Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

EUROVISION BETTING ODDS: SIRUSHO, ARMENIA
Stuart Heritage

hecklerspray
/eurovision-betting-odds-sirusho-armenia/200813187 .php
March 27 2008
Los Angeles

Here it comes – another daily instalment of Eurovision betting odds.

Exciting, huh? Oh, you big kidder, it is.

Eurovision fever is already sweeping the continent, you’ll be pleased
to know. The Norwegian entry is number two in the Norwegian national
charts, the Belgian entry is seventh there and this week’s entire
top 15 in Sweden are all entries in the Eurovision qualifying round.

Let’s pray that never happens here – anything that heps to give John
Barrowman credibility as a judge is all wrong in our books.

Here are the Eurovision betting odds for Armenia, with help from
Paddy Power…

Armenia – (pop. 2,976,372; a landlocked Eurasian country in the
Caucasus region): Sirusho, Qele Qele

In Armenian ‘Qele Qele’ means ‘Let’s go’, as in ‘let’s go to the beach’
or ‘let’s go and drown animals for sport’. However, quite what Sirusho
wants us to let’s go and do is never made explicit, partly because
she spends quite a lot of the song wailing "From my Armenian soil I
came to bring the wind of the mountains" like a vaguely apocalyptic
gypsy woman. But don’t let the opening of Qele Qele fool you, because
this song is one of the favourites to win Eurovision this year. We’re
not sure why – it could be because it sounds a bit like Shakira,
or because it sounds like Sirusho is singing "ooh Kelly ooh Kelly"
and a lot of people called Kelly will vote for it because they’re
thick. But even if Sirusho doesn’t win Eurovision for Armenia,
at least the song is perfectly set up to soundtrack the sort of
tourism commercials for North African countries that they show on
news channels in continental hotels. Also, this is the third of
our Eurovision betting odds profiles, and the third pretty female
performer. A pattern forming? Current Eurovision betting odds – 6/1

TURKISH PARTY LEADER CHARGED IN ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROBE: REPORT

Agence France Presse
March 24, 2008 Monday 8:45 AM GMT

The head of a minor Turkish party was jailed pending trial on Monday
for alleged links to a shadowy group supposedly plotting to topple
the government, the Anatolia news agency reported.

An Istanbul court had charged Dogu Perincek, leader of the once-Maoist
and currently ultra-nationalist Workers’ Party (IP), of "being a
leader of a terrorist organisation" and "possessing classified state
information", it said.

Three other suspects — journalists from a magazine and a television
station linked to the party — were also charged, the agency said.

They were among 12 people arrested in dawn swoops on Friday as part
of a probe into an ultranationalist grouping called Ergenekon which
was supposedly planning to stage political unrest and assassinations
in a bid to discredit and eventually topple the government.

Those detained include veteran journalist Ilhan Selcuk and Kemal
Alemdaroglu, a former president of Istanbul University.

Selcuk, whose arrest led to accusations that the government was
trying to silence critics, was set free Sunday, along with five other
people. Alemdaroglu was released on Monday.

Both men were banned from leaving the country.

The probe into Ergenekon was launched in June after the discovery of
explosives in an Istanbul house.

Prosecutors have charged 39 other people in the case, along them
retired soldiers, journalists, lawyers and underworld figures.

Turkish newspapers, citing unnamed sources, say police are
investigating whether the suspects were involved in acts of political
violence aiming to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party,
the off-shoot of a banned Islamist movement.

This would include the murders of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, the Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and a senior judge
killed by a gunman who stormed into the country’s top administrative
court, they said.

Reports claim some of the jailed suspects also planned to assassinate
2006 Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, a pro-government journalist
and several Kurdish politicians.

The media largely considers the probe as an onslaught against the "deep
state" — a term used to describe members of the security forces acting
outside the law to preserve what they consider Turkey’s interests.

BRYZA: SUSPENSION OF U.S. ASSISTANCE MAY BE RECONSIDERED

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2008 17:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ What I thought the Secretary Rice said is that we
are looking into suspending or beginning to implement limitations to
some of our programs, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza said when commenting on
Dr Rice’s March 12 statement.

"One thing that you saw was that letter that came from Millennium
Challenge Corporation CEO, Ambassador John Danilovich that talked about
the need to reconsider the MCC program in the current circumstances. We
were also in the process of possibly limiting certain other flows
of assistance money if the state of emergency was not lifted and if
the freedoms in Armenia were not restored. But it sounds as perhaps
those positive steps have been taken in terms of the lifting of the
state of emergency and since the positive steps have been taken then
there is no need for us to take negative steps on our side."

"I hope very much that lifting of the state of emergency moves tensions
in Armenia to a new phase, in which freedoms and democratic momentum
in Armenia are restored and we get back on track with all of the
items on our important agenda," he said.

"The MCC has a broad scope to determine eligibility for aid. It aims
to provide assistance in response to performance and reform. If the
impression in Washington is that a country has wandered far away
from democratic reforms, then by definition there needs to be some
ratcheting back of the MCC program… I would rather not get into
a speculative discussion about what might be too much, because I
hope we have moved out of that whole set of problems. It seems that
perhaps right now we are seeing the restoration of all the freedoms
and now that question of suspending assistance could become moot,
I hope. But it all depends on how fully the freedoms are restored,"
Mr Bryza said in an interview with The Armenian Reporter.

