Author: Kanayan Tamar

RENNES OFFRE SON EXPERTISE A DIYARBAKIR
Stephane

armenews
20 mai 2010

Depuis trente ans, existe une cooperation entre Rennes et Diyarbakir,
au Kurdistan turc. Diyarbakir est en pleine explosion urbaine.

Il y a trente ans, Rennes offrait trois bus a la ville de Diyarbakir,
au Kurdistan turc. " Aujourd’hui, ces trois bus sont toujours
en service ! " atteste Philippe Fraysse, directeur des services
techniques de la Ville. Il revient d’une mission de cooperation
decentralisee a Diyarbakir, un transfert de savoir-faire entre
collectivites territoriales.

Rennes a toujours entretenu une relation très suivie avec son homologue
turque, notamment pendant les moments critiques de la guerre civile. Et
Diyarbakir a fait appel a son expertise en matière de logements et
de transports.

" 3 000 villages kurdes ont ete rayes de la carte pendant la guerre,
ce qui a genere un exode massif. Ces ruraux se sont installes dans
des gecekondu, de vrais bidonvilles. " Diyarbakir est ainsi passee
de 100 000 habitants en 1960 a 900 000 aujourd’hui. Et ces nouveaux
arrivants ont garde leur mode de vie rural.

La reponse du gouvernement turc ? Le Toki. À la fois organisme
HLM, promoteur, banquier et amenageur, le Toki s’est vu confier
par le gouvernement la mission de pallier le manque de logements. À
l’arrivee, des tours a perte de vue dans toute la Turquie. " Le maire
de Diyarbakir refuse cette uniformite et nous a demande de l’aide.

Depuis deux ans, nous apportons conseil et expertise. "

Des echanges de delegation se font entre les deux villes, et trois
thèmes de reflexion ont ete arretes. Après un audit urbain pour
definir les besoins, un observatoire du logement a ete mis en place
pour chiffrer la demande. Deuxième problème : les gecekondu. Pour
les Rennais, les tours sont un risque de rupture sociale. Enfin,
troisième point, les transports.

Rennes ne va pas realiser les travaux a Diyarbakir. " Nous avons mis
en place une methodologie et des audits, ce sera aux Turcs de faire
les travaux en trouvant un accord avec le Toki. " Un accord sans doute
difficile a trouver avec un Etat qui opprime toujours le peuple kurde.

SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN: TURKEY HAS NOTHING TO DO IN NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS

ArmInfo
2010-05-19 12:30:00

ArmInfo. Turkey has nothing to do in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh
Kocharyan said in an interview with the Public TV of Armenia when
commenting on the statements about involvement of Turkey in the
Karabakh conflict settlement process.

According to him, when meeting, the leaders of Russia, the USA,
France, European Union and the OSCE MG co-chairs never reply to
Turkey’s request to be involved in the process. "It was even claimed
that only the OSCE MG is engaged in the conflict settlement process.

Actually, Turkey was told that it has nothing to do in the process.

Permanent addressing of the Turkish prime minister to this issue and
repetition of one and the same has led to fact that just Turkey was
excluded from the process of formation of the civilized relations
in this region", S. Kocharyan said. He also added that permanent
massaging of this topic by Turkey, especially in the person of its
prime minister, reduced to the fact that Armenia shut up its door,
nd Turkey has found itself in isolation. "In such a situation, I just
wonder, how long one may hold a monologue with himself and repeat
one and same when there is no audience", deputy FM said.

Moreover, S. Kocharyan thinks that Turkey may be useful in case if it
could make Azerbaijan be constructive. According to him, it sometimes
seems that the conflict settlement is not to Turkey’s advantage.

"Perhaps, the status of a younger brother is beneficial for Turkey.

Why? Because if the conflict is settled, dependence on Turkey will
essentially reduce. We could make sure of the fact that relations
between the two brothers are not so fraternal when Azerbaijan was
aggrieved and started making insinuations against Turkey because of
the beginning of the Armenian-Turkish process", Kocharyan said.

SOVIET COSMONAUTS SUGGEST SETTING MONUMENT TO MARK 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF GAGARIN’S FLIGHT INTO SPACE

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 19, 2010 – 21:30 AMT 16:30 GMT

RA NA speaker Hovik Abrahamyan met with USSR heroes, cosmonauts
Aleksey Leonov, Victor Gorbatko and Vladimir Lyakhov May 19.

Aleksey Leonov, Victor Gorbatko and Vladimir Lyakhov were awarded
with honorary resident titles.

The guests participated in Abovyan’s cosmonauts’ square opening
ceremony.

Following the ceremony cosmonauts suggested setting monument in
newly-opened square to mark 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight
into space, parliamentary press service reported.

