Author: Nahapetian Samvel

550 PACK ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE’S FUNDRAISER AT PAVILLION FEATURING TATA

Gibrahayer – Nicosia Wednesday 25 March – Armenian National
Committee’s Tuesday night’s fund-raiser featuring Tata was a community
record-breaker, with more than 550 Armenian Cypriots packing The
Pavilion in Nicosia.

The evening also featured Eurovision Cyprus 2009 finalist Gore Melian
and Maria Moskofian.

The audience were reminded of the reason why the event was taking when
a 10-minute film was shown on the giant screens, on the global
political activities of Armenian National Committee’s.

The event was under the patronage of Parliament President Marios
Garoyian, who was greeted warmly by his compatriots.

"We will continue our noble struggle so that we give our homelands
both Cyprus and Armenia the place in history that they deserve"
Garoyian concluded his speech that was constantly interrupted by
rhythmic applauses of his compatriots.

ARMEN MARTIROSYAN ELECTED CHAIRMAN

A1+
03:48 pm | March 23, 2009

Official

Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador
Armen Martirosyan, was elected chairperson of the organisation’s
Commission on the Status of Women for a two-year term, reports the
press service of the RoA Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

TURKISH MINISTER HOPES FOR NO IRRATIONAL US STEPS ON 1915 ARMENIAN "INCIDENTS"

Anadolu Agency
March 19 2009
Turkey

Ankara, 19 March: Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said his
government hopes the United States will not take a step that is not
rational regarding the incidents of 1915.

Speaking on Turkey’s foreign policies on Channel 7, Babacan stressed
that "we hope the USA does not take a wrong step pertaining the
incidents of 1915".

Asked about Turkey’s relations with Armenia and 24 April, Babacan
said that the "Democrats are in majority in the US administration. The
Armenian lobby has significant influence on the US Congress".

"Compared to previous years, we are in a different process. The
new process involves negotiations between Turkey and Armenia,"
Babacan said.

"Every issue gets discussed and elaborated in the negotiations
with Armenia. The goal is to normalize relations between Turkey and
Armenia," Babacan said.

"The normalization of Azerbaijani, Armenian and Turkish relations will
generate a new geopolitical situation in south Caucasus. A decision
made or a step taken by a third country on the incidents of 1915 will
hurt the process. We are openly talking to our American friends and
urging them not to take a wrong step," Babacan said.

In response to a question on Turkish-Israeli relations, Babacan said
that diplomatic traffic and communication with Israel has never been
suspended. "Our contacts with Israel are regarded as important,"
Babacan said.

Asked if he is hopeful for peace in the Middle East, Babacan said that
"many issues in the Middle East are related to each other. You can
achieve results only with an approach that grasps the problems as a
whole. Our dialogue with Syria and Iran is part of this process. If
you wish to have a deep rooted solution in the Middle East, you have
to work with Iran".

In regard to a question on the upcoming visit of US President Barack
Obama to Turkey, Babacan said that "Obama will not be visiting
Turkey just because it is a predominantly Muslim country. Further,
Obama will not be in Turkey only to pay a visit to a country as part
of the Alliance of Civilizations project. Obama’s visit to Turkey
will take place based on what Turkey is".

"We are working on the details of President Obama’s visit to Turkey. It
is not certain yet if Obama will deliver a speech in Turkey or whether
he will attend a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations project,"
Babacan said.

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

_daily_dish/2009/03/genocide.html

19 Mar 2009 09:12 am

Genocide

Matt Welch and Alex Massie go after Obama for backing away from using
the term genocide with regard to the Armenian genocide. Massie:

If you think you’ve heard this tune before it’s because you have.
It’s become a ritual: all Presidential candidates decry the Armenian
genocide on the campaign trail and the successful ones always welsh on
calling it that once they are in power. George W Bush was no
exception. Realpolitik you say? Just the usual campaign stuff you have
to say? Well, perhaps. But if politicians want to be taken seriously
perhaps they should cease being quite so cynical.

29% OF SENIOR POSITIONS HELD BY WOMEN IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
18.03.2009 12:08

New research from Grant Thornton International reveals that women
still hold less than a quarter of senior management positions in
privately held businesses globally. 24% of senior management positions
are currently held by women – a figure identical to 2007 and only a
marginal improvement from 2004 when only 19% of senior level positions
were held by women. 34% of privately held businesses globally have
no women in senior management.

The greatest percentage of women in senior management is in the
Philippines where women hold 47% of senior positions. They are followed
by Russia (42%) and Thailand (38%). In Armenia 29% of senior positions
are held by women, being the 9th country in the league, whereas the
lowest percentage continues to be in Japan (only 7%). Also appearing
low down the league table are Denmark (13%) and Belgium (12%).

Lilit Arabajyan, partner in Grant Thornton Amyot, the Armenian member
of Grant Thornton International, says, "During the past decade
we have seen a significant increase in women’s role in various
organizations. Today many women occupy managerial positions in
businesses. The results of this survey only show that there has been
an increase of 7% in women’s managerial share in 2009 in Armenia,
as compared to 22% of the year 2007. As an audit partner in the
leading audit and advisory company in Armenia, I work with many
large enterprises every year and have hardly met a management team
composed of only men. In our firm, 51% of staff are women, among whom
11 persons occupy managerial positions".

Women have become most successful in increasing their share of senior
management roles in Turkey (up from 17% in 2007 to 29% in 2009)
and Mexico (20% in 2007 to 31%). The biggest falls were in Brazil,
where the figure fell from 42% in 2007 to 29% in 2009, and Hong Kong
(falling from 35% in 2007 to 28% in 2009).

