Author: Kanayan Tamar

NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURAL UNIVERSITY GROWS, RECTOR SAYS

tert.am
18.07.12

The number of students in the Armenian State Architectural University
has grown by 25 per cent as compared with 2010, rector of the
University Hovhannes Tokmajyan said at the meeting with reporters
on Wednesday.

He explained it with the university’s accreditation in France, where
its diploma is being recognized.

“Architecture is not a demanded profession today,” he said, adding
that it is rather difficult to enter and study in the university and
after graduation the young people receive low salary while still many
of them love this profession and enter the university.

He said the students of the university are quite active, study well
with the students’ council implementing its role very well.

Tokmajyan stressed the necessity of raising the role of an engineer
here, as Armenia is a country that always needs constructors,
engineers.
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From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Number of students in Armenian Architectural University grows, rector says

Number of students in Armenian Architectural University grows, rector says

tert.am
11:53 ? 18.07.12

The number of students in the Armenian State Architectural University
has grown by 25 per cent as compared with 2010, rector of the
University Hovhannes Tokmajyan said at the meeting with reporters on
Wednesday.

He explained it with the university?s accreditation in France, where
its diploma is being recognized.

?Architecture is not a demanded profession today,? he said, adding
that it is rather difficult to enter and study in the university and
after graduation the young people receive low salary while still many
of them love this profession and enter the university.

He said the students of the university are quite active, study well
with the students? council implementing its role very well.

Tokmajyan stressed the necessity of raising the role of an engineer
here, as Armenia is a country that always needs constructors,
engineers.

SEVERAL GEORGIAN ARMENIANS DIED BECAUSE OF MINIBUS ACCIDENT IN GEORGIA

ARMENPRESS
18 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS: Three Georgian Armenians are among the
list of victims of the car accident on the central highway from Tbilisi
to Kutakhi. Armenpress was informed from Press Secretary of Foreign
affairs ministry of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Balayan that among
the victims are three Georgian citizens – Naira Tumasyan born in 1982,
Zinavor Fiodorov born in 1985 and Zima Fiodorov born in 2008.

About wounded citizens of the republic of Armenia or people of Armenian
origin there is not official information yet. According to non-official
information among the wounded people there are also Armenians.

The minibus which was leaving for Batumi from Akhalkalak on July 17
faced a “Skoda” car. It is known that “Skoda” also faced “BMW” then
the minibus in result of which the minibus was burned. According to
preliminary data seven people died because of the accident.

PASADENA ARMENIAN IDENTITY FESITVAL TO CELEBRATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST PRINTED ARMENIAN BOOK

ARMENPRESS
17 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS: This year’s fifth annual Armenian
Identity Festival Sunday at Victory Park is celebrating the 500th
anniversary of the first printed Armenian book, reports Armenpress
citing Pasadena Star News.

The free festival, presented by the Armenian Community Coalition of
Pasadena and the Armenian Identity Harvest, is a colorful display
and celebration of Armenian culture, including its literature,
architecture, dance, music and cuisine.

Last year’s event attracted as many as 3,000 attendees from
around the region, said Khatchik ‘Chris’ Chahinian, chairman of
the Armenian Community Coalition of Pasadena. ‘Five years ago, we
started celebrating Armenian culture, Armenian heritage’ in Pasadena,
Chahinian said. ‘We’re keeping the tradition to make this event a
community event. Diversity is good for our community.’

The Armenian prayer book ‘Ourpatakirk,’ or the ‘Book of Friday,’ became
the first Armenian book when it was published by Hagop Meghabard in
1512 in Venice, Italy, said Armenian-American author John Ahmaranian
of Pasadena. Several years before Gutenberg’s death in 1468, Meghabard
invented the Armenian type mold, “which made printing from movable
metallic type practical for the first time,’ Ahmaranian said.

‘After many massacres, after many upheavals in our history, we still
have 40,000 handwritten Armenian manuscripts were transformed into
books at the beginning of the 16th century until now,’ Ahmaranian said

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SERZH SARGSYAN GUARANTEES THIS SITUATION
Siranuysh Papyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:45:50 – 18/07/2012

Vahan, recently a group of intellectuals and NGOs addressed Serzh
Sargsyan, expressing their indignation about the quality of TV content,
aggressive criminal and anti-social TV shows. In your opinion, should
this issue be addressed to Serzh Sargsyan and will they be able to
change television?

