WHITE HOUSE SAYS WELCOMES TURKISH STANCE AGAINST SYRIA
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 15 2011
The White House said on Tuesday that Turkish criticism of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad had deepened the isolation of his regime.
“We very much welcome the strong stance Turkey has taken,” White House
deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling
with President Barack Obama to Asia. “Turkey’s comments today further
point to the fact that President Assad is isolated,” he said.
‘EU SEEKS TO INTENSIFY ITS ROLE IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT’
news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 15 2011
Representation of EU as an organization in the OSCE Minsk Group
is impossible.
Azerbaijani political scientist, chief of the chair of international
relations at the Caucasus University Rovshan Ibrahimov is skeptical
about the replacement of the French co-chairmanship in the OSCE
Minsk Group.
Commenting on proposals in the European parliament about the
possibility to replace France in the OSCE Minsk Group, the political
scientist noted that it all depends on EU’s intention to intensify
its role in the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno Karabakh.
“EU has not taken a direct part in the process of Karabakh solution.
Though it was indicated that EU is represented by France, in
fact, everything was different. The French cochairmanship was not
representing EU in the Minsk Group”, Ibrahimov said.
“I do not think that France will really be replaced. I think that it
is just a wish which is voiced not for the first time. But even in
the case of replacement I do not think that it will make any cardinal
changes in the resolution process”, Ibrahimov said.
Additionally, according to the political scientist, the matter is
which country will replace France in the Minsk Group?
“Representation of EU as an organization in the OSCE Minsk Group is
impossible from purely technical standpoint-EU can be represented by
a state-Germany, Great Britain or other.
That is, EU has no mechanism of representation in the OSCE Minsk
Group. But even if they offer such a mechanism, EU is not interested
in taking part in such a process since the general foreign policy of
this organization has not been worked out”, Ibrahimov said.
“Therefore, such proposals still remain recommendations”, he said.
TARON MARKARYAN BECOMES YEREVAN MAYOR
Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 15 2011
Russia
The Yerevan Council of Elders has unanimously elected Taron Markaryan
as the Mayor of Yerevan, News Armenia reports.
The election process was initiated by the City Council of Elders
on November 4. Earlier reports said that the Republican Party of
Armenia had introduced Vice-Mayor Taron Markaryan as candidate for
the position on October 31.
Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetyan resigned in on October 28 due to change
of job and personal reasons.
Head of the fraction of the Republican Party, Derenik Dumanyan, called
Markaryan the most suitable candidate for the position. Markaryan
himself thanked the party, its chairman, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan and said that he has a good understanding of the job.
Taron Markaryan, a son of former PM Andranik Markaryan who died in
2007, had been born in Yerevan on April 17, 1978. He left school
N177 and entered the Armenian Agriculture Academy in 1995. Markaryan
graduated at the academy in 2001 and received a master’s degree in
engineering as a specialist in agricultural mechanization.
He was a chief specialist and then head of the section for regional
subdivision of the State Committee for Inventory of Real Estate at
the Yerevan District of Nor-Nork in 2001-2003.
Markaryan became deputy head of the Agency for Management of
Bioresources of the Armenian Ministry for Environment. He was elected
in 2005 and re-elected in 2008 as head of the Avan community. He
became the deputy mayor of Yerevan in 2009.
Markaryan has been chairing the Board of Trustees of the Khut Charity
Fund since 2005. He has been a member of the Republican Party since
1996 and a member of its council since 2006.
He has been supervising the Avan Council of the territorial
organization of the party since 1998.
Markaryan was awarded with the Anania Shirakatsi Medal by the Armenian
president, the Garegin Nzhde Medal of the Defense Ministry, the Golden
Medal awarded by Yerevan mayor, the Golden Medal of the Armenian
Agrarian University, the Golden Medal for the memory of Frityof Nansen
and the Golden Medal “Eagle of Mountainous Armenia”, the Order of
Armenian Voluntaries “Yerkrap” – “Sparapet Vasgen Sargsyan”.
