Author: Kanayan Tamar

HOLLANDE HOPES NEGOTIATIONS ON KARABAKH TO HAVE POSITIVE RESULTS

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2014

In his congratulatory letter to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on
the occasion of the Day of Independence of Armenia, French President
Francois Hollande touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He wished success in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia’s News.am agency reported.

“I wish that the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement, in which
France is involved as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, positively
resolve in the near future,” Hollande said in the letter.

“For this purpose I am glad to invite you to Paris at the end of
October,” the letter said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan are expected to meet in late October at the initiative of
French president.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in
1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOL TO OPEN IN YEREVAN

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 22 2014

22 September 2014 – 9:32pm

The Minister of Education and Science of Armenia, Armen Ashotyan,
met the Minister of Culture of the State of Saxony-Ankhalt, Stefan
Dorgerloch, during a visit to Germany.

The parties discussed the prospects of Armenian-German cooperation in
education, and also the course of implementing an agreement signed
between the two ministries. Representatives of Armenia expressed
interest in extending programs for deepening study of the German
language, in connection with which the importance was noted of
implementing programs for an exchange of pupils and teachers, which
has already been working in Armenia for 2 years, and also the idea
of creating a German higher school on the basis of one of the higher
schools in Yerevan was voiced.

IRAN’S PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN COUNTERPART ON NATIONAL DAY

Fars News Agency, Iran
Sept 22 2014

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani felicitated his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on the country’s independence day, and
hoped for the further expansion of Tehran-Yerevan ties.

In a message to his counterpart, President Rouhani also extended his
felicitation to the country’s government and nation, and said promotion
of tie with Armenia, which enjoys a verity of commonalities with Iran,
stood atop his administration’s foreign policy agenda.

Iran and Armenia have taken major strides toward promoting their
bilateral relations over the recent years, particularly in the
economic sector.

According to Iran’s Commercial Attache in Yerevan Hamaiak Avadis Yanes,
the trade turnover between the two neighboring countries hit $293mln
in 2013.

REMEMBERING WWI AT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY

ODU Mace & Crown – Old Dominion Univ. at Norfolk, Virginia
Sept 21 2014

There must have been over a hundred people there; I honestly wasn’t
expecting this to have a big turnout at all, but after sitting through
Jay Winter’s lecture on commemorating WWI, I understood why so many
people had shown up.

His lecture was not only engaging, but it was also thought provoking.

This led to many arms in the air after he was done speaking.

Winter, a specialist on WWI, visited Old Dominion University’s campus
this Thursday where he gave his lecture, “Commemorating Catastrophe:
The Great War 100 Years On.” His lecture focused on the what, where
and why we should commemorate.

Refugees, gas warfare and genocide were just a few of the events,
which Winter spoke on, stressing his belief that these are the events
which should be honored. Refugees represented the fact that military
treated civilians as they would soldiers, meaning they were fair game
to be shot. Gas warfare represented torturous war tactics, and the
Armenian genocide paints a gruesome picture of the inhumanity which
the war produced.

How should we commemorate the war? Remembrance be achieved through
pilgrimage, visits to local and national war memorials, to war museums
and cemeteries and to battlefields where the soldiers themselves fought
and died. Local monuments were sites of mourning for those who could
not go to national capitals. They represent the raw emotions of local
villagers who lost loved ones to the war. Museums serve the purpose
of paying tribute to those who endured the tests of war.

Why should we commemorate WWI? Pilgrimage is hard, tourism is easy.

Winter stated that travel is seven times cheaper than it was in 1925.

Taking the time to travel to war memorials and museums to reflect on
the fate of millions of men allows us to recognize how fortunate we
are and we gain a new appreciation for life and the fallen men and
women of war.

Winter makes an interesting statement that “war was not only a killing
machine, but a vanishing act,” referring to the fact that 50 percent
of the men who died in WWI have no known graves. It’s important to
remember these men and stand where they stood, to understand what
they went through.

“Read inscriptions on their gravestones, read the names because
in most cases that’s all that’s left of them. Their names shall
liveth forevermore,” Winter said. We can remember their names and the
person the soldier was and the memory of them shall never vanish from
this Earth.

