Author: Lilit Nahapetian

AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY HOSTS LECTURE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 21, 2010 – 16:05 AMT 11:05 GMT

Professor Antony Holslakh, who is the author of In the Rocks of Ararat
book, delivered a lecture on Comparative Analysis of the Armenian
Genocide during the World War I at Amsterdam University. The Professor
focused on the sociological aspect of the Armenian Genocide. Antony
Holslakh defined genocide as a challenge to the humanity and criticized
all the other interpretations of this term. The lecture brought
together students and representatives of the Armenian community,
the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

Azg Daily, Armenia
April 17 2010

HAIM ORON TO INITIATE DEBATE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN KNESSET APRIL 28

Chairman of Meretz bloc and member of the Israeli Knesset Haim Oron,
who is the main supporter of the Armenian Genocide recognition, will
submit a debate on the issue on April 28. However, according to him,
his expectations are more than skeptical.

As April 24, when this date is commemorated worldwide, is Saturday,
Oron is going to offer this delicate issue for a discussion on April
28, after the parliamentary vacation, PanArmenian.net reports.

"I stay in touch with Armenian organizations, but this year the
government will bury this issue sooner than last time," Izsrus portal
quoted Oron as saying. "Currently Yerevan and Ankara are in a process
of negotiations, and many people do not recommend interfering. I do
not see any connection between the events which happened 95 years ago
and current geopolitics of the region, but these are the realities."

According to the source, after the appointment of Ze’ev Elkin of Likud
party to the post of chairman of the coalition, Oron has lost his ally
in the struggle for the Armenian Genocide recognition. "Earlier, he
was the leader of Israel-Armenia parliamentary friendship group,
however, now we shall wait to see what pressure will be exerted on him
by the coalition fellows. I will talk to him soon¦ Despite sharp
cooling in the Turkish-Israeli relations and many people’s desire to
do a bad turn to Turkey, I have skeptical expectations," said Oron.

ARMENIAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH DEVELOPS DRAFT LAW ON QUALITY INCREASE OF MEDICAMENTS IN THE MARKET

ARKA
March 29, 2010
Yerevan

YEREVAN, March 29. /ARKA/. Armenian Ministry of Health develops
draft law targeted at the quality increase of medicaments in the
local market, said Ara Babloyan, Chairman of Standing Committee of
National Assembly on Health Issues on Monday.

"Development of such a draft law approves that currently there are
problems in Armenia related to overdue medicaments, their quality
and prices, territorial and financial availability. There are also
a number of violations in this sphere", he said.

During the development of draft law the Ministry of Health does not
aim to toughen the punishments envisaged by legislation but prevention
of low quality and overdue medicaments.

Current legislation prohibits circulation of overdue medicaments in
the local market. The new draft law toughens the order of control on
the quality of medicaments.

The draft law will be submitted to the Parliament till the end of
the year for discussion.

The volume of overdue medicaments and medicaments due to destruction
in Armenia is about 200-300 tons.

Only 14% or 445 names of all medicaments in the Armenian market are
produced in Armenia and 22% or 718 names of medicaments are imported
from NIS countries, the remaining 64% – from other countries.

During 10 months of 2009 the volume of import of medicaments to
Armenia was $60.38 million versus $83.93 million in 2008.

Arman Kirakosyan: Armenia will never question the fact of genocide

armradio.am
26.03.2010 12:15

Turkish media quote ex-Foreign Minister Ali Babacan as saying that
during the Armenian-Turkish talks an agreement was reached on holding
discussions on the Armenian Genocide. Asked to comment on the report,
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman kirakosyan said:

`I’d not like to believe that the ex-Foreign Minister could have said
that. However, if it’s true, it’s at least surprising because I have
been present at the meetings, which marked the start of the
Armenian-Turkish normalization and there has been no agreement to
discuss the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

The President and the Foreign Minister of Armenia have been repeatedly
declaring that Armenia has never questioned and will never question
the fact of the Armenian Genocide and the importance of its
international recognition. The Armenian Foreign Minister declared
about it in Istanbul in 2008 minutes before with the then Foreign
Minister of Turkey, Ali Babacan. Any manipulation of the issue is
impossible and improper today.’

APA, Azerbaijan
March 13 2010

Serzh Sargsyan appoints new press secretary

[ 13 Mar 2010 19:46 ]

Baku ` APA. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan appointed Armen
Arzumanyan his new press secretary, APA reports quoting News Armenia.

