Author: Karagyozian Lena

Iran-Armenia gas main to expand annual supply to 2.3 billion cubic
meters from 2011

YEREVAN, July 3. /ARKA/. Iran-Armenia gas main’s annual supply will
reach 2.3bln cubic meters in 2011, said Ashot Hovsepyan, deputy
director general of Armenia’s gas supply monopoly ArmRusGasProm.

Citing a relevant agreement between the Yerevan-based heat station and
Iran’s gas exports company, Hovsepyan said annual supplies of the
Iranian gas would increase from 1.1bln cubic meters to 2.3bln cubic
meters starting from 2011.

The Yerevan-based heat station daily needs about 300,000 cubic meters
of gas (1mln cubic meters on particular days), the ArmRusGasProm deputy
director general said. `If the heat station demands an increase in gas
supplies, we will expand the deliveries,’ he added.

With the gas main being ready for operations, the working pressure
needs to be amplified in order to increase gas imports, according to
Hovsepyan.

`We must get ready to put the gas main into operation in case of a
serious accidental fault. We are carrying out activities to expand
Iranian gas imports,’ he said.

Iran launched gas flows to Armenia on May 15, 2009, as part of the
agreement gas in return of electricity. Iran is to supply Armenia with
1 cubic meter of natural gas in exchange for 3kWh electricity.

The Armenian government initiated Iran-Armenia gas main construction in
2004. The project aims=2
0at boosting gas imports to Armenia.

The Yerevan-based heat station was established between 1963 and 1967.
The station’s nominal capacity is 550MW, with only one of the seven
aggregates (50 MW) operating at present. The new combines-cycle power
unit of the heat station will launch operations in 2010. Z. Sh.’0–

SUNDAY SCHOOLS’ TEACHERS OF ARMENIAN DIOCESES OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH HAVE RETRAINING IN TSAKHKADZOR

Noyan Tapan
July 3, 2009

TSAKHKADZOR, JULY 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. With the
consecration of His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, about 80 teachers
of more than 50 sunday schools of Armenian dioceses of Armenian
Apostolic Church had a retraining in Tsakhkadzor last week. According
to the Information Services of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin,
the lectures passed on the initiative of Christian Bringing-up Center
of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and World Vision international
benevolent organization’s Armenian office.

The lectures on the themes of holy-writings, religion, the system of
Armenian church’s ceremonies, symbols, piety traditions, as well as
on the methodical themes were held during the retrainings. The group
discussions followed the day’s discussions, during which the teachers
offered methods for carrying out the teacher-pupil, teacher-parent,
teacher-church cooperation.

Within the framework of the lectures the teachers were given spiritual
literature and certificates.

A conference was held on June 29, which was attended by 20 active
priests promoting activity in one-day schools, who directly supervise
the whole work done at the schools. A discussion on the theme "The
ways of improving the activity of one-day schools" also took place.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF EU FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS

Noyan Tapan
July 2, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian and the Special Representative of EU for the South Caucasus
Peter Semneby discussed problems connected with different spheres of
the cooperation between Armenia and EU at their meeting on July 1.

According to the Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
during the meeting thoughts were exchanged on normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations and Nagorno Karabakh settlement.

ARCHBISHOP OF MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN, AGENT OF EASTERN DIOCESE OF USA APPOINTED MEMBER OF INTERCHURCH DIALOGUE CONSULTATIVE BOARD TASK FORCE

ArmInfo
2009-07-02 12:47:00

ArmInfo. Archbishop Vigen Ayqazyan, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
agent of the Eastern Diocese of the USA, Chairman of the National
Council of Churches of the USA, is appointed member of Interchurch
Dialogue Consultative Board Task Force under U.S. President, Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin press-service told ArmInfo.

The Task Force comprises 12 religious leaders and prominent ecumenical
figures who discuss important inter-religious issues with President
of the USA once in two weeks by means of telephone conferences. Over
the last several months, Archbishop Ayqazyan participated in various
discussions connected with establishment of peace in the Middle East
and other problems of American churches

3 WRESTLERS OF ARMENIA BECOME PRIZE WINNERS AT INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT IN IRAN

NOYAN TAPAN
JULY 2, 2009
ASTARA

ASTARA, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The International Junior Greco-Roman
Wrestling Tournament finished in the city of Astara, Iran, on June
30. Gevorg Gharibian (42 kg) performed best of all among 10 sportsmen
of Armenia. He gained 3 victories and took the first place. Karapet
Chalian (58 kg) took the second place, and Vahe Simonian (85 kg)
was the third.

PUBLIC TELEVISION OF ARMENIA RECOGNIZED WINNER OF UNPLEASANT TV BROADCAST COMPETITION

NOYAN TAPAN
JUNE 30, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Among the 17 TV companies of Yerevan
subjected to monitoring, the Public Television of Armenia (H1) was
recognized the winner of the Unpleasant TV Broadcast competition. Head
of the competition working group Narek Malian said this at the June
29 press conference. He mentioned that the competition results were
determined according to the monitoring held in February-March.

In N. Malian’s words, for the Public Television of Armenia to get rid
of its shortcomings, a public boycott must be declared towards it,
corresponding legislative initiatives must be presented. Besides, it
is necessary that TV companies establish some moral norms to follow
them in their work.

