Armenia’s resilient religious heritage celebrated in major Louvre Museum
exhibition
AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 02, 2007
PARIS _ An exhibition at Paris’ Louvre Museum brings together some of
Armenia’s most spectacular religious objects, many of which survived
centuries of foreign domination. BC-EU-A&E-ART–FRANCE-ARMENIAN
ART. By 1700GMT. By Jenny Barchfield. AP Photos.
Arka News Agency, Armenia
March 2 2007
GREECE TO INVOLVE ARMENIA IN FIVE-YEAR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
YEREVAN, March 2. /ARKA/. Greece intends to involve Armenia into its
five-year economic development program. As the press service of the
RA Ministry of Finance and Economy reported, Greek Ambassador to
Armenia Panayota Mavromichali said that during her meeting with
Finance Minister Vardan Khachatryan. She pointed out that Greece
intends to implement a five-year economic development program for
developing countries, where it intends to involve Armenia. At present
the program is at the stage of discussions, the main directions and
proposals are being specified.
During the meeting the Ambassador wished to specify Armenian programs
on economic development. Vardanyan pointed out that for the RA
Government the Strategic program of overcoming the level of poverty
is a priority program which strictly defines the main directions of
activities.
The document is also prior for international structures and donor
organizations. The Greek side also should use this strategy in its
development programs. Khachatryan pointed out that the package of
programs will be discussed in detail after being presented by the
Greek side.
During the meeting the sides discussed bilateral cooperation and
issues that are of mutual interest. L.M. -0–
Ïðàî ûáîðà, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
March 3 2007
USA to Support Territorial Integrity of Azerbaijan Again
03.03.2007
United States of America deeply regret about tragedy that took place
15 years ago in Khojali and condemn such massacre against civil
population.
Press Secretary of US Department of State, Sean McCormack, declared
it during briefing held February 26. S. McCormack on behalf of USA
expressed condolence to families of victims of Khojali tragedy. It
was underlined that it is necessary to find way of just and peaceful
regulation of Nagorni Garabagh conflict to prevent killing of people
in future.
Representative of the Department of State declaring about official
position of his country underlined that USA recognize territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, and as one of OSCE Minsk Group co-chair,
will promote regulation of the conflict on the basis of talks.
Statement of the US Department of State is the response to joint
address of leaders of organization of Azerbaijani communities in USA
to US Secretary of State, C. Rice. US citizens of Azerbaijani origin
called on US administration to condemn Khojali massacre and as OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair to continue role of active mediator in peace
talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
ENTRANTS MUST FILL IN APPLICATIONS TILL MARCH 10 TO PARTICIPATE IN STATE FINAL AND JOINT EXAM
Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The estimation and testing center
started the process of organization of the state final and 2007
entrance exam of higher educational institutions on the "Armenian
Language, Literature" subject for the 2006-2007 academic year
school-leavers of the organizations implementing general secondary
educational program (irrespective of the organization-legal type)
in the Republic of Armenia.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the Press Service of the Estimation and
Testing Center, school-leavers (entrants) must fill in applications
for participation in the state final and joint examination. 2006-2007
academic year school-leavers fill in applications at their educational
institution.
Those school-leavers of previous years who will take exam on the
"Armenian Language" subject for entering an institution of higher
education, fill in the application at the educational institution of
their place of settlement, separated for that purpose.
To recap, the last term for filling in the applications is March
10, 2007.
RA PRESIDENT AND CBA PRESIDENT ASSESSED THE MICROECONOMIC INDICES AS PROMISING
armradio.am
28.02.2007 17:11
During today’s meeting RA President Robert Kocharyan and President of
the Central Bank of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan assessed the microeconomic
indices registered at the turn of the year as promising. Reference
was made to the positive trends in the import-export structure,
according to which import of equipments and new technologies
considerably increased.
CBA President informed that in January an unprecedented 12 % rise
was registered in deposit accounts, which means citizens trust their
savings to banks and prefer to make deposits in Armenian drams.
The interlocutors also turned to the rise of salaries, noting that
approximately 20% rise was registered in January.
TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION MEETS WITH US DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE BRYZA
Turkish Press, MI
Star
Feb 28 2007
A Turkish parliamentary delegation, currently in Washington to
discourage passage of the so-called Armenian genocide resolution by
the US House of Representatives, yesterday met with Matt Bryza, the
US deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
affairs. Bryza reportedly told the Turkish deputies that the
Bush administration was opposed to the resolution. The delegation
of deputies includes Murat Mercan, Saban Disli, Necdet Budak, and
Muzaffer Gulyurt from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),
and Haluk Koc and Mehmet Nessar from the main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP).
