MIKA TO RECEIVE TIRASPOL AT START OF INTERTOTO CUP TOURNAMENT
Noyan Tapan
Ju ne 18, 2008
YEREVAN, JUNE 18, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 21, Ashtarak’s Mika will receive
Tiraspol, which has taken the 4th place in Moldova Championship,
in its newly built sports ground, within the framework of Intertoto
Cup 2008 Tournament.
KHACHIK HAROUTIUNIAN ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES
Noyan Tapan
Ju ne 17, 2008
YEREVAN, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Khachik Haroutiunian, the Secretary
of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) faction, was elected Chairman
of the RA NA Standing Committee of Agricultural and Environmental
Protection Issues by the close secret ballot of the RA National
Assembly held on June 17.
According to Samvel Nikoyan, the Chairman of the NA Ad Hoc Counting
Commission, 93 out of the 130 deputies of the National Assembly took
part in the ballot. There were 90 ballot-papers in the ballot-box,
two out of which have been invalidated. 80 MPs have voted for and 8
against the candidature of Khachik Haroutiunian.
Khachik Haroutiunian was born in the city of Kirovakan (Vanadzor,
at present) in 1959. He has graduated from the Yerevan Polytechnic
Institute and received a qualification of an engineer-cbuilding
onstructor. He has recently become an MP of the National Assembly
by the proportional list of the Orinats Yerkir Party. He has been a
member of the OYP since 1998. He has been a member of the political
board of the given party since the same year.
Before becoming an MP he worked in the "Wood economy of Dsegh" daughter
branch of the "Armforest" CJSC, where he held the office of the Head
of the daughter branch in 2000-2001.
LOCAL SOCCER: YAVRUYAN TRANSFERS TO MACCABI TA
By Allon Sinai
Jerusalem Post
June 17 2008
Ilya Yavruyan became Ran Ben-Shimon’s first signing as Maccabi Tel
Aviv coach on Monday.
The Armenian striker, who scored 10 goals in 26 matches at Bnei
Sakhnin last season, will move to Maccabi for approximately $500,000.
Yavruyan first came to Israel in 2005 to play for Hapoel Petah Tikva
and moved to Maccabi’s arch-rival Hapoel Tel Aviv the following
season. The 26-year-old scored Hapoel’s winner in the State Cup final
in 2006.
Maor Buzaglo, who played with Yavruyan at Bnei Sakhnin last season,
is expected join him at Maccabi in the coming days in what is likely to
be one of the more significant transfers in Israeli soccer this summer.
MEHMET ALI TALAT: TURKEY’S COMPROMISE IN 1974 COULD HELP TO UPROOT CYPRIOT CONFLICT
panarmenian.net
17.06.2008 16:17 gmt+04:00
There Would Be No Cypriot Problem If Turkey had signed an agreement
with Cypriot Greeks and Turkish troops had abandoned the island in
1974, according to the leader of the Turkish community of Cyprus.
"Turkey’s compromise in 1974 could help to uproot the Cypriot
conflict. Although I am not sure whether the circumstances were
appropriate at that time," Mehmet Ali Talat said.
"We will have not only economic but also political problems if Turkey
loses stability as result of ban of the AKP. We will be deprived of
the possibility to move forward," he added, Turtsia.ru reports.
On June 21, the governmental commission of the TRNC and Republic of
Cyprus are scheduled to meet to determine a strategy for the problem
resolution.
RAND: AK PARTY CLOSURE WILL DEEPEN DIVIDE
Today’s Zaman
o?load=detay&link=144938&bolum=102
June 16 2008
Turkey
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to take a moderate course if it is
not closed down by the Constitutional Court and act more cautiously
about pressing for measures that could be perceived as changing the
secular-religious balance in the country or provoking the secularists
into another attempt to remove it from power, a study sponsored by
the Pentagon has predicted.
The report, sponsored by the undersecretary of defense for policy and
conducted by the International Security and Defense Policy Center
of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, also found that
the religious-secularist divide will deepen within Turkey and that
Turkey’s relations with the European Union will become more problematic
if the ruling party is closed. Shutting down the AK Party, however,
is unlikely to eliminate it as a political force because "if it is
closed, the party is likely to simply reemerge under another name,"
the report said.
"It would, however, sharpen the secularist-religious divide within
Turkey and could lead some pious Turks to lose faith in the political
system. Turkey’s prospects of EU membership, already facing serious
obstacles, would be further jeopardized," the report, penned by Angel
Rabasa and F. Stephen Larrabee, predicted.
