Author: Kalantarian Kevo

PRICE GROWTH IS CONNECTED TO ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

news.am
May 19, 2012 | 13:16

YEREVAN. – Price growths are connected to the elections in Armenia.

Before them the growth in prices is reduced or stopped altogether,
but once the elections are over the next leap follows at once, the
Chairman of the Union of Consumer Rights Protection of Armenia Armen
Pogosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“I have already announced about the 1st point and now comes the
second: 58 percent of Armenia’s parliament is occupied by oligarchs
who control everything and everyone. Of course the prices of sugar
will increase in Armenia if 99 percent of sugar is imported to Armenia
by one person and the remaining 1 percent is imported by him as well
but under a different name,” Poghosyan announced.

Poghosyan mentioned that the Armenian legislation prohibits
concentration excess on the markets but that point is not being
followed.

“Concerning imports the state must establish import quotas of 20-30
percent and importers must fight for them, compete with each other,”
Poghosyan mentioned adding that if the law was applied properly,
the picture of the consumer market of Armenia would be completely
different.

According to him, the Armenian consumer cannot protect its rights
anyway.

“The consumers aim to buy high quality products with low prices. They
do not and will not have such possibility as long as there is only one
sugar importer, only one gasoline importer in Armenia,” he concluded.

THE GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN ON MAY 31, THE PRESIDENT TO APPOINT A NEW PRIME MINISTER WITHIN TEN DAYS

ARMENPRESS
19 May, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: The first session of the fifth convocation
of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia will be launched
on May 31, 10:00 am. In the first session by majority of votes of
MPs the Head of the National Assembly is elected, Armenpress reports.

At the course of the first day of the session, according to the
Constitution, the President accepts the resignation of Prime Minister,
then within ten days by the recommendation of the majority of MPs
appoints the new Prime Minister.

The government is formed after the appointment of the Prime Minister
within 20 days and after 20 days of its formation presents its
Program. Government Program is discussed by the National Assembly on
a priority basis and within five days after submitting it.

The first session is chaired by the oldest MP; the latter is not
known taking into account the continuing self-withdrawals.

FRENCH AND US PRESIDENTS UNITED ON EUROPE

ARMENPRESS
19 May, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: The leaders the world’s largest
economies, including the new French president, are meeting in the
United States this weekend for the G8 conference, reports Armenpress
citing Euronews.

Francois Hollande met US president Barack Obama at the White House
ahead of the talks. Obama supports the idea of stimulating growth in
Europe, and both men want to see the eurozone remain intact.

“We share the belief that Greece must remain inside the eurozone,
and that everyone must make an effort to achieve that,” said Hollande.

“The Greeks will be consulted again in June elections and I want to
send this message to the Greek people.”

But with German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisting that the focus on
austerity has to continue, the way ahead could prove difficult.

Officials say the US hopes to encourage a comprehensive approach to
solving Europe’s problems.

L’ARMENIE PARTICIPE AUJOURD’HUI A LA NUIT DES MUSEES
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 19 mai 2012

Aujourd’hui a l’occasion de la Nuit europeenne des Musees de nombreux
musees d’Armenie seront ouverts gratuitement au public. Lors d’une
conference de presse a la Maison-Musee Segueï Paradjanov d’Erevan, son
directeur, Zaven Sarkissian a affirme que l’an dernier pour la Nuit
des Musees, plus de 4 000 personnes avaient visite le musee Sergueï
Paradjanov. Cette nuit, de nombreux musees d’Armenie organiseront
des rencontres culturelles et artistiques. Au total 63 musees
d’Armenie participeront cette annee a la Nuit des Musees. C’est la 8e
participation de l’Armenie a cette manifestation culturelle europeenne.

AZERBAIJAN TO PREVENT RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH SEPARATISTS BY STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Trend
May 18 2012

Through the efforts of the diplomatic mission of Azerbaijan in
the U.S. and Azerbaijani community of this country, attempts of the
Armenians to achieve recognition by legislature of the state of Rhode
Island of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” will be prevented,
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told reporters
on Friday.

