Author: Kanayan Tamar

HENRICH MKHITARYAM IN UEFA’S DREAM TEAM

Tert.am
17:19 ~U 13.10.11

Armenian football player Henrich Mkhitaryan, who currently represents
Ukraine’s Shakhtar, has appeared in UEFA’s dream team following the
Euro 2012 qualifiers.

UEFA launched the game on its website recently to enable football
fans to create a team that they would like to see in the Euro 2012 Cup.

The dream teams includes sportsmen who played in their national teams
during the qualifiers.

The participants gained scores based on their trainees real moves.

With the group round already in the past, the European experts have
created a team which includes the football players with the maximum
scores.

RESPONSE TO BENON SEVAN’S CALL TO SHUT UP
By Ara K. Manoogian

October 12th, 2011

Benon Sevan, former Head of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program,
has provided well intended recommendations for Armenia’s development,
with a side effect of prolonging and strengthening the tenure of
the incumbent corrupt Armenian government. His good intentions are
laid out in an article, “Excessive Negativism and Constant Attacks
Jeopardize Armenia’s Development,” published in the California Courier
on October 13, 2011:

Regardless of our impatience and desire to witness a truly democratic
state of Armenia, we have no alternative to being patient, because
it takes time to develop democracy, economic and social development,
and civil society, as well as true democratic reforms

Although he does not provide an exact duration of the proposed
patience, one thing is clear, he talks about centuries: “How long
did it take for some of Europe’s democracies to give their women the
right to vote?” He then goes on speaking about the French guillotine,
slavery in the U.S., and so on. Sevan expects Armenia to relive the
past stages of world history to deserve a true democracy. In fact,
Armenia is reliving some historic moments to a certain extent. A
few months ago, I read about an Armenian slave camp run by Marat
Janvelyan, one of the untouchable oligarchs of Armenia. No prosecution
or investigation followed this hairsplitting “negative report” about
the sad reality in 21st century Armenia. (The full story can be read
at )

I wonder if it was thanks to such patience that today Georgia,
Armenia’s post-Soviet neighbor, can boast about the biggest leap
towards democracy in the same “rather dangerous neighborhood”,
Sevan’s moniker for the South Caucasus.

Sevan complains about the abundance of “negative reports” in media. He
urges all concerned citizens to stop criticizing the government for
corruption and cheer for its little successes:

Of all the hundreds of negative reports, is not there at least a
single positive development to report on? […] We should all unite
and spare no effort in supporting and encouraging them to speed up
the development of democratic institutions, as well as strengthening
the economy and raising the living standards.

Cheering may work for a soccer team, but not for a corrupt government
that has no will to commit to democratic reforms. Such approach is
also reminiscent of the mode of civil behavior the totalitarian Soviet
leaders preached for their subjects. In many ways, a totalitarian
regime is democracy minus public criticism of itself. However, Sevan
has his own reasons why all the critical voices should be silenced:

One gets tired of reading what is being said by all these so-called
pundits, rabble-rousers, including self-serving former government
officials pursuing their own personal agenda to bring about a
regime change not through the ballot box but through encouraging a
mob culture.

Benon Sevan is tired. Actually, he is so tired that he forgets all
bread is not baked in one oven. He muddles Levon Ter-Petrosyan with
journalists and human rights activists who voice their concerns
about the problems in the country. I personally believe that all
the three presidents of independent Armenia need to be prosecuted
for their crimes against Armenia’s statehood and citizens. For
a better understanding of the economic crimes of the Armenian
governments past and present, I recommend that one read, “To Donate
or Not to Donate”, a white paper on “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund at

Benon Sevan’s call for wielding a positive, “cheerleader” stance
toward Armenia’s corrupt authorities is not alien to his nature. He
has showcased such leniency toward a despotic regime before. Back in
1996-2003, as UN Oil-for-Food chief, Benon was accused of accepting
bribes from the government of Saddam Hussein, while the latter was
terrorizing and murdering his own people en masse. Sevan avoided
prosecution and conviction by fleeing to Cyprus in 2005.

Patience is another word for indifference. For too long, Armenians in
the Diaspora have remained patient toward unrestrained abuses of the
monopolies, suffocation of small and medium private entrepreneurship,
as well as alarming frequency of forced suicides and murders in
the army, widespread poverty in Armenia’s provincial regions, and
continuous mass emigration. I voice my concerns over injustice in
Armenia and fight for improvement, because I believe that Armenia
can do better, and will, as long as concerned citizens keep pushing.

