Author: Kanayan Tamar

Minister says more Armenian students enrolled in German universities

May 4, 2013 – 17:54 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A two-day program kicked off in Armenia on May 4 to
mark the German teachers’ day.
`The day will allow for exchange of knowledge and experience,’ German
embassy representative said.
Armenian minister of education and science Armen Ashotyan, in turn,
hailed the education opportunities in German universities.
`The number of Armenian students enrolled in German universities today
exceeds that of 2008,’ Minister Ashotyan

Thousands flock to Jerusalem for `Holy Fire’ ceremony

17:03 04.05.2013

Tens of thousands of pilgrims visited the Old City of Jerusalem
Saturday to observe the `Holy Fire’ ceremony marking the day preceding
Orthodox Easter, Israel Radio reported.

The annual occurrence held at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands
as the holiest event for the Orthodox Christian sects.

Attendees participated in the passing of a flame borne by Greek
Orthodox and Armenian clergymen exiting the place of Jesus’s tomb
within the church.

Burning candles will also be flown out to Orthodox communities
throughout the world.

The faithful believe that it is through divine intervention that the
first flame comes to life – much like Jesus did at the same spot a day
after his crucifixion.

Over 100 constitutional law experts from CoE member states to attend
Armenia-hosted conference in July
16:55 04.05.2013

Lusine Vasilyan
`Radiolur’

Armenia will assume the presidency of the Council of Europe Committee
of Ministers on May 16. The six-month presidency will not only provide
an opportunity to deepen the Armenia-Council of Europe cooperation,
but also reach practical results in the field.

In July Yerevan will host a conference on constitutional law, which
will feature Presidents of Constitutional Courts, experts of
constitutional law from more than 20 countries. According to the
President of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan, more than 100
renowned specialists are expected to participate in the event.

According to Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan, the Armenian
Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers is an
opportunity to evaluate the 12-year-log cooperation.

`When we were joining the Council of Europe in 2001, many of our
commitments were painful and there was a fear whether the cooperation
with the CoE would be useful to us,’ the Ombudsman said.

According to Karen Andreasyan, these concerns have been overcome, and
the Council of Europe is no more conceived as a structure that could
cause harm to our national values. He said Armenia has registered
progress as regards the protection of human right, but the issue still
remains a painful one. The Human Rights Defender means first of all
the judicial system.

`Many of our citizens seek for justice in the European Court of human
Rights in Strasbourg because of the imperfect judicial system. This
trend will decline only when the national institutions start
functioning perfectly,’ he said.

250 cases of ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan reported in the past week

15:59 04.05.2013

According to the data of the NKR Defense Army, about 250 cases of
ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the
line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan from April 28 to May 4.

The rival fired more than 1,000 shots from weapons of different
caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army took relevant measures to
prevent the actions of the adversary and continued with their military
duty all along the line of contact, Press and Propaganda Department of
the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

Opinion: Kurdish issue resolution may help tackle Armenian question

May 4, 2013 – 16:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Hopes that Turkey could ever solve its almost
intractable Kurdish issue have never been as high as they were in the
first quarter of 2013. If this peace process can continue with all its
ups and downs but without rupture, it could that suggest that another
perennial issue as old as the Kurdish issue, the Armenian question,
can also be tackled, Turkish journalist Cengiz Çandar says in `No
Incentive for Turkey, Armenia To Normalize Relations’ article
published by the Assyrian International News Agency.

`Of course, there is a fundamental difference. The Kurdish issue
directly concerns 15 million people living in Turkey as Turkish
citizens and more than 30 million other Kurds living in the region and
majority populations of tens of millions living in those countries.
The Armenian question is about the perishing of a national community
on the land they have been living for time immemorial. Today, the
question is more about its deep psychological scars rather than its
physical aspects,’ he says.

`For the Armenians, a large part of historical Armenia, what they call
Western Armenia, covers a substantial portion of today’s eastern
Turkey. It is not unusual for countries and lands to change names but
for the Armenians and Turkey, the issue is more than losing land but
the almost total annihilation of a nation on the land where they used
to live,’ he says.

`In the meanwhile, we have to remember that the assassination in 2007
of Turkey’s most influential and best known democratic figure,
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, constituted a breaking point in
Turkey’s Armenian issue that heralded the emergence on the political
stage of the “Turkish Armenian” identity, even though they are but a
60,000-strong minority living only in Istanbul, down from 1.5 million
in 1915,’ Çandar continues.

`Since that time, an increasing number of Turks and Kurds of Turkey,
in solidarity with Armenians, began to discuss the Armenian issue and
to observe April 24 as Genocide Remembrance Day, first in the center
of Istanbul and then, this year, in many provincial capitals, led by
Diyarbakir.

Turkey faces a complex structure of Armenia-Diaspora-Turkey’s
Armenians. For the late Hrant Dink, normalization of relations between
Turkey and Armenia was a life mission. A year and half after his
assassination we came very close to his ideals,’ Çandar says.

