ARMENIAN WRESTLERS WILL COMPETE FOR MEDALS
armradio.am
30.07.2007 17:06
Armenian wrestlers Gevorg Gevorgyan (54kg) of Gyumri and Gevorg
Sahakyan (63kg) of Etchmiadzin proceeded to the final round of the
European Greek-Roman Style Wrestling Championship underway in Warsaw,
the capital of Poland. The Armenian sportsmen will compete for medals,
Secretary General of RA Wrestling Federation Lyova Vardanyan told
Armenpress.
ARMENIAN FESTIVAL COMBINES PAGANISM AND NATIONALISM
Onnik Krikorian, a journalist and photographer from the United Kingdom living and working in the Republic of Armenia.
EurasiaNet, NY
July 27 2007
Tradition, in the South Caucasus, dies hard. With the ancient July
festival of Vardavar, one small group of Armenians is seeing a chance
to relive Armenia’s pagan past, and affirm the country’s national
identity.
Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD,
thereafter destroying or converting its pagan temples. For most
Armenians, this date represents the turning point for their nation,
and one that would later distance it from Muslim neighbors in Iran,
Azerbaijan and Turkey.
But each year at Armenia’s only remaining pagan temple, at Garni,
32 kilometers east of Yerevan, a few hundred Armenians gather to
celebrate Vardavar as an event that they consider represents Armenians’
true and original faith. The festival is perhaps the most popular of
all traditional and religious events in the Armenian calendar, with
youngsters and adults gleefully dumping water over hapless passers-by.
The celebration has now been absorbed into the Christian calendar,
but was traditionally associated with Astghik, the Armenian goddess
of water, beauty, love and fertility. The festival’s name is derived
from the Armenian word for rose, "vard." Early observers of Vardavar
offered Astghik roses and sprinkled water on each other, or feasted
near water in the hope that she would provide rain in time for harvest.
Now re-invented to represent the transfiguration of Christ, the holiday
is scheduled by the Armenian Church to be held approximately 98 days
after Easter.
At Garni, pagan priests placed sacrificial knives in fire, as well
as rose petals in earthenware jugs of water, before reading aloud
from the Ukhtagir, a collection of pre-Christian folk stories and
legends immortalizing Armenia’s pagan gods written by Slak Kakosian,
the founder of the Pagan Covenant, one of Armenia’s main pagan
organizations. Founded in 1990, the group now claims it has over
1,000 members.
In the group’s events, nationalism and paganism mingle equally. "We
are pagans," said 43-year-old Zohrab Petrosian, Kakosian’s successor.
"We are Armenians, but we don’t know our true religion. Simply lighting
a candle in a church or wearing a cross around our necks does not make
us Christian. I’ve been a member of this organization for 10 years,
but as an Armenian I’ve been pagan since the day I was born."
At the Garni Vardavar observances, one of the highest-profile attendees
was Armen Avetisian, leader of the ultra-nationalist Union of Armenian
Aryans, who received a three-year suspended sentence in 2005 for
inciting racial hatred against Jews. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive].
Avetisian and his followers wore black t-shirts featuring the picture
of Garegin Njdeh, an Armenian national hero who lived from 1886-1955.
Njdeh was a skillful military leader and anti-Bolshevik activist
who developed a philosophy that blended religious and nationalist
elements. His ideas have been influential in shaping the political
platforms of modern-day parties, including the governing Republican
Party of Armenia, as well as its junior coalition partner, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation – Dashnakstutiun.
Until recently, many of those attending the pagan festivals were
affiliated with the Republican Party, but now members of other parties
are starting to join in. This year, for example, apart from members
of the Union of Armenian Ayrans, most other people in attendance
identified themselves as members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnakstutiun.
The appearance of ultra-nationalists, however, raises concern in
some circles that the pagan movement could make a radical departure
toward the extreme right. Armenian pagans tend to dismiss the concern,
though. Many at the Garni observances said politics wasn’t a factor
for them. Robert Garabedian, an ethnic Armenian astrophysicist from
Germany, was baptized as a pagan at the Garni event. Speaking to
EurasiaNet, Garabedian said that spending Vardavar at the temple
site carried a personal rather than political significance. "I’m
Zoroastrian, Christian and Buddhist, and now I want to be baptized
into the same religion that my [Armenian] ancestors followed," he said.
