Author: Karagyozian Lena

LOW VISION CLINIC HELPS ARMENIANS WITH SIGHT PROBLEMS SEE BETTER

State Department Documents and Publications, USA
SECTION: NEWS FROM THE WASHINGTON FILE
May 15, 2007

Partnership for a Better Life

"With the recent increase in the number of people with vision problems,
the Low Vision Clinic will play a significant role for the Armenian
population," said Alex Malayan, chief ophthalmologist of Armenia,
at the clinic’s opening ceremony in a suburb of Armenia’s capital
city, Yerevan.

The clinic, a collaboration of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP) and the
Armenian Ministry of Health, is aimed at assisting thousands of people
suffering from sight problems. Poor vision is a major public health
and social issue in Armenia.

Unique not only in Armenia but also in the entire Caucasus region,
the Low Vision Clinic is equipped to provide children and adults
afflicted with poor vision with an opportunity to learn life skills
and to receive vital treatment. The services offered at the clinic
are designed to maximize patients’ existing vision and to help improve
their quality of life.

Clinic patients are provided with specially designed devices, including
high-powered eyeglasses for reading, microscopes, hand magnifiers and
other equipment. In addition to teaching people living with low vision
how to use these optical devices, the clinic will help patients acquire
new life skills that will enable them to accomplish daily tasks.

At the opening of the Low Vision Clinic, young artists representing
a number of art schools throughout Armenia exhibited their works.

Eleven-year-old Tigran Ghazaryan, first prize winner in his age
group, donated his artwork to the clinic. "I wish to help people with
vision problems, and one way I can do that is through my pictures,"
Ghazaryan said.

By providing high-quality eye care services and drawing public
attention to eye care issues and blindness prevention, USAID is making
a tangible difference in lives throughout Armenia.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)

U.S. HASN’T RECOGNIZED TURKISH REPUBLIC JURIDICALLY SO FAR

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.05.2007 16:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The U.S. hasn’t recognized the Turkish Republic
jurudically so far. In 1918 the U.S. Senate decreed that a state which
failed to fulfill the arbitration award of the U.S. President cannot
be recognized," Ara Papyan, orientalist, specialist in international
law and Armenia’s former Ambassador to Canada told a news conference
in Yerevan.

"It’s not true that the Lausanne peaceful agreement annulled the
Sevr treaty. The Armenian-Turkish border issue wasn’t even discussed
in Lausanne. There were two reasons for it. First, there already
existed the arbitration award. Second, Armenia wasn’t an element of the
international law any more. Furthermore, provision 16 of the agreement
reads, "Turkey renounces its claims to territories which are not marked
by the Lausanne peaceful agreement as Turkish." Actually, the Lausanne
agreement had restored the Sevr treaty," the Armenian diplomat said.

At that Ara Papyan noted that presently the matter concerns
rehabilitation of international law but not return of lands. "For
Armenia it’s first of all a security issue which includes
demilitarization of the border zone, Turkey’s abstinence from
interfering into the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and Armenia’s engagement
into economic projects," Mr Papyan said.

GERMAN BUNDESTAG’S LEFTIST FACTION CONDEMNS ARMENIA’S OCCUPYING AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIES

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 10 2007

German Bundesdtag’s leftist faction has made a statement on the
Nagorno Karabakh problem.

Yesterday’s statement by Bundestag’s "Linke" (Leftist) faction
condemned Armenia’s occupying Azerbaijani territories and required
unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani
territories.

The statement says as a result of ethnic cleansing policy committed
by Armenians, one million of Azerbaijanis have become internally
displaced persons. "Approximately 20,000 IDPs have settled in temporary
displaced- persons camps. The damage Azerbaijan suffered amounted to $
60 billion following the war".

The leftists welcoming the decision of German government which did not
recognize separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh and its referendum,
demanded restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. "The new
escalation of the conflict will lead the Caucasus region into the
new instability and worsen humanitarian situation".

The faction called for the European Union to participate in the
disarmament of the region, peaceful settlement of the conflict
stressing the necessity of bringing IDPs back to their original
places. The statement called for the German government as the member
of OSCE Minsk group to prevent the escalation of war again.

This is the fist statement by a Bundestag faction in this content.