`2015 will be the 100th anniversary of the genocide, and Armenian
mobilization in the international arena in 2015 will be a potential
irritant for Turkey. But, then, Turkey’s own domestic developments and
bringing in the Diaspora to share April 24 observances, also means
that genocide will no longer be something Turkey owes to Armenia. In
other words, the need for closure of the Genocide File is no longer an
incentive or sine qua non for normalization of Turkey-Armenia
relations. No Turkey-Armenian normalization is detected in the
horizon. And there won’t be unless there are mutually enticing and
strong incentives,’ he concludes.

`Individuals Don’t Play a Role in the Armenian National Congress
(ANC),’ Zoya Tadevosyan Says

May 3 2013

`The Armenian National Congress Party (ANCP) tried to replace the
ANC, but without Nikol; beware of fakes, the real ANC is with Nikol
Pashinyan,’ Karen Avagyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) parliamentary group, stated in the National Assembly, describing
the ANC Party as a faked trademark. inquired of Zoya
Tadevosyan, an ANC candidate for city council, which one of the ANCs
was really fake. `That Young Republican has become a little too
excited, because society and the parents of children who were burnt in
the square did not demand that he be punished. He burnt thousands of
children and remained unpunished. That same money for filling those
balloons with gas was an opportunity of kickbacks for them. A moral
man who does not answer to the law should answer to his conscience.’
As for what the ANC was without Nikol Pashinyan, Ms. Tadevosyan added:
`The ANC is the ANC. The ANC is not persons; the ANC is a powerful
political movement, ideology. Individuals don’t play a role here;
there is only one individual here, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the rest of
us are members of that powerful force. Karen Avagyan’s statements are
worthless, let them not waste time on making such statements, let them
try to find that dirt and the reason for vicious phenomena that exist
in our country among themselves, while they rob and completely empty
our country.’ Arpine SIMONYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

Azerbaijani conflict analyst revealed his willingness to kill Foreign
Minister of Armenia

13:35 04/05/2013 » SOCIETY

Armenia Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s visit to NKR caused a
stir in political circles of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani conflict analyst
Elkhan Mehdiyev responded to a question asked by the Moderator.az and
said that Baku should react to this fact.

“We are really concerned about this issue. We are even ready to kill
the Armenian minister. The government must express its protest in
obligatory procedure. Meanwhile, the authorities do not even react to
the fact that Serzh Sargsyan is attending the military parade in
Karabakh,” Azerbaijani conflict analyst stated.

Source: Panorama.am

Armenian football cup: Shirak win national champion’s title (photos)

10:18 – 04.05.13

In the 40th round of the Armenian football cup, Shirak football club
won the Armenian champion’s title, the success being the first in the
past 14 years.

In a hosting match, the team beat Yerevan’s Mika 0-1 thanks to a goal
scored by Lee Lami. After this victory, Shirak have high advantages
over the rival which ranks the second team on the tournament list.

Shirak have performed quite successfully in official competitions in
the past two years, hence its success in the latest match should not
have come as a big surprise to the rival team.

How much forest does Armenia have?

May 04, 2013 | 00:09

YEREVAN. – As of 2012, Armenia’s forest lands amount to 334,200
hectares, whose 289,400 hectares (86.6%) are covered with forests,
the National Statistical Service informs.

A total of 111,800 hectares of forests were planted in 2012, and 11.6
million drams (approx. $28,248) – or close to 100,000 drams (approx.
$244), per hectare – were spent for this purpose.

A total of 1,186 trees were illegally cut down last year, as compared
to the 1,690 such trees in the previous year.

Forest arson likewise reduced in 2012, with 240 hectares, as compared
to 472 hectares in 2011.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

AVERAGE PRICE FOR ONE SQUARE METER IN APARTMENT BLOCKS IN YEREVAN RISES TO 268,000 DRAMS

YEREVAN, May 2. /ARKA/. The average market price for one square meter
in apartment blocks in Yerevan was 268,100 drams in the first quarter
of this year against 250,400 drams in the same quarter a year earlier,
Armenia’s State Real Estate Committee reports.

The average price rose 1.5%, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to the report, the highest prices were in Yerevan’s
administrative district of Kentron – 424,100 drams per one square
meter, and the lowest in Nubarashen – 146,400 drams.

One square meter in single-family homes cost 283,800 in the 1st Q
2013 against 269,800 in the 1st Q 2012.

The average price of one square meter in apartment blocks in Armenia’s
provinces went 1% up in the first quarter of this year, compared with
the four quarter of the previous year.

A slight rise was seen in Armenian cities of Ashtarak, Aparan,
Artashat, Masis, Vedi, Ararat, Vagharshapat, Armavir, Sevan, Gavar,
Martuni, Vardenis, Stepanavan, Spitak, Alaverdi, Tashir, Shamlug,
Akhtala, Abovyan, Byureghavan, Hrazdan, Charentsavan, Gyumri,
Chambarak, Vanadzor, Artik, Maralik, Goris, Kapan, Sisyan, Meghri,
Agarak, Vayk, Yeghegnadzor, Jermuk, Dilijan, Noyemberyan and Ayrum.

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