Author: Kanayan Tamar

DUTCH MAN BUILDS “NOAH’S ARK” AFTER HE DREAMS HOLLAND WILL BE FLOODED

13:24, 23 Oct 2014

A Ditch Man Johan Huibers built an “Ark of Noah” after he dreamt that
Holland would be flooded, the Daily Mail reports.

Constructed from the metal hulls of old barges and held together by
Scandinavian pine, this 23-metre high, 30-metre wide and 135-metre
long real-life Noah’s Ark stands four-storeys tall, is as long as a
football field and even comes with its own animals.

Dutch contractor Johan Huibers – who took three years to build the
vessel – was inspired by a dream about a flood that would wipe out
Holland.

“I dreamed a part of Holland was flooded,” Mr Huibers, explained during
an interview with the American television programme the Today Show.

‘Then, the next day I get the idea to build an ark of Noah.’

The gigantic wooden structure is the closest to the original ark
in terms of its dimensions as Mr Huibers built the vessel to the
specifications in the Bible, which states that Noah’s Ark was 50
cubits wide, 30 cubits high and 300 cubits long.

The tourist attraction, which is so big it’s classed as a building
not a boat, cost an estimated $1.6 million (over £1 million) to build.

Mr Huiber’s began planning the structure in 1992 but construction of
his ark began only in 2009. Work was completed in 2012 by his team
of 50 people.

The Dutchman had previously built a smaller model measuring nine-metres
wide, 13-metres high and 70-metres long which he sold in order to
concentrate on the real-life version.

Inside the Ark are two amphitheaters and fake animal displays as well
as presentations on Noah’s history.

Despite its ability to float on water and sail, Huibers told has said
that, ‘this time the Ark is not meant to save people from a global
flood as Noah did 4,000 years ago, but to tell people that there is
a God who loves us, and that He has a plan for our lives’.

The ark, located at Dordrecht, is now open to the public.

DIALOGUE WITH NEIGHBORS: ARMENIA IN TALKS WITH IRAN, GEORGIA AHEAD OF JOINING RUSSIAN-LED BLOC

ANALYSIS | 22.10.14 | 10:20

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

RELATED NEWS

Iran ready to assist Armenian initiatives, says President Rouhani

Armenia is trying to improve its relations with neighbors ahead of the
country’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) expected next
year. Two of Armenia’s four neighbors – Turkey and Azerbaijan – are
blocking its communications, while the other two – Iran and Georgia –
do not yet know how their relations with Armenia are going to develop
after it becomes a member of the pro-Russian alliance.

Armenia has no borders with any of the current EEU member country
(Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan). The only transit route lies through
Georgia, which recently signed an association agreement with the
European Union. And although it is noted that the determination of
the two countries in different economic systems will not interfere
with trade and transit links, some problems still remain.

Armenian-Georgian bilateral talks are to be held soon to address the
problems that have emerged in the relations between the two South
Caucasus neighbors after their accessions to different blocs. This
was announced by Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Tengiz Sharmanashvili,
who talked to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service earlier this week.

“There are some details that need to be clarified. It is for this
purpose that on November 11-12 Georgia’s economy minister will visit
Yerevan so that we can thoroughly go through all these questions. I
suppose there will be no insurmountable issues in the agreements,”
the Georgian ambassador said.

Earlier, advisor to the president of Armenia Karine Minasyan, who
is expected to become a representative of Armenia to the Eurasian
Commission, said that Armenia will export products to the EEU countries
through Georgia without customs consequences – with Georgian transit
declaration and a special identification label. But the statement
of the Georgian ambassador shows that not all issues appear to have
been settled.

There is no certainty in the Armenian-Iranian relations either.

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani on Monday during his two-day official visit to the
Islamic Republic. Rouhani said that Iran is ready to assist the
initiatives of the Armenian side, as well as the implementation of
joint programs. In response, Premier Abrahamyan noted that Armenia’s
membership in the EEU enables it to act as a link between the
EEU-member countries and foreign business circles.

