Author: Kanayan Tamar

SERIOUS CONTROVERSIES WITHIN ARMENIA’S RULING CIRCLES – RUBIK HAKOBYAN

14:01 ~U 11.07.13

Rubik Hakobyan, Head of the Heritage parliamentary group, believes
that political developments will enter a new stage in Armenia this
autumn, to be crowned with success.

According to him, controversies within the ruling circles are not of
ideological nature.

“One thing is clear. The authorities’ policy has failed and has no
prospects,” Hakobyan told Tert.am, pointing out a number of subjective
and objective reasons.

“On the one hand, external forces set a task of deciding before
Armenia. Their requirements are now contradictory and have put
Armenia’s authorities in a rather difficult situation,” he said.

On the other hand, Armenia’s society largely mistrusts the authorities
and is inclined to believe any claims discrediting the authorities.

“This is a serious political factor, when people lose confidence in
the authorities, which does not promise anything good,” he said.

“When the external resources the authorities use to retain power
expire, the authorities turn to their internal resources, and
we can witness this process now in the form of intraparty fight
and re-alignments. We witnessed a similar process after the rigged
elections of 1996, when a crisis developed within the ruling circles,
which resulted in re-alignments,” he said.

“Actually, Armenia has not seen a change of power during its
23-year-long independence, which hinders the state’s natural
development,” Hakobyan said.

With respect to the controversies, he said that “they are neither
ideological nor political. Rather, they are group controversies.”

“If you focused on what happened during and after the presentation of
the Control Chamber’s report, offshore scandal and other developments,
you must have noticed that both the accusers and the accused were
members of the power pyramid,” he said.

WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ITS CULTURAL PROGRAM FOR THE YEAR 2013, THE ITALIAN EMBASSY, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA, WILL PRESENT A SPECIAL CONCERT IN “ZVATRNOTS” TEMPLE BY THE “ENSEMBLE VIVALDI” OF THE ITALIAN WO

10-07-2013 17:33:17 | Armenia |

Within the framework of its cultural program for the year 2013, the
Italian Embassy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the
Republic of Armenia, will present a Special Concert in “Zvatrnots”
Temple by the “Ensemble Vivaldi” of the Italian world famous Orchestra
“I Solisti Veneti”.

Special pieces drawn from the Italian Baroque and Classic Musical
Repertoire will be proposed to the Armenian public during the Concert.

Tomaso Albinoni, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Tartini, Gioacchino Rossini,
Aram Khachaturian, Nicolo’ Paganini and others are the composers
purposely chosen for this special performance in Yerevan.

The Concert will take place in the “Zvartnots” Temple area on Friday,
July 12, 2013 at 19:30.

Italian Embassy Yerevan, Armenia

News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan – See more at:

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY LEADER RECORD-HOLDER IN PARLIAMENTARY ABSENCES – NEWSPAPER

July 11, 2013 | 06:49

YEREVAN. – Prosperous Armenia Party Chairman Gagik Tsarukyan holds
the record in most number of absences from the National Assembly (NA)
sessions, Hraparak daily reports.

“He virtually has not ‘visited’ the parliament during the fall
session, and [he attended] the spring session three or four times,
and on those days when ‘bulk’ voting was to take place, so that the
matter of absences and mandate revoking would be considered resolved
to some extent.

‘And has he submitted a sick leave for the ‘rest’ [of the absences]?’
we asked our NA source.

‘Tsarukyan is a healthy, vigorous man; he has never submitted a
sick leave.’

And what did he submit? ‘Well, he often went on a business trip, [but]
he informed the NA leadership about this in writing,'” Hraparak writes.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL’S GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER 2013: 43% OF RESPONDENTS SAY CORRUPTION IN ARMENIA HAS INCREASED OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS
by Samvel Sarksyan

Wednesday, July 10, 13:01

Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Executive Director of Transparency International
Anticorruption Center in Armenia, introduced the Transparency
International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013 (GCB) on July 9.

He said that 43% out of 1068 respondents in Armenia thought corruption
level has increased over the last year, while only 19% thought it
decreased. He said that 82 respondents thought corruption a serious
or a very serious problem for Armenia, and only 3% said corruption is
not a problem. Nevertheless, 21% of the polled said the government
actions to fight corruption are effective or very effective (vs. 27%
in GCB-2011 on Armenia ) and 53% said the government actions are
ineffective.