Winter’s lecture was impactful and very insightful. The room was packed
full, every seat taken, and when he finished the applause lasted for
close to a minute. That’s a sign that the lecture really hit home, and
not only made sense, but rang true within the hearts of the audience.

By Kelly Morgan Contributing Writer

SYRIA: IS FIGHTERS DESTROY MEMORIAL CHURCH OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Independent Catholic News
Sept 22 2014

Posted: Monday, September 22, 2014 3:08 pm

Jihadists of the Islamic State have destroyed an Armenian church in
Deir el Zor in Syria – a city with a Kurdish majority, which they
conquered recently.

The remains of thousands of victims of the Armenian Genocide, which
took place a century ago, are buried at the church. Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian, condemned the destruction of the church
as a “horrific barbarity”.

The church was consecrated in 1991 as a memorial of the genocide. The
building also included a museum with images, documents and memorabilia
of the people and communities that were lost.

Is fighters killed hundreds of tribal members in the governorate of
Deir el-Zor August and in recent months also fought with Islamist
militiamen of the al-Nusra rival faction to gain control of the area.

PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA CENTER in YEREVAN
30 Saryan str.
Tel: +37460 505 898
+37499 755 898
Email: [email protected]
Web:

23/09/2014

September 24, 14:00: The Media Center will hold a panel discussion
entitled `Employment Issues in Syunik’ to be held at Goris Press Club.

The panelists include:

Artak Mangasaryan, head of the Employment Agency at the RA Ministry of
Labor and Social Issues;

Aram Musakhanyan, Partnership and Cooperation NGO;

Nune Aghatelyan, Goris Women’s Development Resource Center Foundation.

The panel discussion is held in cooperation with Goris Press Club.

The Times of India, India
Sept 21 2014

Chennai college kicks violence with rugby

M Ramya,TNN

CHENNAI: What do you do when students turn violent? Nandanam
Government College of Arts and Sciences has lobbed a rugby ball at
them.

College students involved in street battles have been a routine in the
city, giving a headache to police and scare to citizens. Now, the
Nandanam college has joined hands with the Tamil Nadu Student and
Corporate Rugby Football Union to occupy the students in a sport that
is physical enough to channel their aggression and take their mind off
violence.

“The idea was to get students to work off their aggression on the
sports field rather than on each other,” said former head of the
college T Pramananda Perumal, who has recently been transferred to
Presidency College as the principal.

Sports and mind coach C Krishna Prasad finds it a good idea. “A
physical sport like rugby helps youngsters channelise unrestrained
aggression in a healthy way. It also helps players to know their
potential and limits and respect and acknowledge that of others. They
develop empathy and an urge to share responsibilities,” he said.

No wonder then that the administration of Nandanam Government Arts
College is thrilled at getting their students interested in rugby. For
years, the college has been struggling to get its students see eye to
eye with each other and students of other colleges. Batch after batch
of students has been engaged in mindless and relentless violence for
the smallest and even perceived slights.

Office bearers of the newly registered non-profit Rugby Football Union
said that a camp was conducted last week to select students for the
team. Around 180 students showed interest and from them 18 have been
shortlisted. They are set to undergo training under national players
Armenians Medrik Minassian and Armen Makarian.

At the end of the year, five or six students will be selected to form
a college team. Care has been taken to ensure that all the selected
students are in their first year and are likely to continue their
studies for another two years. “This is likely to be the first
government college in the state to have a rugby team,” Perumal said.

The rugby union has decided to adopt the 15-minute touch rugby format
of the game in colleges and companies. This is a less intense format
of the game and does not involve tackling or kicks. President of the
union Ramalingam Muthukumar said the intention was to form mixed
teams, where both men and women would form teams together. The union
hopes to eventually popularize the game in the corporate world. “For
now, we are working with Nandanam College. We want to approach Queen
Mary’s College for Women next to gauge their interest in the game. We
will also be approaching schools in the city,” said Rugby Football
Union vice-president R S Senthilkumar.

