Author: Kanayan Tamar

L’INFERTILITE FIGURE PARMI LES PRINCIPAUX PROBLEMES DES JEUNES COUPLES EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

L’infertilite est l’un des principaux problèmes des jeunes couples en
Armenie selon le sexologue Marat Zakaryan et la gynecologue Hripsime
Grigoryan.

Selon ces specialistes, une moyenne de deux a trois couples maries
dans la capitale Erevan voyent un medecin dans une journee et la
question concerne l’infertilite.

Les experts ont appele les jeunes couples a consulter un specialiste
en cas de longues tentatives infructueuses lors de la fecondation.

Selon Hripsime Grigoryan, les filles entre 18 et 28 ans devraient
voir un specialiste avant la fecondation.

Marat Zakaryan a note que la majorite des problèmes d’infertilite
chez les hommes peut etre resolu a un âge precoce.

Selon ce dernier plusieurs habitudes nuisibles peuvent etre la cause
de l’infertilite. ” Le tabagisme, l’abus d’alcool, [et] les troubles
alimentaires sont des causes importantes. Uniquement un mode de vie
sain peut aider a prevenir les consequences de ces pratiques nefastes
” a declare Marat Zakaryan.

samedi 10 août 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

HOCKEY: ZACH BOGOSIAN SIGNS 7-YEAR DEAL WITH JETS

Friday, August 9th, 2013

Zack Bogosian

WINNIPEG, Canada (CBS Sports)-Zach Bogosian is sticking around in
Winnipeg for a long time to come.

The Jet who needed to be re-signed was perhaps their top free agent,
defenseman Zach Bogosian. On Monday the team announced it has agreed
to a new deal to avoid the process and sign up the young and promising
defenseman for a long time to come.

How long? Seven years, during which Bogosian will make $36 million.

That’s a $5.14 million cap hit for you math majors out there.

That’s an alright deal for a young defenseman like Bogosian who is
already on his third contract. This will take him to 30 years of age
so it will eat up some UFA years while they’re at it for a pretty
good price relative to the type of player he is. Yes, it is a bit
high on the surface, but consider the cost of paying out UFA years
and the fact that he should be a top-pairing defenseman for the Jets
and the rate doesn’t seem that bad. The trick is proving he’s worth
it because he can be.

Bogosian, the third overall pick in 2008 by the Thrashers/Jets
franchise, has become a mainstay on the blue line for the Jets and
will remain as such for a lot longer. He has been averaging a little
more than 23 minutes per game the past couple of seasons and this
past year he had five goals and nine assists in 33 games. If there
is a big knock against him it’s injury concerns. In his five seasons
he’s only played more than 71 games once – and he wasn’t on pace to
play that last season, which was shortened by the lockout.

Over the weekend the Jets made another big re-signing in Blake Wheeler,
who had a six-year deal thrown his way.

FORMER AIDE TO CAFESJIAN IS INDICTED

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
August 8, 2013 Thursday
METRO EDITION

by DAN BROWNING; STAFF WRITER, STAR TRIBUNE (Mpls.-St. Paul)

John Waters Jr. is accused of stealing millions from the retired West executive.

A former aide to retired West Publishing Co. executive Gerard Cafesjian
has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis on charges
that he embezzled millions of dollars from his former employer over
more than a decade and did not report the money on his income tax
returns.

The indictment, which was handed up Monday and unsealed Wednesday,
charges John Waters Jr., of Eden Prairie, with four counts of mail
fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, three counts of income tax evasion
and three counts of filing false tax returns.

Waters, 56, started working for Cafesjian in sales and marketing at
West Publishing in 1994. In a 2012 lawsuit, Waters said Cafesjian
reaped about $300 million on the sale of West Publishing in 1996
when it was acquired by Thomson Corp., now Thomson Reuters. Waters
left with Cafesjian to manage his considerable investments and
philanthropic activities.

Cafesjian, who now divides his time between Roseville and Naples,
Fla., is a patron of the arts and Armenian causes and the primary
benefactor of the historic State Fair carousel that bears his name
in St. Paul’s Como Park.

Waters’ suit alleged that Cafesjian stiffed him on $5 million
in deferred compensation. Cafesjian denied that and countersued,
alleging that Waters embezzled about $5 million from him.

The indictment, which largely mirrors Cafesjian’s allegations, says
Waters had signatory authority over a number of Cafesjian’s accounts.

It says that from 1999 into 2012, Waters transferred millions of
dollars from those accounts to other accounts that he controlled,
including one in the name of a deceased foreign exchange student.

Waters dummied up Cafesjian’s books and records and tried to keep
others from reviewing them, the indictment says.