57% of people in Armenia thought that political parties were affected
by corruption, 57% of people in Armenia thought that parliament /
legislature was affected by corruption, 51% of people in Armenia
thought that business was affected by corruption, 47% of people in
Armenia thought that military was affected by corruption, 32% of
people in Armenia thought that NGOs were affected by corruption, 37%
of people in Armenia thought that media was affected by corruption,
39% of people in Armenia thought that religious bodies were affected
by corruption, 58% of people in Armenia thought that education systems
were affected by corruption, 69% of people in Armenia thought that
judiciary was affected by corruption, 66% of people in Armenia thought
that medical and health services were affected by corruption, 66% of
people in Armenia thought that police were affected by corruption, and
68% of people in Armenia thought that public officials and civil
servants were affected by corruption. 48% though the government is
run by a few big entities acting in their own best interests, and only
16% did not think so. 48% though personal contacts are important for
thinks do be done in the public sector, while 9% said the personal
contacts are not important at all.

Hoktanyan is very concerned over the fact that only 37% of respondents
strongly agreed that ordinary people can make a difference in the
fight against corruption. This indicator is lower only in the Ukraine,
Serbia, and Tunisia. Only 43% of the polled expressed desire to fight
corruption, and this made Armenia an outsider. In addition, only 33%
of them are ready to report on corruption cases to relevant
organizations and agencies, though they think it will change nothing.

This indicator is lower only in Ukraine, Yemen, Libya, and Hungary.

Hoktanyan said that 18% of respondents in Armenia said they gave
bribes mostly to the healthcare establishment and police. They said in
most cases bribes were given as a sign of gratitude, while another 27%
had to give bribes to settle problems. In addition, 28% of the
respondents said they were demanded a bribe and another 62% said they
refused to give bribes.

Clarifying the situation with the corrupt judiciary and police in
Armenia, which are set to fight corruption, Hoktanyan said that in
conditions of the system-wide corruption, the judicial and police
cannot fulfill the constitutional provision on independent work. At
the same time, judicial and police are inefficient also for lack of
human resources and sufficient rewards. He outlined also the low level
of transparency and reporting. In addition, judiciary and police do
not perceive their work as a service for the people.

Hoktanyan thinks the above data should not be taken as absolute
reality, given the atmosphere of cautiousness in Armenia. There is
such atmosphere also in Azerbaijan, where no one admitted that he has
ever given bribes or that the government is run by a few big entities
acting in their own best interests. For conclusion, he said that that
GCB-2013 reports of certain stagnation in the fight against corruption
in Europe, but it is not a dangerous phenomenon for European countries
that have effective institutional structures and mechanisms. On the
other hand, he said, political parties and NGOs are also responsible
for the people’s unwillingness to fight corruption.

Hoktanyan explained that The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 is a
survey of 114,000 people in 107 countries and it shows corruption is
widespread. The survey was conducted by WIN/GIA and its subsidies in
the period from Oct 2012 up to Mar 2013. The report does not cover
Belarus, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The survey was
held only in 8 towns in Kyghyzstan. 27 per cent of respondents have
paid a bribe when accessing public services and institutions in the
last 12 months, revealing no improvement from previous surveys. Still,
nearly 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would act against
corruption and two-thirds of those who were asked to pay a bribe had
refused, suggesting that governments, civil society and the business
sector need to do more to engage people in thwarting corruption. 36
countries view police as the most corrupt, and in those countries an
average of 53 per cent of people had been asked to pay a bribe to the
police. 20 countries view the judiciary as the most corrupt, and in
those countries an average of 30 per cent of the people who had come
in contact with the judicial systems had been asked to pay a bribe.

The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 shows a crisis of trust in
politics and real concern about the capacity of those institutions
responsible for bringing criminals to justice. In 51 countries around
the world political parties are seen as the most corrupt institution.

55 per cent of respondents think government is run by special
interests. Around the world, people’s appraisal of their leaders’
efforts to stop corruption is worse than before the financial crisis
began in 2008, when 31 per cent said their government’s efforts to
fight corruption were effective. This year it fell to 22 per cent.

HEAD OF TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL ANTICORRUPTION CENTER: ARMENIA SPEAKS OF CORRUPTION RISKS INSTEAD OF COMBATTING CORRUPTION
by Samvel Sarksyan

Wednesday, July 10, 13:02

Armenia speaks of corruption risks instead of combatting corruption,
Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Executive Director of Transparency International
Anticorruption Center, said at a press conference on July 9.

