Author: Khondkarian Raffi

GAREGIN II IS BACK FROM THE VATICAN

A1+
[06:27 pm] 13 May, 2008

On May 13 His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians returned to the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin after
visiting Pope of Rome Benedict XVI.

At the end of the visit an ecumenical praying ceremony was organized
at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Both Roman-Catholic and Armenian Apostolic
Church bishops and clergymen participated in it.

During the official visit Garegin II and his delegation also visited
numerous Armenian and Catholic churches and sanctuaries.

On May 10 Catholicos of All Armenians together with the high-rank
clergymen accompanying him left for Milan where they met the Armenian
Community in Italy.

On May 11-12 His Holiness Garegin II visited the Island of San Lazzaro,
Venice to meet the members of the Mechitarist Congregation.

ARMENIAN INTERNET COMMUNITY MARKS VICTORY DAY

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 13, 2008

KRASNODAR, MAY 13, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian
Internet community marked May 9 – Day of Victory in the Great
Patriotic War and Day of Liberation of Shoushi by organizing an
action. The newspaper of Armenians in Russia "Yerkramas" reported
that on the holiday days over a hundred Armenian Internet resources
placed a banner depicting St. George Ribbon and the national flag of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic on their pages. Along with the banner,
there were photos of the Armenians – heroes of the Great Patriotic
war and the war for freedom of Nagorno Karabakh, followed by a text,
in which the victories on May 9 were called a triumph of Mankind over
the ideas of racial hatred and ethnic intolerance. Among web resources
which took part in this action were , – the
website of the Union of Intellectual Interaction of the Armenian
Youth, , Armenian sections of ,
the patriotic website and others.

THREE ARMENIAN DIRECTORS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CANNES FESTIVAL

armradio.am
13.05.2008 16:52

Three film directors of Armenian origin – Atom Egoyan of Canada, Diana
Lazarian of Russia and Arman Tadevosyan of Armenia – will participate
in the Cannes Festival to be held from 14 to 23 May. The official
webpage of the Festival informs that Atom Egoyan will participate with
his "Adoration" film, which is a drama about young people who try to
communicate with each other via Internet and SMS messages. The film
stars Arsine Khanjyan, the director’s wife.

Diana Lazarian’s 33-minute film titled "GATA" is presented in the
documentaries. Arman Tadevosyan’s film is presented in the short
films program. The 10-minute documentary was shot in Kars. The film
tells about the cultural and civil transfiguration in Kars.

GIFT CONTEST STARTED

KarabakhOpen
13-05-2008 11:31:23

On May 12 the fourth annual pan-Armenian song contest Gift
started. Singers from Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Georgia, Russia,
Ukraine and Poland participate in the contest this year.

On May 12 Speaker Ashot Ghulyan met with the participants of
the context and the director of Yerevan Theater of Song Arthur
Grigoryan. The NKR honorary consul of culture Zoya Shakaryan
participated in the meeting.

On May 13 the songs will be in Armenian, on May 14 in some other
language, on May 15 there will be a contest of original performance
of a song. The ceremony of awards is on May 16.

The sponsors of the contest are benefactors Vahe and Veronique
Karapetian from the United States. The partner of the contest is
Antares Publishing House.

630 FAMILY DOCTORS, NURSES NECESSARY FOR OPTIMAL MEDICAL SERVICES IN YEREVAN

ARKA
May 12, 2008

YEREVAN, May 12. /ARKA/. Yerevan’s outpatient treatment system needs
some 630 family doctors and nurses to render optimal medical services
to population, said Armen Sogoyan, head of the healthcare and social
welfare department, Yerevan Municipality.

The institute of family doctors is expected to be introduced by 2009,
the Yerevan Municipality reports.

For the past three years, 344 outpatient physicians and 205 nurses
have been retrained as family medical staff in Yerevan, Sogoyan said.

At present, 42 physicians and 43 nurses attend retraining courses. Some
427 family doctors and 255 nurses will work both in independent groups
as family doctors and individually.

