PHILATELIE ARMNIENNE
125e anniversaire du poète Missak Medzarentz
La Poste arménienne a fêté le 125e anniversaire de la naissance du
poète arménien Missak Medzarentz (Misak Metsarents, 1886-1908) par une
émission, le 3 mai. Tirée à 40 000 exemplaires, le timbre d’une valeur
de 280 drams représente le buste de Missak Medzarentz né à Akn et mort
à 22 ans, victime de la tuberculose.
Krikor Amirzayan
dimanche 3 juin 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 640
May 9, 2012
ARMENIAN ELECTION COVERAGE IMPROVES
Internet sources add balance to traditional broadcasters.
By Anna Barseghyan
Media experts in Armenia say the broadcast media have covered the
parliamentary election campaign more fairly than in previous years,
while opposition parties have used the internet to get around the
ruling parties’ dominance of the television and radio airwaves.
The Yerevan Press Club and the National Commission for Television and
Radio, NCTR, have been monitoring broadcast output in Armenia to see
how far the various outlets have abided by their obligation to give
fair access to all parties.
`Our media have managed to provide conditions for the candidates and
political forces taking part in the election. I don’t think they have
lacked airtime to get their ideas across to the public,’ Grigor
Amalyan, head of the NCTR, said. `Proof of this is that the free
airtime [allotted to candidates] hasn’t been fully taken up.’
After assessing the amount of paid and free political advertising used
by the candidates and parties, as well as the amount of airtime they
got during news programming, the NCTR found that channels with links
to particular parties tended to favour them over others.
That is where the internet comes in, experts say. When Armenia last
held a national election, for the presidency in 2008, under eight per
cent of people had internet access. Today the figure is 50 per cent.
`The influence of the internet has risen qualitatively and
quantitatively , so that now the electronic media play a more
significant role than the press ,’ Samvel Martirosyan, a lecturer at
the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, said. `Over the year, a lot of new
sources of news have appeared, offering many-sided coverage of the
election. The down side is that most of these resources are used as
campaigning instruments for specific parties.’
Martirosyan said the video sharing site Youtube and the Facebook
social network had become the most influential resources.
`Youtube has been used as the main tool for the campaign, and Facebook
as the main arena for it, since Facebook users are the most
politically active,’ he said. `What’s most important is that all
political forces are using social media. Youth movements have
circulated campaign literature and taken part in discussions. Famous
political figures have turned up as users to add a more human face to
their political force.’
Martirosyan said the opposition Heritage Party had made the most
successful use of the internet, though its popularity was still
lagging behind the Armenian National Congress, another opposition
party, and also behind Prosperous Armenia and the Republican Party,
both of which are in the current ruling coalition.
The Republicans and Prosperous Armenia benefited from generous amounts
of TV airtime. In the first week of official campaigning, the Armenia
and Armnews TV stations gave over a disproportionately large amount of
space to the former.
The Yerevan Press Club’s monitoring showed that the h2 channel gave
the fairest access to all political parties, while apart from Kentron
and Yerkir – which favoured political factions associated with them-
the rest gave most coverage to the Republican Party. Even on h2, the
three ruling coalition members – the Republican Party, Prosperous
Armenia and Rule of Law – got the most airtime.
Kentron TV, which is owned by Gagik Tsarukyan, head of Prosperous
Armenia and one of Armenia’s richest men, devoted most of its
campaign-related airtime to that party.
Arthur Azaryan, head of news programming at Kentron, said the only
reason Prosperous Armenia got more coverage was that it did more
campaigning than other parties.
`We adopted an equal approach to everyone and actively covered the
activities of all parties. Prosperous Armenia… had a little more
airtime because the party visited several towns at once,’ he said.
Yerkir Media, which has links to the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party,
also favoured its own side. Gegham Manukyan, head of news at Yerkir,
denied any bias, and said the imbalance happened because other
political groups refused to take part in programmes on his channel.