When assessing the Armenian Control Chamber’s report about the 2012
budget expenditures and the following developments in the context
of the anticorruption fight, he recalled that after the Control
Chamber Head had presented the report in Parliament on June 13,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said about misappropriation of
200-300 mln AMD on June 29, whereas the report pointed out that 70%
of the funds (701 bln AMD, or $1.7 bln) budgeted for 2013 ran the
risk to be spent unreasonably. Hoktanyan thinks that it is necessary
to understand what mechanisms are creating these risks and what the
real amount of the embezzlement and misappropriation is. He stressed
that the Control Chamber and other supervisory services should find
out not only the financial components of the misappropriation, but
also the results the misappropriation leads to.

Hoktanyan pointed out that he was waiting for the response of the
Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office and other law-enforcement agencies
to the Control Chamber’s report. The response will play a big role in
the further analysis of the situation in state budget expenditures,
he said.

“Since Serzh Sargsyan became the president of Armenia in 2008, he has
repeatedly made several speeches, and I give high priority to the work
done and the changes made, not to what is spoken about. Words have gone
down in value; they have become a way to conceal the facts. And if his
speech is followed by serious steps to control the ministries’ activity
and if fewer than 67-68% of the respondents start thinking that the
healthcare system is corrupt or extremely corrupt, then it will be
possible to say that the words have become deeds”, Hoktanyan stressed.

To recall, Serzh Sargsyan said on June 29 that the Prosecutor General’s
Office must legally assess the Control Chamber’s report and come out
with a statement. “If the chairman of the Control Chamber claims
that 70% of our state budget, i.e. 701 bln AMD is under threat,
it is obviously a wrong and short-sighted statement. You (the
Prosecutor General – editor’s note) need only 2 or 3 days to assess
that report and make a speech, i.e. to say: dear citizens of Armenia,
the Control Chamber’s report suggests that only 200 mln or 300 mln
AMD was embezzled”, said Sargsyan.

To note, the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office has released no
statement yet.

RUSSIA AND TURKMENISTAN INTERESTED IN ARMENIA-PRODUCED SEISMIC “PILLOWS”

09:43, 10 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 10, ARMENPRESS: The Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and
the Islamic Republic of Iran are interested in the seismic “pillows”
produced in the Republic of Armenia. At present negotiations are held
with the organizations from these countries.

This was reported to Armenpress by the Acting Director of the “RETINE
NORUYT” Limited Liability Company Hakob Galstyan. “The rubber-metallic
seismic bases or the seismic “pillows” produced by our company have
been exported by now only to Iran”, – said Hakob Galstyan, adding
that in Armenia there is certain inactivity in the seismic market
towards the “pillows”. As stated by the specialist, though the use
of the rubber-metallic seismic bases is quite important and crucial
for Armenia, many builders and customers avoid of them, as they are
not aware of their use “culture”.

The Acting Director of the “RETINE NORUYT” Limited Liability Company
Hakob Galstyan informed that the seismic “pillows” produced by their
company have been placed in the bases of 10 structures of Yerevan,
ordered mainly by the “Elite Group” Closed Joint Stock Company.

The seismic “pillows” are special rubber devices, which are put in
the bases of the buildings to make them quake-proof. They allow to
resist up to 9,5 magnitude earthquakes. The “pillows” can be placed
not only in the base of the newly built structures, but also in the
old buildings. Armenia is one of the leading countries in the world
producing the rubber-metallic seismic bases or the seismic “pillows”.

THE STATE YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF ARMENIA INVITED AS OFFICIAL ORCHESTRA OF THE 30TH MUSICA RIVA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

12:35 10.07.2013

State Youth Orchestra of Armenia

For the first time in the history of Armenian musical art, an Armenian
orchestra will officially perform in the frames of an international
festival, widely recognized as a high-status and world-class
event in Europe. Particularly, the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia
(Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Sergey Smbatyan) has been
invited to take part as an official orchestra in the 30th Musica Riva
International Festival, to be held from 18 July to 4 August 2013 in
Riva del Garda, Italy.

Participation of the Youth Orchestra in the Festival has become
possible thanks to joint efforts of RA Ministry of Culture, Arthur
Varzhapetyan, the founder of “Luding” company and many other friends.

Among other concerts during the festival the State Youth Orchestra
of Armenia will also perform Armenian music.

The Italian Festival Musica Riva is based on 30-year history of unique
and well-established traditions. Each year from all around the world
it unites world famous orchestras, soloists, dance groups, choirs,
famous representatives of world music art, such as Aldo Ciccolini,
Emmanuel Pahud, Renato Bruzon, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Gloria Gaynor,
Alessandro Carbonare, Mauro Maur, Placido Domingo, Gilberto Gil.

