Author: Karagyozian Lena

OBAMA PLANS $40M AID TO ARMENIA IN 2011

AzerNews Weekly
Feb 4 2010
Azerbaijan

The 2011 draft budget submitted to US Congress by President Barack
Obama’s administration envisions financial assistance worth $40
million to Armenia. Also, Washington plans to allocate $3.5 million
to the country as part of the military training program, Turkish
media reported.

As for assistance to Azerbaijan, which faces a long-standing conflict
with Armenia, the aid package for next year was left unchanged at the
2010 level of $22.1m. The U.S. has designated $4.4m for international
military and education training sessions to the country.

The draft budget does not designate separate assistance for the
separatist regime operating in the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh region of Azerbaijan.

In 2010, the Obama government had offered aid worth $30m for Armenia.

It did not allot any aid to the self-proclaimed republic. However,
Congress approved the assistance to Armenia in the amount of $41m.

Moreover, it designated $8m to the separatist regime, which drew ire
from Baku.

The Armenian Assembly of America, one of the most powerful Armenian
lobby groups in the United States, has claimed in a statement that
the 2011 aid package for Armenia should make up at least $70m.

Bianka Dodov, the Assembly’s Congressional Relations Associate, said
the organization would work with "friends" in Congress to achieve
increasing aid to Armenia and the allocation of assistance to the
separatist regime.

20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Upper Garabagh and
seven adjacent districts, has been under Armenian occupation for
nearly two decades. Defying international law, the separatist regime
in Upper Garabagh declared so-called independence in 1991, which has
not been recognized by the world community.*

RUSSIA AND US TO INCREASE PRESSURE ON TURKEY NEXT WEEK: RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN

Tert.am
15:57 ~U 04.02.10

Turkey is delaying the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations
and the ratification of the Protocols and that’s making the U.S.

nervous, said Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) Director Richard Giragosian during a press conference today.

According to Giragosian, if Turkey continues this way, the U.S.

Congress can once again turn its attention to the Armenian Genocide,
not because it’s such an important issue for them, but because they
want to punish Turkey.

"President Obama can use this issue to show that he’s a powerful
leader; he has his principles and he protects that which is right,"
said Giragosian.

The ACNIS Director added that Turkey’s strategy can "strengthen"
the Armenian Genocide issue and the U.S.’s approach on the matter,
which will be against Turkey. In Giragosian’s opinion, this will most
likely be felt in April. The only path out of this dead-end situation,
according to him, is a change in the course of Turkey’s policy.

Giragosian noted that, in the coming week, Russia’s and the U.S.’s
pressure on Turkey will increase, since those countries are attempting
to rush Turkey (ostensibly, in the Protocols ratification process).

PRESIDENT OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC CONVOKED A CONSULTATION…

Azat Artsakh Newspaper NKR
February 03, 2010

On 2 February President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan convoked
a consultation dedicated to the issues concerning the introduction
of advanced technologies in the republic. The director-general of
the "Via Sphere" techno park, Doctor of Engineering Aram Vardanyan
was invited to the consultation. The issue of introduction of hail
protection stations in Artsakh was in the spotlight of consultation.
The Head of the State rated high the experience of the "Via Sphere"
techno park in this field, noting that the systems worked out by
this organization and mounted in different regions of the Republic of
Armenia could have their application in Artsakh as well. The President
underlined the necessity of experimental installation of several
hail protection stations in our republic until the beginning of the
raining season. NKR premier Ara Haroutyunyan, minister of agriculture
Armo Tsaturyan and other officials partook at the consultation.

ANCENSUS2010.ORG: IT’S IN OUR HANDS

Asbarez
Feb 2nd, 2010

HOLLYWOOD-Horizon 180’s Paul Chaderjian speaks with ANCensus2010.org
spokeswoman Tamar Yardemian Baboujian on the project and opportunities
for community groups to get involved in ensuring an accurate count
in the 2010 Census.

The ANC-WR Census 2010 campaign efforts are supported in part by a
grant from the California Community Foundation. The grant will assist
the ANC-WR to conduct an aggressive community outreach campaign for the
2010 Census. The goals of the ANCensus 2010 project include maximizing
Armenian American participation in the 2010 headcount and informing
the community to indicate Armenian as their race on the questionnaire.

The outreach campaign also allows for re-granting opportunities to
Armenian American nonprofit organizations. The ANC-WR will distribute
grants in the coming months to those Armenian American organizations
that are willing to conduct Census outreach work. Organizations must
submit proposal applications by Friday, February 5, 2010. For more
information on re-granting opportunities, visit ANCensus2010.org or
call the ANCensus 2010 Hotline at (888) 666-4761.

Broadcast February 1, 2010 on Horizon Armenian Television,

ARMENIAN TV CHANNEL TO BROADCAST ALL OVER RUSSIA

Aysor.am
02.02.2010, 17:22

Armenia Ru TV is the first Russia-located public-service Armenian
television broadcaster which will begin working by September 2010.

The channel’s key objective is to cover cultural, political, social,
economical highlights of Diaspora’s Armenians from Russia, Asia,
Europe, and the United States. It will provide coverage of interesting
events and developments of past and present years as well as Armenia’s
history and culture and Armenians in history and culture world-wide.

Channel’s another main goal is to provide an indivisible information
field connecting Armenians all over the world.

To get more about Armenia Ru TV go to its official web-site at
.