"OUR GOAL IS TO BECOME A DOMINATING POLITICAL FORCE," MEMBER OF RPA BOARD SAYS

Noyan Tapan
May 08 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. RPA Board member Artak Zakarian has
found the way of winning the parliamentary elections: in his words,
this is implementation of active agitation. At the May 8 meeting with
journalists A. Zakarian expressed confidence that the Republican
Party of Armenia has a great opportunity to make majority in the
parliament. As RPA Board member estimated, the turnout of May 12
parliamentary elections will be 50-55%.

In A. Zakarian’s words, another 10 NGOs and compatriotic unions have
joined 72 ones supporting RPA. Artak Zakarian answered the assertion
that in the preelection period NGOs support the parties, supporting
which will be more beneficial for them in the future, saying: "There
cannot be mutually beneficial preconditions between parties and NGOs,
as in difference to parties, NGOs do not strive for power and our
goal is to come up as a dominating political force."

VARTAN OSKANIAN: REFUSAL TO PROVIDE VISAS TO TURKISH OBSERVERS WAS NATURAL

ArmRadio.am
09.05.2007 14:14

The refusal to provide visas to Turkish observers was natural, RA
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told the journalists today.

The Foreign Minister mentioned that it’s impossible to provide visas
to representatives of a country with which Armenia has no diplomatic
relations and the border is closed. In Mr. Oskanian’s words, with
this step Armenia once again calls the attention of the international
community to the unsettled Armenian-Turkish relations. The Foreign
Minister informed that one Turkish observer received an entry visa,
because he represents the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe and not Turkey as separate.

As for the elections, the Minister expressed hope that these will be
free and fair.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAVE FOR STRASBOURG ON MAY 10

Noyan Tapan
May 09 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will
leave for Strasbourg on May 10 to take part in the 117th sitting of
Committee of Foreign Ministers of Council of Europe. According to
the report provided to Noyan Tapan from RA Foreign Ministry Press
and Information Department, RA Foreign Minister is to make a speech
on May 11.

During his stay in Strasbourg V. Oskanian will meet with OSCE Minsk
Group Co-chairs, as well as with members of Ago Group following
fulfilment of Armenia’s commitments in CE Committee of Ministers.

ARMENIA CELEBRATES VE-DAY

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 9 2007

YEREVAN, May 9 (Itar-Tass) — Armenia is celebrating the 62nd
anniversary of the victory over nazi Germany in World War II.

Hundreds of people with flowers and wreaths came to Yerevan’s Victory
Park to the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and Defence Minister Mikhail Arutyunyan
attended the ceremony.

The remains of the Unknown Soldier were brought to the tomb from
the mass grave near the city of Malgobek, Chechen-Ingush Republic,
and reburied on May 9, 1970. The 89th Armenian Infantry Division had
its baptism of fire near Malgobek on October 17, 1942 and liberated
the city on January 1, 1943.

Wreath-laying ceremonies took place in all cities, towns, settlements,
and villages where war memorials are across the country.

Tens of thousands of people from Armenia were sent to the frontline
in the first days of the war. A total of 450,000 people from Armenian
fought in the war, and over 200,000 died.

President Robert Kocharyan paid tribute to his fellow citizens who
had fought in World War II.

"Numerous sons of the Armenian people made their significant
contribution" to the victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War,
Kocharyan said.

"The end of World War II and the establishment of peace was crucial
for Armenia, as this created new broader opportunities for prosperity
and multifaceted development of our republic," he said.

One hundred and three people from Armenia were awarded the title of
Hero of the Soviet Union. Legendary flier Nelson Stepanyan and Soviet
Marshal Ivan Bagramyan received it twice.

About 100,000 Armenians abroad participated in the Resistance Movement
and fought in allied armies.

MACHINIST PROUD OF ARMENIAN HERITAGE

Toledo Blade, OH
May 4 2007

VARKES ‘TAFT’ TAVTIGIAN, 1921-2007

Varkes "Taft" Tavtigian, 86, owner for nearly 60 years of a successful
machine shop in South Toledo, died Sunday in St. Anne Mercy Hospital
from complications of an infection.

Mr. Tavtigian of Ottawa Hills, was president, and owner of Taft Tool
and Production Co. on South Byrne Road, which provides machining and
precision tooling for manufacturers.

He also was a co-founder in 1957 of Power Brushes Inc., a custom
manufacturer of industrial brushes, located in the Taft Tool complex.

