Levon Aronyan leading in the international chess tournament in Monaco
ArmRadio.am
19.03.2007 10:46
Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan scored 2:0 in the match against Spanish
Grand Master Francisco Valekho in the first round of a large international
chess tournament that started in Monte Carlo (Monaco). With 2 points Levon
Aronyan shares 1st-2nd places with Vasili Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Russian Grand
masters Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich have 1.5 points each.
YOUTH PARTY OF ARMENIA PROPOSES CREATING RUSSIA-ARMENIA UNION
YEREVAN, MARCH 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The Youth Party of Armenia will take
part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections by both proportional
and majoritarian systems with the motto "May 12: Change of
Generations." As Party Chairman Sargis Asatrian informed journalists
at the March 16 press conference, Party’s majoritarian list includes
22 candidates for deputacy and 6 candidates have been nominated by
majoritarian system. At that, Tigran Nalbandian nominated at polling
station N 4 withdrew his candidature, as in A. Asatrian’s words,
"there is a more experienced candidate at that electoral district."
Touching upon the post-electoral program of Youth Party of Armenia, S.
Asatrian attached importance to amendments to the Code of Criminal
Procedure to be proposed by them, according to which the punishment
for use of drugs should be liquidated and the state should render
medical assistance to people using drugs. Those selling up to 10 g
drugs should be sentenced to 10-14 years’ imprisonment and those
selling more should be sentenced to life imprisonment.
S. Asatrian said that in the sphere of foreign policy the Youth Party
of Armenia considers primary creation of Russia-Armenia Union and zone
of rouble in Armenia. He also stated that the Russian language should
be given the status of "language of interracial relations."
COOPERATION OF ARMENIAN AND AMERICAN FILMMAKERS
By H. Tsulikian
AZG Armenian Daily
15/03/2007
The "Armenian Union of Dramatic Arts" and the "Belmont World Film"
studio made a joint film entitled "Illusion", which will be first
shown on screen at Belmont Cinema, March 25. the director of the
film is renowned Michael Gurjian, who spent 4 years of his life
on the film. Last year he visited Armenia and became member of the
"Armenian Union of Dramatic Arts". Famous actor Kirk Douglas was also
involved in eth making of the film.
Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
March 14, 2007
Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANCA-WR Board Member Aida Dimejian Appointed as Delegate to the
California Democratic Party State Convention
Los Angeles, CA — The Armenian National Committee of America – Western
Region proudly announces that long time community activist and ANCA-WR
board member Aida Dimejian was recently appointed as a delegate to the
California Democratic Party State Convention. California State
Assemblymember Anthony Portantino appointed Dimejian in February 2007
after coming into office. The Democratic Party State Convention shall
take place at the San Diego Convention Center from April 27-29, 2007.
The Convention body plans to organize the newly-elected Democratic State
Central Committee and elect Regional Directors, among other duties.
"Being active in the American political process is very important to us
as a community. Attending this Convention presents a great opportunity
to participate and engage key players in the Democratic party," stated
Dimejian. "As an Armenian American, I am proud to fulfill this duty to
help represent the interests of the Armenian American community."
"We are honored to learn that Assemblymember Portantino appointed Aida
Dimejian to the California Democratic Party State Convention. Aida is a
thoughtful and principled leader of the Armenian American community and
her participation will surely enhance the Convention’s work," stated
Andrew Kzirian, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR.
Dimejian has been an active and engaged member of the community since
1976, when she moved to the United States from Lebanon with her family.
After graduating from the Californian State University of Los Angeles
she worked as a registered nurse at Huntington Hospital for a number of
years. In 1992 she began to work in real estate with her husband who has
owned Century 21 Golden Realty in Pasadena since 1987. Throughout the
years, Dimejian has served on a number of boards and committees in both
the business world and her local community. Some of the positions she
has held include Director of the California Association of Realtors,
Federal Political Coordinator for the National Association of Realtors,
Commissioner to the Human Services Commission for the City of Pasadena,
Board Member of Pasadena Planned Parenthood, and Board Member of the
Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region. She was the
president of the Pasadena Foothills Association of Realtors in 2002. For
her committed and outstanding work Dimejian has received numerous awards
such as the Century 21 International Presidents Award, "Women Achievers"
Business Life Magazine, and the YWCA "Women of Excellence" Award in the
field of Business.