Ara K. Manoogian is a human rights activist representing the Shahan
Natalie Family Foundation in Artsakh and Armenia; a Fellow
of the Washington-based Policy Forum Armenia (PFA); creator of
 and author of the white paper “To Donate
Or Not To Donation”, an in depth study on the activities of the
“Hayastan” All-Armenia Fund.

ADAA TO PRESENT ARMENIAN BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL

Armenian Weekly
Tue, Oct 11 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-The 4th annual Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA)
Film Festival will take place at the Fresh Pond Cinemas in Cambridge
from Nov. 12-13. The event is dedicated to providing a forum for
new Armenian filmmakers, and is sponsored by Roy Shahan and John
Vigen Der Manuelian, in loving memory of Manuel, Armenouhy, Armane
(Aghababian), Takouhi (Chorbajian), and Kenneth Shant Der Manuelian.

This year’s lineup includes over 10 films from around the world,
beginning with a new film by French Armenian filmmaker Serge Avedikian
called “Dogs of Istanbul,” a follow-up to his short film last year,
“Barking Island.”

>From French Armenian filmmaker Levon Minasian comes the award-winning
short film “The Piano,” a charming look at a 13-year-old in Leninakan
who longs to play a piano that doesn’t fit in her tiny home.

>From Belgium, filmmaker Comes Chabazian presents “Ici Bas” (Down Here),
an abstract realist look at life in Armenia.

>From South Africa, ADAA presents Shareen Anderson’s “Charents: In
Search Of My Armenian Poet.” This full-length film explores the life
and works of one of Armenia’s best-loved poets, Yeghishe Charents,
through a literary travelogue from Armenia to the poet’s birthplace
in Kars, Turkey.

“Son of the Olive Merchant” is a charming film by Mathieu
Zeitindjioglou, who travels to Turkey on his honeymoon with his Polish
wife to confront genocide denial.

The Film Festival Committee includes Rozet Atizinian, Samuel Vartan,
and Alfred Demirjian. The films were curated by Janice Keuhnelian
and Bianca Bagatourian.

The ADAA is dedicated to projecting the Armenian voice on a world
stage through the stage and screen.

For more information on the festival, visit For
tickets, call the Fresh Pond Cinemas at (617) 661-2900.

.

PRIME MINISTER GOT ANGRY

Lragir.am News

13:26:40 – 13/10/2011

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan started today’s session of
the government dwelling on the fair economic competition. He
stated that the government provided the State Commission for the
Protection of Economic Competition with necessary levers through
legislative amendments to ensure progress in this field. He asked
Artak Shaboyan, Chairman of the State Commission for Protection of
Economic Competition, to report the situation.

Shaboyan said the committee worked hard and studied 13 commodity
markets of high concentration. The markets are the food market – egg,
coffee, butter markets, and non-food markets – cement, alabaster,
different kinds of building materials, as well as fertilizers. In 9
months of 2011, the commission succeeded in revealing many issues.

Prime Minister asked Shaboyan to say what they did in precise. Artak
Shaboyan answered that they launched administrative proceedings and
made corresponding decisions holding responsible 86 enterprisers,
while last year the number was 30. As well as, they manage to collect
230 million drams of fine, in contrast to the 37 million in 2010,
10 million in 2009 and 9 million in 2008.

Prime Minister asked Shaboyan to say whether the fact that they
collected three-fold more taxes gave any effect. “We are interested
whether the economic competition improved in the result of fines,
or the fines just arouse the indignation of those fined. It is
important to boost the competition”, said the Premier. He asked what
the situation in the mentioned commodity markets is going to be in
2012 in the result of the events fulfilled by the Commission.

Shaboyan answered that a part of these markets has been fined and
administrative proceedings were launched, and all of them are under
the Commission’s daily control. If new breaches are revealed, the
commission will again be consistent and will hold responsible the
wrongdoers.

Tigran Sargsyan concluded that the fair competition in Armenia is
improving and this is the goal and the priority of the government.

ARMENIA SOCCER BOSS: PROTEST LODGED AGAINST SPANISH REF’S DECISIONS IN DUBLIN
By Suren Musayelyan

ArmeniaNow
13.10.11 | 11:43

Ruben Hayrapetyan

Armenia has protested the “poor refereeing” by a Spanish official
during the crunch Euro-2012 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland
in Dublin earlier this week that many say has cost the nation a
playoff slot.

