Author: Kanayan Tamar

Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) – Yerevan Office
1 Northern Avenue, Suite 24,
0001, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Inessa Grigoryan
Tel: (+374 10) 50.20.76; 53.34.12
Fax: (+374 10) 50.20.76
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Building a New Future for Students and Teachers in Rural Armenia

September 16, 2011, Yerevan, Armenia – Over the past six years, a
variety of educational projects have had a dramatic impact on learning
in the communities in the Baghramian Region of Armavir Marz of Armenia.
The Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) launched its Comprehensive Rural
Development Program there in 2004; improving the quality of general
education and broadening its scope was and remains among its priorities.
As a result, schools are now equipped with safe and bright classrooms,
students and educators have access to up-to-date educational tools and
technologies, and the educational experience has been enhanced by
after-school and recreational programs, as well as by summer camps.

COAF’s holistic approach goes beyond just the classroom or the school
building: with its programs in Karakert, Lernagog, Miasnikian, Dalarik,
Argina, Shenik, Aragatsavan and Baghramian it works to bring
intellectual, creative, social and civic enrichment opportunities to the
entire community. In addition to introducing new technologies and
training for rural teachers, it strives to enhance communication among
children, their teachers and their parents. According to Serob
Khachatryan, COAF Executive Director, “Through our Education Program, we
are facilitating the evolution of village schools into child-centered
centers of excellence, contributing to the professional orientation of
students and giving them new horizons for self-expression.”

Upgraded infrastructure has been vital to improving the quality of
education in these rural communities. For too long, the children were
deprived of the most basic conditions for a healthy school environment.
According to Hayser Kirakosyan, a History teacher at Dalarik School,
“The newly renovated and refurbished school gifted to us by COAF is like
a miracle, and I am absolutely convinced that our children now will
strive for higher results and will attain tangible achievements.”

In cooperation with Step by Step Benevolent Foundation, COAF is offering
the Teachers’ Training Program, which aids local educators in upgrading
their background knowledge and enriching their classes. Its training
sessions, workshops, class observations, group discussions and joint
lesson planning have brought new insights and new enthusiasm even to
experienced teachers. Gayane Gabrielyan, Vice Principal of Lernagog
School, thought she knew everything a teacher needed to know, but that
was before she was introduced to more innovative elements and
interactive methods of teaching. “Having participated in COAF’s
education program activities, I realize that I still have much to
learn,” Mrs. Gabrielyan now concludes.

Her supervisor shares that opinion. “In the past, I thought that chalk
and the blackboard were the best tools for teaching students. Through
COAF’s programs I came to appreciate the important role new technologies
play in the development of the young,” comments Koryun Makaryan,
Lernagog School Principal.

Another COAF initiative is the Small Grants for Rural Teachers project,
which is designed to foster close collaboration in education and
networking within and between the villages. At least two educators must
collaborate on each proposal; the result has been a variety of
innovative projects exploring new subjects and taking creative
approaches that incorporate new teaching tools and methodologies. New
models for learning are being created, and they will be shared with
other schools.

COAF and local educators are committed to providing this generation of
young Armenians with opportunities for self-discovery and development.
After-school activities expose students to learning in a more informal
environment. According to Nara Martirosyan, COAF Education Program
Manager, “It is gratifying to observe how the children living in
socially insecure conditions who previously attended crumbling rural
schools reveal their talents by being engaged in Student Councils, Photo
and Video Clubs, English Language classes, Youth Clubs in Agriculture
and Basketball. This way we are preparing students to be the scholars,
artists, citizens and leaders of tomorrow.”

COAF’s educational efforts don’t end with the academic year. It has
introduced Summer Camps to Armenia. Each camp is organized locally, but
its curriculum is always rich in education, entertainment and athletic
activities, along with interactive games and visits by popular artists
and athletes. Nine-year-old Harutyun Tovmasyan and fourteen-year-old
Vahram Avagyan have fond memories of Karakert camp this summer. Both
made new friends; Harutyun enjoyed the drawing class at the camp and
learned how to play basketball. They look forward to the next year’s
Summer Camp with great enthusiasm.

