Author: Kanayan Tamar

FRESHMAN CRISIS AT ARMENIA’S LEADING HIGHER SCHOOL

Tert.am
30.08.11

A number of departments of Yerevan State University (YSU) have a
lack of students this academic year, YSU Rector Aram Simonyan told
journalists Aug. 30. Moreover, a number of faculties of science,
particularly physicomathematical departments, will not have first-year
students.

“We have not had many entrants this year,” Simonyan said. He pointed
out that the YSU administration has taken necessary measures. “I think
all the higher schools will overcome the problems. Higher education
will be funded this year as well irrespective of the student numbers,”
he added.

This year, 693 entrants have been admitted to Yerevan State
University. This number does not include foreign students. Most
of them have been admitted to the faculties of history, philology,
Armenian studies and law. Simonyan said that the tuition fee I to
remain unchanged.

IS THERE KHACHATUROV AT ALL?
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:22:33 – 30/08/2011

The role of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is as
important in terms of management of the army contingent as that of
the Defense Minister. The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces
of Armenia is Yuri Khachaturov.

Has this official ever tried to make public remarks about the situation
in the army, tragic events and army reforms in general? Is there a
Chief of General Staff of the Army in Armenia or not? What is Yuri
Khachaturov doing?

No doubt, along with responsibility of the Defense Minister, the
issue of responsibility of the Chief of the General Staff should also
be raised.

Moreover, the organization and daily operation of the army is enabled
through the Chief of the General Staff, so he is directly responsible
for the organization of life in the army.

Hence, a public demand of resignation of the Chief of the General
Staff of the Armed Forces should be set forward given he fails to
give a convincing and grounded clarification on tragedies happening
in the army every now and then and fails to take steps to prevent
further tragedies.

Although, apparently, the time for explanations is over, and if the
Chief of General Staff had something to tell the society or could do
something to prevent crimes, he would have said and done it.

Consequently, it is obvious to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that
it is high time he considered replacement of the Chief of General
Staff of the Armed Forces.

Although, I wonder if it will be enough. This step should be the
beginning of replacement of generals of the Armenian army. The later it
happens, the more lives of Armenian young men will be under threaten.

RETURNING PROPERTY TO ARMENIANS BY TURKISH GOVERNMENT HAS PURPOSE TO CALL OFF ATTENTION OF WORLD COMMUNITY FROM ARMENIAN ISSUE

arminfo
Tuesday, August 30, 16:05

Turkey has not changed its harsh position regarding Armenia. It is just
trying to hide its aggressiveness via certain gestures of “kind will”,
political expert Levon Shirinyan said at today’s press-conference when
commenting on the decision of the Turkish authorities about property
returning to the Armenian and Jewish communities.

He also added that by such a step Ankara is trying to gain the
reputation of a civilized state as well as to call off the attention
of the world community from the Armenian issue. Actually, as he said,
the Turkish military and political elite did not depart from its
anti-Armenian stance. As for the property returning to the Armenians,
Shirinyan said it is a halfway measure, which does not allow to hope
for radical changing in the policy of Ankara.

To recall, on 28 August the Turkish government adopted a decision
to return the confiscated property to the Christian and Jewish
organizations.

ARMENIA EXPO 2011 SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER

news.am
Aug 29, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- The Armenian capital will host Armenia EXPO 2011 eleventh
regional universal trade-industrial exhibition on September 16-18.

This year’s exhibition is dedicated to 20th anniversary of Armenia’s
independence and presents country’s economic achievements.

Armenia EXPO will embrace almost all fields of economy and will bring
together over 180 local and foreign companies, including those from
Russia, Belarus, Iran, the UAE, Germany, Georgia, Turkey, China,
Poland and Italy.

The exhibition provides a great opportunity to present new
technologies, systems and new solutions in different fields.

ISRAELI DEPUTY FM: “WE NEVER DENIED THE ARMENIAN TRAGEDY, BUT WE DO NOT WISH TO BECOME PARTY TO THE CONFRONTATION”

Mediamax
Aug 29, 2011
Armenia

Photo: http://www.infosurhoy.comDanny Ayalon Exclusive interview of
the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to Mediamax

– What should Israel and Armenia do to take their relations to a new
level? There is an impression that none of the sides is willing to
make steps for a real rapprochement although both sides claim there
are no major political disagreements.

– First of all, I hope that the impression that both sides are not
interested in taking steps to bring themselves closer together is a
false one. Indeed, from our viewpoint there are no weighty problems
in our bilateral relations, but in order to give those ties solid
content we need to operate in a number of spheres:

– First, through mutual high-level visits; – Second, through cultural
and scientific exchanges; – Third, through the improvement of our
economic and commercial ties.