The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working
in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters
throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the
world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American
community on a broad range of issues.
###
Photo Caption: Assemblymember Anthony Portantino with newly appointed
California Democratic Party State Convention Delegate and ANCA-WR Board
Member Aida Dimejian.
CBA PRESIDENT OFF TO UFA
ArmRadio.am
13.03.2007 12:45
President of the Central Bank of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan left for
Ufa today to participate in the forth "Banks, Processes, Standards,
Quality" forum, Mediamax reports.
The forum is dedicated to the memory of the First Deputy President
of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Andrey Kozlov.
Issues related to banking activity standards, implementation of the
" procedural" approach in the bank management, implementation of
standards for providing the information security of the organizations
involved in the banking system will be discussed at the conference
initiated by the Central Bank of Armenia, the Union of Banks of Russia,
the National Bank of Bashkiria and the Union of Credit Organizations
of Bashkiria.
AZERI POLL SHOWS MOST RESPONDENTS WANT NO COMPROMISE ON KARABAKH
Day.az website, Baku
13 Mar 07
13 March: Political expert Rasim Musabayov has presented the results
of an opinion poll at a news conference.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 respondents in 15 districts and
12 towns of Azerbaijan in December 2006.
According to the results of the poll, 59.4 per cent of the respondents
do not accept any compromises during the resolution of the Karabakh
issue. Therefore, the government needs to pay more attention to
this issue.
According to the results of the poll, only 11.5 per cent of the
respondents spoke in favour of a cultural autonomy and a local
government [status] being granted to Nagornyy Karabakh, 9.5 per cent
– an autonomy similar to the one of the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic
[Azerbaijan’s exclave].
A total of 11.1 per cent spoke in favour of the status of Nagornyy
Karabakh being determined by holding a referendum provided that
Azerbaijani IDPs should return to their native territories.
Asked about prospects for the negotiations on the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem, 46.7 per cent stressed that the situation of
"no peace and no war" will continue to last.
A total of 38.4 per cent of the respondents replied that there will
be changes towards a peaceful resolution of the problem, while 12.7
per cent believe that hostilities will resume.
One of the 37 questions put to the respondents during the poll was
about which states they considered to be friendly towards Azerbaijan
and which they considered to be hostile.
A total of 84.9 of the respondents consider Turkey to be friendly
to Azerbaijan, 17.8 per cent – Russia, 9.3 per cent – Georgia, 8 per
cent – Ukraine, and 5.9 per cent – the USA.
A total of 89 per cent of the respondents consider Armenia to be
Azerbaijan’s enemy, 13.1 per cent – Russia, 10.8 per cent – France,
and 9.7 per cent – Iran.
POSSIBILITY TO ADOPT A LAW IN FRANCE ON CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT FOR DENYING GENOCIDE IS HIGH
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.03.2007 16:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The voting on the law in French Senate over making
it criminal to deny the Armenian Genocide will be held, most likely
after presidential and parliamentary elections, Chairman of the
Armenian Federation of Europe (EAFJD) Hilda Tchoboyan stated to a press
conference in Yerevan. She said, the possibility to adopt that law is
very high. "This issue is situated in the plane of moral and universal
values, and not of politics and history as the Turkish side tries
to present. The Turkish lobby in Europe and the political parties,
which assist them have made a lot of efforts in order to represent
the Armenian Genocide issue just from the historical viewpoint.
However, the Armenian side insisted on its stance; that is history
must not be fitted under politics and we succeeded. The matter is
not in recognizing the Genocide, France has already recognized it,
the matter is in punishment for its denial," Tchoboyan stressed.
She noticed presidential candidate and French Interior Minister Nicola
Sarkozy supports the bill. "In near future the Armenian community
of France will decide on support of candidates in presidential and
parliamentarian elections," the EAFJD representative said.
Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
March 13, 2007
Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANCA-WR ATTENDS RECEPTION HOSTING GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS
LOS ANGELES, CA – Members of the Armenian National Committee of
America-Western Region (ANCA-WR) board were joined by local ANC leaders
at an evening reception on March 7, 2007 featuring former Governor and
Presidential candidate, Michael Dukakis. The event was hosted by
long-time ANC supporter and former Clinton Administration official,
Michael Mahdesian and his father, ANC activist Richard Mahdesian. The
ANCA-WR joined other Los Angeles-area elected officials, staffers and
community activists to listen to Dukakis’ perspective on the 2008
General Elections.