L’ARMENIE ENTRAVE LES AFFAIRES SELON LA DIRECTION DE LA SOCIETE AZERIE SOCAR

La position de l’Armenie dans le conflit du Haut-Karabagh et le
comportement des Grecs de Chypre affectent le secteur de l’energie dans
les regions du Caucase et de la Mediterranee a declare le Directeur
pour la Turquie de la compagnie petrolière SOCAR lors d’un discours
sur l’energie a un Sommet de l’Eurasie.

” Ce qui endommage la stabilite dans la region de la mer Caspienne est
la position envahissante de l’Armenie sur les terres de l’Azerbaïdjan
” a dit Kenan Yavuz dit. ” Le comportement illegal des Grecs de Chypre
en Mediterranee orientale est egalement a l’origine de problèmes “.

La nouvelle dynamique du marche de l’energie fait que nous assistons
actuellement a l’emergence de trois nouvelles structures, a-t-il dit
aux invites lors d’une session, se referant a la mer Caspienne, la
Mediterranee orientale et l’Irak. ” Lorsque les points de production
et de consommation convergent, celui qui va prendre des decisions et
prendre la position proactive sera le vainqueur “, a-t-il ajoute.

La Turquie sera la destination finale des transports d’energie
a declare Yavuz, decrivant le pays comme un potentiel ” corridor
energetique “.

“La Turquie sera la destination obligatoire ” a declare Yavuz. ” Nous
sommes aujourd’hui confrontes a une situation où tous les chemins
mènent a la Turquie, et le pays a une pretention d’etre un corridor
energetique “.

mercredi 10 juillet 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

L’ARMENIA DELLE SORELLE ARSHAKYAN

Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Italia
8 luglio 2013

Gianluca Grossi

La musica armena contemporanea è poco conosciuta all’estero. Ma ora
qualcosa sembra cambiare. Con il successo di due esuberanti e
dotatissime sorelle

La musica armena vanta una ricchissima tradizione, che affonda le sue
radici un paio di millenni prima di Cristo. Nel mondo, però, non ha
mai avuto risonanza, se non indirettamente, tramite figure emigrate
altrove, come Charles Aznavour, che nella sua parabola artistica ha
sempre introdotto qualcosa del suo paese di origine.

Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni, un duo femminile si è imposto
all’attenzione mondiale con una proposta che, pur mantenendo stretti
legami con l’autoctonia, fa il verso al mondo mainstream occidentale,
finendo per stuzzicare anche i gusti di chi non ha mai avuto
familiarita con le note facenti capo alle vocazioni artistiche di
Yerevan. Sono le sorelle armene Inga e Anush Arshakyan, protagoniste
indiscusse di una delle pagine della musica folk- pop armena più
interessanti.

Classe ’80

Anush (1980) è la più grande, suona il piano e canta; nel 1994 vince
il prestigioso premio “Sonorous Voices”, a Omsk, citta della Russia,
situata lungo il tracciato della Transiberiana. Frequenta il
conservatorio a Yerevan, dove consegue il diploma e debutta poco dopo
nell’Armenia State Philharmonic Orchestra. Le sue prime composizioni
risalgono a meta degli anni Novanta.

Inga, classe 1982, percorre su per giù le stesse tappe della sorella,
dedicandosi però al violino che studia fin da piccina con passione e
perseveranza. Iniziano a lavorare insieme nel 1998, dando vita a un
repertorio che attinge a piene mani alla ricca tradizione folk armena.

“Ci piace l’idea di poter contaminare la cultura tradizionale con i
suoni moderni derivanti dal jazz, dal pop e dall’elettronica”,
rivelano le due sorelle. Nel giro di pochi mesi il loro nome conquista
gran parte del Caucaso e dei vicini Balcani. Due anni dopo compiono il
primo viaggio di lavoro transoceanico: atterrano negli USA, a Los
Angeles, dove debuttano all’Alex Theatre, location aperta al pubblico
dal 1925. Nel 2002 ottengono importanti riconoscimenti soprattutto in
patria, dove si propongono in numerosi live, accrescendo di volta in
volta l’esercito di fan.