The order is not essential, but that we work as one; while we have
an ambassador (albeit, non-resident) in your country, Armenia has no
parallel representation in Israel. Clearly, an Armenian ambassador in
Israel could also do much on his part to create a closer relationship
between both countries.

– In a recent interview with us Israeli Ambassador to Armenia quite
frankly spoke about the absence of an Armenian Ambassador in Israel,
event non-resident Ambassador. Have you discussed this issue with
your Armenian counterparts and what is their response?

– In this context I have to mention a matter that was raised by
your side at the highest levels; apparently Armenia prefers to see
first and foremost the establishment of a permanent Israeli embassy
in Yerevan. As I see it, I would reverse the order, in other words
strengthening the relations between each other will lead to greater
interaction and will in turn create the need to establish a permanent
embassy. The joint work today of non-resident ambassadors from each
country would result in the need to establish permanent embassies in
both countries.

– Armenian President visited Israel with non-official visit in early
2000, but Israeli President or PM never came to Armenia. What is
the reason? And do you think that such top-level visit could become
possible in the near future?

– The visit of Armenia’s President in 2000 was carried out within
the framework of the visit of scores of leaders who came to the Holy
Land to mark the millennium. While we certainly do not belittle the
importance of that visit, it is different from a bilateral State
Visit. Furthermore, the visit of a high-level personage from Israel
is certainly reasonable and I see no impediment to it.

– Israel does not recognize the Armenian Genocide because of the
political reasons and “realpolitik” as your Ambassador told us.

However, don’t you think that if such an approach could be “acceptable”
in case of U.S., Britain and other states, Israel should stand over
them as it knows better then everyone what it means – to try to kill
a nation?

– It is no secret that the mass murder of the Armenian people during
the First World War is a most sensitive matter and as a people that
also suffered from persecution and murder we are especially sensitive
to that. However, since the subject, most regrettably, has become
political, it needs to be handled with great care. Israel has never
denied the Armenian tragedy, but we do not wish to become party to
the confrontation between Turkey and Armenian on this important issue.

– Please tell us about the current state of Turkish-Israeli relations.

Do you see any room for improving them soon?

– I do not consider it appropriate to refer within the framework
of an interview to the Armenian press to Israel’s relations with a
third country.

– The number of Armenian tourists visiting Israel is growing. Is it
possible to facilitate the visa regime for the Armenian citizens?

– The subject of the visas of Armenians who arrive in Israel is being
examined by us these very days, in keeping with the recommendations
brought by our ambassador following his last visit to your country. We
hope that a solution will soon be found.

– Maybe both sides could implement some joint cultural projects? For
instance, maybe some artists from Armenia can come and perform in the
Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem for all the people living in the city –
Jews, Arabs, Armenians, etc? Are you ready to consider such ideas if
there are made by the Armenian side?

– I have already replied to the idea that you are suggesting in the
first part of my answer to the first question: cultural exchanges are
an integral part of relations between countries and we, of course,
would be happy to host Armenians here in Jerusalem and everywhere
else in Israel. For our part we have already brought a number of
Israeli artists to Armenia, including within the framework of the
last reception we held in celebration of Israel’s Independence Day.

BLOCKADE OF ARMENIA HINDERS DEVELOPMENT OF BORDER AREAS IN TURKEY

news.am
Aug 29, 2011
Armenia

MOSCOW. – The blockade of Armenia, to some extent hinders the
development of border areas in Turkey, senior research fellow, center
for international security institute for international economics and
international relations Stanislav Ivanov told at the interview with
Voice of Russia.

He believes that Turkey still has supporters of the incumbent Turkish
PM Erdogan, which means that ratification of Zurich protocols may be
on the agenda of the next convocation of the parliament.

“Turkish government has the right to include those protocols into
the agenda of the new parliament, thus, they can be on the agenda in
October. Turkish business and government circles have supporters
to normalize relations with Armenia and to develop bilateral
trade-economic, transportation and other cooperation,” believes Ivanov.

Moreover, the blockade of Armenia by Turkey not only harms Armenia’s
economy, but to some extent hinders the development of border areas
in Turkey.

Currently the relations with Azerbaijan are more important for
Turkey. Ankara has not only close economic but also military-technical
ties with Baku. Besides, Baku reacted extremely negatively for
concluding the Zurich protocols. Thus, the Turkish side deliberately
postpones the solution of the issue.