# # # # #

About COAF

The Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) is a non-profit organization,
founded in 2000 in New York that works to secure a brighter future for
the children in Armenia’s impoverished rural villages through improved
education, health care, community life and economic conditions. With the
introduction of a unique clustering approach in 2004, COAF currently
implements a Comprehensive Rural Development Program in ten villages in
the Baghramian Region of Armavir Marz and two villages in Aragatsotn
Marz. Over the past six years, more than 22,000 rural residents
including 5,000 children from the communities of Argina, Arteni,
Baghramian, Dalarik, Hushakert, Lernagog, Karakert, Miasnikian, Shenik
and Yervandashat have benefited from COAF’s continuous development
projects and the improved schools, kindergartens, health clinics, sport
complexes, community centers, capacity building trainings and workshops,
and business opportunities that have resulted.

AZERBAIDJAN : LE DOMICILE DES PARENTS D’UN JOURNALISTE ATTAQUE

Source/Lien : Reporters Sans Frontieres
16-09-2011

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
invite a lire cette information publiee sur le site des Reporters
Sans Frontières le 14 septembre 2011.

Le domicile des parents d’un journaliste attaque et sa famille
violemment agressee

Les autorites azerbaidjaniases utilisent parfois des techniques
de censure et d’intimidation aussi surprenantes que brutales. Le 9
septembre 2011, les services de securite de la Binagadi Oil Company,
entreprise petrolière appartenant au gouvernement, ont attaque a la
pelleteuse la maison de la famille du journaliste Idrak Abbasov,
situee dans la banlieue de Bakou, sous pretexte qu’elle avait ete
construite illegalement.

“Il s’agit d’une action punitive. Cette attaque vise clairement a
faire taire Idrak Abbasov, dont le travail d’investigation derange la
Binagadi Oil Compagny. Elle jette une lumière crue sur les pratiques
d’intimidation mises en oeuvre pour reduire au silence les journalistes
en Azerbaïdjan. En plus de menacer et d’agresser directement les
professionnels de la presse, les autorites n’hesitent pas a s’en
prendre a leurs proches”, a declare Reporters sans frontières.

Journaliste pour l’Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety,
Idrak Abbasov enquetait sur les activites illegales de la Binagadi
Oil Compagny, une branche de la State Oil Compagny of Azerbaijan,
responsable de la destruction d’habitations dans la region de Bakou
a des fins d’exploitation petrolière. Les maisons construites il y a
20 ans dans cette municipalite sont rasees, les habitants indemnises
ou reloges. Durant des mois, des representants de la compagnie avaient
menace le père et le frère du journaliste de faire subir a leur maison
le meme traitement si ce dernier n’arretait pas ses recherches.

Le 9 septembre 2011 vers 11 heures (heure locale), a Sulutepe
près de Bakou, un groupe d’hommes vetus de noir a fait irruption
au domicile que les parents d’Idrak Abbasov habitent depuis 25 ans,
sous pretexte qu’elle avait ete “construite illegalement”. Les parents
du journaliste, ses frères et leurs enfants ont ete violemment roues
de coups a l’aide de matraques. Transferes a l’hôpital, le père du
journaliste est actuellement dans le coma, et sa mère ainsi que son
frère ont ete places en soins intensifs pour traumatisme crânien.

Aucune notification d’expulsion n’avait ete transmise a la famille
pour qu’elle quitte la maison.

Cet episode sinistre rappelle le cas de Leyla Yunus, activiste des
droits de l’homme et fondatrice de l’Institut pour la paix et la
democratie, dont les locaux avaient ete rases au bulldozer le 11
août 2011, sous pretexte qu’il se trouvait a l’endroit precis où un
parc serait construit en hommage a l’ancien president Heydar Aliyev,
père defunt de l’actuel president Ilham Aliyev.

10 000 TOURISTES RUSSES ATTENDUS EN ARMENIE EN OCTOBRE
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 16 septembre 2011

Une ONG Russo-armenienne de bienfaisance “Question d’honneur” a signe
un accord avec la societe Nouveau Tour.

En vertu de cet accord, environ 10 000 touristes russes voyageront
en Armenie a la fin Octobre.

L’accord a ete signe dans le cadre du premier Forum interregional
russo-armenien.

Meri Nersisyan, directeur general de la societe russe Voyage a declare
que la mise en ~uvre de ce projet aurait un impact favorable sur le
developpement du tourisme en Armenie.

Andranik Nokoghosyan, president de “question d’honneur” a declare pour
sa part que les visites guidees offertes aux touristes russes seront
plus favorables que celles fournies par d’autres agences de voyage.