The House of Representatives of Rhode Island passed a resolution
urging the President and Congress to recognise the independence of the
breakaway entity in the Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian media reported.

“The U.S. government at various levels has repeatedly stated it
supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Attempts to achieve
recognition by the legislature of Rhode Island are only attempts
of Armenians themselves, who thus try to deceive the U.S. public,”
Abdullayev said.

He said the Azerbaijani diplomacy in conjunction with the community
will prevent these attempts, and inform the world community about
the realities of Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

‘ARF HAS NO PHOBIAS,’ SAYS ARF BUREAU MEMBER

asbarez
Friday, May 18th, 2012

ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovannesian

YEREVAN-After condemning the fire bomb attack at a local club last
week, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau member and chairman
of the party’s parliamentary bloc Vahan Hovannesian said that the
“ARF has no phobias,” referring to the attack, which was motivated
by homophobia.

The ARF leader explained that discrimination based on race, religion,
nationality or sexual orientation has always been a contentious issue.

“It is the ARF contention curtailing the rights of civilized people
or using force against them is unacceptable.”

“The ARF has always fought against oppression of free will, because
oppression of free will or discrimination against any individual
endangers the civil harmony and opens the door to external enemies,”
said Hovannesian.

The ARF leader forcefully condemned efforts to politicize the
situation, saying that elements that are pointing the blame on the
party are misguided and are using this incident to further inflame
the situation.

ARF Political Affairs Director Giro Manoyan ARF Political Affairs
Director Giro Manoyan also echoed the strong condemnation of the
incident and decried efforts to politicize the situation.

In his blog, Manoyan called on all “national, social, democratic,
revolutionary and all forces to collectively fight for the Armenian
nation’s political, economic social and cultural interests with the
aim of resolving the Armenian Cause-Hai Tahd.”

“The perpetrators of this crime must be punished within the letter
and spirit of Armenian law. If today their target is the LGBT
society, tomorrow it can be anyone else,” said veteran activist
and Vice-President of Socialist International Maria Titizian on her
Facebook page.

“Sadly, there is much intolerance in Armenian society, not only
toward the homosexual community, but towards anyone or any group who
deign to hold views that are not widely accepted. I hope that in the
coming weeks and months this discourse can move away from its obvious
politicization and manifest itself in an honest, open and candid
dialogue about the kind of society we want to have, a society where
there is respect, tolerance and mutual acceptance,” explained Titizian.

Maria Titizian “As a long-standing member of the ARF and Vice President
of Socialist International, I say with the utmost responsibility that,
contrary to the media spin, this is NOT the position of the party that
for 122 years has advocated for freedom, justice and equality. Every
human being has the inalienable right to live their life as they
see fit, without fear or recrimination or alienation from society,”
added Titizian.

MOSCOW SLAMS ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE UN ENVOY’S PLAN FOR SYRIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 18, 2012 – 21:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – UN envoy Kofi Annan’s plan for Syria is in jeopardy
over attempts by certain forces to create a spiral of violence in
the country, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday,
May 18, according to RIA Novosti.

“Certain elements in Syria are trying to wreck the implementation
of Kofi Annan’s plan to restart the spiral of violence,” Alexander
Lukashevich said.

Moscow is concerned about Burhan Ghalioun, the chairman of the Syrian
opposition Transitional National Council, calling on some nations to
arm the Free Syrian Army opposition group, Lukashevich said.

“We are puzzled by the statement that the recently reelected leader
of the Transitional National Council, Mr. Ghalioun, made under a new
strategy to establish the National Council’s political control over
Syrian rebels in a bid to topple Bashar al-Assad,” Lukashevich said.

Lukashevich said Ghalioun, a French Syrian political scientist, had
openly supported efforts to supply arms to the Free Syrian Army and
made it clear that the political opposition planned to “arrange it
with some countries to provide weapons to the Free Syrian Army as
they had promised.”

Russia and China have vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions over
what they called a pro-rebel bias since the start of the uprising
against President Bashar al-Assad, but have given their full backing
to the peace plan proposed by the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria,
Kofi Annan.