RIGHTS GROUP SAYS TORTURE STILL PROBLEM IN TURKEY
By Selcuk Gokoluk
Reuters, UK
Feb 27 2007
ANKARA, Feb 27 (Reuters) – European Union candidate Turkey still has
a high number of cases of torture despite government pledges of zero
tolerance, the country’s biggest rights group said on Tuesday.
In its 2006 report, Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD) also said
other human rights abuses were on the rise, citing extra judicial
killings and deaths in detention.
IHD data showed 708 cases of torture last year, down from 825 in 2005.
"The fight against torture and the fall in the number of cases is not
good enough … Is it normal to have 708 torture cases in a country
where torturers get zero tolerance?" Yusuf Alatas, head of the IHD,
said at a news conference.
The centre-right AK Party government, which began EU entry talks in
2005, has vowed to show zero tolerance to torturers.
The European Commission said in a progress report last year that
allegations of torture and the impunity of its perpetrators were a
cause for concern in Turkey.
Extra-judicial killings and deaths in custody as a result of torture
rose to 130 in 2006 from 89 the previous year, IHD said.
Alatas attributed some of the rise in reported abuses to an upsurge
in violence in Turkey’s impoverished southeast, where Kurdish rebel
guerrillas are battling Turkish security forces.
Restrictions on freedom of expression are also increasing as security
takes precedence amid a more nationalist climate in Turkey, he said.
Turkey faces presidential and parliamentary elections this year.
More than 1,000 people are on trial in Turkey for expressing their
views and 108 people were given jail sentences in 2006, the IHD
data showed.
A number of writers, including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk and slain
Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink, were prosecuted in 2006 under
Article 301 of the penal code, which makes it a crime to insult
Turkish identity or state institutions.
The EU has urged Turkey to scrap or amend the article.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said recently parliament would consider
amending the article in the near future, though experts say the real
problem is the conservative mentality of Turkish prosecutors and
judges, imbued with a culture that gives priority to the state over
individual rights.
Alatas accused the police of using disproportionate force in
demonstrations.
"As a result of extreme use of force by the police, 12 people
were killed last year… When a few university students meet for a
protest, thousands of police gather. Students are being tried just
for protesting about tuition fees," he said.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
CHP’S TOPUZ: PREMIER REACTING UNDER PRESSURE
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Feb 27 2007
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy group leader
Ali Topuz yesterday claimed that the Justice and Development (AK)
Party has one expectation from this Parliament and that is to elect
a president though fait accompli.
He evaluated the premier’s response to a leak of a National Security
Council (MGK) presentation on documents and files regarding the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) activities to the media.
The premier accused those who leaked the news of treason, to which
Topuz responded, "I think Erdogan can’t hold his nerves these days.
The presidential and general elections issues, rumors of early
elections and such debates are disturbing Erdogan and sometimes this
causes him to overreact."
"The MGK meetings are in closed sessions. We have to decide on how to
describe such information leaks. We have to decide whether to react
to this as treason or explaining confidential information," he added.
He argued, "It’s not easy to accuse someone of treason and this is
acting imprudently. From this perspective we can target the prime
minister with the same accusation on numerous topics. It is illogical
to relate treason with informing the public that the PKK was supported
by northern Iraqi leaders."
Topuz claimed that both the U.S. and the Iraqi administration are
using the PKK as a weapon against Turkey. "Both the premier and the
government are weak and cannot resist such policies. Thus, the U.S.
administers Turkey the way they want," he said.
He warned against a separate state in northern Iraq, saying, "It is
imaginative to think this state would be more friendly than Armenia.
Besides, Turkey’s unity is threatened by two factors. One is Armenia
and the other is a possible separate state in northern Iraq."
Lloyd’s List
February 23, 2007 Friday
You can still buy them, but soon you won’t be able to smoke them: One
specialist London tobacconist still has limited freedom
by Pieter Tesch
PICTURE the scene. As a helmsman relaxes after the pilot has taken
over on the approach to a British port and pauses to light up his
last Davidoff 100th anniversary limited edition robusto, the Maritime
and Coastguard Agency slap with him a £50 on-the-spot fine and the
ship’s manager with £2,500.
Absurd? Not so, as David Osler pointed out on February 15 in this
paper.