IMF REVISES ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST FOR ARMENIA IN 2010 FROM 1.8% TO 4.5%

ArmInfo
2010-05-19 15:50:00

ArmInfo. The International Monetary Fund has revised the economic
growth forecast for Armenia for 2010 to 4.5%, says Mark Lewis, Head of
the IMF Mission to Armenia. The new forecast was made after the visit
of the IMF Mission to Armenia on May 6-19. The previous forecast on
Armenia published in the World Economic Outlook in April envisaged
1.8% GDP growth. Inflation forecast for 2010 has changed as compared
to April and totaled 6.8%. Budget deficit will be a little more than
5%, Mark Lewis says.

To recall, in his speech after the visit of the IMF Mission to Armenia,
M. Lewis highlighted gradual economic recovery, growth of foreign
financial flows and improvement of the state fiscal system in Armenia.

‘THUNDERSTORM IN THE BLUE FIRMAMENT’: WRITERS AGAINST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Tert.am
18.05.10

The Writers Union of Armenia is against the recent much-debated
initiative by the Ministry of Education to opening foreign-language
schools in Armenia and calls on the Government to vote against it,
Union’s head Levon Ananyan said at a press conference today, adding
that the initiative is a "thunderstorm in the blue firmament."

According to Ananyan those arguments that the foreign-language
schools will be more competitive than the Armenian-language ones,
are just made up.

"I do not know clearly to what extent the initiators have a command
of their mother tongue," said Ananyan, calling on the government to
be courageous enough and recall the bill.

At the same time he considers it unacceptable the reasoning that the
foreign-language schools will make up only 1% of the total of the
schools in Armenia.

"The graduates of those should become the elite of our society; they
should enter the National Assembly. And that means it paves the way
for the multiplication of foreign languages. Their number will grow.

The 1% will become 3%, then 5% etc.," said Ananyan in a worry.

E-PAYMENTS COMPRISE 60% OF TOTAL NUMBER OF CB PAYMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 18, 2010 – 10:58 AMT 05:58 GMT

In the first quarter of 2010, majority of payments effected through
the payment systems of the Central Bank of Armenia were e-payments.

According to the RA CB press office, the e-payments comprised 60%
of total number of CB payments, increasing by 28% as compared with
the same period of 2009.

The average daily amount of e-payments totaled AMD 19 bln. E-payments
through commercial banks comprised 77% of the total volume.

Missiles In Turkey To Protect Damascus

By DAVID BEDEIN, Middle East Correspondent

May 15, 2010

JERUSALEM – Turkey has stationed a battery of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles on
the border with Syria-this was reported by one of the major Turkish
newspapers. The report indicates that the goal of stationing the missiles is
to protect Turkey’s air space and prevent a possible attack by Israel on
Syria or Iran through its territory.

The newspaper quotes an anonymous military source as saying that the
missiles are intended to "protect Turkish air space, prevent other
violations of the space, and defend against possible American-Israeli
attacks on Iran and Syria."

The newspaper explicitly mentions the Israeli bombing that was staged,
according to foreign reports, against nuclear facilities in September 2007,
in violation of Turkish aerial sovereignty.

The missile battery has been stationed in southern Turkey, near the village
of Kale in the Iskandaron area, on the border with Syria. It should be noted
that Turkey voiced dissatisfaction after the bombing of the nuclear
facilities in Syria, saying that Israel should not have violated its air
space for the operation and that Turkey was "taking steps to ensure that
such cases would not recur in the future."

About a week ago, the Turkish foreign minister said in a lecture at the
University of Oxford in Britain that the Israeli-Turkish joint military
maneuvers had been suspended until progress could be seen in the peace
process with the Palestinians.

Copyright © 2010 – The Bulletin

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL HITS HALFWAY SHORT ON BUZZ

ARMENPRESS
MAY 17, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Crowds crammed to see the stars walk the
red carpet, champagne flowed, fireworks filled the sky and screenings
were packed, yet the Cannes film festival hit halfway on Monday
lacking one key ingredient — buzz, Armenpress reports citing Reuters.

The world’s largest annual cinema showcase opened on May 12 and
closes on May 23, when one of 19 movies in the main competition will
be named winner of the coveted Palme d’Or.

As important to a successful festival are the hundreds of films shown
out of competition and in the giant marketplace where producers and
distributors wheel and deal.

With the majority of competition films yet to screen, the early front
runner for the top prize is British director Mike Leigh, whose wry
family drama "Another Year" was widely praised. He won the main award
with "Secrets and Lies" in 1996.

Also popular was Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s
"Biutiful," a moving portrayal of a dying father played by Javier
Bardem, and a low-budget drama from Chad, "A Screaming Man," set
against conflict in the African country.

