Author: Karagyozian Lena

PLANTING NEW ROOTS:ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN T.F. WANTS TO CREATE A MEMORIAL IN CITY PARK TO COMMEMORATE WHY ITS MEMBERS LIVE HERE
by Jared S. Hopkins

Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
August 27, 2009 Thursday

Aug. 27–Planting a tree isn’t always about waiting for something
to grow.

Sometimes it’s about celebrating a change that’s already blossomed.

The Armenian American community in Twin Falls wants to donate a tree
and plaque to City Park to commemorate why its members live here
and to recognize their role it the city’s makeup. Their effort is to
memorialize the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and to recognize that event
— and those in the late ’80s — as a major reason why its community
moved to Idaho. Genocide is defined as the systematic killing of a
national or ethnic group.

"Because of those atrocities, because of those conflicts that
happened miles away, we are here, and we are part of this community,"
said Armenian community spokeswoman Liyah Babayan. "We nurture this
community, and this community nurtures us, and part of us being here
is we’d like to play a role in designing this community."

The Twin Falls Parks and Recreation Commission voted 9-0 on Aug. 11
not to approve the request, and the Twin Falls City Council discussed
the issue for about30 minutes Monday. Councilmen were supportive
of the Armenian community’s efforts, and there was a motion for
approval. Ultimately the council voted 6-1 to table the issue and
return it to the parks commission for reconsideration, and for Babayan
to meet with commission members.

Babayan, who estimated there are hundreds of Armenians or their
descendants in Twin Falls, said the community simply wants to recognize
what brought them to Idaho. There are similar memorials across the
country, including in Boise.

"If the vote occurred out of ignorance or anything like that, that’s
unacceptable for us in our community," Babayan said. "So we’re willing
to do whatever it takes to go forward."

Parks and Recreation Director Dennis Bowyer told the council the
commission felt the request tied to Armenian history, but not Twin
Falls’.

Brent Jussel, who sits on the commission and was at Monday’s council
meeting for an unrelated matter, said he couldn’t recall anyone at
the commission who didn’t like the idea of the memorial. Rather,
he said the application didn’t meet the requirement of city code so
it recommended staff take the opportunity to advise the applicant to
resubmit the application.

It was also the commission’s first attempt to consider a donation
after the city tweaked its donation policy in July. For example,
donations must have "long-standing ties" to the community. "If
anybody’s suggesting there was any animosity toward the applicant I
absolutely didn’t get the sense of that at all (from the commission),"
said Jussel, who’s served on the commission for about 12 years.

But Babayan said in an interview part of the idea is to educate other
people. But she questioned the wording of the revised city code,
including what "long-standing" is and what size a "group" is.

"Our community may be small in comparison to another community but
we are still here and significant and a part of this community,"
Babayan, 26, told the council. "I have a problem with those words,
or they just need to be better defined."

Babayan, who came to Idaho in 1992, said the majority of the Armenian
community is in Twin Falls and the U.S. because of the 1915 incident
and other events in the 1980s. She asked how future events, whether
they are military efforts or national tragedy, would be allowed to
be recognized — a wonder council members shared.

"How could we ever allow any memorial?" said Councilman Greg
Lanting. "World War II didn’t happen in Twin Falls."

SUGAR PRICE RISE IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
26.08.2009 15:59

RA Commission of Economic Competition Defense State discussed the
significant rise in sugar prices in Yerevan.

The Commission concluded that "due to bad weather conditions poor
crop in India is recorded (India is the major supplier of raw stuff
for sugar production) and this led to sugar price increase in the
world market."

Due to exchange rate rise in Armenia, the prices went up for AMD
10-20 in retail. Commission considers there are no violations of
competition law in the market.

"In any case market is strictly controlled and the necessary measures
would be taken if needed," the statement of the commission reads.

It should be mentioned that sugar is supplied by MP Samvel Alexanyan,
thus the Commission is anticipated to register no violation, being
helpless in dealing with ‘strong’ personalities.

20 TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARTSAKH DIOCESE’ REOPENING WILL BE CELEBRATED WITH GREAT MAGNIFICENCE

NKR Government Information and Public Relations Department
August 19, 2009

Yesterday, a sitting of the state commission on organization of
celebration of Armenian Apostolic Church’s Artsakh Diocese’ Reopening
20 th anniversary took place. At the sitting the list, the schedule
and the place of festive arrangements’ conduction were justified.

The main arrangements, which coincide with the Holiday of Varaga
Saint Cross, will take place on September 27 and 28. 20 years ago,
on that festive day the reopening of Artsakh Dioces was heralded by
consecration of Gandzasar.