Prosecutors say that after Waters quit working for Cafesjian full time
in 2009, he tried to keep his former boss from reporting the dispute
to authorities and warned that harmful information would come out if
he did.

In his lawsuit, Waters suggested that he believed he could expose
embarrassing secrets about Cafesjian’s private life, family and
financial practices.

Cafesjian countered that he’d done nothing wrong and accused Waters
of trying to “extort his way out of this by threatening scandalous
revelations.”

Cafesjian’s attorney in the civil case is Andrew Luger, who has been
recommended by U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to replace B.

Todd Jones, the outgoing U.S. attorney in Minnesota. Luger declined
to comment on the indictment.

Dan Browning ·

ARMENIA TAKES ONE STEP TOWARDS EUROPE

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #696
Aug 9 2013

Immediate effect will be to ease visa process; broader trade benefits
will come later.

By Yekaterina Poghosyan – Caucasus

An impending deal with the European Union should be good news
for Armenia’s struggling economy. But economists warn that the
benefits of trade on preferential terms will take a long time to
make themselves felt, because Armenia’s economy is in no shape to
compete internationally.

Negotiations on the “Association Agreement” were successfully completed
on July 24, and once it is signed at a meeting in Lithuania at the end
of November, it will result in lower tariff and other barriers between
Armenia and the EU, offering the country access to a massive market.

One immediate benefit is that Armenians will find it easier to get
visas for the Schengen Zone, which includes most EU states.

Closer association with the EU has been a key aim of Armenian foreign
policy for most of the post-Soviet period.

Yerevan joined the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2004, opening the
way to cooperation on justice matters, human rights, energy and more.

Five years later came the Eastern Partnership, an EU initiative to
broaden cooperation with near-neighbours Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.

Talks on the Association Agreement with Armenia have taken three years.

In a statement, the EU commissioners for external affairs and
enlargement, Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule, said the agreement
would “allow the EU and Armenia to drive forward together a programme
of comprehensive modernisation and reform based upon shared values,
political association and economic integration”.

“The agreement will have a direct positive impact on daily life and
will bring Armenia and all its citizens closer to the European Union,”
the joint statement said.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, a deputy foreign minister who was Armenia’s chief
negotiator on the agreement, said he anticipated that the deal would
finally be signed, ratified and in force by 2017 or 2018.

Officials say the deal could lead to a boost in trade between Armenia
and the EU, already its biggest trading partner. But implementing
the agreement will take time.

William van der Geest, a consultant on trade matters based in Yerevan,
said the Armenian economy would take a long time to reach international
standards, and judging by the experiences of countries like Romania
and Bulgaria, there would be a transitional period before the terms
of the deal could be fully implemented.

One decisive factor, he said, would be addressing the monopolies that
currently dominate in Armenia.

“There are monopolies in the economy everywhere,” he said. “The
question is about how we control them. This supervision process must
allow new businesses to enter the market.”

Van der Geest predicts that “it will take five to seven years for the
average Armenian to see the difference. In the long term, however,
residents of Armenia will see a greater choice of goods and services on
offer in their country. Thanks to the reduction of obstacles to import,
goods will get cheaper. The growth of exports will create more jobs.”

Some commentators say the average Armenian has no idea of the
significance of the EU agreement or its implications for them
personally.

“Even the country’s parliament is only superficially informed about
the points in the deal. The time has come to tell the people what
the purpose of this agreement is,” said Naira Zohrabyan, head of the
parliamentary commission for European integration.

In Zohrabyan’s opinion, the key aspects of the deal are the prospect
of economic integration with Europe, impetus to combat corruption,
and free movement for Armenian nationals.

She said the agreement should help keep the pressure on Armenia’s
leaders to change the way politics and business were conducted.

“Armenia will be forced to undertake concrete, specific reforms,
rather than just issuing announcements with neither the political will
nor the readiness to implement them, which is what the government
has always done up to now,” she said. “If, after the Vilnius summit
[in November], Armenia slows the pace of reforms, I am certain the
EU will be able to impose sanctions.”

An agreement unveiled last November and due to come into force later
this year already allows for simplified – and cheaper – Schengen visa
procedures for certain categories like official delegations, academics,
students, journalists, sportspeople, artists, and relatives of anyone
with permanent residency.

“Of course, at first the simplification of visas affects only a
few sections of the population – students, academics, journalists
and politicians,” Zohrabyan said. “But all the same, it will be a
very important step. The degrading conditions for Armenian citizens
applying for a Schengen visa at the moment are simply not appropriate
to the current level and nature of Armenian-EU relations.”

Yekaterina Poghosyan is a reporter for the Mediamax agency in Armenia.