But most movies eligible for awards have disappointed so far, and
what stars there have been in the French Riviera resort have generally
failed to shine either on-screen or off.

"I think we’re lacking people who know how to play to the media, how
to play it up and how to charm on the red carpet and in interviews,"
said Variety critic Jay Weissberg.

"At the Cannes festival in particular, it needs that interplay between
the star and the press and public, and we haven’t really had that yet."

There is still time, with major celebrities including Mick Jagger and
Sean Penn expected to arrive along with an influx of party goers from
nearby Monaco, venue of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

"It’s been fairly quiet so far, but after Monaco, when all the yachts
come, it should go ‘boom’," said one event organizer.

Hollywood was in town in the form of Ridley Scott’s "Robin Hood"
starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, and Woody Allen brought
"You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" to the festival held on the
palm-lined waterfront.

Most topical, and giving Cannes a brief shot in the arm, was "Wall
Street: Money Never Sleeps," Oliver Stone’s slick follow-up to his
1987 hit "Wall Street" with Michael Douglas back as the ruthless
corporate raider Gordon Gekko.

None was a critical hit, although a muted reception in Cannes need
not dent their box office prospects.

Weighing on the mood here is uncertainty over the strength of the
global economic recovery, which has hit financing and could further
squeeze the market for independent, low- to medium-sized films from
the United States and elsewhere.

"Economics have made a disparity between studio movies, most of
which are at $70 million or more (to make), that have advertising
and marketing budgets of $30-40 million or more, and your independent
pictures which are under $12-15 million," Oscar winner Douglas said
in Cannes.

"It’s a bad situation right now, it’s a huge disparity. It’s not a
good sign for the future."

His concerns appeared to be borne out in Cannes, where there is only
one U.S. entry in competition, Doug Liman’s "Fair Game" based on the
story of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband starring Naomi
Watts and Penn.

Hollywood movies tend to feature out of competition, and use Cannes as
a global media platform due to the presence of thousands of reporters
from all over the world.

Not everyone was downbeat, however, seeing resilience in the movie
industry during tough economic times and eyeing opportunities to tap
the booming 3D market.

Gonzalo Guarch : le pouvoir turc doit se purifier des péchés du passé

ARMENIE

dimanche16 mai 2010, par Stéphane/armenews

Le pouvoir turc doit se purifier des péchés du passé, dit l’auteur
espagnol Gonzalo Guarch, un auteur de trois livres sur le génocide
arménien. Il est convaincu que l’Arménie serait un pays plus développé
sans les événements tragiques de 1915.

` Je pense que la Turquie d’aujourd’hui n’est pas coupable des
événements de 1915 comme l’Allemagne d’aujourd’hui n’a aucun rapport
avec le Nazisme. Beaucoup de citoyens Turcs veulent aujourd’hui
normaliser les relations avec l’Arménie. Maintenant le pouvoir turc
doit se purifier des péchés du passé, qu’ils refusent d’accepter, ‘ a
dit l’auteur.

S’exprimant sur les protocoles arméno-turcs et la décision de
suspendre le processus de leur ratification, Gonzalo Guarch a dit `
les protocoles n’ont aucun grand avenir. ‘

Avec ses trois livres – l’Arbre généalogique arménien, le Testament
arménien et la Montagne Blanche – l’auteur veut régénérer la mémoire
et faire condamner les événements tragiques qui sont arrivés à la
tournure du 20ème siècle.

` Je veux aussi que le peuple espagnol connaisse plus les événements ‘
a dit Gonzalo Guarch.

L’auteur espagnol a avoué être amoureux de l’Arménie. ` J’ai été en
Arménie deux fois. Je suis amoureux de l’Arménie et ma femme le sait ‘
a conclu l’auteur espagnol.

Joint Russian-Turkish NPP construction deal to be sent to parliament
in days – Turkish minister

ANKARA, May 12 (RIA Novosti)

The agreement on cooperation with Russia in the construction of
Turkey’s first nuclear power plant will be sent for ratification to
the Turkish parliament within the next 7-10 days, Turkish Energy
Minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to Ankara on
Wednesday to sign deals including on the construction of a nuclear
power plant and the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told journalists in Ankara
that over $20 billion will be invested in the construction of Turkey’s
first nuclear power plant.

An international consortium consisting of Russia’s nuclear power
equipment and service export monopoly Atomstroyexport, electricity
export company Inter RAO UES and Turkish Park Teknik won a tender for
the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in June 2009.

The consortium proposed building four nuclear power units with a
capacity of 1.2 GW each under a Russian project. The nuclear power
plant was expected to be built near the Mediterranean port of Mersin
in the Akkuyu area and put into operation in 2016-2019.

"The nuclear energy deal opens a new page in cooperation between our
states," Medvedev said.