`Nine parties were sent official invitations in writing, but only two
accepted them,’ he said, adding that the station had worked out how
much time each would get if they had taken up the offer.
Media monitoring is likely to continue right through the election. A
number of websites have been created – ,
and – which invite members of the public to report any
electoral violations they spot.
Separately, was created by the Public Journalism Club.
It has 17 citizen journalists who have been trained to report on the
polls.
Anna Barseghyan is a journalist with , a project of
Internews Armenia.
Half of Armenian Sarahart village male residents left to Russia
news.am
June 02, 2012 | 22:12
Half of the Armenian Lori region’s Sarahart village male residents
leave for work to Russia every year. The village has 1,485 residents
and currently 370 men are abroad. The village head Vasil Piloyan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am that year by year less people are engaged in
farming.
`Ranching is also in a bad condition. When the men leave the village,
only the elderly men and children remain, and for them ranching is
difficult,’ he said.
According to the village head, the Sarahart residents are working
people, but the job issue is rather serious in the village and because
of that every year `father and son’ leave for work to Russia.
Hermineh Naghdalyan’s Interest Rate
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 16:28:16 – 02/06/2012
8 apartments of the block at 14/3 Gevorg Chavush Street, Yerevan, are still
handled by the vice speaker Hermineh Naghdalyan, and her husband Davit
Beglaryan, ex-head of the tax service of Artashat. The management of
Norashen 2007 residential building had received advance payments from their
beneficiaries. However, the management faced shortage of money and pledged
the apartments to different persons to borrow money from them to finish
construction.
They borrowed money from Hermineh Naghdalyan and his husband against14
apartments pledged as collateral. 6 owners have been able to get back their
apartments, 8 are still handled by the spouses. The managers of Norashen
2007, Lusabek Samvelyan and Armen Tadevosyan who are arrested now claim
that they borrowed 300,000 dollars from them and pledged 14 apartments as
collateral, whereas the spouses claim that they bought the apartments
paying 260 dollars per sq m.
The beneficiaries say the company sold the apartments for 500 dollars per
sq m so why should they have agreed to sell them to Naghdalyan for 260
dollars. The arrested managers of the company also state the same thing. In
the beginning the prosecutor’s defined the case as usury but a week later
the charges were dismissed. Mkhitar Hambardzumyan, an affected beneficiary,
told the reporter of Lragir.am. His apartment now belongs to Naghdalyan and
her husband.
The deceived beneficiaries filed a suit, demanding back their apartments.
Mkhitar Hambardzumyan says Naghdalyan and her husband demanded extra money
from them to return their apartments. From him they demanded 5000 dollars.
He has met with Hermineh Naghdalyan’s husband twice, he told him he would
agree to buy the apartment from Mkhitar for 15,000 dollars or could sell
him the apartment for 5000 dollars. He declined this offer because he had
paid 23,000 dollars in advance to buy an apartment and now he would lose
8000 dollars.
Earlier the deceived citizens had informed that other officials are
involved in this fraud, namely Razmik Avagyan, the head of legal department
of the SRC. The citizens say before the arrest of the management of
Norashen 2007 the officials who had lent money with interest did not hide
that they lent money for interest. After their arrested they announced that
they had bought those apartments. 25 citizens are still fighting to get
back their apartments.
Young Armenian winemakers got familiarized with Austrian traditions of
wine making
news.am
June 02, 2012 | 16:53
VIENNA. – 12 Armenian young winemakers visited Austrian wine making
regions from May 28 to June 1 on the initiative of Vienna city hall.
The project was realized by the Vienna Consortium for Development
Initiatives (VCDI), Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development
National Center of Armenia (SME-DNC), Austrian PAN Plan consulting
company and Armenia Embassy in Austria.
At the end of the visit, the participants were received by the
Armenian Ambassador to Austria Arman Kirakosyan, the Austrian Foreign
Ministry representative Heidemaria Gürer , as well as Austrian
Ambassador to Armenia and Uzbekistan Alois Kraut (residence in
Vienna).