In his remarks, Dukakis emphasized the importance of grassroots
mobilization and the role it would play in the 2008 elections. He noted
that recent successes by the Democratic Party could, in part, be
attributed to the amount of effort spent reaching out to voters at a
personal and local level. He argued that this approach has the
potential to be even more effective in California and very important
given the nearly finalized decision to hold California’s Presidential
Primary elections early in the election season.
Glendale City Clerk, Ardashes Kassakhian opened the evening’s event. In
introducing Dukakis, Kassakhian recalled how as a student the former
Governor and part-time UCLA lecturer helped motivate his interest and
strengthen his commitment to public service. ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi
Hamparian was joined by fellow board members, Zanku Armenian and Avo
Ovayan as well as staff and interns from the Western Region office.
Several local ANC chairs and staff also attended the event.
"Being a grassroots organization, the Armenian National Committee can
appreciate the importance of the community outreach described by
Governor Dukakis," remarked Armenian. "Time and again, we see our hard
work at the local level result in a positive contribution to our
community’s well-being and ensure that its issues are appropriately
addressed."
The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working
in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters
throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the
world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American
community on a broad range of issues.
###
PHOTO CAPTION: (from left to right) Ovayan, Hamparian, Armenian, and
ANCA-WR Executive Director, Antranig Kzirian join Dukakis (center) at
the Wednesday evening reception. (Photo by Jacob Margolis)
TURKISH CHAUVINIST DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIE SENTENCED TO 3-MONTH SUSPENDED IMPRISONMENT IN SWITZERLAND
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 09 2007
LAUSANNE, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Lausanne judge
found guilty Chairman of Turkish Workers Party Dogu Perincek of
racial discrimination, for his public statements denying the 1915
Armenian Genocide.
According to CNN Turk, the judge determined 90-day suspended
imprisonment, as well as a fine of 100 Swiss francs for each day of
imprisonment to the leader of Turkish nationalistic party.
To recap, Perincek qualified the genocide committed towards Armenians
in the Ottoman Turkey as an "international lie" during a rally
organized by Turks in 2005 in Lausanne.
NKR PRESIDENT: TRADITION OF POWER’S CIVILIZED DELEGATION SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED IN KARABAGH
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 10 2007
The Nagorno-Karabagh Republic President Arkady Ghoukassian stated
after tendering the President’s resignations he would stay in the
Nagorno-Karabagh and help the next President and government, if
necessary, Arkady Ghoukassian stated at a meeting with professorial
staff and students of the Artsakh State University held March 7,
DE FACTO own correspondent in Stepanakert reports.
Arkady Ghoukassian noted the NKR Constitution gave him legal basis
to seek the third term; however, moral side was more important for him.
"New traditions should be established in Karabagh, first of all the
power’s civilized delegation", the President underscored. He stated
he had decided not to seek the third term long ago, as "some things
cannot be overstepped".
Arkady Ghoukassian refrained from answering a question concerning
his political successor, noting the people were to choose. "Sure,
I have my own sympathies and antipathies, however, there will not be
a successor, there will be policy’s succession", the NKR head stated.
In this connection Arkady Ghoukassian underscored the course targeted
at the development of democracy in Nagorno-Karabagh should be resumed,
noting, "the international community can recognize only democratic
NKR". In his words, Nagorno-Karabagh was on the verge of dictatorship
not long ago, but they managed to build a state, where "a man lives
freely, without fear". He remarked Nagorno-Karabagh should not be
compared with Azerbaijan, where power passes from a father to his
son. "Democracy and Azerbaijan are antagonists. We have no right to
be compared with Azerbaijan, we should attain to the level of the
European countries", the NKR head said.
Speaking of the Karabagh conflict settlement process, Arkady
Ghoukassian stated Nagorno-Karabagh was ready for compromises,
which, however, cannot touch its basic principles, first of all
independence. "We know what we can concede and what we cannot, however,
brackets should not be opened in diplomacy", the President said. In
his words, "a political decision assumes a compromise, however,
if it will prejudice our interest, we’ll not meet half-way".