Samvel Farmanyan was relieved from the post of presidential press
secretary due his appointment to the post of analytical-information
program director of the Armenian Public Television.

The new press secretary was working as the executive director of the
Armenian Public Television.

LA TRAVEL SHOW IS ‘ABUZZ’ BY ARMENIA’S STRONG FIRST APPEARANCE

Armradio.am
17.02.2010 10:41

Armenia and Karabakh made their first appearance at the LA Times
Travel and Adventure Show last week and were greeted by a two-day
throng of more than 40,000 people, according to show organizers.

Representatives of the two countries distributed travel information
and staffed a booth that showed video clips about Armenia and
Karabakh. Armenian dance groups in native attire performed folk dances
on each day of the show. And a travelogue and slide show by the authors
of an Armenia travel guide attracted a standing-room-only crowd.

"We couldn’t have hoped for a better debut reception," said Zaven
Kazazian, the president of the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce
(AACC).

News of Armenia’s participation at the LA travel show-which is the
largest travel show in the US– generated excitement even before the
show doors opened, according to Kazazian.

"Everyone was abuzz" about Armenia and Karabakh even before we arrived,
he said. And on the first morning of the show "there was a traffic jam"
of people at the booth, he added.

The Armenian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC), of Glendale, Calif.,
and the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia, in Los Angeles,
co-sponsored Armenia’s participation at the travel show in close
collaboration with the Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA)
based in Yerevan, Armenia.

On the first day of the show, which was held at the massive Los
Angeles Convention Center, every person received upon entry a flyer
that exclaimed "Welcome to Armenia" and which promoted traveling to
Armenia and Karabakh to see their natural beauty, history, and culture.

The distribution of the flyer to such a large crowd of potential
tourists was part of the AACC’s objective of introducing Armenia to
everyone, including to those for whom ‘Armenia’ might not have been
on the tip of their tongues, according to Nick Hacopian, who is a
member of the AACC and the Chair of the committee that organized
Armenia’s participation in the travel show.

"We’re putting Armenia on the map for a lot of people who might never
before have thought of traveling there," he said. People have to
think about Armenia, generally, before they will think about actually
traveling there, he added.

Armenia made a dynamic first appearance at the travel show through
its sponsorship of several cultural performances. The country
was represented on the "Global Beat Stage" with music and dance
performances by the Gevorkian Dance Academy, which performed modern
and folk dances in traditional attire. The Lilia Dance Group performed
Armenian folk dances on the second day of the show, as well.

Armenia and Karabakh also sponsored a "Destination Workshop" that
featured a slide show travelogue. This slide show, entitled "Welcome
to Armenia: Ancient Nation, New Republic," was presented by Matthew
Karanian and Robert Kurkjian, the authors of Armenia’s first-ever
commercial travel guidebook dedicated solely to Armenia and Karabakh.

The show attracted a standing-room-only crowd of more than 120 people
at the Convention Center’s "Destination Theatre."

The authors’ guidebook on Armenia, "The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and
Karabagh," is the best-selling guide to the country and also highlights
the environment and conservation. It is the winner of three national
book awards, and has been featured on National Public Radio.

Armenian Consul General Grigor Hovhannissian attended the show and
said he was pleased to see the interest and enthusiasm that greeted
the Armenian presence at the show. "Tourism is a priority sector for
the country’s economic development," he said. "And the interest that
was generated by Armenia at the LA show is a very encouraging sign,"
he added.

Hovhannissian noted that approximately 650,000 tourists traveled to
Armenia in 2009-a ten-fold increase over the number who visited just
a decade ago. More than a million visitors are projected to annually
travel to Armenia by 2020.

Representatives of Levon Travel and Sidon Travel-two Los Angeles travel
agencies that offer tours to Armenia– were at the Armenia booth each
day to explain the logistics of traveling there. And several tour
operators traveled to Los Angeles from Armenia to be at the booth,
including Armenia Travel M; Elitar Travel; and Nueva Vista Travel.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC DECLINE IN USD WAS 30-32%: FORMER CB GOVERNOR

ARKA
Jan 28, 2010

YEREVAN, January 28, /ARKA/. A former governor of Armenian Central
Bank, Bagrat Asatrian, argued Wednesday that Armenia’s economic
decline in 2009, in terms of USD, was 30-32%.

According to the provisional figures of Armenia’s National Statistical
service, the country’s GDP fell by 14.4 in 2009 to 3.165.5 trillion
Drams.