President of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) Ruben Hayrapetyan
personally wrote on the wall of his Facebook page late on Wednesday
that the Armenian soccer authorities had taken the step.

Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, the main referee of the match at the
Aviva Stadium in Dublin on October 11, showed a red card to Armenia’s
goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky in the 26th minute of the first half
for handballing outside the penalty area, an offense for which the
veteran player was sent off the pitch.

Replays, however, showed Berezovsky blocking the shot with his chest.

Moreover, an Irish player appeared to have himself handled in
controlling the long ball before shooting, making Berezovksy’s
purported foul a moot point.

The match eventually went 2-1 to the home side, with Armenia going
out of the tournament – and out of hopes of fulfilling a historic
rise in post-Soviet Armenian football.

In his message to the fans, Hayrapetyan did not elaborate on the
formal filing of the protest, saying only that the Armenian Federation
was more interested in clearing Berezovksy of the red card than in
“punishing the ignorant [ref]”. Apart from immediate trouble at
the pitch, a red card also means that the player misses the next
game or games depending on a further decision by disciplinary
bodies. If the penalty is upheld, it would mean Armenia would be
without its veteran goalkeeper when it embarks on the World Cup
qualifying campaign next September. To rescind the red card would
implicitly admit an officiating fault. Soccer’s governing body UEFA
is no doubt not eager to face whatever further fallout that surely
would be stirred, considering the magnitude of the game’s result –
particularly for Armenia.

At the same time, FFA chief Hayrapetyan cooled the talk about a
“foul play”, by UEFA that some in Armenia claimed had encouraged a
refereeing favorable to the Irish team to offset the devilish referee
mistake in 2009 that left the Boys in Green outside the World Cup
when Ireland drew against France in a playoff in Paris and went out
on two-leg aggregate.

On his Facebook page the FFA chief also praised the team for its
quality performance and thanked Armenia fans for supporting the team
even in hard times.

AZERBAIJAN REFUSES CIS INTERIOR MINISTERS’ MEETING IN YEREVAN

Tert.am
12:35 ~U 13.10.11

Azerbaijan has refused to participate in a meeting of the CIS Ministers
of the Interior to be held in Yerevan, APA reports.

The meeting is to be held Oct. 13 to 15 to discuss issues of organized
crime control in the CIS.

MUNICIPAL THEATER PLAYS ARMENIAN WRITER’S WORK

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 12 2011

Istanbul Municipal Theater is getting ready to stage famous Armenian
writer Hagop Baronyan’s Eastern Worker in its new season. “Armenians
are the foundations of Turkish theater,” says art director Þamlýoðlu.

This photo shows the actors and actresses on their rehearsal of Eastern
Worker, Armenian writer Hagop Baranyan’s famous novel, which is now
adapted into a play. DAILY NEWS photo.

The Istanbul Municipal Theater will stage Hagop Baronyan’s “Eastern
Worker” (Adamnapuyjn Arevelyan) as a musical in the new season,
marking the first time an Armenian play will be staged at a state
theater in Turkey.

“Armenians are the foundation of Turkish theater. Artists bred in this
area are the DNA of this land. We need to claim our past if we want
to modernize. Unfortunately, we are a society without a memory,” said
Ayþenil Þamlýoðlu, Istanbul Municipal Theater’s general art director.

The theater would be greatly pleased to bring the play to Armenia
with its huge cast as well, Þamlýoðlu added.

“We also marginalize our people. We ignored people who had been living
on this soil for thousands of years due to ideological reasons. It is
impossible for us to eradicate Armenian artists from Turkish theater,”
Engin Algan, who adapted Baronyan’s work for the stage, recently told
the Hurriyet Daily News.

Algan encountered Baronyan’s name by chance in a theater magazine
called “Mimesis.” He then found out about the work on the Internet.

“[It is] a very important and unique work in literary terms as much as
in theatrical terms despite having been written in 1860,” Algan said.

Regarded as a landmark persona in western Armenian literature, which
developed primarily in Istanbul during the 19th century, Baronyan was
marginalized in his own time due to his biting language. A comedy
writer and journalist, Baronyan posthumously became part of the
classical cannon with his work.

‘There would have been outrage’

“We would not have been able to stage this play in previous years
even if we had wanted to. We went through difficult times. There
would certainly have been major outrage if we had said that we were
going to stage such a play in a public theater,” Algan said.