Armenian analyst: Clinton may address Millennium Challenges Program in Yerevan
tert.am
14:05 – 02.06.12
In the course of her upcoming visit to Yerevan, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton may address, among other things, the Millennium
Challenges Program, according to Sergey Shakaryants, a political
analyst.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the expert said that Clinton might
consider possibilities of resuming the program.
Asked whether the secretary would speak of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, he answered: `She may speak, but the United States has very
well realized that it cannot do anything in this region without
Russia.’
Clinton’s regional tour, according to the expert, is aimed at
introducing the United States’ political objectives in different
states ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Clinton will travel to seven countries between May 31 and June 7. She
is scheduled to visit Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Turkey. The secretary will be in Yerevan on June 4.
Lilit Celebrates `Children’s Day’ At Her New Home in Sipanik (Video)
Grisha Balasanyan
23:41, June 1, 2012
Lilit the young Armenian girl suffering from cystic fibrosis who
attracted worldwide attention due to the coverage of Hetq, will be
celebrating Children’s Day in her new home.
Contributions from caring individuals near and far made this new house
a reality for Lilit and her family in the village of Sipanik. They had
been living in a cold and damp trailer until Hetq readers came to the
family’s rescue.
Due to her illness, 11 year-old Lilit couldn’t participate with the
other kids in the fun and games celebrating Children’s Day.
Nevertheless, she was in good spirits.
Lilit in her room Today Lilit has also played with baloons
Now she enjoys her own room and told us that she picked out the color
of her curtains and the light fixture.
Most importantly, she says that when she now gets tired she can retire
to her own room for some much needed rest. Lilit is studying for her
final exams and wants to get good grades.
The young girl has found a new hobby – drying and arranging the roses
in the garden. She also pitches in with the care of the twenty or so
chickens the family now raises. Lilit has named her favorite chick
`Masha’.
Lilit proudly shows off her dried roses Lilit, her favorite chick
`Masha’ and her brother Feliks
Narineh, Lilit’s aunt, has moved into the new house with her kids as
well. Narineh and her sister, Lilit’s mom, help each other with
raising the extended family.
They’ve already planted potatoes and beans in the garden outside the
house and plan to add tomatoes and eggplant seedlings. The sisters
confide that they don’t have green thumbs, living as they did in
Yerevan, but are getting the hang of it slowly.
After spending a few hours with the family, we said our goodbyes.
Lilit told us that she misses her friends in Yerevan who have visited
the family since Hetq first wrote about them last year.
Lilit hopes that they will visit Sipanik soon, so that her family can
invite them to their new home.
PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES THE CHAIRPERSON OF
HAY TAD (ARMENIAN CAUSE) AUSTRALIA COMMITTEE
1 June 2012 – Catholicos Aram I received this morning in his office Mr.
Krikor Soghomonian, Chairperson of the Hay Tad Committee in Australia, Mr.
Hagop Pakradouni, the Representative of the Armenian Parliamentarians in
Lebanon, and other dignitaries from Australia and Lebanon.
After Mr. Soghomonian reported on their plans and activities in pursuing the
Armenian Cause in Australia, His Holiness thanked the Committee and said
that he greatly appreciated the concerted effort of all committees demanding
justice from Turkey. He then informed the delegation of the recent
initiatives of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
##
ANCA: TEN STEPS TOWARD A SUCCESSFUL VISIT BY SECRETARY CLINTON TO THE CAUCASUS
02.06.2012 12:08
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has suggested
the following ten steps that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
should undertake during her visit to the Caucasus region to advance
U.S. interests, promote American values, and strengthen the Obama
Administration’s diplomatic standing in a pivotal region of strategic
importance.