Speaking at a news conference, Bagrat Astarian said Armenia’s GDP
in 2088 totaled $12 billion Drams, while in 2009 it slashed to about
$8.1 billion. ($1 – 377.83 Drams).

RPA TO VOTE FOR ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

news.am
Jan 12 2010
Armenia

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) played a key role in drafting
the Armenian-Turkish protocols, and the RPA parliamentary faction will
certainly vote for the document," Chairman of the RPA parliamentary
faction Galust Sahakyan told NEWS.am.

He pointed out that the RPA has from the very outset been for
ratification within a reasonable timeframe. "As to the other
parliamentary forces, I think each of them will vote in conformity
with their beliefs," Sahakyan said.

Secretary of the faction Eduard Sharmazanov said that he, as well as
the ruling party, has been supportive of President Serzh Sargsyan’s
policy of initiatives over the last year and a half. The RPA remains
committed to its stance.

"RPA is not a party changing its views every week. At the RPA Council’s
sitting held before the protocols were signed, we stated our opinion
and have not changed it," Sharmazanov said.

On January 12, the RA Constitutional Court confirmed the
constitutionality of the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

news.am, Armenia
Dec 19 2009

Armenian FM meets with Turkish journalists

20:03 / 12/19/2009 Not only Armenia, but also the entire world,
especially the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states – the United
States, Russia and France ` are deny any link between the
Armenia-Turkey reconciliation and the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process,
RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at his meeting with
Turkish journalists.

According to him, linking the two processes would endanger both.
`Ironically, we should expect good will to be shown because, I would
like to remind you, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have shown good will
this year. Nine Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meetings have been
held. They would not have been held but for the good will,’ Minister
Nalbandian said.

The Minister reminded the Turkish journalists that a joint statement
by 56 nations was made public at the OSCE Foreign Ministers’ meeting
in Athens, and Azerbaijan put its signature to the statement as well.
The document points put positive dynamics in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process. `That is, if Turkey really wants to facilitate the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, I think ` and it has
repeatedly been stated ` it would do right if it did not interfere in
the peace process, because interfering hinders more than it helps. If
they do not want create impediments to the Armenia-Turkey
reconciliation or Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, they should not lay
any claims or set any preconditions. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are
the interested parties, and I would even say the most interested
parties, seeking an early peaceful settlement of the conflict by means
of negotiations,’ Minister Nalbandian said.

He expressed regret that the Turkish journalists have an impression of
two parallel processes. `If there were any precondition involving
Nagorno-Karabakh, if there were any such dependence, which was written
by your press and you before the protocols were made public ` and many
journalists here, in Armenia, used to refer to your articles and say:
`You see, there is a link with the Nagorno-Karabakh problem’ ` the
process would not have got under way. The process got under way with
the sides understanding that there was not any such dependence. After
the protocols were made public, some people, with a magnifying glass
in their hands, tried to find a link with Karabakh. After they failed
to find anything suspicious, they stated at the highest level that the
protocols did not contain any preconditions. So what dependence are we
talking about?’ stated minister Nalbandian. The Armenian FM pointed
out that Armenia has as many reasons for speaking about preconditions
or links.

T.P.

PRESS RELEASE
17 December 2009

US Contacts: Lenna Garibyan,
[email protected], 617-304-4901
Armenia Contacts: Arman Arakelyan,
[email protected],
++374 10 563268, ++374 93 090616

"Our Dream Playground"
Fundraiser Exhibit

Aquatics Armenia charitable organization will hold a fundraiser exhibit
titled "Our Dream Playground" in Picasso Hall of Best Western Congress Hotel
at 12:00 (open until 18:00) on Saturday, December 19, (Address: 1 Italy
str., Yerevan). Paintings and drawings of children from Nor Nork and other art
centers will be exhibited. The drawings depict the "dream playgrounds"
aspired by the children.

Aquatics Armenia’s first project is a construction of a community playground
and basketball court in the third block of Nor Nork, which will be
available to all children of the community. Through fundraiser evens in US,
Aquatics Armenia successfully raised the main funds for the
implementation of the project. Attracting supplemental funding from Armenia
is essential at this stage. This fundraiser is open for foreign donors as
well, who can contribute through the Aquatics Armenia website at

Aqu atics Armenia was founded in 2007 in Boston, MA to plan, construct and
guide the implementation of aquatics-centered and community-based recreation
in Armenia & Artsakh to promote healthy living and contribute to improvement
of public health & general life conditions. Our purpose is to promote
inclusion in the broadest sense, improve lives of the families and the
communities.

For details visit our webpage at