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
From: Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Mexique Street, Kantari, Beirut
P.O.Box. 11-1748 Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Tel: 961-1-353010/1/ or 961-1-349230/1

Haigazian University Receives a Grant of $770,000 from the USAID

Beirut, 29/06/2009- On Thursday, June 28, 2009, Haigazian University
received a grant of $770,000 from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The grant will benefit 329 Haigazian
University students as they pursue their undergraduate and graduate
degrees.

The USAID Lebanon Mission Director, Denise A. Herbol presented the check
to University President Dr. Paul Haidostian, who was accompanied with 3
university students with outstanding academic records, namely, Faysal
Bou Zeineddine, Loucine Basmadjian and Diana Assaf. During this meeting
of fellowship and discussion they shared with Mrs. Herbol their
educational experience, career goals, and gratefully acknowledged the
fact that financial aid grants helped them actualize their dreams in
pursuing their studies in a reputable higher learning institution, such
as Haigazian University. Herbol noted that the importance of education
is a core value shared by the United States and Lebanon.

The Haigazian University grant is part of $6.2 million USAID has
provided to five American educational institutions in Lebanon. The
other institutions are the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese
American University, the American Community School, and International
College. Overall, over 1,684 students benefit from this financial
educational assistance.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 27 2009

Carrying Out Turkish-armenian Talks and Azerbaijani-armenian Talks In
Parallel With Each Other Would Ensure Lasting Peace In The Region –
Turkish Fm

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday in Trieste,
Italy G-8 foreign ministers issued a declaration in which they also
defined efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia as
positive, Turk.net reported.

"Support to the normalization process is positive, and at the same
time the declaration refers to contacts of the Minsk Group regarding
the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.

Davutoglu also said that carrying out the two processes in parallel
with each other (Turkish-Armenian talks and Azerbaijani-Armenian
talks) would ensure lasting peace in the region.

"Doing everything s/he can and staying away from possible tension is
for everybody’s best interests," Davutoglu said.

The Turkish foreign minister also appreciated the sincere efforts of
Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities, and said Turkey was expecting a
concrete progress.

Davutoglu also said that there was a positive atmosphere in the Middle
East.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that there was a
positive psychological atmosphere in the Middle East.

"However, this atmosphere should be turned into actual steps,"
Davutoglu told AA correspondent.

Davutoglu is actually in Trieste for the G-8 foreign ministers’
meeting, and participated in a meeting on Afghanistan.

The Group of Eight (G8, and formerly the G6 or Group of Six) is a
forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of eight nations of
the northern hemisphere: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; in addition, the
European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair.

The Turkish foreign minister referred to his visits to Afghanistan and
Pakistan two weeks ago, and said he had the opportunity to share his
observations and views about those countries with his counterparts
participating in the Trieste meeting.

Davutoglu said he also met Senator George Mitchell, the U.S. special
envoy for the Middle East, on the sidelines of the Trieste meeting.

"The fate of this region is important for us and the region cannot
tolerate new wars or losses," he said.

Davutoglu underlined importance of reducing the tension and making all
parties a part of the process.

The Turkish minister said Senator Mitchell shared with him the issues
he discussed during his visit to Syria and the progress made so far.

Davutoglu said Turkey was attaching great importance to Syria’s having
a close relationship with the international community, and welcomed
the decision of the United States to appoint an ambassador to Syria.

"Turkey is supporting every step reducing tension," he said.

Davutoglu said what Turkey wished was to launch a de facto
well-operating process, not only seeing a psychological process in the
region.

"If we achieve this, our region will have peace and order," he said.

Davutoglu also said that he would pay a formal visit to Moscow, Russia
in the following week and exchange views with his Russian counterpart
Sergey Lavrov about bilateral relations and regional issues.

Saturday, 27 June 2009

411Mania
June 27 2009

Tsurkan Ready for Martirosyan
Posted by Patrick Cassidy on 06.26.2009

Can he pull off the upset?

Vanes Martirosyan has been one of Top Rank’s top prospects for quite
some time and they’ve spent the past few years slowly building him
into a true contender. This Saturday, we’ll find out if he can deliver
the goods as he takes on his toughest task yet in the rugged Andrey
Tsurkan.

Tsurkan first gained attention through his brutal beating of Hector
Camacho Jr in 2006 and followed that up with a string of exciting
bouts that featured both highs(a win over title challenger Jesse
Feliciano) and lows ( a recent loss to Alfredo Angulo).

Tsurkan believes history will repeat itself once again as he steps
into the ring with Martirosyan, who Tsurkan believes does not possess
the heart that he does. "One thing you can’t teach or learn in boxing
though is heart and I have heart, as you can see in my fights. When an
opponent gets in the ring with me they know what type of fight they
are in. I keep coming and keep putting pressure on you. Come June 27th
we will see if he can withstand that pressure."

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN MEET IN PARIS

armradio.am
27.06.2009 12:23

On June 26 in France the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward
Nalbandian, had a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov, Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fassier, as well as the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met face-to-face,
after which they were joined by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the
Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

In line with the instruction the President of Armenia and Azerbaijan
made as a result of their meeting in St. Petersburg on June 4, the
Foreign Ministers continued the talks to discuss issues concerning the
Karabakh conflict settlement with the view of bringing the positions
of the parties closer on the principles incorporated in the Madrid
Document.

Ministers Nalbandian and Mammadyarov referred to the possibility
of organizing another meeting between the Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan.

As a result of the talks it was decided that the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
will visit the region early in July.

The meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in
Paris was useful and was held in a constructive atmosphere.

Minister Nalbandian left for Greece on June 27 to participate in the
sitting of the Council of the OSCE Foreign Ministers.