The Leader of Artsakh Dioces informed that invitations for
participation in the celebrations were received by His Holiness
Catholicos of All Armenians, the RA state officials, and prominent
benefactors.

On September 27, at 11 o’clock in Gandzasar holy mass will be served.

The next day in the morning, His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II will meet with the teaching staff and students of Artsakh
University. Presentation of books like "Artsakhi Diocese" and
"Gandzasar" will take place in the university hall. The same day,
in the evening, a solemn meeting with speeches and presentation of
the activity during 20 years by Spiritual Leader of Artsakh Diocese
will take place in Stepanakert Culture and Youth Palace , a film
telling about foundation of the diocese will be demonstrated. It
will be followed by spiritual concert. On those days exhibitions of
pictures and books published by the diocese will be organized in the
halls of the Culture and Youth Place.

The commission adopted the Culture and Youth Affairs Minister’s
proposal within the framework of the arrangements to organize meetings
of priesthood with pupils.

The state commission considered it worthwhile on September 27 to
broadcast the holy mass on Artsakh Public TV. Corresponding proposal
will be made to Armenian television channels too. Representatives of
foreign mass media means will be invited to elucidate the celebration.

NO ARMENIAN BANK WENT BANKRUPT DESPITE THE CRISIS

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.08.2009 14:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ To increase trust in national currency, Armenian
society is required to trust the Government as well as central and
commercial banks, Union of Armenian Banks Chairman Emil Soghomonyan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "If our population has no trust in
Armenian Dram, natural persons will very likely make their investments
in foreign currency," he noted.

As we know, the national currency devaluation recorded in March
greatly affected investment policy. Thus, following March 3, CBA
resumed floating currency rate policy, which caused investors to lose
trust in Armenian Dram.

Touching upon international experience in crisis management,
Soghomonyan noted that many banks had collapsed as a result of global
recession, while "No Armenian bank went bankrupt, despite suffering
significant losses".

The expert does not predict real changes in investment policy and sees
no prospect for national currency devaluation. So he recommends that
"population keep its savings in Drams as rates for national currency
are higher."

On March 3, 2009, RA Central Bank resumed floating currency rate
policy. Specialists anticipate dollar exchange rate to remain within
the boundaries of AMD 360-380. On March 3, 2009 price per 1 US dollar
soared from AMD 305-308 to AMD 380-400.

AZERBAIJAN WILL APPLY BALTIC EXPERIENCE AND DEMAND ARMENIA’S COMPENSATION: EXPERT

Today.Az
/54919.html
Aug 24 2009
Azerbaijan

"Handing over the regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh under
Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction will make implementation of the Baltic model,
which is now used with regard to Russia, this time with regard to
Armenia, inevitable," expert on regional development of Baltic Sergey
Artyomenko said commenting on political prospects of resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by making use of European experience
realized in the post Soviet area.

Azerbaijan’s already shaped political positions unambiguously
stipulates that Karabakh and surrounding regions have been occupied
by Armenia, he said.

Therefore, with a very high degree of assurance I can say that once
occupied areas around Karabakh would be in the hands of Azerbaijan and
new authorities will begin develop them, financing of this development
will be the first. While these areas are under Armenian control,
Azerbaijan intends to involve money of the European Union, but as
soon as they fall into the hands of Baku, there will be immediately
raised the question of "compensation of damage" caused in those areas
according to Baku, he said.

It is no accidental that Baltic authorities, authorities of Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia are so active in contacts with Azerbaijan. They
have something to share with colleagues: for example, experience of
requiring "indemnity for occupation" from Russia, with which they
were made it almost as soon as they received their independence from
Moscow itself. Therefore, nothing prevents Azerbaijan’s use of Baltic
experience in regard to Armenia, to begin to calculate the damage and
require "indemnity for the occupation" of these areas and Karabakh
itself, where it will have a free hand, the expert said.

FIDE GRAND PRIX: ARONIAN AND AKOPIAN MAKE PEACE

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.08.2009 20:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian grandmasters Levon Aronian and
Vladimir Akopian in the 11 round of Grand Prix FIDE scored equal
points. Grandmasters made peace at the 40th move. Plays of Leko,
Ivanchuk and Kasymjanov also ended in draws.

In the 11th round the Russian Ernesto Inarkiev and Ukrainian Paul
Elyanov carried the victory over DmitryYakovenko and Ivan Cheparinov
respectively.

After 11 rounds Levon Aronian and Yevgeny Alexeyev earned 6.5 points
each and they are still lag behind the leaders by the half-points.

On August 22 in 12th round Levon Aronian with Black will play with
the Hungarian leader of the tournament Peter Leko. Akopyan will also
play with Black with Ernesto Inarkiev.