Rugby is popular in Mumbai and Kolkata, and had a short spurt of
growth in Chennai around 2005. The union is making an effort to bring
the game back to the city, and is willing to sponsor players from
government colleges who show promise.

Armenia conveys positive experience of NATO to Russia-led CSTO

16:26, 21.09.2014

YEREVAN – Armenia exercises a balanced cooperation with both the
Russia-led CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and NATO,
stressed Armenia’s MOD Seyran Ohanyan during the meeting with
representatives of the Armenian diaspora, participants of the 5th
Armenia-Diaspora Forum, Armenian News-NEWS.am reports.

Minister Ohanyan made his statement on balanced cooperation with NATO
and CSTO when he was asked by the representative of the Armenian
community in Iran, if the cooperation with NATO may have a negative
impact on Armenia.

“I usually say to the heads of both CSTO and NATO that we are on the
border of these two structures and that we need to have a very serious
attitude to border guards on both sides of that border. We are trying
to build on our cooperation with both sides to convey a positive
experience of NATO to CSTO and a positive experience of CSTO to NATO”
Seyran Ohanyan said.

The minister stressed that Armenia does not have any problems with the
CSTO or NATO as all activities with both organizations are carried out
on time.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

President Hollande: Armenia and France has formed special relationship

17:48, 21.09.2014

French President Francois Hollande has sent a congratulatory message
to his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in connection with the
Independence Day of Armenia.

The message of President Hollande states in particular:

“Dear Mr. President,

I am pleased to congratulate you and the Armenian people on the
national holiday in Armenia, sincerely wishing peace and prosperity.

In more than 20 years between Armenia and France has formed a special
relationship based on friendship and trust. I intend to continue to
work together, aimed at deepening ties between the two countries, as
it has been for the past two years.

During my official visit to Yerevan in May this year, I had the
opportunity to familiarize myself with the important reforms that
initiated your country to ensure its development and modernization. I
assure you that France will cooperate fully in this process.

Finally, I wish that the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement, in
which France is involved as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group,
positively resolve in the near future. For this purpose I am glad to
invite you to Paris at the end of October.”

Armenia News – NEWS.am

VATICAN-ARMENIA
Italian and Vatican press widely covered the official visit of Serzh
Sargsyan at the Vatican

Amid news of the fate of Eastern Christians threatened by Islamist
groups, the official visit of Armenian President to the Vatican du18
September 19 was widely reported in the press and other Italian media.
The President of Armenia, Prime Christian state in the world has also
visited the exhibition “The Eastern Christians face the challenges of
the new millennium” whose primary purpose was to attract the attention
of public opinion on the plight of Middle East Christians. Armenian
President’s visit was an opportunity for the “International” to evoke
the plight of Christians in Iraq or Syria. Like the influential
“L’Osservatore Romano”.

“Corriere dela will” greatly raised the destruction the Armenian
genocide and the destruction of the jewels of Armenian religious and
cultural heritage in Turkey. About the Holy Cross Church of Akhtamar,
“Corriere dela be” written “Subject to vandalism since 1915, the
church was reopened in March 2007 as a museum with a Turkified name,
portraits of Ataturk without the Armenian cross. ”

“Il Giornale” written on the massacre “infinite” Christians Caucasus
to Iraq or Syria and recalls the genocide of Armenians a century ago
by devoting an article very consistent on the situation of Armenians
both in Armenia and in the world. Almost all Italian newspapers have
mentioned the visit of the Armenian President to the Vatican,
securities and media such as Vatican Radio and other national
newspapers “Wall Street Italia,” “Vatican Insider” with passages on
the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the genocide Armenian.
TV channels such as CTV (Vatican), “Rome Reports” or RAI TG1 broadcast
images of the meeting between Sarkisian and Pope Francis. RAI TG1 said
“1.5 million Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Empire, Pope Francis
will celebrate the April 12 Mass in memory of the victims of
genocide.”

Finally note that “Corriere dela will” broadcast in its pages a broad
interview with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Krikor Amirzayan

Sunday, September 21, 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan © armenews.com