JOINT OPPOSITION CANDIDATE FOR AZERI PRESIDENT COMES OUT AGAINST “ARMS RATTLING” AND STATEMENTS ADVOCATING ANNIHILATION OF ARMENIANS
by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Friday, August 9, 21:25

The joint opposition candidate for Azeri president, Rustam
Ibragimbekov, is totally against the “arms rattling” and the statements
advocating annihilation of Armenians.

Radio Azatutyun reports that in his interview with Georgian Times,
Ibragimbekov qualified the Karabakh conflict as “Armenian authorities’
aggression against Azerbaijan”.

“I am totally against turning Armenians against Azeris and turning
Azeris against Armenians. Sooner or later the conflict will be settled
between the states, but the hostility between the nations will remain
forever. I am totally against the “arms rattling” and the statements
that Armenians should be annihilated. Conflicts should not be settled
by weapons in the 21st century”, he says.

On the other hand, Ibragimbekov is convinced that this situation
benefits both the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments.

“They are just feigning attempts to resolve the conflict. In reality,
they are making money on it. This is a source of power for them, a
weapon they can use for military purposes at any moment. I think this
problem must be solved by the peoples rather than the governments,”
Ibragimbekov said.

He said that if Azerbaijan becomes a truly democratic non-corrupt
country and if the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis living in
Nagorno-Karabakh are guaranteed equal rights, the conflict will become
much easier to resolve.

“The Armenians are clever and pragmatic and if they see that the
Azerbaijan-owned Nagorno-Karabakh is a better place to live in than
the Nagorno-Karabakh owned by Armenia, they will live there as they
did for centuries. Of course, this geopolitical knot depends on the
great powers, who often solve such problems contrary to the interests
of the concerned nations. But they too are watching what is going on
here,” Ibragimbekov said.

YOUTH CENTERS IN STEPANAKERT, MARTAKERT BEING REPAIRED

August 9, 2013 – 21:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh)
Republic Karen Mirzoyan met Friday, Aug 9, with volunteers from Nor
Serount cultural association and ARF Dashnaktsutyun, who arrived in
NKR in the framework of Yerkir charitable program.

Minister Mirzoyan hailed the guests’ contribution to relations between
Artsakh and Diaspora and stressed the necessity to continue similar
initiatives.

The young people, in turn, briefed on the details on the currently
implemented project, specifically the repair of youth centers
in Stepanakert and Martakert as well as opening of children’s
entertainment center in the NKR capital.

They also touched upon the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and
discussed a number of regional problems.

CANADIAN “MDA” JOINS ARMENIAN SATELLITE PROGRAM

16:10, 9 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of space satellite
creation program, the Delegation led by the Minister of Transport and
Communication of the Republic of Armenia Gagik Beglaryan conducted
a visit to Canada on July 29-August 2, where the Armenian delegation
had a meeting with the administration of Canadian “MDA” company. The
Media and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Transport and
Communication of the Republic of Armenia informed “Armenpress” that at
the course of the meeting the sides discussed a number of questions
ranging from the creation of space apparatus for communication and
TV broadcasting to a row of relevant issues.

The Chairman of “MDA” Company Mag Iskander told the Minister
of Transport and Communication of the Republic of Armenia Gagik
Beglaryan that he has already examined the documents the Republic of
Armenia submitted to Radio-Communication Bureau of the International
Telecommunications Association and emphasized that the company is
very interested in direct involvement in the Armenian Space Program.

MDA is a global communications and information company providing
operational solutions to commercial and government organizations
worldwide.

MDA was incorporated in 1969 by two entrepreneurs, John MacDonald
and Werner Dettwiler, with the objective of providing innovative
electronic solutions for complex customer requirements.

Over the past four decades MDA has created a highly skilled
organization that provides communications and information solutions
which improve the operational performance of business and government
organizations worldwide.

MDA’s business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat
business potential. In addition, the Company conducts a significant
amount of advanced technology development.

MDA’s well-established global customer base is served by more than
4,500 employees operating from 11 locations in the United States,
Canada and internationally.

This website contains information on MDA, and its information systems
solutions and products.

PLANTING MINES ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

Finishing his service in Armenia, the Russian ex-ambassador Vyacheslav
Kovalenko has plunged into vibrant deliberations on the present and
future of Armenia. He holds interviews with different media.

Altogether, he is trying to depict a negative picture of the European
path of Armenia.

Recently Kovalenko has again dwelled on the issue. He stated that
the Association Agreement which is going to be signed in November
contains a provision on coordinating issues relating to foreign policy
and border defense with the EU.

Armenia and the EU are not publishing the text of the agreement on the
wish of Armenia. So, one can say anything about provisions. However,
the ex-ambassador is raising an interesting issue in an interesting
period of time.