The results of the 11th round: Kasymjanov (Uzbekistan) – Leko (Hungary)
– 0,5:0,5 Gelfand (Israel) – Kamsky (USA) – 0,5:0,5 Elyanov (Ukraine)
– Cheparinov (Bulgaria) – 1:0 Karyakin (Ukraine) – Alekseev (Russia)
– 0,5:0,5 Bacrot (France) – Ivanchuk (Ukraine) – 0,5:0,5 Yakovenko
(Russia) – Inarkiev (Russia) – 0:1 Akopian (Armenia) – Aronian
(Armenia) – 0,5:0,5.

Tournament position after 11 rounds: Ivanchuk, Leko, Kasymjanov – 7;
Aronian, Alekseev – 6.5; Karyakin, Gelfand, Elyanov – 6; Bacrot – 5;
Akopyan, Kamsky – 4.5; Inarkiev, Yakovenko – 4; Cheparinov – 3.

TER-PETROSYAN VISITED TAVUSH

try&pid=14951
17:01:36 – 18/08/2009

Today the leader of the Armenian National Congress Levon Ter-Petrosyan
visited the region of Tavush. In the town of Ijevan, Ter-Petrosyan
visited Nicol Pashinyan’s parents’ house. There he met with the ANC
activists, there was a march in which several hundreds of people
participated.

THREE NEW KINDERGARTENS SLATED FOR KARABAKH
Anahit Danielyan

20 09/08/19 | 14:20

Nagorno Karabakh society

The NKR government has given a tentative go-ahead to opening three
new kindergartens in the country. The school proposal was made by
Vladik Khachatryan, NKR Education and Science Minister.

If implemented, the decision will call for the construction of one new
kindergarten in Stepanakert, Martuni and Martakert. With the addition
of the three kindergartens, the number of such schools operating in
the country will rise to twenty-four. There were only five public
kindergartens operating in the country in 2007.

There are also private kindergartens in the NKR, run by the Armenian
Evangelical Society and the Armenian Relief Union.

ARMENIAN DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE FORECASTS 12-15 ECONOMIC DECLINE

News.am
14:20 / 08/19/2009

"This year’s 16.3% economic decline is much more serious than
we expected," RA Deputy Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan told
reporters. He stressed that the Armenian construction sector registered
the most serious decline in the first half of this year, with an 11.5%
decline registered in the country’s industry.

According to him, the world economy registered a 6% decline. "Neither
Russia nor the world market expected such a situation. The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has adjusted its forecasts not in
favor of the countries," Aramyan said. According to him, the IMF has
several times adjusted its forecasts for the European Union (EU). Last
December the IMF forecast 0.5% economic growth in the EU. Later it
forecast a 0.5% economic decline in the EU. The forecast was then
adjusted as follows: a 1.5%, 3.2% and 4.2% decline. At present, the
IMF forecasts a 4.8% economic decline in the European Union for this
year. "So our economic developments are in line with those in Europe,"
Aramyan said.

As regards the future of the Armenian economy, Aramyan said certain
economic growth is expected to be followed by recovery. As a result,
an economic decline of 12-15 per cent can be expected in the country
toward the end of this year. The reason for this range is that the
Government is "making huge liquid investments in the economy now." If
the economy utilizes the investments, Armenia will register a low
economic decline. However, if the process is slow, the decline may
reach 15 per cent. Aramyan also pointed out that the Government is
implementing an expansionary policy. Expanding on this, he said that,
amid the crisis, the private sector tends to reduce expenditures and
launches a more conservative policy. Under the circumstances, the
Government effects the expenditures, that is, invests funds in the
economy. According to Aramyan, the investments are to total 50bln AMD.

TABRIZ OIL OF SHAHARYAR TO BE SUPPLIED TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.08.2009 22:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A senior rank manager of the Iranian national company
for production and distribution of petroleum products Seyed Hassan
Kassem-zadeh , responsible for construction of the Tabriz refinery
Shaharyar, told a "Mehr" reporter that the production of the new
plant will be supplied to Armenia and a number of other countries in
Central Asia and Caucasus.

According to Seyed Hassan Kassem-zadeh, petroleum products received
at the "Shaharyar" will meet the Euro 5 environmental standards.

Seyed Hassan Kassem-zadeh touched upon the issue of the research work
in the framework of construction of the Yeraskh-Tabriz pipeline. After
completing the construction of the new refinery in Tabriz the export
of refined products, gasoline and diesel fuel, will become possible
to countries of Central Asia and Caucasus, including Armenia,
Iran.ru reports.