Il primo album si intitola We And Our Mountains. Il lavoro si apre con
“Andzrev Yekav”, brano fortemente contaminato dalla cultura musicale
tradizionale armena. Lo scheletro del pezzo risente dei suoni moderni
tipici delle produzioni discografiche occidentali, ma il cantato
affronta fraseggi appannaggio della realta locale, debitori del mondo
turco-medio orientale e di quello caucasico. In alcuni punti risaltano
trovate jazzistiche. La loro fama è consolidata da una serie di
apparizioni pubbliche a New York, Toronto e Parigi. E’ la prima volta
che la cultura musicale armena si impone a livello internazionale.

Sull’onda del successo ottenuto con l’album d’esordio, si esibiscono
per la prima volta nei principali teatri della capitale.

Il botto

Il cosiddetto “botto”, però, lo ottengono con “Tamzara”, brano che
finira incluso nel secondo disco. E’ introdotto da strumenti
tradizionali; il cantato è una melodia costruita su scale
pentagrammate che rimandano all’Impero bizantino, sostenuto da un
incedere percussivo di notevole suggestione; un ottimo esempio di
world music, sintetizzato da un video che spopola su Youtube. Con
“Tamzara”, nel 2004, vincono il premio Golden Lyre, mentre l’anno
successivo trionfano all’Armenia National Music Awards. Il secondo
disco è titolato con il loro pezzo più famoso e vede ufficialmente la
luce nel 2006. Consta di undici tracce ed è prodotto dalla Parseghian
Records. Con la title track suscita clamore anche la quinta traccia,
“Khlpane”, impreziosita dal suono di uno strumento a corda
tradizionale che si integra perfettamente con i suoni elettronici più
moderni. Grazie a questo lavoro il duo riprende a girare il mondo,
frequentando le sale concerto di Parigi, Londra Mosca e Teheran. Nel
2006 esce anche il primo dvd che ritrae la coppia dal vivo, durante le
più belle performance effettuate negli ultimi anni.

Il terzo album

Tre anni dopo è la volta del terzo album: Heartbeat Of My Land. In
copertina le due sorelle appaiono abbigliate con costumi tradizionali
e caratteristici copricapo pieni di gingilli. Il singolo s’intitola
“Menq Enq Mer Sarere”, viene proposto all’Armenian Telethon, e bussa
alle porte di paesi mai conquistati prima, come Siria, Libano e
Russia. Nel 2009 le due sorelle Arshakyans si presentano
all’Eurovision Song Contest con la canzone “Jan Jan”; alla stesura del
brano partecipano Mane Akopyan, Vardan Zadoyan e Avet Barseghyan,
tutte figure assai note dell’establishment artistico armeno. Il brano
ha un “tiro” decisamente più moderno di quelli finora affrontati,
anche se, interpellate a riguardo, lo giustificano definendolo un
pezzo “folk con elementi di musica contemporanea”; in realta
abbandonano la tradizione per contemplare un pop tipico della cultura
occidentale mainstream. Porta la firma di Ara Torosyan, fra i
produttori armeni più importanti, gia al fianco di altre figure cult
come Andre ed Eva Rivas. Al successo della canzone contribuisce un
video promozionale di grande efficacia (su Youtube con oltre un
milione di clic), che rimanda alla celeberrima “Whenever, Wherever” di
Shakira, fra i principali esponenti del pop latino.

Questa tendenza è evidente anche nell’ultimo video girato dalla
coppia, in occasione del Concert The Voice of Armenia del 16 marzo
2013. Il brano “You Will Not Be Alone” (pubblicato originariamente
come singolo nel 2009, musicato da Armen Martirosian, con le parole di
Michael Bagratuni) è cantato in inglese, secondo i classici
“paradigmi” musicali occidentali, favoriti dal giovanissimo
compositore Aidin Davoudi e da Mart Babayan. Di tradizionale resiste
solo l’introduzione effettuata da un membro della band con il duduk,
strumento musicale tipicamente armeno, inserito dall’Unesco nella
lista dei Patrimoni orali e i materiali dell’umanita.

ARMENIA MIDFIELDER MKHITARYAN JOINS DORTMUND

Sports Illustrated
July 9 2013

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) -Borussia Dortmund has signed Armenia midfielder
Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, giving him a
four-year contract.

The 24-year-old Mkhitaryan arrives at Dortmund, last season’s
Bundesliga and Champions League runner-up, after Mario Goetze left
for archrival Bayern Munich.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said on Tuesday:
“It wasn’t an easy transfer but we absolutely wanted to have Henrikh.”

Dortmund already has signed defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos from
Werder Bremen and forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Saint-Etienne.

Mkhitaryan scored 25 goals in 29 Ukrainian top-division matches
last season.

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