It is highly important to perform such a play at a time when enmity
is used as a political tool and the winds of nationalism have taken
hold of the new generation, he said.

“We shared a common life 100 years ago. It is this common past that
carried us into the present. We are used to burying our heads in the
sand, but we can no longer continue on like this,” Algan said.

The play tackles the issue of gender relations in a comical way,
according to Þamlýoðlu, while the costumes and music is quite colorful.

“We did some restoration work on the original text. We composed
new songs and brought together the influence of westernization,
the culture of the Armenian community, Orientalism and canto with a
different concept while preserving the spirit of the era,” Algan said.

Foreign audiences would also derive great pleasure from Baronyan’s
play, Þamlýoðlu said.

“You will find the wealth of this land and a different color scale
in this musical play,” Þamlýoðlu said.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

NEW BUILDING OF YSEU MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS CHAIR OPENED

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 12, 2011 – 16:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Cooperation between Synopsys Armenia, VivaCell-MTS
and European Regional Educational Academy (EREA) resulted in the
official opening of the new building of the chair of Communication,
Microelectronic Circuit and Systems at Yerevan State Engineering
University.

Aiming at the promotion of education in communication, microelectronic
circuits, and systems in Armenia, Synopsys Armenia CJSC, VivaCell-MTS
and EREA signed agreement on cooperation in summer of 2011. In
frames of Agreement, VivaCell-MTS allocated funds to rehabilitate
the respective auditorium area specified by EREA to bring it into
correspondence with the state-of-the-art education standards and
requirements.

According to the educational model developed by Synopsys Armenia,
the program will accept 2nd year students of the EREA School of IT,
who have successfully completed Bachelor’s Degree courses in general
subjects. The selection of the students will be made by the experienced
specialists of Synopsys Armenia, VivaCell-MTS and leading professors
of the EREA.

The creation of a department meeting contemporary educational
requirements and standards is one of the important steps aimed at
the fulfillment of the purpose. The support provided by VivaCell-MTS
was aimed not only at the renovation of the auditorium, but also at
the remuneration for professors, salary compensation and equipment
with computers.

“The formation of the country’s intellectual capital must be steered
in close cooperation with the business. One of the important steps
to success is the recruitment of competitive workforce. VivaCell-MTS
has supported the development of the sphere of education through a
variety of programs, realizing that education is the weapon to face
the challenges of time. It’s important to participate in training
a workforce to provide balance between supply and demand,” said
VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

Synopsys Armenia has undertaken the responsibility for the organization
of regular trainings for professors of the chair.

ARMENIAN FOOTBALL COACH GAINING INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Tert.am
22:38 ~U 12.10.11

Players of Armenia’s national football team and their chief coach
Vardan Minasyan are rapidly gaining recognition beyond the boundaries
of their country, writes the Irish Independent.

“The names of both the players of Armenia’s national football team
and their coach will yet to be written in the higher echelons of
the European football, but Vardan Minasyan and his trainees are very
rapidly gaining recognition,” the paper wrote.

Further, it said that Minasyan, who is also the coach of football
club Pyunik and yet receives only 50,000 euro per year, is gaining
the reputation of one of the youngest coaches in world football.

According to the paper, at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday Minasyan did
not at all look like a person who was suffering under the burden of
whether or not Armenia will enter the play-off for the first time.

Moreover, he responded to questions with self-confidence and was sure
that failure to pave the way to the play-off at the Euro-2012 would
not be a “disaster”, the paper wrote.

ARMENIAN TEACHERS OF FRENCH TO BE TRAINED

Tert.am
18:58 ~U 12.10.11

Armenian teachers of French will have an opportunity to be trained
thanks to an agreement of cooperation signed by Armenia’s Minsitry of
Education and Science, French Embassy in Yerevan and the organization
of French Retired Pedagogues without Borders.

Signing the document with French Ambassador to Armenia Anri Reno, the
representative of the organization Alain Ornez, Armenia’s Minister of
Education and Science, Armen Ashotyan, said that the signing of the
agreement after French president’s visit to Armenia bears symbolism.

“We are interested and are ready to create all the necessary conditions
so that teaching French in Armenian schools will be strengthened and
expanded,” said Ashotyan.

“I am sure that this program will contribute to the imperfection of
the teachers of French in Armenian schools,” Ashotyan added.

Ashotyan further said that French is the third among foreign languages
taught in Armenian schools – preceded by English and German.