Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RECEIVES GERMAN ARMED FORCES BISHOP

NEWS.AM
October 08, 2012 | 16:12

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan on Monday
received Monsignor Joachim Simon, Catholic Bishop and Military
Inspector of the German Armed Forces. The Bishop is in Armenia on a
familiarization visit to exchange know-how on the role and functions
of spiritual service in the army.

Ohanyan noted that a great importance is attached to spiritual service
in Armenia’s Armed Forces. He stressed that the exchange of know-how in
such services is important, especially since the Armenian and German
military service people take part in a joint mission in Afghanistan,
Armenian MOD press service informs.

In his turn, Monsignor Simon noted that there are similarities between
the functions and challenges of the spiritual services in the armies
of both countries, and therefore the exchange of know-how can be
productive for the two sides.

Also along the lines of his trip to Armenia, Bishop Joachim Simon is
scheduled to meet with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and
visit the Institute for National Strategic Studies, military units,
historical and cultural sites, and the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

BULGARIA DEFENDER GETS TWO-MATCH BAN OVER FRACAS WITH ARMENIA PLAYERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 8, 2012 – 16:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Bulgaria defender Veselin Minev has been banned for
two matches by FIFA for his role in a fracas during his team’s 1-0
win over Armenia in a World Cup qualifier on Sept 11, the Bulgarian
Football Union (BFU) said.

Left back Minev, who escaped unpunished in a tense game featuring
three red cards, was also fined 6,000 Swiss francs ($6,500) by soccer’s
world governing body.

The suspension means that Minev, will miss Bulgaria’s qualifiers
against Denmark on Friday, October 12 and away to Czech Republic four
days later.

Bulgaria have enjoyed a solid start to their qualifying campaign,
drawing 2-2 at home with Euro 2012 runners-up Italy and beating
Armenia 1-0 to lie second in Group B with four points, level with
leaders Italy, Reuters reported.

“I AM HAPPY THAT A1+ IS ON THE AIR, BUT THAT ASSESSMENT AND ATONEMENT FOR SINS ARE DIFFERENT STORIES,” AGHVAN VARDANYAN SAYS

October 5, 2012 21:00

Can we perceive the strong statements of the 2 Republican Party
of Armenia (RPA) MPs on depriving A1+ of airtime as “atonement for
sins” committed by the former government and how will you generally
assess giving 30 minutes of broadcasting time to A1+? In response
to this question of Aghvan Vardanyan, the alternate
representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme
Body in Armenia, said, “Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the National
Assembly during that discussion yesterday. I am also happy that A1+
has an opportunity to broadcast its programs live. Frankly speaking,
I don’t have time to watch them and I cannot assess the quality. I am
happy that A1+ is on the air. However, that assessment and atonement
for sins are different stories. One has nothing to do with the other.

In this kind of issues, I think comparing the current and former
governments and trying to describe progress with some words are
absolutely unacceptable. In that case, one should talk about tens of
other fields too. I don’t think the assessment is appropriate.”

In response to our observation that there were facts, A1+ had been
closed and now it was offered, although small, an opportunity to be
on the air, Mr. Vardanayan said, “That is why I said I was happy. I
think the approach that they try to create contrasts and try to gain
dividends is unacceptable. It is not fair.”

Hripsime JEBEJYAN

FUERZAS DE PAZ DE LA OTSC COMIENZAN SUS PRIMEROS EJERCICIOS EN KAZAJSTAN
Maksim Bogodvid

RIA Novosti
08/10/2012

Los contingentes de paz de la Organizacion del Tratado de Seguridad
Colectiva (OTSC) comenzaron hoy sus primeros ejercicios en Kazajstan,
comunico un portavoz del Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia.

“En el simulacro participara mas de un millar de efectivos de Rusia,
Armenia, Bielorrusia, Kazajstan, Tayikistan y Kirguizistan”, dijo el
portavoz en una reunion con periodistas.