LE COMITE D’ETHIQUE REND SA DECISION SUR LE COMPORTEMENT DE SCHMIDT
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 16 septembre 2011

Un comite d’ethique de la Chambre des Representants a rendu public
les resultats d’une enquete pour determiner si la Representante
des Etats-Unis Jean Schmidt avait accepte de facon inappropriee des
cadeaux d’un groupe d’avocats turc.

Le cas decoule d’un procès en diffamation fait par Schmidt contre
son concurrent aux elections de 2008, David Krikorian.

Krikorian avait accuse Schmidt d’avoir empoche de l’argent d’un
“contrat” d’interets turcs pour nier le Genocide Armenien. Après qu’il
ait ete assigne par Schmidt, Krikorian avait depose une plainte auprès
de l’Office of Congressional

Le HICS (Bureau d’Ethique du Congrès) qui avait allegue que Schmidt
avait beneficie gratuitement des services de la Turkish Coalition of
America (TCA, Coalition Turque des Etats-Unis).

Le comite de la chambre a releve que les avocats de Schmidt ont
effectivement facture au TCA la somme approximative de 500 000 dollars,
mais que Schmidt n’etait pas au courant de ces paiements.

“La commission a releve que les avocats de Schmidt ont omis de
l’informer de leurs arrangements avec le TCA, et lui ont fait des
declarations fausses et deconcertantes sur leurs relations avec le
TCA et le TALDF (Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, Fonds de defense
juridique turc americain)”, lit-on dans le rapport.

La commission a dit que Schmidt doit s’assurer que le TCA ne payera
plus pour de quelconques services a l’avenir. Elle doit aussi
reverser aux avocats associes au TALDF et corriger en consequence
ses declarations de conflits d’interets 2009 et 2010.

Schmidt a declare vendredi dans un communique : “comme je l’ai deja
declare publiquement, je n’ai jamais cherche ni accepte les services
d’avocats gratuitement. J’ai attendu l’avis du Comite d’Ethique sur la
meilleure facon de payer ces notes d’honoraires. A present que j’ai
pris connaissance de cet avis, je prevois de continuer a travailler
avec la Commission pour s’assurer que ces notes d’honoraires soient
payes comme il convient.”

Traduction Gilbert Beguian

TAKING ON TURKEY: ISRAEL’S ‘DANGEROUS’ GAME IN REGION

Today’s Zaman
Sept 15 2011
Turkey

The UN Palmer Report, which largely exonerated Israel for murdering
nine unarmed Turkish civilians in international waters on May 31,
2010, seemed in some ways like the last straw.

Prior to its publication, the camel’s back had already mostly broken
and a collapse in Turkish-Israeli ties was looming.

Turkey’s sin was seeking an apology for the killing of its citizens —
on their way to deliver essential, life-saving supplies to malnourished
and besieged Palestinians in Gaza — at the hand of Israeli army
commandos.

If the civilians had been Israelis, and the commandos part of a
Turkish force, all hell would have broken loose. Israel and the US
would have declared Turkey a pariah state. Turkey, however, merely
demanded an apology, and it was affronted further for doing so.

Of course, this is not the first time that Israel deliberately provoked
and tested Turkish patience. Israel has attempted to infiltrate
Turkey’s own political spaces by supporting its regional opponents
and arming various rebel groups with the aim of destabilizing Turkey.

Instead of acknowledging the country’s rising significance and
accommodating the rules of the “new Middle East” political game, Israel
resorted to intimidation and insults. It repeatedly placed Turkey —
a thriving democracy and a proud regional power of 80 million —
in a very sensitive standing.

However, the anti-Turkish attitude in Israel was not an outcome of
the Mavi Marmara incident last year. “The height of humiliation”
is how an Israeli newspaper described a scene in which Israel’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Turkish Ambassador
Ahmet Oguz last January to humiliate him before Israeli media. Oguz
was reprimanded over a fictional Turkish TV show that was critical of
Israel. To ensure that the point had been successfully made, Ayalon
“urged journalists to make clear that the ambassador was seated on
a low sofa, while the Israeli officials were in much higher chairs,”
according to the BBC (Jan. 13, 2010). Ayalon noted that is “there is
only one flag here” — the Israeli flag — and “we are not smiling.”