The AK Party is facing closure on charges of becoming a focal point of
anti-secular activities. Its senior members, including Prime Minister
Erdogan, and President Abdullah Gul, a former AK Party member, are
also facing political bans.
Assessing the alternative scenarios for Turkish politics, the RAND
report said the AK Party will be faced with structural limits for
opening space for Islam in the public sphere. One such limitation
stems from the fact that "the Kemalist establishment remains largely
intact" and that "any government that crosses the lines that define the
acceptable role of religion in politics risks accentuating political
tensions and possibly provoking intervention by the military." Other
factors, such as Turkey’s Western orientation and the presence of
a moderate and pluralistic tradition of Islam that does not embrace
rigid interpretations or Shariah rule will also lead the AK Party to
take a moderate path.
According to the report, there are other scenarios under which
the AK Party could pursue a more aggressive Islamist agenda or the
military could intervene in the country’s politics, but they look less
likely. It noted that there were secularist Turks who were worried
that the AK Party would appoint Islamists to state posts and turn
away from Europe to create a rival Islamic bloc. But this "creeping
Islamization" scenario is unlikely for several reasons: "First, it
would lead to greater political polarization and would likely provoke
intervention by the military. Second, most Turks support a secular
state and oppose a state based on the Shariah. Third, EU membership has
been a core element of the AK Party’s foreign policy," said the report.
As for possible direct military intervention, the report said this
would occur only as a last resort in the event that the AK Party
presses for an Islamic agenda more aggressively. "A confrontation
could take place if the AK Party takes actions seen by the military
as crossing important lines. …While direct intervention by the
military cannot be excluded from consideration, especially if the AK
Party begins to push an Islamic agenda more aggressively, it is not
very likely and would occur only as a last resort after the military
had exhausted all other options," said the report.
The report noted that the AK Party’s Erdogan, unlike his Islamist
predecessor, Necmettin Erbakan, was oriented toward Europe and that
the party’s electoral success "does not translate into popular support
for an Islamist agenda." Assessing the implications of the AK Party’s
pro-European policies, the report said they paved the way for the
reconfiguration of Turkish politics as well: "As the West became a
tacit ally of the AK Party, formerly pro-Western secularists surfaced
as opponents of EU accession. The [main opposition Republican People’s
Party] CHP, once the champion of a Western orientation for Turkey, has
increasingly moved in a more nationalistic direction and has adopted
a more ambiguous attitude toward the West, seeing some aspects of the
West’s influence as a threat to the integrity of the Turkish state
and Kemalism."
Lessons for US: Turkish alliance in Mideast not taken for granted With
its renewed focus on Middle Eastern affairs and growing interests in
the region, Turkey is likely to avoid offering the United States a
blank check for military cooperation, a US study has revealed.
The study, sponsored by the Pentagon and conducted by the International
Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense
Research Institute, said the Turkish policy toward the Middle
East is likely to remain a sensitive issue in bilateral US-Turkish
relations. "Turkey’s growing interests in the Middle East are likely to
make Ankara wary about allowing the United States to use its military
facilities for regional contingencies except where such operations are
clearly perceived to be in Turkey’s interest," it said, calling for a
diversification of US access options that would provide alternatives
to Ä°ncirlik air base in case Turkey increases restrictions on US
use of it or other Turkish facilities.
Turkey disappointed the US by refusing to cooperate militarily in the
war on Iraq in 2003. Iran, whose nuclear program is viewed with deep
suspicion by the US, is expected to be the next issue of contention
between Ankara and Washington in the event the US administration
decides to go ahead with military sanctions to force Tehran to end
its nuclear program.
The RAND report also cautioned the US administration against describing
Turkey as a "model" for coexistence of Islam and democracy in its
political system because this makes many Turks, particularly the
secularists and the military who believe that it pushes Turkey
politically closer to the Middle East and weakens Turkey’s Western
identity, "uncomfortable."
This, however, does not mean that Turkey is different from other
Muslim countries in its long experience with fusing Islam with
Westernization. Referring to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development
Party (AK Party), the report said: "The ability of a party with
Islamic roots to operate within the framework of a secular democratic
system while respecting the boundaries between religion and state
would refute the argument that Islam cannot be reconciled with modern
secular democracy. On the other hand, if the experiment fails, it
could lead to greater secular-Islamic polarization, further reducing
the middle ground needed to build the moderate Muslim bulwark needed
to contain the spread of radicalized Islam."