FIVE BROTHERS HELD IN FOUR BEIRUT-AREA SLAYINGS
United Press International UPI
Nov 15 2011
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 15 (UPI) — Five brothers have been arrested in
Beirut in the shooting deaths of four men in suburbs of the Lebanese
capital, a source told The Daily Star.
The brothers were arrested during a raid at their house in Beirut at
4 a.m. Tuesday by members of the Internal Security Forces, the source
told the newspaper.
All four victims had been shot in the head with a 7.85mm pistol,
the source said.
The five men who were arrested were identified as Lebanese-Armenians
George, Aziz, Massis, Maurice and Michel Tanelian.
Their arrests came a month after police began surveillance after
the Oct. 14 killings of Albert Ramez Nashar, 52, and Shaker Said
Abdel-Nour, 48. Nashar’s body was dumped under a bridge connecting
Antelius to Naccache, and Abdel-Nour’s body was found next to a bridge
in Sin al-Fil, the Star said.
The two other victims’ bodies were found Saturday.
The body of Lebanese Army Cpl. Ziad Hani Deeb, 30, was found on a road
near the Beirut River, and the body of Hagob Yakoubian, a 50-year-old
Lebanese-Armenian, was discovered behind a church in the Sadd-Boushrieh
area in north Beirut.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told a local radio station the five
brothers were being interrogated.
DEFENSE MINISTRY HOSTS MEETING OF SPECIAL WORKING GROUP
Tert.am
15.11.11
A special group implementing reforms in Armenia’s armed forces held
its first meeting at the Defense Ministry on Mopnday.
The discussion was chaired by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.
Introducing the group’s activities, both the minister, and the military
prosecutor, Gevorg Kostanyan said its mission is to review and propose
amendments to the legal acts concerning the sector and conduct probes
into the increased crime rate in the army, taking measures towards
their prevention.
Apart from the Defense Ministry officials, the group also incudes
representatives from the Defense Ministry, the Ombudsman’s Office,
and civil society organizations.
BUILDING A CREMATORIUM IN ARMENIA HAS BECOME IMPERATIVE, EXPERT SAYS
epress.am
11.15.2011
On Feb. 27, 2006, Armenia’s National Assembly adopted a law on the
“Operation of Cemeteries and Crematoria and the Organization of
Burials,” according to which a crematorium was to have been built
in Yerevan with special furnaces for cremation, a special visitation
room for final farewells, and refrigerated area for temporary storage
of the deceased.
The crematorium has yet to be built. According to state agency
“Special Service of Population” engineer Razmik Harutyunyan, building
crematoriums has become imperative, as the number of cemetery plots
is very limited.
“I can’t verifiably say anything about the building of crematoria,
since all the agencies in the project have been assigned to study and
provide information about their construction’s location selection and
allocated funds. Under Armenia’s conditions, it’s very important to
have such a structure. First, 80-90% of the land will be saved, the
sanitary-ecological situation will improve drastically, the safety of
the surrounding environment will be ensured, the aesthetics of burials
will be brought to the proper level, stress levels of relatives of
the deceased will be lowered, and additional costs associated with
burial ceremonies will be saved,” Harutyunyan told Epress.am.
The engineer added that there are crematoria in all developed
countries; for example, there are 14,330 crematoriums in the US. In
the case of Armenia, cremation will be not be mandatory and only
offered to those who request it.
“The dead body is burned through the use of electricity (from above)
and gas (from below) at high temperatures. An urn [is provided to the
family], made of non-decaying material (metal or plastic), a container
with an airtight lid where the ashes of the deceased are placed.
“There will also be a memorial wall defined by law, for placing
specially built urns,” said Harutyunyan.
The Armenian Apostolic Church, however, is against cremating the
deceased.
“The Church says you are the earth, you will return to the earth, not
considering the scarcity of land. In 2020, there has to be 146 hectares
of land for burial plots, while by 2030, there will be a demand for 300
hectares. Currently, cemeteries take up 540 hectares of land. Cremation
will lead to the economical use of land, and land that’s been saved
can be used for better purposes – say, to build parks and cultivated
grounds. Furthermore, 1.5 billion cubic construction material will
be saved – nails, wood and different materials,” Harutyunyan stressed.