Los ejercicios “Hermandad inquebrantable 2012” se realizaran hasta
el 17 de octubre en los polígonos kazajos de Iliyski, Shoskala y Bereg.

Las fuerzas de paz utilizaran durante el simulacro unos 70 automoviles
y mas de 30 vehículos blindados, así como cuatro helicopteros Mi-17
(Mi-8).

Las tropas se ejercitaran en separar partes en conflicto, vigilar el
cumplimiento de armisticio, prevenir entrada ilegal de armas en zona
conflictiva, escoltar transportes con ayuda humanitaria y protegerlos
de ataques.

En calidad de observadores han sido invitados representantes del
Departamento de Operaciones de Mantenimiento de la Paz de la ONU y
diplomaticos extranjeros acreditados en Kazajstan.

“En adelante realizaremos este simulacro de forma regular a la par con
otras maniobras y entrenamientos enmarcados en los planes conjuntos de
instruccion de combate”, declaro el subsecretario general de la OTSC,
Valeri Semerikov.

La Organizacion del Tratado de Seguridad Colectiva es una organizacion
regional multinacional de interaccion político-militar creada en el
marco de la Comunidad de Estados Independientes (CEI) y conformada
por Rusia, Bielorrusia, Kazajstan, Kirguizistan, Tayikistan y Armenia.

GEORGIA’S POLITICAL FORCES HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO JAVAKHK ARMENIANS – ANALYST

news.am
October 08, 2012 | 14:00

YEREVAN. – The political forces of Georgia have nothing to say
to Javakhk Armenians, “Center for Western Armenians’ Studies”
Scientific Research Fund Director Haykazun Alvrtsyan said during a
press conference on Monday.

In his words, Armenia needs to consider the continuity of the Georgian
policy toward the Armenians. According to him, Georgia’s key objective
is to remove the Armenians from Javakhk.

“At the turn of the 20th century, 45 percent of Georgia’s population
was Armenians. [But] The number of Armenian schools [there] reduced
in the Soviet era and, now, they do not exist at all. If you don’t
enable a people to be educated in their mother tongue, there can be no
talk about an interethnic reconciliation. Yet the Russian schools [in
Georgia] are not being closed, [and] the Armenian parents are taking
their children there. If the Russian language has no place in Georgia,
the Armenians will have to leave Georgia, but toward faraway Russia.

This is the plan of Georgia’s authorities,” Alvrtsyan maintained, and
stressed that the country’s political forces “have nothing to say to
Javakhk’s population, or, more precisely, they have something to say,
but don’t want to speak about it.”

To note, there are numerous Armenian schools currently functioning in
Georgia, specifically in Javakhk, but some of the courses are taught
in Georgian.

Javakhk-Georgian name: Javakheti-is a predominantly-Armenian-populated
part of Georgia’s southeastern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

ABMDR ON DONOR RECRUITMENT DRIVE IN ARTSAKH

Published: Monday October 08, 2012

A scene from the recruitment drive.

Los Angeles – The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) completed
its most significant Artsakh recruitment drive yet, registering close
to 750 university and college students as potential bone marrow stem
cell donors. Also recruited were several high-ranking officials and
faculty members.

The recruitment campaign, coordinated with Artsakh’s Ministry of Health
and Ministry of Education and Science, comprised three separate drives
in Stepanakert during September 27 and 28. The events were held at
the campuses of the Mesrop Mashtots University, the Tamara Kamalyan
Stepanakert State Medical College, and the Stepanakert Agricultural
College.

The campaign was the fifth of its kind to be conducted in Artsakh since
the founding of ABMDR in 1999, encompassing the complementary goals
of outreach, education, and recruitment. The team of ABMDR leaders
and volunteers that traveled to Stepanakert for this purpose included
Dr. Frieda Jordan, president; Dr. Sevak Avagyan, executive director;
and Dr. Mihran Nazaretyan, medical director.