This dialogue, which seems to be a bit strange, was taken by some
Armenian experts as delegation by Armenia of its rights to foreign
trade relations to the EEU, in other words, to Moscow. After joining
the EEU, Armenia will lose the right to carry out sovereign foreign
trade and customs policies, as it will be determined by the Eurasian
Council. It was not accidental that RFE/RL’s correspondent asked the
Georgian ambassador whether Georgia and Armenia can resolve these
issues on their own without coordination with Brussels and Moscow. The
ambassador replied succinctly: “They can.”

IRAN, ARMENIA DISCUSS EXPANSION OF ECONOMIC TIES

Mehr News Agency, Iran
Oct 20 2014

Tehran, 20 October: Iran’s first deputy-president and Armenian Prime
Minster Hovik Abrahamyan met today [20 October] to discuss plans for
expanding economic and cultural ties.

During the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan on
Monday, Iran’s first Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said: “A joint
commission supervised by Mr Abrahamyan and I will also be regularly
held between the two ministries.”

“At present, the volume of trading between Iran and Armenia is about
300m dollars,” said Mr Jahangiri. “We export gas and in return,
import electricity from Armenia. There are other goods exchanged
between the two countries as well.”

“The two countries’ ministers of energy debated mutual projects
including the construction of the third line of an electrical
transmission and a hydropower plant in Armenia, the generalities of
which have been agreed upon,” maintained Jahangiri.

Jahangiri noted that the two countries also discussed and reached
an agreement in various environmental and cultural fields and said:
“Since Armenia is now recognized as a Eurasian country, our private
sectors have ample investment opportunities.”

Hovik Abrahamyan, for his part, expressed satisfaction for expansion
of bilateral ties and said: “The joint commission between Iran and
Armenia is of great significance and will promote economic ties.”

Mr Abrahamyan expressed gratitude towards Iran for the conservation of
the Armenian heritage and their respectful treatment of the Armenians
and said: “I have invited Mr Jahangiri to visit Armenia. There are
plenty of projects the implementations of which will greatly benefit
the two countries, and my country will do its best to further develop
ties with Iran.”

IRAN PLANS TO CONSTRUCT HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS IN ARMENIA

Energy Business Review
Oct 21 2014

EBR Staff Writer Published 21 October 2014

Iran is planning to construct hydroelectric power plants in Armenia
in order to implement previous bilateral agreements, Iran First Vice
President Eshaq Jahangiri said.

Islamic Republic News Agency cited Jahangiri as saying that the two
nations intend to establish a joint commission to boost bilateral ties.

Jahangiri told FARS News Agency in a joint press conference with
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan in Tehran that: “We have
agreed to launch the third power transmission line and also build
hydroelectric power plants for Armenia.

“The value of exchanges between the two countries is around $300
million; we export gas to Armenia and import electricity from that
country, but there are other goods for exchange purposes as well.”

Abrahamyan said: “We have a lot of work to do to develop and complete
the joint projects of the two countries.”

In recent years, Iran and Armenia worked together to strengthen and
expand their relations particularly in the economic sector.

PRESIDENT ALIYEV, EU REP. SALBER DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 21 2014

21 October 2014, 10:55 (GMT+05:00)
By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Herbert Salber on
October 20.

The sides exchanged views on the process of negotiations over the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During his Baku visit, Salber will meet with Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov and Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee
for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov.

The EU special representative for the South Caucasus also plans to
meet with IDPs settled in the suburbs of Baku.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale
hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20
percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security
Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal
of armed forces.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S.

have produced no results so far.

CIS AIR DEFENSE COMBAT READINESS CHECK SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

14:19, 22 Oct 2014

Combat readiness tests of the integrated air defense system of members
of the Commonwealth of Independent States /CIS/ have been completed
successfully, the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry said
on Tuesday, OTAR-TASS reports.

“Results of trainings have once again proved the reliability and
efficiency of the integrated missile defense system in protecting air
space of CIS member states,” Lieutenant General Alexander Golovko,
the commander of Russia’s Airspace Defense Forces, who headed the
training tests, said.

The training involved about 100 warplanes and helicopters, including
fighters, attack aircraft and bombers. Apart from that, more than 160
units of radio-technical troops and more than 40 air defense missile
systems of the integrated missile defense system, took part.