Russia does not rule out that the number of UN observers in Syria
may be increased if necessary, Lukashevich said.

Over 200 UN observers have been deployed in Syria to monitor the
ceasefire between the government and armed rebels.

“It is possible that at a certain stage a discussion could arise
about the need to expand this mission,” Lukashevich said.

“In principle, it is a prerogative of the UN Security Council to
make a decision to strengthen the material and human potential of
its representatives in Syria,” he said.

Lukashevich said he was not aware of any requests from UN observers
in Syria to equip them with weapons.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday the number of
terrorist attacks in Syria has increased since UN observers arrived
in the country.

LATEST DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCED TO ARMENIA

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Editor

The Wellness Center’s radiologists and technicians during their
training for the operation of the 3D Rit CN Ca 3. Digital Mammography
Systems. LARRY MOWAT PHOTO
By Negar M. Joy

WASHINGTON – The women of Armenia received an early Mother’s Day gift
this year from the Armenian American Cultural Association, Inc.

(AACA). With a value of more than $1 million, the gift is the latest
Three- Dimensional (3D) Digital Mammography System, sent to the
Armenian American Wellness Center in Yerevan.

“In March 2012, less than a year after an innovative 3D Digital
Mammography technology received FDA approval in the United States,
AACA brought this groundbreaking imaging system to Armenia, by
acquiring two 3D Digital machines from Hologic Corporation,” said
Rita Balian. She is the president and CEO of AACA and founder and
co-president of the Wellness Center, along with Hranush Hakobyan,
the current minister of diaspora.

Dr. Ani Hakobyan, chief radiologist at the Wellness Center, stated,
“This new equipment vastly improves the accuracy of the screening
and increases our ability to distinguish between cancerous and
non-cancerous cells, thus, detect- ing breast cancer much earlier.”

Thanks to the Wellness Center, Armenia has made tremendous strides
over the past 15 years in improving awareness and public education
for early detection. By offering women this latest technology, the
Wellness Center furthermproves its ability to detect breast cancer
at a much earlier stage.

“Another big improvement for the patient is fewer call-backs for
additional images,” said Dr. Ann Archer, chair of the US Medical
Advisory Board of AACA and the Wellness Center. Archer, a radiologist
and a breast screening and diagnosis specialist, was part of the
first medical team that traveled to Armenia when the Wellness Center
was established in 1997. Ever since, she has traveled to Armenia
on many occasions to train the Wellness Center’s medical staff,
including during her latest visit in mid- December, when she briefed
and prepared the center’s radiologists on the transition from the
analog to digital mammography system.

Many people contributed to the success and completion of this
acquisition. “Not enough can be said about the role of the Hologic
Corporation,” said Balian. “The senior leadership of Hologic worked
tirelessly to present the best options to AACA and have been very
generous with their guidance, insights and resources.”

There are fewer than 100 of such systems installed throughout the
United States. Armenia has now two such systems.

“Thanks to grassroots donors and family foundations from the community,
as well as the grants we receive from the United States Government
[USAID], we are able to pay for such sophisticated equipment,”
said Balian.

Since 2004, AACA has partnered with the USAID to expand the Wellness
Center’s work and to get the latest technology and expertise to
Armenia. Furthermore, USAID grants helped in the construction,
renovation and seismic reinforcement of the six-story building,
which has now become a state-of-the-art facility with its seven
medical departments. “Each visitor from the diaspora or Armenia,
who enters the building is amazed at the quality of the work that
has been accomplished to date,” added Balian.

Larry Mowat, a biomedical engineer from Hologic USA and a member
of the US Medical Advisory Board, coordinated the installation and
training process of the 3D Digital systems. Biomedical engineers and
trainers from Hologic Europe flew to Armenia to complete the required
work. The specialists were impressed at the aptitude and knowlege of
the center’s staff. Mowat, who was on the original team that installed
the very first mammography machine in Armenia and has since visited
Armenia 12 times, stated, “There is no question in my mind that the
quality of medical care offered [at the Wellness Center] to the women
of Armenia is light years ahead of any care I have seen anywhere else
in Armenia. It is a very impressive facility. I am amazed at how,
despite construction, you are able to win the battle to keep the
department clean. It actually sparkles.”