I am deeply convinced that the first person of the republic has
encouraged and guaranteed the situation on the TV market or rather
the TV bazaar. When I was asked to sign that letter, I refused because
I think it is a misunderstanding to address the issue to someone who
guarantees its persistence. The Armenian television is lack of content,
proselytism of immorality, violence, ignorance. It is a leverage that
has been used for 20 years and has helped achieve the goal. The past
elections showed that the population is misled, ignorant, devoid
of any idea of morality and cannot have any expectations. Besides,
the wish to change and correct something must wake up in part of
the society but I repeat it is misunderstanding and infantilism to
turn to the head of state to create a new system, a new structure,
to believe that he will get to clean up this sector.

But now see what danger it will bring. When part of the intelligentsia
comes up with such a proposal to the head of state, an institution
may be set up to supervise this sector under the pressure of the
intellectuals will certainly work for the government. In other words,
using spontaneous public actions they will set up another body that
will limit freedom of speech.

Nevertheless, a lot of people say there is considerable change of the
situation of freedom of speech on television, it has become more free.
Can you notice this?

It is certainly noticed but these are manipulations intended to relieve
tension. There is a certain sifter through which the entire information
of the public channels passes first before it is made available to
public. But there is a kind of information which has no chance to pass
through this sift and appear on TV. These effects are superficial,
they are expressions of public fury but as to me, they cannot have me.

So, television is hopeless? Many people think it is possible to
change everything in 5 minutes if professionals and not businessmen
run TV companies.

Imagine that I order the content, and my goal is to distort the system
of values, misled people, destroying understanding of morality, of
what is acceptable, what is not, blur standards, categories. And when
my main leverage is television and radio, how can I let it go? The
proposal to improve the quality is expectations hanging in the air.
Who will bring quality, where will professionals emerge, which
government agency should bring them? There cannot be professionals
in this system because the system works so that professionalism is
not presupposed.

The people who signed that letter are usually silent about one issue
or another. This time they spoke up.

I told the authors of this initiative that they are opening a door
which may act as manipulation today but during the elections it will
work to a different end.

In terms of motivation the cause and effect relation is clear. But
we must accept that this is politics, this means intruding in one
of the key political leverages, this is not a game of one step,
one must understand the consequences, especially that everything,
starting from the issue of Mashtots Park finishing with television
depends on the president. In other words, the impression on the eve
of the elections is that the only person who can solve problems in
our state is the head of state. This is evident. By the way, in the
period of the past elections Serzh Sargsyan holds the monopoly of
the pre-election game. Even the party structure is such that nobody
except the president can solve problems.

Do you notice change in the society?

I see a small part of the society is interested in public values and
interests, fights for these values. To tell you the truth, I fully rely
on them because only people with such qualities are able to wake the
society, restore the system of values and create a dignified future.

VERY IMPORTANT INITIATIVE
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:03:57 – 18/07/2012

The European Court of Human Rights decided that the Republic of Armenia
must pay 2500 euros to advocate Vahe Grigoryan. The prosecution lasting
since 2005 infringes his right to fair trial because 7 years is not a
reasonable period for proceedings, and the state must pay 2500 euros
to the advocate for infringing his right.

Vahe Grigoryan told Radio Liberty that he will make sure that the
fine is compensated by those officials whose decisions infringed his
rights, imposing a 2500 euro fine on Armenia.

This is a very important initiative.

The ECtHR makes a number of decisions on applications of the citizens
of Armenia, and Armenia has to pay fines of thousands of euros for
wrong court rulings or other decisions. Soon the amount of these fines
will reach hundreds of thousands because Armenia continues to violate
human rights and the citizens, not getting protection in their own
country~Rs courts, finally apply to the ECtHR.

As a result, due to a decision by a judge, policeman, detective,
prosecutor or other official the citizen of the Republic of Armenia
of Armenia, the taxpayers will have to pay because the pocket of the
state is the pocket of the taxpayer, the pocket of the underprivileged,
poor, homeless families, hungry and sick children.

And there are so much poverty that even an assistance of 1000 euros
could be of great importance to a family or a child. Instead of
paying fines for a wrong decision by a government official the life
of a child, their children could be saved.

