Author: Kalantarian Kevo

FIRED UNIVERSITY RECTOR LEAVES ARMENIA

news.am
August 29, 2012 | 12:16

YEREVAN.- Fired university rector Suren Zolyan said the education
minister did his utmost for him not to start a new academic year as
a rector of Yerevan State Linguistic University.

Suren Zolyan, was dismissed from his post under the order of Armenia’s
Education Minister Armen Ashotyan. Zolyan filed a complaint considering
the dismissal illegal but has not achieved any results.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Zolyan said he had not received
any job offer from the Armenian universities “probably not to offend
the minister.”

Suren Zolyan said he would leave for Tallinn for three months to do
research. Later he plans to return to Armenia and work here, he added.

“They make me leave the country,” Zolyan emphasized.

ARMENIA HAS NEW DEPUTY DIASPORA MINISTER

news.am
August 29, 2012 | 11:30

YEREVAN. – A new deputy minister is appointed to the Diaspora Ministry
of Armenia.

Pursuant to the Armenian President’s decree dated July 18, 2007,
and based on the decision by the PM, Armen Hayrapetyan is dismissed
of his duties as Deputy Minister of Diaspora, the Government press
service informs.

Also pursuant to the President’s aforesaid decree, and based on the
decision by Premier Tigran Sargsyan, Vahe Jilavyan is appointed Deputy
Minister of Diaspora.

Jilavyan was born on January 31, 1975 in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

He is fluent in Armenian, English, and Russian.

Vahe Jilavyan has no party affiliation; he is married and has two
children.

ARMENIAN MALE CHESS TEAM HAS LEADING POSITIONS

ARMENPRESS
30 August, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGSUT 30, ARMENPRESS: Armenian chess players have improved
their positions after the 2nd round of 40th World Chess Olympiad
which goes on in Istanbul. Armenpress reports that Armenian male
chess team in the 2nd round defeated Bangladesh team 4:0 and now has
the 7th position. 32 more teams have as much points as Armenia. 1-3
positions share Slovakia, USA and Azerbaijan, France is in the 4th
place; Cuba and Ukraine have 5th and 6th positions. In the next third
round Armenian chess players will play against Spain.

Armenian female chess team in the 2nd round defeated Switzerland 3:1
and now has the 24th position. In female tournament the first place
has China which is followed by Georgia and Poland. In the next round
Armenian female chess players will play against India.

In the staff of Armenian male national chess team are included
grandmasters Levon Aronyan (2825), Vladimir Hakobyan, Sergey Movsisyan
(2698), Gabriel Sargsyan (2679) and Tigran Petrosyan (2657). The
coach of the team is Arshak Petrosyan.

In the staff of Armenian female national chess team are included
grandmasters Elina Danielyan, Lilit Lazarian, Lilit Galoyan and
Maria Kursova as well as Anna Hayrapetyan. The coach of Armenian
female national chess team is grandmaster Arthur Chibukhchyan.

NAM SUMMIT SHOWS ARMENIA STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Ahlul Bayt News Agency – abna.ir

Aug 29 2012
Iran

Taking part in the NAM Summit Shows That Armenia Today Has More
Strategic Importance than Before, Richard Kirakosyan

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The director of Regional Studies center,
Richard Kirakosyan commented on NAM summit in the interview with
“1in.am News and Analysis” saying that the Non Aligned Movement
started in Tehran, is an important path to make free, independent
political decisions. He also mentioned that as the “cold war” between
the USA and the Soviet Union is in the past, this movement is not so
important today.

To the question how he treats Serzh Sargsyan’s possible participation
in the summit he said: “As a small country, Armenia will be clever
to taking part in that summit. This shows that nowadays Armenia has
more strategic importance than before.”

The expert also commented on possible reactions from the USA, Europe
and Russia saying that the influence will be small or won’t be at
all as Armenia has stable relations with all the parties. Richard
Kirakosyan is sure that the participation will be favorable for
Armenia.

To the question what will the reaction be from the USA, Europe and
international organizations on Armenia in case when Reuters wrote that
Tehran tries to skirt international financial sanctions with Armenia’s
help, Kirakosyan answered: “In reality expectations and pressures will
increase concerning Armenia and that will be done for the purpose of
behaving so that the sanctions against Iran were completely realized.

But Armenia understands this and will be more discreet in relations
with Iran as we have nothing to do have good relations with Iran.