On the same day it was also revealed that the British government has
allocated £30m ($59.2m) to train the health and safety staff of the
English local authorities to enforce the smoking ban in enclosed
public places by going ‘undercover’.
Ridiculous? Absolutely, because tobacco products like cigars remain
consumer goods that still can be legitimately bought on the high
street, making them a nice little earner for the treasury.
But here is a thought. Refuse to pay the fines or become driven to
insanity by the British government’s Kafkaesque approach to
interfering in our private lives and you can still smoke, because
prisons and psychiatric hospitals are still exempt from the ban.
What would Zino Davidoff have made of this all? The Jewish refugee
from pogroms in Tsarist Russia founded ndash; after sojourns on
tobacco plantations in Cuba and Brazil ndash; a global cigar empire
based in Geneva.
The nearest person we have in England to a similarly legendary figure
is Edward Sahakian, an Armenian refugee from the Iranian revolution
of 1978 which saw the forcible shutdown of his family’s brewing
business.
>From London’s only Davidoff franchise on the corner of St James’
Street and Jermyn Street, he has a bird’s-eye view of proceedings and
does not think much of them.
But at least as a specialist tobacconist, Edward still has limited
freedom to offer his clients the possibility to sample and taste
cigars or pipe tobacco ndash; but not cigarettes or rolling tobacco
ndash; as long as they pay for their samples. And he is all too aware
that the new ‘undercover’ teams will be out there to intercept the
lawbreakers.
Any merchant likes to spoil his regulars with a sample of new
launches because taste is a very individual thing.
The 100th anniversary limited robusto that our mythical helmsman
fired up is an extension of the range launched to evoke the classical
diademas at 20.3 cm long with closed foot.
They are still available at Sahakian’s Davidoff shop, unbanded in
attractive boxes featuring a picture of Zino in the doorway of his
Geneva shop. Eight robustos have a recommended retail price of £116
and 10 diademas £190.
But Edward is the first to admit that, excellent as they are, these
smokes may not suit all aficionados, who might want to hold out for
the new short robusto in the sceptre series of the Zino platinum
range being introduced later this year.
And those attached to existing Davidoff Dominican brands might need
some persuading to try out the new Zino Davidoff Classic Cigar range
of traditional Honduran blends, also being launched later in the
coming months.
Davidoff has never shrunk from launching new products, even a new
vanilla and cherry version of Djarum’s kretek, the traditional
Indonesian clove-laced cigarette, even in the face of bans and
undercover law enforcement.
Indeed, it is a true statement of its faith in and commitment to the
future of the industry, consumer choice and, last but not least, the
people in the developing world who grow these excellent tobaccos,
manufacture these marvellous products and whose fate is completely
ignored by the new wave of enforcers.
GOVERNMENT APPROVES PROGRAM OF MAIN EVENTS DEDICATED TO 15TH
ANNIVERSARY OF RA INDEPENDENCE
YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Government approved the program
of main events dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the independence
of the Republic of Armenia on March 23. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the RA Government’s Information and Public Relations Department, Vigen
Sargsian, the RA President’s Advisor made a statement concerning the
program at the sitting. The program that includes about 8 dozens of
events of festive-ceremonial, sceintific-educational, cultural, sports
and other character will be implemented in the capital of the
republic, marzes and communities starting from April till the end of
the year. In the RA and Nagorno Karabakh all-Armenian events as well
will take place, including the "One Nation, One Culture" second
festival, the forth all-Armenian-youth and second educational
conferences, the "Golden Apricot" (Voske Tsiran) third international
film festival. During the week of the 15th anniversary of the
Independence, from September 17 to 24, the Armenia-Diaspora third
conference, the second all-Armenian economic forum, different
conferences will be held, poster and photo exhibitions dedicated to
the independence anniversary, show of films shot during the 15 years
of independence will be organized. The start of the jubilee week will
be marked with the Surb Liturgy celebrated in Etchmiadzin and all the
Armenian churches of the world.
The main ceremonies of the program will take place on September 21.
On the Independence Day, events will start with a visit to Yerablur,
then a military parad will be held on the Republic square, people’s
celebrations will take place in the capital and in marzes, a great
festive concert will be organized in the republican sports ground
after V.Sargsian. Illumination will take place in Yerevan, Gyumri and
Vanadzor in the evening. It is instructed to present the programs of
events in marzes to be included in the program of main events to the
RA Prime Minister till April 20, 2006. A number of instructions were
given to heads of corresponding state bodies and organizations as
well.