The hordes of children drenching pedestrians and motorists with water
usually overshadow any such quests for meaning on Vardavar. Even so,
Armenia’s pagans might take comfort in the fact that torrential rains
unexpectedly hit Armenia at the festival’s end on July 15. As the
rain poured down in the days that followed, one can only wonder if
Astghik wasn’t listening, after all.
"COMMENTS ON CODE OF RULES OF LINE OF CONDUCT OF RA JUDGE" BROCHURE PUBLISHED
Noyan Tapan
Jul 26, 2007
YEREVAN, JULY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The launching of the brochure "Comments
on the code of rules of the line of conduct of the RA judge" took place
in the RA Court of Appeal on July 25. According to the information
provided to Noyan Tapan by Alina Yengoyan, the Spokeswoman of the RA
Court of Appeal, the U.S. International Development Agency and the
ROLI Armenian office of the American Lawyers’ Association provided
assistance for the publication of this book.
"The code of rules of the line of conduct of the RA judge" has been put
in action since December 8, 2005. It includes claims of fundamental
documents concerning the rules of the line of conduct of a judge,
such as the Bangalor principles adopted in the Hague in November,
2002, the November 19, 2002 conclusion of the consultative council of
the European judges on "The professional line of conduct of a judge,
particularly, the norms of ethics, the line of conduct incompatible
with the status of a judge and principles of impartiality", as well as
other international guarantees and approaches concerning the subject
of this issue.
INDIA ELECTED ITS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT
AZG Armenian Daily #139
25/07/2007
International
India elected its first female president on Saturday, official results
showed, in what supporters called a boost for the rights of millions
of downtrodden women, despite a bitter campaign marked by scandal.
Pratibha Patil, the ruling coalition’s 72-year-old nominee for the
mainly ceremonial post, easily beat opposition-backed challenger and
vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, in a vote by the national
parliament and state politicians.
Patil won about two thirds of the Electoral College votes. There had
never been any doubt she would win, given support from the ruling
coalition.
Supporters hoped Patil’s candidacy would help bring issues that
plague women in India, like dowry-related violence, into the public
spotlight. A woman is murdered, raped or abused every three minutes
on average in India.
Her presidency also reflects the growing power of some women in India,
where an increasing number are taking part in the workforce and in
schools and hold senior positions in corporations.
However, her campaign was marked by some mishaps, i.e. the employees’
union has taken Patil and others to court, claiming loans meant for
poor women were instead given to her brother and other relatives and
not returned. She was also accused of trying to shield her brother
in a murder inquiry.
Patil is a lawyer by profession. She has participated in parliament
works since 1962. She has variously been one of the members of the
government of Maharashra state. She has been the Governor of the
northwestern state of Rajasthan recently.
CRITICISM IS NOT ATTEMPT OF VIOLENT COUP
Lragir, Armenia
July 24 2007
On July 24 the court heard the case of the members of the Consolidation
of Armenian Volunteers Civil Initiative Vardan Malkhasyan, Jirair
Sefilyan and their friend Vahan Aroyan, accused of calls for a violent
coup. Vardan Malkhasyan testified and elucidated on his speech which
was defined as a call for a violent coup.
Article 27 of the Constitution allows expressing opinion and
nobody has the right to make someone change their opinion, Vardan
Malkhasyan stated. Article 301 of the Criminal Code contradicts to
the Constitution of Armenia, it is not distinct and certain, and this
"uncertainty allows the government to apply this article arbitrarily
for settling accounts with oppositionist and undesirable figures."
Vardan Malkhasyan appealed to the hall. "Don’t give up, we will win."