"Beyond Turkey, the accommodation of Islam with democracy and
secularism that has been achieved there is a valuable resource in
the current ideological conflict between radical and mainstream
interpretations of Islam. Mainstream entities in Turkey, therefore,
should be encouraged to partner with groups and institutions
elsewhere in the Muslim world to propagate moderate and pluralistic
interpretations of Islam," the report also noted.
The report dismissed characterization of the current tensions in Turkey
as a struggle between "Islamists" and "secularists" and said these
tensions were "a part of a struggle for power between newly emerging
social sectors and the secularized elite — a struggle between the
‘periphery’ and the ‘center’– that has deep roots in Ottoman and
recent Turkish history."
It also noted that while the AK Party has Islamic roots, "it enjoys
broad-based political support that transcends religious, class,
and regional differences" and suggested Washington should remain
committed to supporting Turkey’s membership in the EU because this
would "rebut the claim that the West, especially Europe, is innately
hostile to Muslims."
Future US administrations will need to work closely with congressional
leaders to ensure that the Armenian issue does not poison future
relations with Turkey, the report said, and urged Washington to follow
up with concrete steps in its current cooperation with Turkey against
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ä°stanbul Today’s Zaman
–Boundary_(ID_O/uSTI2hOrxfWL8UQbXgoA)–
Panorama.am
17:57 13/06/2008
SICK CATTLE IN VILLAGES
In the result of investigation in 29 Armenian villages
it was released that the cattle is sick with
brucellosis. 4473 farms were investigated and the
disease has been found in 101 farms, reported the
deputy minister of agriculture Levon Rokhkyan in a
discussion on brucellosis supervision. He said that UN
Food and Agriculture Organization’s -Aid to Control of
Brucellosis in Armenia- project will be implemented in
cooperation with Food Security and Veterinary state
services.
According to the studies the disease is spread over
the country by 1.32%, hence 10 000 cattle is sick with
the disease. Cattle in more than 310 villages in
Armenia are sick with this disease. According to the
deputy minister the further examination will give a
chance to draft a perfect project of controlling the
current disease.
David Word, expert of World Food Programme, mentioned
that the diseases like brucellosis should be cured by
the method of vaccination, after the testing and
cutting down follow. He said that the types of the
disease should be verified as soon as possible in
order proper curing method is taken.
Note that appropriate measures to cure and control the
disease should be implemented since 2008 to 2010.
Source: Panorama.am
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 14 2008
Bahar Muradova: Goran Lennmarker’s leaving his post does not mean his
withdrawal from the post of rapporteur on Nagorno-Karabakh
[ 14 Jun 2008 15:47 ]
Baku. Elnur Mammedli – APA. "The term of office of President of the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Goran Lennmarker is expiring and the
election of a new president will be considered at a next session next
month,’ said Bahar Muradova, Vice_Speaker of Milli Majlis, and head of
Azerbaijan’s delegation to OSCE PA.
According to her, the Azerbaijani delegation will make its choice
among the candidates for the presidency.
She added that every country has the right to put forward a nominee
for the OSCE PA presidency.
"However, when putting forward a nominee, his position, the attitude
to his country and the existing realities should be taken into
account. There are certain criteria and the candidate must meet these
requirements. Looking back at history, we can see that no
representative from a country in conflict has ever been elected to the
OSCE leadership. Therefore, I think any nomination without taking into
account these factors may not lead to success ", she noted.
She added that Goran Lennmarker’s leaving his post as president does
not mean his withdrawal from the post of rapporteur on
Nagorno-Karabakh.
`There is no link between these two posts. He may also remain as a
rapporteur and this matter is not discussed now", she underlined.
June 13, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
PRELATE RETURNS FROM ANTELIAS
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, and members of the
Cilician Brotherhood serving within the Prelacy returned from Antelias where
they had participated in the meeting of the Cilician Brotherhood from June
5th to the 7th, as well as in the blessing of Holy Muron.
Upon his return, the Prelate was interviewed by Horizon Television
during which he conveyed details about his visit. He was also interviewed
for the Prelacy’s weekly television program, which will air on Sunday, June
15, at 9:00 a.m. on Horizon TV.
PRELATE TO CELEBRATE DIVINE LITURGY ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAS
VEGAS PARISH
On Sunday, June 15th, the Armenian Apostolic Church of Las Vegas
will celebrate the second anniversary of its establishment with Divine
Liturgy and a banquet. On this occasion, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate, will visit the parish where he will celebrate Divine
Liturgy and deliver the sermon on Sunday, June 15th, at the Lakes Lutheran
Church at 3:00 p.m. The Prelate will be accompanied by Christian Education
Co-Director Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian.