Secretary Clinton is set to travel to the Caucasus from June 4th
to 7th to discuss issues of regional security, democracy, economic
development and counter-terrorism. She will visit Armenia on June 4th,
Georgia on June 5th, and Azerbaijan on June 6th, prior to traveling
to Turkey for meetings on June 7th. For more details about Secretary
Clinton’s travel schedule in the Caucasus, visit:
Ten steps toward a successful visit by Secretary Clinton to the
Caucasus:
1) A public announcement by Secretary Clinton that President Obama,
after more than three years in office, will finally honor his
promises to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to support the proper
recognition of this crime by the U.S. Congress.
2) An official visit to the Armenian Genocide memorial, during
which she honors her own pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide,
renounces her assertion that the Armenian Genocide is a matter for
“historical debate,” and asserts that the Administration will no longer
use the failed Turkey-Armenia Protocols as an excuse for complicity
in Ankara’s genocide denial.
3) A clear statement distancing the U.S. from a recent NATO
declaration prioritizing the principle of territorial integrity over
self-determination in settling the status of Nagorno Karabakh, and
a commitment to strike, from a recently released State Department
report, the false assertion that Nagorno Karabakh is a part of
Azerbaijan, a Baku-backed claim that is directly at odds with
President Obama’s pledge to work towards a durable settlement “based
upon America’s founding commitment to the principles of democracy
and self determination.”
4) A public retreat from the Administration’s proposed 19% cut in
economic and democracy-building aid to Armenia, and a pledge to
both work with Congressional appropriators to honor the President’s
promise to “maintain” aid levels to Armenia, and also to allocate
all unexpended aid that Congress has intended for Nagorno Karabakh.
5) A joint declaration with the Armenian government, in the spirit
of President Obama’s promise to foster stronger U.S.-Armenia economic
relations, announcing talks to implement bilateral trade and investment
initiatives, including a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement,
a Double Tax Treaty, and a Free Trade Agreement.
6) A strong stand, during her visit to Azerbaijan, against the Aliyev
regime’s escalating pattern of threats and renewed aggression against
Nagorno Karabakh, and a public announcement that the White House
will not waive Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act as long as
Baku fails to commit to a peaceful resolution of its conflict with
Nagorno Karabakh.
7) A withdrawal of the Administration’s support, in light of Baku’s
ongoing threats and acts of aggression, for the sale or transfer
of any and all arms or dual-use items to Azerbaijan, including the
controversial pending sale of advanced helicopter-based sensing
equipment.
8) A visit to investigate the medieval Armenian cemetery in Djulfa,
Nakhichevan, the site of thousands of intricate Armenian stone crosses
(khatchkars) systematically destroyed by the Azerbaijani military in
December of 2005, as documented on video-tape.
9) A public expression of U.S. support, during her trip to Georgia,
for targeted U.S. economic, development, and infrastructure assistance
programs and public-private partnerships for the Armenian-populated
Javakhk region of Georgia.
10) A trip to Stepanakert to demonstrate support for the OSCE Minsk
Group peace process, to press for the reinstatement of the Republic
of Nagorno Karabakh as a full participant in all negotiations, and to
underscore America’s longstanding and proud tradition of supporting
the right of all peoples to democratic self-determination.
CRIMINAL CASE OPENED ON DEATH OF SOLDIER IN KARABAKH
news.am
June 02, 2012 | 12:29
YEREVAN. – A criminal case, on charges of causing suicide, is
launched over the death of conscript Saro Samvelyan, who had received
a fatal gunshot wound-and under yet undetermined circumstances-at the
military position of a Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Defense Army
unit, Armenian MOD Investigation Department Public Relations Senior
Officer Meri Sargsyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
She informed that an investigation is in progress, and added that
Samvelyan was from Gyumri city and he was enlisted in the Army in
Fall 2011.
To note, Saro Samvelyan, 19, received the fatal gunshot wound on Friday
at around 8:20am, and an investigation is launched into the incident,
NKR Defense Army Media and information Department had informed.