ARMENIAN-CYPRIOT DELEGATION TO VIEW THE INITIAL PROGRESS OF THE RESTORATION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN NICOSIA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 2, 2010

CYPRUS, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On 24 January
2010, an Armenian-Cypriot delegation (Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian,
Representative Vartkes Mahdessian, Temagan Chairman Sebouh Tavitian,
Varchagan Chairman Dr. Antranik Ashdjian and Varchagan member &
architect John Guevherian) visited the site of the Armenian complex in
Turkish-occupied Nicosia. According to , the aim of
the visit was to view the initial progress of the restoration of the
church, which is sponsored by UNDP-ACT. the Prelature building and
the Melikian-Ouzounian and kindergarten buildings of the community’s
school. The complex also includes the Melikian mansion and the Armenian
Genocide monument.

YEREVAN HOSTS ‘ROAD MAP FOR THE REFORM OF QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE’ WORKSHOP

Panorama.am
16:42 02/02/2010

On February 2, 2010, Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre
(AEPLAC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, EU Advisory
Group to Armenia, German Institute of Metrology (PTB) and The World
Bank organized a workshop on "Road Map for the Reform of Quality
Infrastructure".

The target audience of the workshop were decision-makers of the
Ministry of Economy, National Institute of Standards, National
Institute of Metrology, Agency of Accreditation, State Inspectorate
of Protection of Markets and Consumers Rights.

The workshop was an important milestone in a coordinated effort
of international donors to assist Armenia in the reform of the
quality infrastructure with the objective to raise the international
competitiveness of its economy and ensure progress toward a Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with EU.

Coordinated activities of international donors were initiated in
July 2009 following the need to create a modern system of quality
infrastructure in Armenia, which would comply with international
requirements including EU standards and hence reduce technical barriers
to trade.

Since then, an awareness workshop was held, a metrology assessment
report written and submitted to the Ministry of Economy, road map
for the reforms drafted, and additional resources for high-quality
policy advice on respective reform measures convened.

The workshop discussed draft road map for further QI reforms, which
guides the Armenian government in the process.

Raul de Luzenberger, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia and Nerses
Yeritsyan, Minister of Economy opened the workshop with short remarks.

DARCHINYAN VS. GUERRERO ON MARCH 6

Panorama.am
16:19 01/02/2010

WBA and WBC unified champion Vic Darchinyan finally managed to find
his next opponent for March 6 in the US. The reasoning is simple:
Darchinyan’s left-hand bombs are so lethal he has rival fighters
running scared. "I’m fighting on March 6 on the Arthur Abraham-Andre
Dirrell card, but up until today nobody has wanted to fight me,"
Darchinyan said. "It’s been frustrating. They know my power and they
don’t want to feel it. My last three opponents have cancelled. They
say it’s because of money, but I think it’s because they’re scared.

I’m the champion and I don’t care who I fight, I’ll fight anybody."

The son of an Armenian Olympic wrestling coach, Darchinyan finally
landed an opponent last Friday in the form of Mexican Rodrigo
Guerrero. To defend his WBA and WBC world title belts, Darchinyan
intends to mix up his training regimen to try to improve his already
brutal punching power. The Sydney Olympian has been working with world
champion discuss thrower Dani Samuels to improve the fast-twitch muscle
fibres and explosive power in his legs. Parramatta Eels conditioning
gurus Hayden Knowles and Craig Catterick are supervising the new
lower-body program. "Vic doesn’t need to work on his upper body,
boxing is enough for him in terms of maintenance there," Knowles
said. "But by working on the power from his legs, we believe we can
increase his power quite considerably."

PRIME MINISTER UNHAPPY WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP PERFORMANCE

Yerkir
01.02.2010 13:24

Yerevan (Yerkir) – The efforts by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, which has striven to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for more than 17 years, have
not been productive, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
on Sunday.

Ankara, which last year agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations
with Yerevan and reopen their mutual border, insists on seeing progress
on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to
Turkey’s English-language newspaper Today’s Zaman.

Speaking in an interview broadcast live on state-owned television
station TRT, Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s unease over the grounds for
the Armenian Constitutional Court ruling.

"There has been serious neglect by the Minsk trio," Erdogan added,
referring to the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group – France, Russia
and the United States. "They couldn’t bring this issue to a certain
point in 20 years. The performance of Russia, America and France was
below expectations," he said.

Arshile Gorky Exhibit at London’s Tate Museum Next Month

Tert.am
14:33 – 30.01.10

>From February 10 to May 3, 2010, there will be a retrospective exhibit
on the life and work of well-known and revered Armenian-American
artist Arshile Gorky (c.1904-1948) at London’s Tate Museum, organized
with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Los Angeles.

According to an official press release from the museum: `Along with
Rothko, Pollock and de Kooning, Gorky was one of the most powerful
American painters of the twentieth century, and a seminal figure in
the formation of Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition includes
paintings and drawings from across his career, and a handful of rarely
seen sculptures.’

Gorky was born Vostanig Manuk Adoian in an Armenian village in eastern
Turkey. As reported by Times Online, on arriving in New York in the
early 1920s, Gorky let it be understood that he was Russian, a cousin
of the writer Maxim Gorky, and that he had studied under Kandinsky in
Paris.

He never discussed the fact that he was present during the siege of
Van in the early stages of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. After Gorky
and his sister Vartush made their way to America, Gorky set about
turning himself into an artist, educating himself piecemeal at various
institutions in New York and Boston while taking menial jobs. He used
the pseudonym Arshile Gorky for the first time in 1924.