In the evening, the Prelate will preside over the second anniversary
banquet of the parish.
DIVINE LITURGY AND BLESSING OF MADAGH AT THE
ST. DERTAD AND ST. ASHKHEN CHAPEL
On Saturday, June 14th, the Feast of St. Dertad and St. Ashkhen,
which is also the name day of the Prelacy Chapel, will be celebrated with
Divine Liturgy at the "St. Dertad and St. Ashkhen" Chapel at 7:00 p.m. On
this joyous occasion, there will also be the blessing of madagh for the
first time at the Chapel.
The Prelate will preside over the Liturgy, which will be celebrated
by Rev. Fr. Ardag Demirjian of St. Mary’s Church in Glendale, and will
deliver the sermon.
Members of the Prelacy youth choir will participate in the Liturgy
as well.
DAVIDIAN AND MARIAMIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION GRADUATION CEREMONY
The graduation ceremony for students of the Davidian and Mariamian
Educational Foundation’s Armenian program will take place on the evening of
Saturday, June 14th, at Pacific Community Center in Glendale.
Very Rev. Fr. Barthev Gulumian and Rev. Fr. Nareg Pehlivanian will
attend and convey the Prelate’s blessings and congratulatory remarks.
PRELATE CONGRATULATES SUPERVISOR
MICHAEL ANTONOVICH ON HIS RE-ELECTION
On behalf of the Prelacy Religious and Executive Councils, the
Prelate sent a letter to Los Angeles County 5th District Supervisor Michael
Antonovich, congratulating him on his re-election.
In his congratulatory letter, the Prelate commended Supervisor
Antonovich for his decades-long service to the community, and especially for
his friendship and support of the Armenian community and the Armenian Cause.
PUBLIC TENSION STILL KEPT, CRISIS HAS NOT BEEN OVERCOME, KARINE NALCHAJIAN CONSIDERS
30
NOYAN TAPAN
June 12, 2008
The public tension that arose after the RA presidential elections
is still kept and the crisis has not been overcome yet. Psychologist
Karine Nalchajian expressed such an opinion during the June 12 press
conference. According to her, though the authorities undertake some
profound steps, nevertheless, no systematized agitation is carried out.
"In that respect society is as if left for self-normalization," K.
Nalchajian said. Therefore, according to her, the part of society,
which was infatuated with revolutionary ideas, is not ready for giving
positive estimations to the work being done.
According to the psychologist, possibilities of mitigating the crisis
become noticeable, life has entered its normal course, however, if
there are again strong influences, it is not excluded that public
passions will be again inflammated. "There will be new imflammations
if people are influenced by exact methods," K. Nalchajian said.
As publicist Karine Hakobian evaluated, there are no noticeable
changes in reality, the cause of which is a bad legislation. "When
the lagislation is bad, change of a personality cannot play a part
any longer," she said. In K.
Hakobian’s opinion, the creation of the Public Council is done with a
wrong approach. "We lack the approach that before creating something
we should bring out the problem," she said. According to K. Hakobian,
the creation of the Public Council is a self-deceit, as a result of
which the real problem will not be solved and will deepen for even
more. "We should understand that a Council under the RA President
cannot serve its purpose. And today we de facto have a government,
a National Assembly, and a judicial system under the President,"
the publicist said.
WEST HAS LOST NUCLEAR STANDOFF WITH IRAN – AHMADINEJAD
RIA Novosti
15:02 | 11/ 06/ 2008
TEHRAN, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s president said on Wednesday
that the West had lost the confrontation with Tehran over the Islamic
Republic’s nuclear program.
The diplomatic standoff between Iran and the West began almost six
years ago over suspicions that Tehran was secretly developing atomic
weapons. Iran is currently under three sets of relatively mild UN
Security Council sanctions after defying international demands to
halt uranium enrichment, which it claims is needed for electricity
generation.
"Our enemies used every opportunity to pressurize us in the political
and nuclear fields, and threatened us with the use of force. However,
they have lost and they have no room for maneuver," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said in a televised statement.
In a message to U.S. President George W. Bush, the Iranian leader
said his time was over. "You cannot damage a single centimeter of
Iran’s territory," he said.
Iran maintains that it has never been involved in research into the
development of nuclear weapons.
A report released by the U.S. intelligence community in late 2007
said that Iran had ceased attempts to create a nuclear bomb in
2003. U.S. President George Bush responded that, "Iran was dangerous,
Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the know
how to make a nuclear weapon."
When asked if military action remained an option, the president
answered, "The best diplomacy – effective diplomacy – is one in which
all options are on the table."