In testifying he looked at the hall not the bench. Vardan Malkhasyan
said his speech was criticism, stern criticism but not an appeal for a
violent coup. I said the people who sell what was gained through the
blood of freedom fighters, who led the Armenians into this poverty,
are concealed enemies, internal enemies, leftovers of the criminal
world. "If the court decides that they are the government of Armenia,
I will plea guilty," Vardan Malkhasyan stated. He said in his speech
that Serge and Kocharyan have put out the fatherland to sale. "Everyone
says this, I am not alone." Vardan Malkhasyan does not deny his speech,
but he says he did not call for a violent coup and proposes holding
a linguistic test.
"I wonder why the government fears criticism," Vardan Malkhasyan
stated and criticized the government in the courtroom. Recently
Robert Kocharyan has stated that there is lack of confidence for
courts. The reason is "that there are people in Armenia who think
they are above the law and justice, who do not let the judge think
correctly, implement justice, and the cause comes from the president."
According to Vardan Malkhasyan, the decision on their detention
makes the court sentence us to more stern punishments. "We have been
detained for 7 to 8 months now. If the court decided to sentence us
to three months of detention, not a fine or three years in prison,
who will account for our serving more by 5 months?" Vardan Malkhasyan
asked. It means the court will sentence to the ultimate punishment,
three years, Vardan Malkhasyan thinks.
AGREEMENT ON THE ARMENIAN-IRANAIN FREE TRADE TO BE SIGNED SOON
YEREVAN, JULY 20, NOYAN TAPAN: On July 20 the cermenony of signing a
number of documents on bilateral cooperation followed the end of the
seventh sitting of the Armenian-Iranian inter-governmental commission
held in Yerevan. In particular, a document on the 2007-2009 cooperation
practical program in the sphere of tourism was signed between the
Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of the Republic of Armenia
and the Organization of Cultural heritage, manuscripts and tourism
of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, co-chairman of the
commission from the Iranian side Manouchehr Mottaki said, that as a
result of negotiations with the authorities of Armenia an agreement was
reached to bring to a final shape the agreement on free trade between
two countries in the coming two months. He noted that it is envisioned
to raise the annual goods turnover between the two countries to 500
mln USD from the current 200 mln USD and speed up the finalization
of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. Besides,
the Iranian side can provide engineering-technical services worth
500 mln USD. According to M. Mottaki, it is also envisaged to set up
joint ivestment and trade companies.
M. Mottaki did not rule out the possibility of participation of the
Iranian side in the construction of the new nuclear power plant in
Armenia, noting at the same time that "maybe the Armenian side does
not have financial problems."
Minister of Energy of the Republic of Armenia Armen Movsisian said
that in two months the construction of the 3rd high voltage line to
Iran will start, and, by the end of the year, the problems connected
with the construction of the Armenian hydro station of Meghri will be
solved, and the next year, most likely, construction works will start.
A. Movsisian also told the journalists that the construction
Iran-Armenia railway requires serious studies for which one year
is needed.
BAKO SAAKIAN WINS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
July 20 2007
YEREVAN, Armenia: The former security chief of Nagorno-Karabakh has
won elections for the presidency of the Armenian-controlled breakaway
region, the election committee said Friday.
Bako Saakian took 85 percent of Thursday’s vote, election committee
head Sergei Nasibian said.
Saakian, 47, had headed Nagorno-Karabakh’s security service since 2001
but resigned in June to stand in the election. He ran as an independent
and will replace Arkady Gukasian, who served two five-year terms.
Saakian pledged to push for full independence of the mountainous
territory inside Azerbaijan, whose claim to autonomy is not recognized
by any country. His main rival, Masis Mailian, got some 12 percent
of the vote, and the remainder was split among three other candidates.
Three-quarters of the territory’s 92,000 registered voters cast
ballots.
It was the fourth presidential election in the impoverished territory
that has been controlled by Armenian and ethnic Armenian forces since
a shaky 1994 cease-fire ended one of the bloodiest conflicts that
followed the Soviet collapse.
The six-year war killed 30,000 people and drove more than 1 million
from their homes, including many of the region’s ethnic Azeris.
Today, it remains one of the region’s "frozen" conflicts in the former
Soviet states.