INCLUSION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CHAPTER IN FRENCH TEXTBOOKS HAS NO POLITICAL IMPLICATION – ARMENIAN CAUSE

news.am
August 29, 2012 | 22:04

YEREVAN.- Inclusion of a chapter on Armenian Genocide in the French
textbooks is an initiative of the French education ministry, said head
of the Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) office in France. Hrachya Varzhapetian
told Armenian News-NEWS.am that a new chapter included in the textbooks
for tenth graders consists of two pages. “The changes in textbooks
made a big fuss in Turkey,” he emphasized. He also commented on
Francois Hollande’s recent remark regarding the textbooks. In an
interview with Hurriyet daily, Hollande said the decision did not
come from him but an education commission. “It is a good signal that
the initiative belonged to the education commission, not president
Hollande. Otherwise, it would have had a political implication,”
Varzhapetian added. As reported earlier, inclusion of the mentioned
chapters aroused concern of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The foreign
office said it would study the mater thoroughly.

AUSTRIA’S AMBASSADOR PRESENTS HIS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

ARMRADIO.AM
28.08.2012 14:51

Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Republic of Austria in the Republic of Armenia Alois Crautt
(residence in Vienna) presented his credential to President Serzh
Sargsyan.

Serzh Sargsyan congratulated Ambassador Crautt on the assumption of
his diplomatic duties in our country, wished him success and expressed
hope that at the conclusion of the Ambassador’s mission that success
would translate into a visible advancement of the Armenian-Austrian
relations.

At the meeting, the parties stressed the importance of the Austrian
President Heinz Fischer’s visit to Armenia, which took place last
June at the invitation of the President of Armenia, high-level
agreements achieved in the framework of that visit and aimed at the
strengthening and development of the Armenian-Austrian political,
economic and cultural ties which possess great potential. The parties
underscored that it was the first visit by the Austrian President in
the twenty-year long history of the Armenian-Austrian relations and
it offered a new quality to the agenda of the bilateral cooperation.

President Sargsyan noted that Armenia attaches importance to the
development of the relations with Austria also in the multilateral
format, including the active cooperation in the framework of the
European Union.

>From the viewpoint of developing cooperation in the economic area,
the interlocutors highlighted the importance of the intention of
the Austrian Development Agency to implement projects in the South
Caucasus and, particularly, in Armenia.

CANADIAN ARTIST ARMAND TATOSSIAN DIES AT 61

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 28, 2012 – 15:57 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Canadian artist Armand Tatossian passed away
in Montreal on Aug 23 at the age of 61, his sister announced,
globaltvbc.com reports.

Mary Tatossian has cared for her brother since he suffered a stroke
in 2007 that left him unable to paint.

Tatossian’s works are displayed on the walls of the Musee du Quebec
as well as art museums in Greece, Italy, Armenia and the United States.

The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has also featured his
paintings.

He was the youngest member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts when
he was accepted as a member in 1973.

Born in Egypt, Tatossian was introduced to art by his grandfather and
went on to study under French painter and lithographer Jean Carzou
and painter Bernard Buffet. He also studied mural technique at the
Carrarra Academy in Italy.

Tatossian mostly created abstracts, landscapes and still life paintings
using oil on canvas. His distinctive style was dubbed “Tatossianisme.”

Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, Aug 30 at Rideau Funeral Home in
Dollar-Des Ormeaux followed by a funeral service Friday at St. Gregory
the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral in Outremont.

ARMENIA’S SEVERAL POLITICIANS ARE ILLEGAL HUNTERS – EXPERT

news.am
August 28, 2012 | 13:54

YEREVAN. – Second President Robert Kocharyan, Prosperous Armenia Party
leader Gagik Tsarukyan, National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan,
and PM Tigran Sargsyan are all hunters in Armenia. But if these
people love hunting, the law must see to it that they pay for this,
“Lawful Hunting Club” social initiative leader Eduard Saribekyan
noted during a press conference on Tuesday.

In his words, the problem lies in the fact that they say a particular
hunting is prohibited in Armenia because the given game is in the
Red Book of endangered and protected species, prohibited for hunting,
and therefore they are compelled to “steal.”

WILL ARMENIA INVADE GEORGIA AND IRAN?
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:49:12 – 28/08/2012

Mikhail Alexandrov, expert at Institute of CIS States made a
sensational statement in an interview with the Regnum saying what
will exactly be tested during the CSTO exercises in Armenia in early
September.

According to him, the first aspect of these exercises is the working
out of actions in case of necessity to defend the northern borders
of Iran. In addition, as the expert says, Russian and Iran have
an agreement signed back in 1921, “according to which, in case of
internal aggression, Russia may intervene”.

Actually, exercises, testing Russia’s intervention in Iran in case of
internal aggression will be held in Armenia. Will only the Russian
troops or will the whole CSTO intervene? Is Armenia going to invade
Iran with Russia? Serzh Sargsyan will certainly be asked this question
during the ongoing summit of Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.