The World Bank (WB) has allocated $20mln for the establishment of
the institute of family doctors in Armenia. As part of the WB credit
program, Surb Grigor Lusavorich (St. Gregory the Illuminator) and
Surb Astvatsamayr (St. Mother of God) hospitals will be modernized
in Yerevan.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
May 10 2008

Opposition gunmen seize control of Hariri’s media empire
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

BEIRUT: Militants allied with the opposition on Friday forced the
shutdown of all media operations belonging to the family of majority
leader and billionaire tycoon Saad Hariri.

The closure – which came as opposition fighters routed Sunni loyalists
of the government – concerned one satellite news channel, two regular
television stations, a newspaper and a radio station.

The media empire which was launched by Hariri’s father, Rafik Hariri,
the billionaire former prime minister who was assassinated in February
2005 in a massive Beirut seafront car bombing. The slain former Prime
Minister rose from humble beginnings to command an empire that
included flagship construction company Saudi-Oger, real estate
developer Solidere, banks and other companies – turning everything he
touched into gold.

His business activities and his rise as an influential Middle East
political leader often won the elder Hariri comparisons with Italy’s
billionaire politician Silvio Berslusconi who also sits atop a huge
business and media empire.

Future Television was launched in February 1993 at the height of
Lebanon’s post-war reconstruction frenzy, when Hariri was also busy in
multi-billion-dollar ventures to rebuild Beirut’s war-devastated city
center.

The guns of the 1975-1990 Civil War had gone silent only three years
earlier and the new high-tech television offered a wide scope of
family programmes, variety shows as well as news.

In 1994 Future Television launched a trial satellite broadcasting –
Future International – that also proved very popular with Arab
audiences.

In less than a year, Future International grew to become one of the
leading Arab satellite stations gathering the highest audience ratings
in the Gulf, Egypt and the Levant," according to Future Television Web
site.

"Like Future Television, Future International is a family TV that
promotes Lebanon as a place for reconstruction, civilization,
prosperity, coexistence, fun and good times."

Future Television restructured its ownership in 1996 and "now has
around 90 new shareholders, all from the Lebanese business, social and
media elite."

That same year it set up a Web site on the Internet, the first by a
Lebanese television.

The television expanded yet again in December 2007 when it launched
Future News, a 24/hour, which broadcasts news in Turkish and Armenian
as well as Arabic, English and French.

The Hariri family also moved into radio in February 1995, setting up
Radio Orient which began broadcasting from Beirut before moving onto a
new base in Paris.

Like the television, Radio Orient focuses on news from and about the
Arab world, and Lebanon in particular, broadcasting in English and
French as well as Arabic.

Al-Mustaqbal newspaper was also founded in 1995 and continues to serve
as the mouthpiece of Hariri’s Future movement. – AFP

AZG Armenian Daily #088, 09/05/2008

Culture, Social

SHUSHI TO CELEBRATE ITS 15TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A GALA DINNER DANCE

With great excitement, The Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble will
celebrate its 15th Anniversary with a Gala Dinner Dance, on Friday,
May 30, 2008, at St. Vartan Cathedral, NYC. In addition, plans for a
celebratory trip, aboard the Armenian Heritage Cruise, are also well
underway, for January, 2008. These eagerly anticipated events mark
Shushi’s continued success in perpetuating the dance of our Armenian
culture, for the preservation of the Armenian heritage for future
generations, along with its success in its extensive exposure of
Armenian dance and music, to non-Armenian audiences. To date, the
ensemble has had the opportunity to perform in numerous prestigious
cultural events in New York, New Jersey, Boston, California,
Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, as well as in Canada, Armenia and
Karabagh.

Shushi, founded in 1992, by Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian, the group’s
artistic director and choreographer, began with a few members, and has
evolved, today, into a group of 110 young (89 female, and 21 male)
dancers. The celebration of Shushi’s anniversary is truly a
celebration of the extraordinary accomplishments of Seta
Paskalian-Kantardjian who, through countless hours of her volunteered
time over the past fifteen years, continues to demonstrate her
tremendous dedication to our Armenian youth, and relentless drive to
enable them to maintain their heritage and identity.