More than 9,000 troops represented Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Armenia, Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

LE PARTI AU POUVOIR : LA MANIFESTATION DE LA TROIKA PROUVE QU’IL N’Y A PAS D’ALTERNATIVE AU GOUVERNEMENT ACTUEL

ARMENIE

Selon un membre du parti au pouvoir, la manifestation des trois
partis non-majoritaires montre de fait que la troïka n’est pas une
alternative au gouvernement, et que le mouvement d’opposition est en
train de disparaître.

Les trois forces non-majoritaires, le Parti Armenie prospère (PAP),
le Congrès national armenien (ANC) et le parti heritage ont tenu
leur rassemblement commun a Erevan le 10 Octobre Il a ete suivi par
16 000 personnes, selon des sources policières.

Secretaire de la faction parlementaire du parti au pouvoir le Parti
republicain Gagik Melikyan a declare aux journalistes que le nombre
de participants a la manifestation est preoccupant en termes ” qu’il
y a beaucoup de gens dans le pays qui sont confus, et qui sont decu,
nous avons une tâche serieuse de relancer l’espoir chez les personnes
et de les faire sortir de la confusion “.

“L’opposition a decu les gens en ne faisant pas de revendications
communes, elle les a mis dans plus de confusion et les gens ont
realise que la troïka n’est pas une alternative au gouvernement”,
a declare Melikyan, ajoutant que, bien que l’opposition affirme que
la manifestation etait bondee et meme si elle etait plus encombree par
rapport a des rassemblements precedents, selon Melikyan, elle n’etait
en fait pas aussi nombreuse que l’opposition a estime qu’elle serait “.

Melikyan dit qu’il y a effectivement des problèmes en Armenie et le
gouvernement ne les a jamais cache.

“En effet, c’est la pauvrete, les conditions sociales graves,
la corruption, en effet, nous avons tous les problèmes mentionnes
dans les rassemblements, et le gouvernement n’a jamais pretendu le
contraire, le gouvernement a meme dit plus que ce qui a ete entendu
au rassemblement. Cependant, je pense que l’opposition a manipule
ces problèmes, en essayant de clarifier leur pouvoir, et ils ont eu
la conviction que meme ceux dans des conditions sociales graves n’ont
pas une confiance importante dans la troïka, et les representants de
la troïka ont de nouveau confirme leurs desaccords sur la scène, par
des annonces floues, par aucun plan d’action. La seule chose qui unit
la troïka est leur desir d’acceder au pouvoir “, a declare Melikyan,
ajoutant que le nombre de participants a la manifestation ne peut
servir de base.

Melikyan a dit que lors de la manifestation de l’opposition il n’y
avait pas de critique conjointe adressee au gouvernement.

“Il n’y avait aucune critique contre l’adhesion de l’Armenie dans
l’Union economique eurasiatique (UEE) sauf dans les mots du depute
du parti Heritage qui ont ete interrompues, et je pense que si
nous parlons d’une politique internationale positive, ou si nous
ne critiquons pas la politique internationale, cela est simple cela
veut dire que l’on soutient la politique nationale en cours car la
politique internationale et nationale sont interconnectees “.

mercredi 22 octobre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ARMENIE : VILLEGIATURE MAIS PAS A LA MAISON

ARMENIE

Se plaignant des prix eleves et des choix limites a la maison,
les Armeniens cet ete ont opte pour des vacances a l’etranger. Le
gouvernement armenien, se vantant que le tourisme est un des secteurs
a plus forte croissance de l’economie, ne voit apparemment pas de
raison a les inciter a reconsiderer leur position.

Selon la loi, les Armeniens qui travaillent cinq jours par semaine ont
droit a 20 jours de conges payes par an, un temps qui, comme ailleurs
dans le Caucase, est pris principalement en Août. Le revenu disponible
pour ces vacances, cependant, est relativement modeste. L’Armenie a
enregistre un revenu par habitant de seulement 5500$ en 2011, le taux
le plus faible dans la region, selon l’Agence centrale americaine
du renseignement.

Mais les prix pour des vacances au sein de l’Armenie ne reflètent pas
ses revenus limites. Lors d’une conference le 8 août le directeur de
l’union nationale des tour-operateurs Armine Adamian a mis le coût
d’une visite de sept jours en Armenie a 1500 euros (environ 1885 $).