Consequently, Vahe Grigoryan~Rs initiative, if pursued, will help
compensate the damage to the state budget. It will be a precedent
which will make a judge, prosecutor, any other official to check the
legal grounds before making a decision not to have to pay from his
or her pocket later.

If there are supporters of real reforms in the government of Armenia,
they should support Veha Grigoryan~Rs initiative. Vahe Grigoryan~Rs
initiative may act as an indicator for the public administration
sector, at the same time being a functional and viable mechanism for
improving the public administration system.

NOUVELLES EN BREF…
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
jeudi 19 juillet 2012

La prochaine reunion des ministres des Affaires etrangères d’Armenie
et d’Azerbaïdjan aura lieu dans la dernière semaine de Septembre.

L’Azerbaïdjan fait de serieux efforts pour resserrer les liens avec
l’Iran a declare le vice-ministre des Affaires etrangères Khalaf
Khalafov.

Presidentielle du HK : 80 observateurs internationaux provenant
des Etats-Unis, de Russie, Canada, France, Allemagne, Autriche,
Republique tchèque, Irlande, Pologne, Chypre, Hongrie, Bulgarie,
Israël, Argentine, Uruguay et d’autres pays, ainsi qu’une delegation
d’Armenie, contrôleront le bon fonctionnement des operations.

Le ministère des Affaires etrangères Turc a publie le 18 juillet une
communication officielle qui ne reconnaît pas les prochaines elections
presidentielles du 19 juillet au Haut-Karabakh.

l’Armenie adopte un système de paiement electronique : l’iDram. Les
utilisateurs pourront payer les factures de services publics, effectuer
des virements, payer des amendes, payer des impôts et s’en servir
dans le commerce electronique.

Today Zaman du 18 juillet : “En fin de compte, l’Armenie et les
Armeniens ne sont pas responsables de la souffrance turque a Gallipoli,
dans les Balkans et les pertes ottomanes pendant la Première Guerre
mondiale. Mais il est impossible de nier la responsabilite turque
pour la tragedie en 1915.”

L’ONU ne peut soutenir une ” revolution ” (Lavrov)
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
jeudi 19 juillet 2012

MOSCOU, 18 juil 2012 – La Russie ne laissera pas adopter au Conseil
de securite une resolution qui signifierait le soutien de l’ONU a
une “revolution” en Syrie, a declare mercredi le ministre russe des
Affaires etrangères Sergueï Lavrov, soulignant que l’opposition avait
annonce des combats “decisifs”.

“En fait de calmer l’opposition, certains de nos partenaires
l’encouragent (…). Maintenant est lance ‘Volcan de Damas’,
l’operation ‘bataille pour la capitale’, ‘combat decisif'”, a declare
M. Lavrov.

“Dans ce contexte l’adoption de la resolution (occidentale, NDLR)
serait un soutien direct a un mouvement revolutionnaire. S’il est
question d’une revolution, l’ONU n’a aucun rapport avec ca”, a declare
M. Lavrov aux journalistes en marge d’une rencontre au Kremlin entre
le president russe Vladimir Poutine et le Premier ministre turc Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.

“Le chapitre VII et les sanctions, nous ne pouvons les accepter”, a
ajoute M. Lavrov, evoquant les dispositions de la Charte de l’ONU sur
lesquelles les Occidentaux fondent la resolution presentee mercredi
au Conseil de securite, et qui prevoient la menace de sanctions,
voire le recours a la force.

Le Premier ministre turc etait a Moscou mercredi pour des entretiens
devant porter essentiellement sur la crise syrienne, question sur
laquelle la Turquie membre de l’Otan et voisine de la Syrie – et la
Russie, allie traditionnel du regime de Damas, sont en première ligne.

Les discussions entre MM. Poutine et Erdogan ont commence au Kremlin
au moment où venait d’etre commis a Damas un attentat suicide contre
le siège de la Securite nationale, qui a coûte la vie au ministre de la
Defense et a un vice-ministre, beau-frère du president Bachar al-Assad.