By saying defense of borders he means the borders with Iran and Turkey
which are currently guarded by Russia as the “CIS border”. In a recent
incident on the Armenian-Turkish border the Russian border guards
shot dead a trespasser shepherd. Turkey announced that the shepherd
was not armed. The Russian border guards said he fired at them but
did not evidence their allegations with the weapon from which he
allegedly fired. Earlier trespassing shepherds were “something usual”
but they were not shot dead.

After this incident the Russian ex-ambassador is used to launch
the idea that the Association Agreement contains a provision on
coordination of coordinating border defense issues with the European
Union. This is a generalized statement because a customs house is also
a border procedure. The EU and Armenia are also going to sign a DCFTA
which directly relates to customs. So, it would be strange if border
crossing procedures were not mentioned in the Association Agreement.

However, Kovalenko is used to express Moscow’s concerns about the
political prospect, fearing that the Association Agreement will bring
up the issue of removal of representatives of the third country from
control or guarding of borders of Armenia. The EU has not stated
anything about it, not even at the level of hints.

It is a sensitive issue because it has serious political consequences
not only for Armenia but also for the region.

In this context, the recent incident at the Armenian-Turkish border
is acquiring an interesting shade. The Armenian foreign minister
reacted reservedly, expressing sorrow about the incident to the
Turkish side and expressing hope that it will not repeat. It was an
uncertain reaction because it was not clear what caused the sorrow,
death or trespassing. Yerevan tried to alleviate tension.

However, it is obvious that a circumstance has come up which may
escalate at any moment. Investigation is underway and it may reveal
that the shepherd was not a shepherd but an Turkish undercover agent,
a commando or a terrorist, a Kurdish one, by the way.

Recently the delegation of the ministry of economy has met with the
foreign minister of the government of Kurdistan in Iraq and discussed
the possibility of setting up a diplomatic representation in Kurdistan.

The Armenian-Kurdish contacts are an interesting and unexpected
development which is one of the reflections of territorial processes.

The Armenian-Turkish border incident could be a stone hurled in this
direction, and certainly there are enough stakeholders both in Ankara
and Moscow. So, the investigation of the border incident could be
“reserved” for the right moment. By the way, for Armenia it is highly
important to reveal the case fast and fully and make sure it will not
serve as a mine planted on the way of Yerevan. If there is a mine,
it must be exploded as soon as possible.

Tension on the Armenian-Turkish border is the guarantee of long stay of
Russian border guards there. In this regard it is not accidental that
the ex-ambassador of Russia brings up the issue of borders immediately
after the incident. In this context the security issues become primary,
especially due to stereotypes rooted in the public circles of Armenia
that only Russia can eliminate risk to Armenia from the Turkish border.

On the other hand, only border security guarantees from Europe can
change the stereotyped approach of the society, and if the EU plans
to consider with Armenia the removal of the third country from the
border, it supposes clear guarantees of security of the society
of Armenia. It is important not only for fighting stereotypes and
shifting the issue from manipulation to pragmatism, but because the
Turkish threat is always an urgent issue for the Armenian state,
and any subject up for partnership with Armenia must come up with
exhaustive proposals to the Armenian society on this and other issues.

Hakob Badalyan 16:28 09/08/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS CHARGED WITH IMPROPER TRANSPORT OF CHEMICALS

14:04, August 9, 2013

Armenia’s Syunik Provincial Prosecutor has file criminal charges
against Dundee Precious Metals Kapan (formerly Deno Gold) for violating
laws regarding the transport of dangerous chemicals and causing undo
risk to the environment.

It seems that tailings dam material being transported leaked into
the land surrounding a stretch of the Kapan-Meghri highway, causing
extensive environmental damage.

NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA DONATES DANCING SHOES TO ARMENIA

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

August 09, 2013 | 13:11

YEREVAN. – The ballet shoes, which were sent from the National Ballet
of Canada, were formally presented to the Alexander Spendiarian
Opera and Ballet National Academic Theater of Armenian capital city
Yerevan.  

The shoes were presented Friday at the Ministry of Diaspora.  

Deputy Diaspora Minister Vahe Jilavyan and Theater representative
Lilit Petrosyan underscored the Diaspora Armenians’ support the
development of ballet in Armenia, informs the ministry press service.

The charitable program was carried out at the initiative of Khoren
Mardoyan, Adviser in Canada to the Armenian Minister of Diaspora.

The dance ensemble of Syrian Armenians, the dance ensemble of Gavar
city, and the dance ensembles of Georgia’s “Hayartun” Armenian
education and cultural center likewise will receive dancing shoes.  
   

The abovementioned charity totals 488 pairs of shoes.