ARMENIA PLEDGE PRESENTS DILEMMA

Atlanta Journal Constitution
rintedition/2009/03/15/turkey0315.html
March 15 2009

Washington — Turkey has become so pivotal to U.S. foreign policy
goals that President Barack Obama included it on his first overseas
tour. But relations between the countries could be at risk unless
Obama is willing to break a campaign promise to describe as "genocide"
the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks almost a century ago.

Such a declaration would infuriate Turkey, which could complicate
U.S. military operations in the region by withholding cooperation.

"The Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion,
or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported
by an overwhelming body of historical evidence," Obama said during
the campaign.

This is not an obscure historical debate that Obama can avoid easily.

It will be on the minds of government officials, media and the
public when Obama arrives in Turkey on April 5. A few weeks later,
Obama must decide how to deal with the issue in a statement to mark
the annual Armenian remembrance day, April 24.

Historians estimate that 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the
first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths
constituted genocide, however, contending the toll has been inflated
and the casualties were victims of civil war and unrest.

Previous presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton,
avoided the word, even after committing in their campaigns to use it
as president.

GEORGY BOSS: ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA CALL OF THE TIMES

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2009 18:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The visit of the Armenian delegation headed by RA
National Security Council Secretary Arthur Baghdasaryan to Kaliningrad
will be followed by a Business Forum in Armenia. The Forum will aim
to promote trade and economic cooperation with Armenia, Kaliningrad
Regional Government official website reported.

Kaliningrad delegation has scheduled a visit to Armenia in June
to participate in Business Forum. The forum will mainly focus on
establishment of trade relations between commercial companies of
Kaliningrad and Yerevan.

"Strong trade and economic cooperation with Armenia is the call of
the times," Kaliningrad Governor Georgi Boos stated.

"Kaliningradd Region has much to contribute to collaboration:
production of canned meat and fish, amber goods, fur. We’re
especially interested to strengthen our collaboration in the spheres
of agriculture, energetic, tourism as well as health, culture and
education."

ARMENIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL INCLUDED IN "PARTNER SCHOOLS OF FUTURE" GERMAN PROGRAM

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2009 20:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Germany carries out
a world program "Partner Schools of the Future." Within the framework
of the program assistance in the field of teaching will be rendered
to those schools which have demonstrated high results.

The goal of the program is to create a global net of 1000 schools,
where pupils are expected to get a very good education. The main
focus will be on teaching foreign languages, particularly, German.

The program "Partner Schools of the Future" is supported by the
Goethe Institute.

The Sardarapat Secondary school in Armavir marz has already been
selected as such. An agreement with the Armenian school will be
concluded with the Georgian Goethe Institute. The Ambassador of
Germany to Armenia Andrea Viktorina, the representatives from the
Ministry of Education and Science will be present at the ceremony
of signing the agreement. The ceremony is scheduled to take place in
the Sardarapat school.

US SAYS IT MAY NEED TURKEY WHILE WITHDRAWING TROOPS FROM IRAQ, BABACAN

Anadolu Agency
March 16 2009
Turley

ANKARA (A.A) -16.03.2009 -Turkish Foreign Minister said on Monday
that US earlier told Turkey that it might need Turkey in general
sense while withdrawing its troops from Iraq.

In an exclusive interview with Kanal 24 tv channel, foreign minister
Ali Babacan said US has not yet made plans about the number of soldiers
and the route it would withdraw the troops.

Babacan said the United States would inform Turkey about its plans
and Turkey would make assessments about it.

"Iraqi people supports withdrawal of the US soldiers and they want
this to take place soon," Babacan said and noted that Iraq had given
a signal to Turkey to assist this.

Babacan said Turkey would of course consider its own conditions on
the matter.

Asked to comment on scheduled visit of US President Barack Obama
to Turkey, Babacan said this was a result of the positive impact of
Turkey’s influence both in its own region and in the world.

When asked what would be the agenda of the meeting with Obama,
Babacan said Afghanistan-Pakistan, developments in the Middle East,
Iran, the Caucasus, Balkans, Cyprus, Armenia, as well as Iraq would
be discussed during the talks.

Responding to a question about relations with Armenia, Babacan said,
"more than 1.5 years have passed since the start of talks. The process
progresses well. We target normalisation of relations and important
steps have been taken in this respect."

42% GROWTH OF ACTIVE PLASTIC CARDS IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-03-17 11:08:00

ArmInfo. The number of active plastic cards in Armenia, issued by the
Armenian Card payment system’s member-banks, grew by 42% to 361702
by March 1, 2009, as compared with the similar period, 2008.

According to the data the Armenian Card provided to ArmInfo, 59%
(212281pcs.) of these cards fell on the local ArCa, MasterCard – 13%
(46357 pcs.), Visa cards – 28% (103064 pcs.). Moreover, 16627 plastic
cards were issued over February, having exceeded January indicator by
1918 cards. Total number of operations with cards in February made
up 240795, including 145181 with ArCa cards, 35999 with MasterCard
and 59615 with Visa cards.

According to the source data, the number of sale/service/ cash delivery
points (less regard to ATM), active in the Armenian Card system, made
up 1943 as of March 1, 278 of which are cash delivery points. 2184
POS-terminals functioned in these sale/service points, 346 of which –
in the cash delivery points. Along with it, of the total number of
POS-terminals, ArCa cards were served by 2161 POS-terminals, Visa –
1452, MasterCard – 1697. The number of sale/service/cash delivery
points over February grew by 33, POS-terminals – by 35. There were
total of 2668 active terminals in Armenia as of March 1, including
484 operating ATMs.