How did Turkey respond? A statement issued by the foreign ministry
“invited” their counterparts in the “Israeli foreign ministry to
respect the rules of diplomatic courtesy.” Hardly outrageous. The
gist of the Turkish message that followed the murder of the Turkish
humanitarian activists a few months later was not much different. It
basically asked for an apology.

Turkey was shunned for the seemingly unreasonable demand. An unnamed
senior Israeli official explained the Israeli logic to Ynet news on
Sept. 2, following Turkey’s decision to downgrade ties with Israel.

“Turkey is an important country in the Middle East, but an apology is
a very strategic precedent for Israel in this region,” he said. That
is true, Israel’s diplomacy is predicated on unfair trade, violent
storming of humanitarian boats, subservient activities, espionage and
much more. Indeed, an apology for the murder of Turkish’s civilians
would be a precedent.

Even after the recent publishing of Palmer Report — a contradictory
and obvious attempt at exonerating the Israeli army while implicating
Turkish humanitarian activists — Turkey acted responsibly. But it
also acted with the poise and dignity that is expected of a democratic
country expressing the wishes of the vast majority of its people. It
downgraded military, trade and other ties with Israel. Why should
Turkey share military intelligence with a country that murders Turks,
humiliates its diplomats and refuses to apologize?

Still, from Israel’s point of view, Turkey has crossed all the
limits of acceptable behavior. “Turkish warships will escort any
Turkish aid vessels to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” said Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with Al Jazeera
(as quoted in the Guardian, Sept. 8). At the same time, Turkish
diplomacy continued to offer a window of opportunity to detain further
escalation. “Our embassy in Israel is open, and the Israeli embassy in
Ankara is open. The relations would return to the old days if Israel
apologizes and accepts to pay compensation,” said Huseyin Celik,
deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
(according to the Guardian, Sept. 8.)

Since an apology is a “precedent,” Israel responded in the only way
it knows how. An accusatory campaign was launched against Turkey with
outlandish insinuations and direct threats.

“This is part of the Islamization spreading there, and we must
recognize it,” said the senior official to Ynet. The leading Israeli
news source also published a column by one Ron Ben-Yishai, calling the
Turkish prime minister a “short-tempered thug.” In “Turkey no great
power,” Yishai accused the country of failing on most fronts. “Turkey
under Erdogan’s leadership is neither a reliable ally nor a credible
rival,” he charged.

These views are hardly marginal, and were matched by specific threats
by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. “We’ll exact a price
from Erdogan that will prove to him that messing with Israel doesn’t
pay off,” Lieberman reportedly said. More specifically, he “urge[d]
all Israeli military veterans to refrain from traveling to Turkey
and facilitate cooperation with the Armenians — Turkey’s historic
rivals.” He said he also plans to meet with the Turkish rebel group
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to “cooperate with them and boost
them in every possible area,” according to UPI, Sept. 9.

Per this logic, demanding an apology for murder equals a thuggish act,
while stirring regional instability and admitting to supporting armed
militias is an acceptable diplomatic maneuver.

Turkey had no other option but to escalate before an obstinate “ally.”

And considering the latter’s existing isolation in the region — and
the growing anti-Israeli sentiment in Egypt and elsewhere — it is
likely that Israel, not Turkey, will lose out in this political tussle.

*Ramzy Baroud () is an internationally-syndicated
columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book
is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press,
London), available on Amazon.com.

AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR TO U.S. PROTESTS EVENT ON SELF-PROCLAIMED “NKR”

Trend
Sept 15 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Ambassador to the U.S. Yashar Aliyev voiced a protest
against the event associated with the self-proclaimed separatist
regime of “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”, a representative of Azerbaijani
Embassy in Washington told Trend.

Protesting against the event, hosted September 13 in Washington by
the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues in cooperation with the
Armenian Embassy and a number of Armenian-American organizations,
Yashar Aliyev sent a letter on September 11 to all 435 members of
the U.S. House of Representatives.

The letter lists the facts of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan,
occupation of Azerbaijani territories, forced displacement of hundreds
of thousands of Azerbaijanis as a result of this occupation, as well
as the establishment by Armenia of an illegal regime in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories that is not recognized by any country in
the world.

At the same time, the letter notes that the event organizers aimed to
divert the attention of members of Congress and the American public
from the fact of the continuing occupation of Azerbaijani territories,
and thereby to consolidate the results of the occupation.