Azerbaijan has rejected the vote as illegitimate and maintained that
Armenian separatists came to power in the former autonomous region
as a result of ethnic cleansing.
Azerbaijan and Armenia remain locked in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh
despite more than a decade of coaxing from international mediators led
by the United States, Russia and France to resolve the region’s status.
Armenian Presdent Robert Kocharian congratulated Saakian in a message
that said the election "bears witness to an irreversible historical
reality – the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic."
The mostly agricultural region of 146,000 people tied to Armenia by
swaths of Azerbaijani territory also under ethnic Armenian control
has faced a steady brain drain and dire economic problems despite
financial aid from Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
Saakian has said that international recognition of Kosovo
as an independent state would pave the way for acceptance of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereignty.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a Russian-Turkish term that means "mountainous
black garden." Ethnic Armenians, who now account for virtually the
entire population of the territory, prefer to call it Artsakh.
BAKO SAHAKIAN NOUVEAU "PRESIDENT" DU NAGORNY KARABAKH
Agence France Presse
20 juillet 2007 vendredi
Bako Sahakian, ancien chef de la securite, a ete elu "president"
de l’enclave separatiste a majorite armenienne du Nagorny Karabakh
en Azerbaïdjan, a annonce vendredi la commission electorale centrale.
M. Sahakian a remporte l’election presidentielle organisee jeudi avec
85% des suffrages, selon des resultats provisoires. Son principal
rival, le vice-ministre des Affaires etrangères Massis Maïlian,
arrive loin derrière avec 12% des suffrages.
Le nouveau president succède a Arkady Ghoukassian, qui ne pouvait
plus se representer après deux mandats consecutifs.
Un peu plus de 77% des quelque 92.000 electeurs inscrits se sont
rendus aux urnes, a precise la commission electorale.
Aucun Etat ne reconnaît le Nagorny Karabakh, un territoire montagneux
de quelque 150.000 habitants, qui s’est autoproclame independant en
1991 a l’issue d’un conflit sanglant entre Bakou et Erevan.
–Boundary_(ID_Zsv6TBN4OpNxAdhqomYbmg)–
GEORGIAN LEADER CALLS FOR "CAUTIOUS BUT BOLD" APPROACH TO SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi,
18 Jul 07
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has told government members that
the country’s leadership needs to take a "cautious but bold" approach
to the settlement of the South Ossetia conflict. At a meeting of
the Cabinet of Ministers on 18 July, Saakashvili said Georgia must be
proactive and work hard towards the resolution of the conflict and hold
"serious negotiations" with Georgian-backed leader Dmitriy Sanakoyev.
He instructed the media and government officials to avoid using the
terms "Ossetian side" and "Georgian side" when speaking about the
conflict, as the separatist government consists of personnel "brought
in" from outside. He also stressed the importance of expanding
higher education opportunities for the country’s ethnic Armenian
and Azeri populations and said that the Georgian government’s lack
of organization was to blame for the fact that few of them know the
state language. The following is an excerpt from Saakashvili’s remarks
at the meeting broadcast live by Rustavi-2 TV:
[Presenter] We go live to the State Chancellery, where President
Mikheil Saakashvili is chairing a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
[Passage omitted]
"Serious" negotiations ahead
[Saakashvili] Yesterday Mr Petre [Tsiskarishvili, agriculture minister]
made a statement on South Ossetia’s status together with the head
of the [Georgian-backed] temporary administrative unit [Dmitriy
Sanakoyev]. I want to say that there will be serious negotiations.
This is not a formality. Our partners on the other side of the
negotiating table are not people with whom we should take a frivolous
approach.
They are serious people, serious leaders, serious representatives of
a part of Georgia’s population – a big part of ethnic Ossetians – and
we must hold serious talks and discuss serious issues with them. We
must approach this issue cautiously, but at the same time boldly. I
believe that we have the opportunity to truly restore contacts among
all villages, all communities and all people, as well as between the
Georgian state and a very important and dear part of its population.