The city employee, however, noted that family plots are mandatory
according to custom. According to him, if cremation is adopted,
ancestral cemeteries (and enclosed mausoleums) could be built to bury
all family members in the same area.
“If today 12 square meters of land is allotted for 4 people to be
buried, well after cremation, it will be possible to place 23 urns
in the same 12 square meters [not necessarily buried but this is
also an option]. Crematoriums also have a biological significance:
after burial, a corpse begin to decompose, … which doesn’t happen
when it’s burned,” he said, adding this process releases relatives of
the deceased from the very expensive burden of purchasing headstones
and maintaining and cleaning plots.
SEYRAN OHANYAN: ONLY MILITARY PROFESSIONALS HAVE RIGHT TO CRITICIZE ARMY
PanARMENIAN.Net
November 15, 2011 – 13:03 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – With fall conscription already started in Armenia,
cases of corruption continue to occur despite the massive preliminary
work, RA Defense Minister said.
Seyran Ohanyan noted that the operating monitoring commission serves
not only the purpose of securing transparency and legitimacy of the
conscription, but also addressing public complaints and problems by
telephone: 52-34-86.
When asked about the tragic cases in the army due to careless handling
of weapons, Defense Minister said that violations of safety rules
are recorded in any army.
Dwelling on flagrant criticism by non-governmental organizations, Mr.
Ohanyan noted that although Defense Ministry stands ready for a public
dialogue, “only military have the right to criticize the army.”
BAKO SAHAKYAN SENDS CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF NVARD ASATRYAN
ARMENPRESS
November 15, 2011
YEREVAN
In connection with the death of honored Armenian and NKR popular
actress Nvard Asatryan Bako Sahakyan sent a condolence letter to her
family. Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh
Republic President told Armenpress the letter runs as follows:
“I have learnt with deep sorrow about the death of honored Armenian
and NKR popular actress Nvard Asatryan.
Characters created by her on the Artsakh stage have had their special
place in the development of our culture. Through her incomparable
acting Nvard Asatryan has been worthily enjoying the spectators’
love and respect.
In connection with the irretrievable loss on behalf of the NKR
authorities and myself I express my deep condolences and support to
the relatives and friends of the deceased, to the theatergoer society
of Artsakh.
The memory of the prominent actress will always remain bright in the
hearts of her art admirers and in the history of Armenian theater”.
ATTENTION! TREES ARE BEING FELLED
A group calling itself “Let’s Preserve Our Environment” claims that
the Landshaft store on Charents Street, opposite the Yerevan State
University’s Department of Botany, has been cutting down trees which
it believes are blocking the storefront.
“The store that promotes landscaping services, is now felling trees,
damaging Nature and spoiling the aesthetic appearance of the street,”
the group said in a statement.
The group calls on the Ministry of Nature Protection to investigate
and punish those guilty.
THE EU ADVISORY GROUP SUGGESTS THE CREATION OF TRADE PROMOTION ORGANISATIONS IN ARMENIA
armradio.am
16.11.2011 16:16
The EU Advisory Group has issued a policy paper that studies the
impact of the financial support to international trade and export
activities in Armenia and its neighbouring countries. The paper
recommends the creation of a Trade Promotion Organisation as a
“one stop shop” service that would centralise and facilitate export
activities of Armenian companies.
Success in the export market is vital to the long-term growth of
domestic businesses and the economy as a whole. The development of
financial tools is recognised as a pre-condition for a successful
export market. The objective of a Trade Promotion Organization is
thus to enable business export success by providing a comprehensive
range of solutions along the Export Process Value Chain.
The establishment of Trade Promotion Organizations is aimed at
assisting in overcoming barriers when entering international markets
through:
– improving domestic firms’ capabilities to compete at international
levels; – creating overall awareness on exporting as a growth and
market expansion opportunity; – overcoming the barriers arising at
various stages of the Export Process; – co-ordinating export promotion
activities of various government and non-government agencies.
The policy paper gives background on international best practices
and provides information on the current state of play in Armenia
and the wider region. It gives a number of recommendations on the
institutional, policy and technical aspects which will contribute to
the creation of a “one stop shop” Export Promotion Center.