For the past 15 years, the Wellness Center has brought western
technological advances to Armenia, as it is for providing
opportunities for medical exchanges between Armenian and western
health care professionals. For many professionals, the interaction
with the Wellness Center’s staff is their first and only exposure
to he country. “Not only we are saving the lives of Armenian women
through high quality healthcare services, one at a time, we are
also introducing the world to Armenia, one person at a time,” said
Hranush Hakobyan.

The Wellness Center’s efforts have revolutionized the healthcare
delivery system in Armenia. Fifteen years ago, there was not a single
mammography machine in the country. People had not heard the word
“mammography” and the doctors had no notion that mammography screening
could be used for early detection. Through the vision, dedication and
efforts of the Wellness Center’s founders, Rita and Vartkess Balian,
assisted by a US medical team, the first two analog mammography units
were installed in Armenia in 1997. These two machines were later (in
2009 and 2010) upgraded into three advanced analog systems, and this
year in March, they were replaced with the latest 3D Digital models.

Since 1997, close to 200,000 patients have visited the Wellness Center
and of these, more than 125,000 have been screened at the Radiology
Department. To date, more than 3,000 lives have been saved through
early detection. More than 2,500 patients visit each month, out of
which nearly 1,500 women come for their annual mammograms.

“Introducing the latest Digital Mammography Screening Technology to
the women and mothers of Armenia, the Wellness Center is once again
at the forefront of the fight against breast cancer, which is still
the number one cause of cancer deaths among women in Armenia,” said
Khachanush Hakobyan, the center’s executive director. “We cannot
be more grateful to our founders’ invaluable dedication and to the
thousands of US donors for their continued generosity to provide us
with the capacity to save lives and bring joy to Armenian families.”

ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY PRINCIPAL RESIGNS

news.am
May 18, 2012 | 17:56

YEREVAN.- Former principal of Yerevan State Linguistic University
(YSLU) after Valery Bryusov Suren Zolyan has already handed in his
resignation, he told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, he was combining job of a principal and professor at
the university.After his dismissal Zolyan should have been appointed
only a professor but it did not happen.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, Yerevan State Linguistic
University Principal Suren Zolyan was dismissed from his post recently
under the order of Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science Armen
Ashotyan.

EX-MAYOR OF YEREVAN WISHES TO BECOME VICE-PREMIER, BUT THERE IS SHORTAGE OF MINISTRIES FOR ALL THE WINNERS

arminfo
Friday, May 18, 15:51

Armenian capital city Yerevan’s former Mayor Gagik Beglaryan told
his colleagues that he would assume any ministerial position only
if he simultaneously takes on the office of the Deputy PM, Haykakan
Zhamanak daily says.

“According to our information, [President] Serzh Sargsyan is ready
to appoint Beglaryan as Transport [and Communication] Minister,
but he is having a hard time concerning the Deputy PM matter.

If it turns out that [PM] Tigran Sargsyan does not remain in office,
there will be no alternative to [incumbent] Deputy PM Armen Gevorgyan,
as an administrator who is capable of reaching agreements with
international organizations.

But Tigran Sargsyan, who considers Armen Gevorgyan as his cabinet’s
sole presentable minister, also does not want to see Beglaryan in
the Deputy PM’s status,” Haykakan Zhamanak says.

According to another daily “Hraparak”, there is shortage of the
ministerial portfolios in the government to satisfy the growing
appetite of the winners at the parliamentary election, first of
all in the person of the RPA. For this reason, the authorities of
Armenia have decided to form new ministries. First, the State Revenues
Committee will be divided and the Customs Committee and Tax Service
will again start functioning like two independent structures. The Tax
Service will be headed by the head of he State Security committee,
Gagik Khachatryan, and the Customs Service – by deputy chairman of
Audit Chamber, Levon Elyan.

Moreover, the Interior Affairs Ministry will be also formed, which
will function parallel to Police, whereas in all over the world police
implements functions of Interior Affairs Ministry.