In view of this, the ambassador urged lawmakers not to participate in
the event, intended against the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan, which is a strategic partner of the United States.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding
regions.

MINISTRY: AZERBAIJAN HAS NO RELATION TO UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE CRASHED IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Trend
Sept 15 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has no relation to the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in
the Armenian-occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s
Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier, Armenian media outlets reported on shooting down an
Azerbaijani unmanned aerial vehicle.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the 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.

MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ON KARABAKH TO MEET IN LATE SEPTEMBER

news.az
Sept 15 2011
Azerbaijan

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are planning to hold the next meeting
on Karabakh settlement.

The meeting is to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
in New York.

The statement came from the official spokesman of the Russian Foreign
Ministry Alexander Lukashevich.

“The next meeting of the co-chairs is scheduled for the last decade
of September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in
New York”, he said.

EMBOSSED WOMEN, EMBOSSED LIVES: INTERVIEW WITH SUZAN KHARTALYAN: INTERVIEW BY ASTGHIK IGITYAN

Panorama

Sept 15 2011
Armenia

On September 21 a film by Suzan Khartalyan, who lives in Sweden,
titled “Tattoos of grandma” will be presented in Stockholm. The film
tells about Armenian Genocide, the women who survived those years,
but happened to have their fates embossed.

“Ermenihaber.am” had an exclusive interview with publicist and director
Suzan Khartalyan. Read the second part of the interview below.

-Suzan was your granny talking about her tattoos?

– Never. I remember my granny wearing white gauntlets to hide
her tattoos. She was trying hard to hide, to escape her life she
used to have in genocide years. She has cleared her memory and we
couldn’t speak about it at home. We were hiding that page of her
life in darkness. Until 16-17 I knew nothing about genocide. I knew
my granny for 20 years, but I knew nothing about her. As if she was,
but she wasn’t and in this dilemma she was keeping her secret.

-You said your granny’s sister also had some tattoos. Wasn’t she
speaking about it either?

My granny’s sister also had those tattoos. She also refused any talks
about it. I used to ask her why she didn’t speak about it, and one
day she got angry with me and said: “Do you want me to tell you that
Turks have done this? Does it really differ?”

– Did they do those tattoos against the women’s will?

Surely. Nobody asked them about it. There are hundreds of stories
how those women were clearing their tattoos after their slavery. Some
even used some chemical stuff to clean them.

– How those women managed to live bring those “embossed fates” on
their shoulders?

They were rejected by the Armenian men. Yet in 1924 Armenian women
were trying to restore their virginity through plastic surgery in
Beirut. Those women who were tattooed were rejected by Armenian men;
those tattoos told everybody their shared life with other men, with
Islam. Some pages of history we’ve been keeping secret because it
was shameful.

-Is it possible to show through documentary the emotional part of
the issue?

It was very important to show both the emotional part and the facts.

The film is interesting when you can find yourself there.

Read also: Tattoos of Grandma – film about Armenian Genocide

GEORGIA DISCOVERED MURDER OF ARMENIAN FAMILY COMMITTED 17 YEARS AGO

news.am
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

TBILISI. – Georgian law enforcement agents discovered a murder case
of an Armenian family, committed 17 years ago.

Special operational staff of the Department of Georgian Ministry of
Interior Affairs and the Prosecutor’s Office Anti-Corruption Department
disclosed a crime committed 17 years ago. They arrested three people,
who committed triple murder, Georgia News informs quoting Ministry’s
press service.

The murder case refers to the family of Nshan and Flora Minasyans
and their son Vazgen. The murderers also injured Minasyan’s daughter
Gayane in front of Vazgen’s spouse and small child. Seven people
are presecuted for the murder: Vakhtang Gvitishvili, his broter Koba
Gvitishvili, Georgi Otarashvili, Gela Kavtaradze, Revaz Demetrashvili,
Aleksandr Revazishvili and Malkhaz Modebadze.

The investigation revealed that above mentioned people first kidnapped
Vazgen on January 18, 1994 and demanded $150,000. They released him
after receiving a buyout in the amount of $15,000. However, the rest
of the buyout should have been paid in several days. Later the gang
decided to kill the whole family to cover the kidnapping.

Police arrested only three people from the gang: Otarashvili,
Demetrashvili and Revazishvili. The rest are wanted. Nothing is
informed on when they were arrested.

Protection of the accused has not yet made any comments for media.