He began Taft Tool in 1948. He was back from Army service in the
Pacific during World War II. He knew machine shops and the skill
of machining.

"He had to have a job and figured he’d start a shop," said Paul
Sneider, Taft Tools general manager, who is his son-in-law.

Mr. Tavtigian began the business with a partner, whom he later
bought out. Owens-Illinois Inc. and Champion Spark Plug were customers
through the years. The business at its peak had more than 20 employees,
Mr. Sneider said.

As much as his skill, his winning personality contributed to the
firm’s success, Mr. Sneider said.

"As soon as you met him, you liked him. It was just that way," Mr.
Sneider said.

Mr. Tavtigian learned his life’s work at the Henry Ford Trade School
in his native Dearborn, Mich., from which he received his high
school diploma.

He took pride in his Armenian heritage and kept close to his family.

"He was a gentleman," his granddaughter Leah Sneider said. "He had
a good sense of right and wrong and exemplified that to his children
and grandchildren."

He was a member of Robinson Locke Lodge, F&AM, and Heather Downs
Country Club.

He and his wife, Rose, married in February, 1944. She died in November,
2003.

Surviving are his daughters, Yvonne Szyperski, Katherine Tavtigian,
Archel Sneider, and June Blaisdell; sister, Margaret Van Dooren;
12 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today in the Walker Funeral Home.

POMPIDOU CENTRE HAS RETROSPECTIVE OF EGOYAN FILMS

CBC News, Canada
May 3, 2007 Thursday 1:02 PM GMT

One of France’s great museums, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, is
presenting its first retrospective of the Toronto-based director
Atom Egoyan.

The retrospective begins Thursday evening with Egoyan and wife Arsin?e
Khanjian at a screening of the documentary Citadel, which follows
Khanjian as she returns to the city of her birth in Lebanon.

Khanjian left Lebanon as a child when the country was torn apart by
civil war and Egoyan’s lens captures her returning to Beirut 28 years
later on the eve of another war.

Egoyan often explores themes of displacement and alienation in his
films, including Ararat, about the killings of hundreds of thousands
of Armenian by Ottoman Turks.

Those killings affected his own family: Egoyan was born in Egypt of
Armenian heritage and grew up in Canada.

The filmmaker has been gaining fans in France since 1985, when he
produced and directed his first full-length work, Next of Kin.

At the world renowned Cannes Film Festival, he won the Cam?ra d’or in
1989 and 1991 for Speaking Parts and The Adjuster. He also competed
there with Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter and Felicia’s Journey.

The festival at Pompidou Centre, running until June 4, will present
all of Egoyan’s films from his first shorts to his recent features,
such as Where the Truth Lies.

Parisians will have a chance to see some of Egoyan’s more experimental
films, including Krapp’s Last Tape, based on a work by Samuel Beckett,
and a collection of early works such as Bolus/Nexus and Open House.

Pompidou Centre has twice focused on the work of another Canadian
filmmaker, David Cronenberg.

According to a report in Parisian newspaper Lib?ration, French
filmgoers are interested in works by Quebec filmmakers and that
has drawn them to other Canadians, including Egoyan and Winnipeg’s
Guy Maddin.

ULNP IS A WESTERN-STYLE PARTY, ITS LEADER SAYS

ARMENPRESS
May 03 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS: Levon Martirosian, the 30 year-old chairman
of a recently established United Liberal National Party (ULNP) party,
told a news conference today that the party has fulfilled its major
first stage task-that is to position itself as a new western-type
political party. He stressed the words ‘western type’ saying this
should not be confused with ‘pro-western’ notion.

He said the party represents a new generation of people and is not
engaged in assessing individuals and parties contesting the May 12
parliamentary elections, but is advertising its approaches and ideology
with a focus on the necessity of the second generation reforms.

‘The first generation reforms were implemented in the early 90-s, but
regretfully the authorities failed to pass to the second generation,
which has actually resulted in stagnation… Our party is the sole
party that has adopted the ideology of implementing the second
generation reforms,’ he said.

Martirosian said all Armenians with liberal views are the party’s
potential supporters.

"Our campaign is successful and unlike three months ago when we did
not exist, now people are talking about us which means we are on the
right track," Martirosian said, adding that after the May 12 polls
many politicians who will fail to win a seat in the National Assembly
will have to depart and the turn is for young people.