet told journalists that the activity of the OSCE
Minsk Group was insufficient and Europe didn’t pursue a real policy
on the South Caucasus. She also commented on the adoption of the
bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”
at the French parliament: “There is no such a bill now. The French
Supreme Court doesn’t consider it right to raise this issue again. In
general, you must forget this issue, because, at present, the French
parliament has no bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called
“Armenian Genocide.”

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

December 17, 2012
_______________________________________________

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Armenian Community OF Greater
Washington

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern), visited St. Mary Church of Washington, D.C., this
month, as the parish marked the 80th anniversary of the Armenian community
of greater Washington and Baltimore.

On Saturday, December 8, a gala was held at the Washington Marriott, with
400 people gathered to celebrate the milestone. Archbishop Barsamian opened
the evening with a prayer for the victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia,
after which parish council chair Zakar Shahverdian welcomed parishioners and
guests.

Diocesan delegate Dean Shahinian gave an overview of the community’s
history. Armenians began arriving in the Washington, D.C., area in the late
19th century, with larger waves of refugees arriving in the wake of the
Genocide of 1915.

In the early 1930s, then-Primate Archbishop Ghevont Tourian helped establish
a Ladies Auxiliary committee, which was followed by the establishment of a
parish council and other church organizations. While it took longer to
acquire a permanent house of worship, the greater Washington Armenian
community was active in spiritual and cultural pursuits throughout these
early years, laying the necessary foundation for subsequent parish life.

Following the historical reflection, Tatjana and Hrant Parsamian performed
Armenian classical music on the piano and cello. Messages of congratulations
were read by representatives of Ambassador Tatoul Markarian, Armenia’s
Ambassador to the United States, and Robert Avetisyan, Nagorno-Karabagh’s
Permanent Representative to the United States.

The long-serving former pastor of the community, the Rev. Fr. Vertanes
Kalayjian, spoke about the many parishioners whose service strengthened the
parish and helped contribute to the fulfillment of its mission.

The Rev. Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan, the current pastor of St. Mary Church, spoke
of the importance of everyone’s participation as the parish embarks on the
next chapter of its history.

“It is fitting for us to take time, to look back, to reflect on the work of
the founders of our parish-and to draw inspiration from them,” he said.
“This is a wonderful time for us to renew our commitment to God and to our
heritage and faith, as individuals and as a whole community.”

Today the parish has an active combined Sunday and Armenian School program,
with an enrollment of 100 students. Some 30 young people also take part in
the church’s Youth Choir, while others are preparing for altar service
through a training program led by Fr. Karapetyan.

Other initiatives include ACYOA Juniors and Seniors chapters, a program for
the elderly, and an active Women’s Guild. St. Mary Church recently began a
Deacons Ministry program for parish deacons to perform visitations, gather
for prayer, and hold regular preparations for the Divine Liturgy and other
services.

“We see great possibilities for the future of St. Mary Church,” Archbishop
Barsamian said. “There is a healthy generation of young Armenian-Americans
who will take up the role of leadership.” Addressing the young people, he
said, “The mission of our church is in your hands. You have to carry forward
the vision of our ancestors.”

Also during the gala program, parish council members-Zakar Shahverdian, Mike
Tashjian, Jack Guiragossian, Sinita Petrossian Guasmo, Onnik Sivaslian,
Sergik Tilimian, and Aris Cubuk-were presented with certificates of
appreciation.

Parish council vice chair Mike Tashjian served as master of ceremonies. The
gala was planned and organized by a committee of young people, including
Sara Arabian, Arlet Koseian, Lerna Shafakian, Nora Shafakian, Sophia
Shahverdian, Zakar Shahverdian, and Sarine Zenian. The evening concluded
with traditional Armenian dancing.

On Sunday, December 9, Archbishop Barsamian celebrated the Divine Liturgy
and consecrated the church’s new doors and a new carving of St. Mary that
has been installed at the entrance. The architectural enhancements are the
latest in a series of renovations at St. Mary Church in the past year.

Last May, the community celebrated the installation of a khatchkar on church
grounds, which is dedicated to the memory of the deceased parishioners of
the community. In September, the renovation of the main altar and two side
altars was completed. The interior work also included window enhancements
and the renovation of the church balcony, floor, ceiling, pews, and candle
room.

At the conclusion of the December 9 services, a hokehankisd was held for the
victims of the 1988 earthquake. A reception followed in the church hall.

###

Photos attached.
Photo 1: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian consecrates the new doors of St. Mary
Church.
Photo 2: Parish council members were honored with certificates of
recognition.
Photo 3: Tatjana and Hrant Parsamian performed Armenian classical music.

TEFAN FüLE: ARMENIA AND THE EU GET CLOSER TO EACH OTHER

11:08 18.12.2012

Armenia and the EU get closer to each other in concrete ways,”
EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy
tefan Fule declared after the EU-Armenia Cooperation Council sitting
in Brussels.

“There are already some specific achievements – we have signed the Visa
Facilitation Agreement and protocol concerning Armenia’s participation
in EU programmes. For people this is a visible and tangible result
of our close partnership,” the commissioner said.

“But there is more on our ambitious agenda. The negotiations of the
Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free
Trade Area, have progressed well. For a successful outcome which
allows EU-Armenia relations to reach their full potential, we will
need sustained reform efforts next year,” he added.

“We welcome progress made by Armenia in the conduct of May
parliamentary elections. At the same time, we trust that Armenia will
address the remaining OSCE/ODIHR recommendations in the context of
presidential elections in February next year. This is a crucial issue
for a relation based on common values,” he stated.

“We welcome Armenia’s efforts in the area of good governance and human
rights. Important challenges remain, including ensuring independence
of the judiciary and pursuing systemic anti-corruption measures,”
Commissioner Fule said.

“The goals and ambitions are clearly defined. Now it is about how to
turn them into reality. Armenia can of course count on EU’s support.

We hope to be able to make a very positive assessment of the
strengthening of our relationship during the Eastern Partnership
summit in Vilnius next year,” the Commissioner concluded.

APA, Azerbaijan
Dec 14 2012

Two Armenian lobby organizations in U.S Top10

[ 14 December 2012 12:24 ]

Baku. Anakhanim Hidayetova – APA. Two Armenian lobby organizations
have been included in Top10 most powerful lobbying organizations of
the USA. According to `Time to Analyze’ analytical portal, Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) is the second most powerful lobby
of the country, APA reports quoting Armenian media. Armenian media
reported that the US continues to provide significant financial
assistance not only to Armenia, but also to the separatist regime in
Nagorno-Karabakh due to ANCA’s activities. Armenia ranks the second
after Israel on the list of countries receiving the highest financial
and military aid from the United States.

Armenian Assembly of America is the second largest Armenian lobby in
the United States for its reputation and influence. The Assembly has
informed the community on the issues related with Armenia for many
years. Due to this organization, the level of the ethnic Armenians’
participation in the ongoing democratic processes in the country,
collection of donations for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh has
increased.

Note that the ranking of the powerful lobby organizations has been
developed through the research of the studies of prestigious “Business
Pundit” and “American Politics Research” publications of the USA.