LES GUILLEMETS DE LAURENT FABIUS
Jean Eckian

Le 17 juillet, sur LCP, Laurent Fabius, Ministre des Affaires
etrangères, invite a s’exprimer et repondre aux questions de la
Commission des Affaires etrangères de l’Assemblee, a precise…

laborieusement sa pensee et celle du gouvernement sur une question du
depute Axel Poniatowski (UMP) concernant l’eventuel futur examen d’un
nouveau projet de loi reprimant la negation du genocide des armeniens
; une promesse reaffirmee par le President de la Republique. Dans
sa reponse, le deuxième homme du gouvernement a alors agite ses
index en prononcant les termes “genocide armenien”, tel qu’on le
fait habituellement dans une conversation courante pour indiquer sur
un mot precis qu’on y met des guillemets. Malheureusement, l’emploi
des guillemets sur les termes releves, ne peuvent encore une fois,
qu’emouvoir la communaute armenienne. Et bis repetita…

Le ministre utilise cette gestuelle a plusieurs reprises au cours de
son intervention, mais s’agissant d’une question hautement sensible,
au poste qu’occupe Laurent Fabius, on ne peut s’empecher de penser
que ce dernier l’a fait sciemment, meme si son intervention a ce
sujet se veut “politiquement correcte.”

Rappelons pour ceux qui en doutaient encore… que le genocide armenien
a ete reconnu par la France le 29 janvier 2001.

ARMENIA CELEBRATES VARDAVAR FESTIVAL WITH A HUGE WATER FIGHT

ITN
July 16, 2012 Monday

Resident’s in Armenia celebrate vardavar by throwing water over
each other.

Residents in Yerevan celebrated Armenia’s Vardavar festival by throwing
water over each other and bathing in a central fountain.

The festival, which dates back centuries, used to be associated with
the pagan goddess of water, love and fertility but has now become an
event for people to have fun and make new friends.

The celebration takes place about 14 weeks after the Gregorian Orthodox
Easter and is also marked in Armenian churches.

Although some residents seemed a little unhappy about being soaked
with water, most enjoyed the event, with one saying: “This is a very
good festival. People splash each other and have a lot of fun.”

KHOSROV FOREST IN DANGER: SHOULD “MATAGH” MEALS AND CAMPFIRES BE BANNED?
Kristine Aghalaryan

hetq
18:10, July 18, 2012

Varantsov Barseghyan, who runs the Khosrov Forest National Reserve,
told Hetq that the repair of an 8 kilometer vehicular road is vital
to allow for fire fighting equipment to get into the forest.

It seems that many local residents use the sprawling 24,000 hectare
reserve in Ararat Marz as a convenient spot to prepare matagh; a
pagan/Christian ritual of animal sacrifice. The slaughtered animal
is then prepared and eaten.

Barseghyan told Hetq that large sections of the reserve have already
been destroyed by fires left by careless picnickers and that the
last such fire was caused by an instructor from Yerevan’s College
of Engineering.

“He killed the rooster and left the fire smouldering when he left. The
damage was extensive,” Barseghyan said.

But the road has been a cause of concern for Armenian environmentalists
who argue it will just add to the numbers visiting the reserve and
causing damage.

Today, a number of nvirp0nmental NGO reps and the First Deputy
Environmental Minister visited the site for a first-hand look.

The activists argue that campfires should be banned in the reserve
altogether.

An OSCE specialist in wild fire prevention, who has been invited to
Armenia to study the occurrence of fires in Khosrov, noted that the
reserve is really not prone to large-scale wild fires and that the
last incident was in the 1960s.

When I asked Director Barseghyan if this was the case then why was
there a need for the road he simply answered it was a government
initiative.

400,000 AMD has been spent to repair the road.

Narineh Hovsepyan from the Elitar tourist agency was also in the
reserve guiding a group of Germans to Havouts Tar, an 11-13th century
walled monastic complex in the Azat River valley.

She said that European tourists come to the reserve to enjoy the
virgin environment.

“These tourists say that instead of building a road, the government
should be spending the money to clean up the garbage and to stop
people from coming into the reserve to slaughter their animals for
a family barbecue.”

Hovsepyan added that unlike many Armenians, these people would rather
walk through nature softly then trample through it in cars.

But people have been coming to Havouts Tar for centuries to make
sacrifices in the name of their faith. It would be almost impossible
to deprive them of this tradition.

Many of the activists requested that Barseghyan produce the permit
documents for the roadwork.

He evaded their request.