Yesterday tractors were taken there on my order. We distributed them
to villages which are under Georgian control. I want to emphasize
that there are not Georgian villages and Ossetian villages. There
is no such thing as the Ossetian side or the Georgian side and
everyone should purge these terms from their vocabulary. If only
television stations were making this mistake, that would not be a
problem. But some government members also get it wrong and speak of
Georgian and Ossetian villages. I want to tell you that a large part
of the population of the villages which fall under our jurisdiction
is ethnically mixed. This means nothing. For us they are all equal.
And if there is such a thing as an Ossetian side, that side is the
temporary administration, which consists of representatives of the
local population. Ethnic Ossetians are far less represented in that
which some people ignorantly refer to as the Ossetian side. You know
very well where these people have been brought in from and what
connections they have with the local population. Some of them may
have Ossetian surnames, but those people have nothing whatsoever to
do with Ossetians or the Ossetian people, let alone South Ossetia.
Therefore, we must continue with our programmes. We are building
several cultural facilities there. According to what I’ve been told,
all schools there are being repaired well. We must further facilitate
the development of education, including through such programmes
that seek to restore trust between peoples, settle the conflicts and
overcome crises.
Support for ethnic minorities
I also welcome the fact that we will soon begin bringing 100
representatives of various ethnic groups each from Akhalkalaki
[town in the predominately ethnic Armenian Javakheti region] and
[the predominately ethnic Azeri-populated] Kvemo Kartli [Province]
and place them in [university] preparatory courses. It is very
important that our citizens not go to other countries to study,
but instead come to Georgia’s capital and its other cities.
It is very important that their relatively poor knowledge of the
Georgian language at this stage, which is not their fault-[changes
tack] I want to emphasize that that has nothing to do with them,
they are begging us to teach them the language. It is instead because
of the fact that up to now we have not been well organized. Under
no circumstances should a relatively poor knowledge of Georgian be
an insurmountable obstacle for those people to study in tertirary
education institutes. There are preparatory courses, technologies, and
countless other means to integrate those people and bring them here.
Returning to South Ossetia, we have created a special group at the
Chancellery that is working on the negotiating process and on joint
actions with Sanakoyev’s administration. I ask that all of you work
with this group and I also ask that we take into account the fact
that there is a certain timeframe here – we all must work day and
night and we all must work in such a way that each and every person
sees the difference.
There is now a battle on to win over people’s hearts and minds. This
battle is between much richer, but not very flexible mechanisms which
truly do not understand local problems [as heard], and the Georgian
state – Georgia, which is a state consisting of Georgians, Ossetians,
Armenians, Azeris and people of all other ethnic origins, who for us
are all part of the Georgian state and who are our most dear citizens.
In general, I believe that the process of resolving the conflicts must
become much more intensive and much more active and that the world
community should become much more involved in it than it is today.
The Georgian government needs to be much more proactive. We have
achieved success locally, throughout the Tskhinvali region[South
Ossetia], but I think this should extend to the whole of Georgia’s
territory and to all conflicts and all situations. There is still a
lot of work to do here and there are a lot of problems despite the
fact that many professionals are involved in this endeavour.
We must not be in a position where we are reacting, we must be very
proactive and alert. Once again I ask you to cooperate actively with
this group working on Tskhinvali issues. We need daily coordination
and we need to resolve issues on a daily basis. We have a budget and
we have taken the decision to finance many programmes. Practically
everything that is necessary will be funded by Georgia at an
appropriate level. Relevant decisions have been taken.
[Passage omitted]
"ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK" OPENED A BRANCH IN YEGHVARD; "BANKVTB (ARMENIA)" CLOSED ANOTHER BRANCH
Mediamax Agency, Armenia
July 18 2007
Yerevan, July 18 /Mediamax/. By the decision of the Chairman of the
Central Bank of Armenia, "Yeghvard" branch of "ACBA-Credit Agricole"
bank is registered.
As Mediamax was told in the CB press service today, the branch is
located 48 Charents str, Yeghvard town.
By another decision of the CB Chairman, cessation of the activities
of N25 branch of "Bank VTB (Armenia)" is registered.