D’autres pays peuvent etre visites pour la moitie de cette somme,
a-t-elle affirme.

> a precise Marine Ayvazian, directrice d’une agence de
voyage a Erevan.

Avec de tels consommateurs a l’esprit on comprend que sur les panneaux
d’affichages, a la television et sur les radios a Erevan la publicite
concernent des vacances balneaires principalement a l’etranger. Le
vaste lac Sevan est peut-etre une autre option, mais fait face a une
rude concurrence.

Un sejour de quinzaine de jours dans une chambre simple (avec petit
dejeuner) a l’hôtel Sevan coûte entre 1260 $ et 1400$. Par comparaison,
un sejour similaire dans un hôtel en bord de mer en Italie ou en
Espagne peut etre organise pour environ 1500 $ et 2000 $ et avec
une riche gamme de restauration et de divertissement affirment les
agences de voyage a Erevan.

Le gouvernement armenien professe peu ou pas d’interet officiel que de
nombreux Armeniens optent pour des vacances a l’etranger, bien qu’il
ait essaye d’encourager les employes de l’Etat a des vacances a la
maison en couvrant une partie des frais de sejour dans les stations
armeniennes.

Les Hôtels a Sevan ou dans d’autres destinations de vacances sont
“complets” affirment les fonctionnaires qui ajoutent que le secteur
de l’economie du tourisme est en expansion de 25 pour cent par an.

semblent trop chers pour certains. > a commente une pharmacienne Anahit
Alexanian, 50 ans, qui passent ces vacances en Georgie, le voisin du
nord de l’Armenie.

Des milliers d’autres Armeniens semblent faire la meme chose. Le
gouvernement georgien affirme que le nombre de touristes armeniens ont
augmente de 22 pour cent cette annee (a plus de 408000) par rapport
a 2011 selon Newsgeorgia.ru.

La plupart vont dans la region d’Achara sur la mer Noire en Georgie.

Alors que les prix dans le centre-ville de Batoumi grimpent beaucoup
les petites villes balneaires d’Achara disposent d’hôtels modestes
avec trois repas par jour et une chambre de quatre personnes pour 50
$. Louer une chambre dans une maison privee est encore moins cher.

Avec de tels prix,
a declare Narine Babujian.

Note de la redaction :

Marianna Grigoryan est une journaliste pigiste a Erevan et l’editeur
de MediaLab.am.

Eurasianet.org

mercredi 22 octobre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

NO SERIOUS AMD/USD EXCHANGE RATE FLUCTUATIONS IN ARMENIA – EXPERT

14:24 * 21.10.14

Management expert Harutyun Mesrobyan believes that serious USD/AMD
exchange fluctuations are said to affect Armenia’s economy.

However, no exchange fluctuations are actually taking place.

“I do not see any serious fluctuations. Moreover, no fluctuations
would be a strange. Armenia is implementing a floating exchange rate
policy, which implies exchange rate fluctuations. If fluctuations do
not exceed 3% within a week, consumers should not fear,” Mr Mesrobyan
told reporters on Tuesday.

With respect to Armenia’s economy, he said:

“We have a normal situation. Armenia is just not competitive in
a number of respects. The primary factor is interpenetration of
oligarchs and authorities.”

Chairman of the National Association of Consumers Armen Poghosyan
believes that Armenia’s economy is declining.

“Economically, Armenia has the trump card. No country in the world has
electric energy surplus, while Armenia has always had. Our unfavorable
economic situation is the result of internal mismanagement rather
than of international developments.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

“ROBERT KOCHARYAN WILL NEVER BE JUDGED” (VIDEO)

13:14 | October 21,2014 | Politics

International criminal court should be not on the agenda of political
figures but human rights organizations. “Civil society institute”
NGO Director Artak Kirakosyan says, as long as we do not know
the mechanisms of applying to the international court, expecting
revelations and condemnation of sinners of March 1st process is
meaningless.

“Politicians meaninglessly manipulate the International criminal
court on their agenda by saying that they will send Robert Kocharyan
there, that they have presented an application and it has already
been accepted. I make sure that International criminal court will
never judge Robert Kocharyan for March 1st and other things.”