“Throughout our drive, what we witnessed again and again among the
youth of Stepanakert was an extraordinary spirit of selflessness and
compassion,” Dr. Jordan recalled. “These wonderful young men and women
were eager to learn about our cause, asked intelligent questions, and
felt proud to register as potential stem cell donors, in anticipation
of helping save someone’s life. It was all truly awe-inspiring.”

On September 27, the first recruitment was held at the Mesrop Mashtots
University, with hundreds of students as well as faculty and elected
officials in attendance. In his opening remarks, Dr. Mihran Nazaretyan
thanked the university, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry
of Education and Science for their instrumental role in organizing
the event.

Dr. Nazaretyan went on to describe the mission of ABMDR, presented
an informative DVD, and took questions from audience members. During
the recruitment that followed, 440 students, as well as Education and
Science minister Slavik Asryan and Artsakh State University rector
Stephan Dadayan, registered as potential stem cell donors.

The high level of enthusiasm among students and faculty was evident
throughout the next day, when recruitment drives were held at the
Tamara Kamalyan Stepanakert State Medical College and the Stepanakert
Agricultural College. The events at these smaller campuses resulted in
300 additional ABMDR recruits, including Tamara Kamalyan Stepanakert
State Medical College dean Karineh Kocharyan.

Volunteer recruiters at all three events included the family of a local
patient who urgently needs a donor match for a life-saving stem cell
transplantation. Many relatives of the patient traveled from their
village to Stepanakert in order to give blood for testing at ABMDR’s
Stem Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan.

The recruitment campaign received full local television and press
coverage, with the media praising ABMDR for its outreach efforts and
encouraging grassroots support of its activities.

On September 28, Dr. Jordan and Dr. Avagyan, accompanied by Zoya
Lazaryan, Artsakh’s minister of Health, were received by President
Bako Sahakyan. The president congratulated the ABMDR leadership for
advancing a life-saving mission that benefits Armenians and other
ethnic groups across the world, and pledged his continued support of
the registry’s work in Artsakh.

The ABMDR team also met with Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, primate
of the Artsakh Diocese. A longtime advocate of the ABMDR cause,
Archbishop Martirosyan commended the registry for its accomplishments
and once again gave it his blessings.

About the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry: Established in 1999,
ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians worldwide survive
life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and matching
donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants. To date,
the registry has recruited over 22,000 donors in 16 countries across
four continents, identified 2,135 patients, and facilitated 13 bone
marrow transplants.

For more information, call (323) 663-3609 or visit abmdr.am.

NEW SCHOOL FOR SYRIAN-ARMENIAN STUDENTS IN YEREVAN

hetq
13:26, October 8, 2012

A school following the Syrian educational syllabus will open its
doors on October 9 in Yerevan.

Classes in Arabic will be held at the new Cilicia School to be housed
at Nar-Dos Public School 14.

The school has been launched at the initiative of the Cilicia
Benevolent Organization in order that children who have fled the
fighting in Syria not fall behind in their schooling.

Armenia’s Ministry of the Diaspora set up a working group back in
July to coordinate the school’s launch.

CATHOLICOS MEETS ARGENTINEAN-ARMENIAN WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION MEMBERS

news.am
October 08, 2012 | 13:05

ETCHMIADZIN. – The Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II on Sunday
received members from the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU)
Buenos Aires Chapter Women’s Guild, accompanied by AGBU honorary
member, Harutyun Sarafian.

Sarafian informed the Catholicos about the Guild’s activities and its
members’ support provided to the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese of
Argentina, Information System of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
informs.

In his turn, Karekin II stressed that the Argentinean-Armenian
community is one of the most organized, patriotic and exemplary
diaspora communities. He highly appreciated the activities and events
being carried out to invigorate the diocesan life, and urged the
guests to especially focus on the young Armenian generation and to
educate and discipline them with the spirit of patriotism and love
toward the Church.