According to Alexandrov, within the exercises of the CSTO Collective
Rapid Reaction Force may be tested also the actions relating to the
parliamentary elections in Georgia. “It is not ruled out that during
elections in Georgia the authorities may resort to mass falsification.

It is not exclude that this will lead to protest waves and disorders
inside the country and pressure of national discontent. Russia may
intervene to protect the Georgian people from violence, like the West
helped the democratic forces in Lebanon”, recalled the expert.

And again, the question occurs: what Armenia and the CSTO have to
do with all this? Will the Armenian troops decide “to protect the
Georgian people”? Armenia will have to answer Georgia’s questions on
this matter too.

The third component of the exercises, according to Alexandrov, is
the elaboration of actions in case of possible escalation of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. “It is obvious that if Azerbaijan starts
a war for Nagorno Karabakh, the military actions can’t be localized
exceptionally in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia will have
to hit Azerbaijan’s territory and they will answer, which will launch
the CSTO mechanism”, he said.

Here you have the scenario proposed by Russia: provoke Azerbaijan
to aggression, promote a responsive strike by Armenia and wait
for Azerbaijan’s invasion in Armenia and deploy the CSTO forces in
the region.

Will Armenia be satisfied with such a scenario? Do we want someone’s
forces rule the events in our region?

The Armenian authorities need to confirm their participation in
all these catastrophic for us scenarios, or officially reject the
provocative words of Alexandrov. Otherwise, it will come out that
Russia not only decided what we shall do in case “elections in Georgia
are rigged”, but issues statements on our behalf.

This is becoming a tradition: representatives of the Russian
authorities have already stated that the Armenian power is discussing
accession to the Eurasian Union, though Armenia has ever said no word
in this relation. Now, Russia is driving Armenia into a trap forcing
it to ruin relations with not only the West, but also neighboring
Iran and Georgia. True, Russia does not realize that Armenia may
calculate everything and prefer ruin relations with Moscow.

HSBC BANK ARMENIA COVERS 38 PERCENT OF THE TRADE FINANCE MARKET

ARMINFO
Tuesday, August 28, 11:35

Over the first half of 2012, the net profit of HSBC Bank Armenia
totalled AMD 3.5 billion, an AMD 765 million or 28 percent increase
over the same period in 2011, thus ensuring the highest net profit
in the market. The press service of the Bank told ArmInfo that total
assets at 30 June 2012 were up by 10 percent compared to 31 December
2011 amounting to AMD 198 billion.

Gross customer loans increased by 15 percent or AMD 16 billion to
AMD 124 billion at 30 June 2012, with the corporate loan portfolio
growing by 17 percent to AMD 103 billion.

Customer deposits increased to AMD 128 billion, a six percent increase
over 31 December 2011, comprising the largest market share. Personal
deposits increased by 10 percent or AMD 8 billion to AMD 92 billion,
again comprising the largest market share.

The outstanding balance of Trade Finance products volumes totalled
AMD 10 billion, a 27 percent compared to 31 December 2011, comprising
38 percent of the trade finance market share.

The achievements, awards and rankings of the Bank are as follows:
Introduction of new products and services: Personal secured loans for
individuals; Card insurance service protecting ATM and MasterCard
international card users from certain risks; “HSBC Plus” packaged
solution for individuals, (March – April 2012).

Branch expansion: A new dedicated “STATUS” branch was opened in
0Yerevan, (May 2012).

Awards: Global Finance Magazine recognized HSBC Bank Armenia as the
Bank Armenia that has won its World’s Best Bank awards most often
over the past 16 years (May-June 2012 issue).

Leading bank for international business in Armenia: The third annual
Trade Award ceremony was held, where the Bank’s Best Trade Customers
of 2011 were announced. One customer participated in an HSBC Trade
Connection Summit held in Brazil (June 2012).

“During the first six months of 2012 we have made tangible progress
in a number of key areas and registered strong financial results. The
successful implementation of our strategy and priorities will hopefully
deliver continued growth during the rest of the year”, – HSBC Bank
Armenia Chief Executive Officer Astrid Clifford said.

HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was the first international bank to open in
Armenia in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group,
which has 70 percent ownership, and members of overseas Armenian
businesses. The bank offers a wide range of products and services
to individual as well as corporate customers, including personal
financial services, commercial banking and treasury and capital markets
services. Thanks to the HSBC network in 85 countries and territories,
the bank is uniquely positioned to provide truly international services
to its customers.

The Yerevan office opened with 18 staff and under 100 clients. HSBC
Bank Armenia cjsc today has more than 33 thousand individual and
five thousand corporate customers and employs 387 employees at nine
branches and offices in Yerevan. The bank has one of the largest
networks of more than 50 ATMs located throughout Yerevan. HSBC in
Armenia has grown assets from five million US dollars in 1996 to just
480 million US dollars today.