Likewise, Shushi will be greatly honored by the attendance of
Mr. Vartan Abdo, as keynote speaker, at their May 30 Gala. Mr. Abdo is
the founder/director of the Armenian Radio Hour of NJ. He was born in
Jaffa, Israel, and moved to the US, in 1973, to further his
studies. He studied at Seton Hall University, majoring in
Mathematics. He is a full time associate professor of
Mathematics/Statistics at Union County College, Cranford, NJ and an
adjunct professor of mathematics at Seton Hall University, South
Orange, NJ. He has served the church as an ordained deacon and is
active in numerous Armenian organizations. His work within the
community was recognized by a `Gontag’ from His Holiness Karekin
II. He is married to Adrine Abdo, and lives in South Orange, NJ.

Mr. Abdo is a pioneer in our Armenian community, for his outstanding
work, over the past 30 years, in enlightening and informing our
community of relevant historical and current events, via the Armenian
Radio Hour of NJ. He has faithfully recognized and supported the
Armenian youth, including Shushi, since its inception.

We sincerely hope that you will join Shushi at its celebratory gala on
Fri, May 30, 2008 (cocktail hour at 7:30pm, dinner and program,
featuring Shushi dancers, 8:30 pm), and support its fundraising
efforts, including the group’s monumental opportunity to perform at
the Opera House in Armenia, on July 3, 2008.

For reservations: Marie Zokian (201)745-8850

By Karen Saraydarian-Arslanian

ARMENPRESS

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HAS FIRST MEETING WITH
FRENCH COUNTERPART

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign
minister Edward Nalbandian had May 5 his first
official meeting with French opposite number, Bernard
Kouchner, in Paris, which the foreign ministry in
Yerevan said proceeded in `a warm atmosphere.’
Kouchner was said to congratulate Nalbandian on his
appointment as foreign minister of Armenia and
commended his contribution to depending of French
Armenian partnership. He also expressed confidence
that Edward Nalbandian as foreign minister will
continue to help deepen French-Armenian relationships.
Both ministers emphasized dialogue and mutual
understanding between leaders of France and Armenia.
They expressed readiness to make every effort to
ensure close cooperation between the two nations.
Edward Nalbandian spoke about key priorities of the
new coalition Armenian government formed after the
presidential election. He also conveyed the opinions
of Armenia’s leadership on regional issues and ways to
settle its conflicts.
Nalbandian reconfirmed Armenia’s willingness to
continue talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue based n
a package of proposals designed by the OSCE Minsk
Group. He appreciated highly the cochairmen’s work.
Bernard Kouchner said France will continue to
support all efforts of the Minsk Group. He said France
assumes EU’s chairmanship in July and in this context
he referred to Armenia-EU partnership.
Speaking later to journalists Edward Nalbandian
said there is a clear demand now to reaffirm that
there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of
the conflict. He said he will discuss this with Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov when he meets with in
Strasbourg.

TIGRAN SARKISIAN CONTINUES TO RECEIVE CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES

ARMENPRESS
May 4, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS: The government press office said prime
minister Tigran Sarkisian continues to receive congratulatory message
on the occasion of his appointment.

It said messages of congratulations arrived from prime minister of
Belarus Sergey Sidorsky, prime minister of South Korea Han Sin Soon,
prime minister of the People’s Republic of North Korea Kim En Ir,
prime minister or Vietnam Nguen Tan Zung and Thai prime minister
Samak Sundaravej.

The government press office said also congratulator messages to Tigran
Sarkisian were sent by presidents of Central Banks of Bulgaria and
Kazakhstan.

ARMENIA WELCOMES IRAN’S BALANCED POLICY TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS

ARKA
May 4, 2008

YEREVAN, May 4. /ARKA/. Armenia welcomes Iran’s balanced policy to
the Karabakh issue, RA President Serge Sargsian said at his meeting
with Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyed Ali Saghaeyan.

Sargsian assured the Ambassador that Armenia is for A peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict in conformity with international
law and nations’ right to self-determination, the RA President’s
press service reports.

Ambassador Saghaeyan stressed that Iran appreciates Armenia’s
restrained response to Azerbaijan’s bellicose statements.

The sides shared the opinion that the countries should join their
efforts to achieve stability and secutiry in the unstable region.