PILGRIMAGE: ANNUAL COMMEMORATION GROWS AT NEW VARAGAVANK
By Gohar Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow.com

Features | 08.10.12 | 12:13

Since a few years ago New Varagavank or Monastery of Varag standing
proudly on a high hill, surrounded by forested mountains in Armenia’s
northern province of Tavush has become a Christian pilgrimage site
for hundreds of believers from all over the country – once a year
offering a special religious experience and a feast.

People of all ages – families, student groups, friends, local
and foreign visitors come to see this 12th century monastery (near
Varagavan village 182 km from the Armenian capital), still surrounded
by memorial tablets surviving from the Soviet years of atheism, saying
that the monastery is a monument under state protection. In 2004,
it was handed to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which now offers
liturgies there.

The holy site is an especially popular destination on the last Sunday
of September when the Church celebrates the Varaga Holy Cross holiday
and offers a festive liturgy.

This holiday is unique for the Armenian Apostolic Church only and is
dedicated to finding a relic – a piece of the “True Cross” brought to
Armenia by Rhipsime and Gayane, whose names are legend in Armenian
Apostolic Christianity. Rhipsime, sensing her demise, hid the relic
on the Varaga mountain; it was later revealed and signaled the place
to build the monastery.

The relic, which has been kept at Mother Sea of Holy Echmiadzin,
was brought to New Varagavank for the special liturgy and was used
to extend a blessing on the four corners of Tavush.

People from throughout Tavush and the whole country had come to
witness the ritual.

History teacher Zhanna Babayan from Tavush province’s Nerkin
Karmraghbyur border village, a regular visitor of the site, says
happily that each passing year more and more pilgrims celebrate the
holiday and come to take part in the festivities.

“Unfortunately, there are one or two sacred sites in our region,
and so we are left with little communication to spiritual food, and
this holiday becomes a good reason to go to church, listen to liturgy,
receive sacrament, and simply communicate with clergymen,” she says,
adding that for several consecutive years she has been bringing high
school students to the Varaga Holy Cross Day celebration.

Among this years participants were former MP Mikayel Vardanyan known
for his charitable activities aiding the region, as well as Heritage
party leader and likely presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian.

Nora Sargsyan, 26, a pilgrim from Yerevan, says a pilgrimage is part
of every pious Christian’s life and by doing so a small step is taken
leading closer to God.

“After each pilgrimage, I understand that God is love and that we are
the carriers of some of that endless love. I become aware that we have
to love people with the purest of love and be kinder to one another,”
says Sargsyan.

Three students from another border village of Chinari were in
Varagavank, to be baptized by Father Tatchap.

Hasmik Mirzoyan, leader of Yerevan’s Avan District Surb Astvatsatsin
church’s youth union, says that the children met in summer this year at
the religious camp initiated by Father Tatchat at the border village.

“Some 30 children were in the camp, and none of them was baptized,
whereas baptism is the first sacrament of becoming a Christian and
it is through baptism that a believer is redeemed of his/her sins, is
reborn with the Holy Spirit, becomes a Christian and the child of our
Lord,” says Mirzoyan, adding that they are planning to baptize all 30.

With the dusk the human flow to the church becomes scarcer, and folk
music echoes in the mountains as the evening feast begins in the area
next to the monastery. Joyous sounds of zurna (pipe) and dhol (drum)
invite to join the round-dance. Pilgrims from Yerevan shoulder to
shoulder with the border villagers enjoy the rhythmic folk dance of
kochari, then part exchanging good wishes and promises to come again
next year.

MORE FRUIT OF THE VINE: “TIERRAS DE ARMENIA” ENTERS WINE PRODUCTION

Business | 08.10.12 | 10:22

Armenia will soon have more vino added to its domestically-produced
selections.

Argentinean-Armenian Eduardo Eurnekian has opened a new winery –
“Tierras de Armenia” — that is expected to produce 300,000 liters
in its first year, aiming for a capacity of 1 million liters.

The wine will come from grapes of the Armavir region, where the
company has some 2,300 hectares of vineyards. The $3-million winery
is part of an estimated $40 million investment into viticulture.