USAID RENOVATES COMMUNITY IN ARMENIAN VILLAGE

news.am
Aug 29, 2011
Armenia

The USAID-funded Small Scale Infrastructure Program (SSIP), implemented
by the Cooperative Housing Foundation International (CHF) and its
partner Shen NGO, marked on Monday the renovation of the Shahumyan
Community Center in the Lori region of Armenia.

The Community Center occupies part of the ground floor of a five-story
residential building, constructed in 1978. The Center suffered
damages in the aftermath of the 1988 earthquake and was eventually
closed down. The Center, which had not been in use for over 20 years,
required a complete renovation. CHF replaced the doors, windows, and
flooring, plastered and painted the walls, and renovated the restrooms.

The total area renovated was 180 square meters. The community center
is now operational and will host a library, chess-room, computer-room,
recreation room and management office.

The USAID/Armenia Mission Director noted that apart from the Shahumyan
community center renovation project, USAID’s efforts in the Lori
region also include the renovation of a kindergarten in Haghpat,
a gas distribution system in Ayroum, and the implementation of water
distribution systems in Lernantsk, Artsni and Lori Berd.

On a country-wide scale, by November 2011 the program expects to
have completed 58 infrastructure projects and will have provided more
than 47,000 days of employment. In addition, 800 Armenians will have
obtained short-term employment, and over 140 persons will have gained
permanent employment at facilities rehabilitated by SSIP.

RUSSIAN CITIZEN PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING 36-AGED ARMENIAN

news.am
Aug 29, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- Russian citizen suspected of murder in Yerevan pleaded
guilty saying he committed a crime for purposes of self-defense.

Georgy P., 25, came to police department on Saturday saying he had
shot dead 36-yer-old Hrant Matulyan for purposes of self-defense
after the latter attacked him with an axe.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, corpse of a 36-year-old
Hrant Matulyan with traces of blood was found on in Yerevan on Friday.

Police found out that he was shot in his apartment at 07.30 p.m. on
the same day by a 25-year-old citizen of Russia Georgy P. Searching
the apartment, police found the gun and the bullets. The weapon was
sent for the expertise.

BE WARY OF FALSE ARMENIAN WEBSITES OF AZERBAIJANI PRODUCTION, EXPERT SAYS
Artak Barseghyan

“Radiolur”
29.08.2011

It’s no secret that issues of information security are urgent in our
country. Specialists of the sphere say that the problems gradually
increase parallel to the implementation of technical innovations.

Great work is being done in our country to protect the electronic
databases from hacking attacks.

Speaking about the opportunities of cooperation between young
specialists from Armenia and Diaspora, information security expert
Samvel Martirosyan notes that there is certain difference with regard
to the priorities in the field of information and propaganda.

Thus, Armenia pays great attention to the international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide and the Karabakh conflict settlement, while
the Diaspora does not pay due attention to the above-mentioned issues.

The expert is worried about the false Armenian websites of Azerbaijani
production. “Armenian media use their information without checking
its authenticity,” Samvel Martirosyan said, meaning, particularly
the two following websites: armenianreport.com and proarmenia.info.

According to the expert, misinformation easily penetrates into our
media and serious work should be done in this direction.

AMN: MOST OF GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT TO CHANGE IF DIALOGUE WITH ANC SUCCEEDS

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 29, 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net – Many officials are not interested in the dialogue
between the Armenian National Congress and authorities, a member of
the Armenian National Movement (AMN) said.

“Many know that they will lose their seats in case the dialogue is a
success. Moreover, I think that most of the government and parliament
will be changed,” Hovhannes Igityan told a press conference in Yerevan.

As to the dialogue, he said the authorities need it, as it is “the
only way to save the country.”

Representatives of the ruling coalition have held meetings since
July 18, the two main issues on the agenda being conduction of
extraordinary election (on ANC demand) and development of canons of
political competition (as suggested by the authorities).

Problems emerged when police detained 7 young ANC activists. According
to the ANC, on August 9 police officers used violence against ANC
activists Tigran Arakelyan and Artak Karapetyan. Upon arrival to the
site, activists Areg Gevorgyan, Sahak Muradyan, Vahagn Gevorgyan,
Sargis Gevorgyan and David Kirimajyan tried to settle the dispute but
were beaten as well, the ANC said. All above-mentioned were taken to
a police station.

Currently, Tigran Arakelyan is kept in custody. The others were
released.

On August 26, the Congress announced that it suspends the dialogue
and believes Arakelyan to be a political prisoner.