The state of emergency imposed in Yerevan on March 1 was lifted on
March 20.

ARMENIAN FOOTBALL CUP 17th TOURNAMENT STARTS

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Football Cup 17th
tournament has started. The following results were recorded in the
1/8 final: Mika – Ararat-2 7 to 0, Kilikia – Mika-2 2 to 0, Shirak –
Shengavit 3 to 1, Pyunik – Patani 11 to 2, Ulis – Banants-2 4 to 1,
and Gandzasar – Pyunik-2 3 to 0.

The return games are fixed for March 28 and 29. It should be
mentioned that Banants, the current Armenian cupholder, and Ararat,
a participant of the final, will be involved in the competition from
the quarter final.

MATTHEW BRYZA: WHAT IS ON THE TABLE IS A FAIR AND BALANCED COMPROMISE

armradio.am
25.03.2008 12:45

Commenting on the recent criticism of the Minsk Group by Azerbaijan,
the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza declared in an
interview with the Armenian Reporter that he "does not think that
any of the people that are out there criticizing the Minsk Group
proposals are aware of what is really in the proposal."

"What is on the table is a fair and balanced compromise that includes
elements that are attractive to Azerbaijan, an interpretation of
which was cited in the UN GA resolution, but there are also many
elements that are very attractive to Armenia that were not cited in
that resolution," Matthew Bryza said.

Speaking about the possibility of the meeting between RA
President-Elect and the President of Azerbaijan on the sidelines of
the NATO summit in Bucharest, the American mediator said he could
not mention the exact time.

"The calendar is a bit complicated in that President-elect Sargsyan
will not be inaugurated until April 9, and the summit in Romania is
from April 2 to 4. So Prime Minister Sargsyan will not yet be the
President. There is a protocol problem, which could lead to a delay,
but it is up to them if they get together there. And if they don’t,
they would be able to meet shortly thereafter. In terms of agenda,
it is clear now that the President-Elect of Armenia is in favor
of continuing on the basis of the proposal on the table as it was
presented at the OSCE ministerial meeting in Madrid last November,"
Matthew Bryza said.

If Armenia recognizes Nagorno Karabakh, "that will be something that
is very seriously undermining the peace process," Matthew Bryza
said, commenting on the talks in Armenia that it should recognize
the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic after the recent
non-constructive actions of Azerbaijan.

"I think any move that prejudges the outcome of the negotiations
that are underway and that are achieving some real results in
terms of moving closer to finalizing the basic principles would be
unhelpful. And we looked at the UN GA resolution of Azerbaijan in that
very light: that it was a one-sided resolution that did not reflect
the fair and balanced nature of the proposal on the table. Similarly,
if the Armenian side were to move unilaterally and prejudge the outcome
of the negotiations by recognizing Nagorno Karabakh, that would be
something that is very seriously undermining the peace process,"
the US diplomat noted.

"I think that would be a highly asymmetric response to Azerbaijan’s
move at the UN GA and potentially a highly destabilizing move. It
would mean to decide that this is the end of the negotiating process
and we have unilaterally declared that the conflict is resolved in
this way," Bryza said.

Commenting on the possibility that some of US assistance programs
may be suspended because of the events in Armenia, the US Co-Chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group said "since positive steps have been taken
in terms of the lifting of the state of emergency in Armenia, there
is no need for us to take negative steps on our side."

"I hope very much that lifting of the state of emergency moves tensions
in Armenia to a new phase, in which freedoms and democratic momentum
in Armenia are restored and we get back on track with all of the
items on our important agenda," Matthe Bryza said.

PRESS RELEASE
Greg Krikorian, President, Glendale Unified School District
1807 W. Glenoaks Blvd., #205
Glendale, CA 91201
Tel: 818-240-7088
Fax: 818-240-7320
Email: [email protected]

Krikorian Sets The Record Straight:

`Courageous Conversations’

This year, the California School Boards Association motto is
`Courageous Conversations’ for the sake of our children. This is a
sentiment with which I could not agree more, and I have continually
advocated for increased communication between our school board and our
city council to better serve our community.

It was in that spirit that I chose to address the city council on March
11, 2008, standing before the dais, representing the voices of
approximately 26,000 children to address a very serious issue affecting
schools – our state’s budget crisis and the impact on our schools.
The
lack of adequate funding for public education has had an adverse effect
on our students, teachers, and community. Our state ranks 46 out of 50
states in education funding; approximately $2000.00 below the national
average.

To clarify the utility issue, in June of 2006, our district launched a
district-wide energy conservation program with the help of Energy
Education Inc. Their numbers indicate that if the District had not
implemented the conservation program with the 21% increase in
utilities, the cost to the district would have increased approximately
$2,000,000.

As a result of the proposed state budget, GUSD Board of Education is
faced with a budget shortfall of $8.7 million next year, and we are
looking for creative ways to weather this storm, while protecting the
quality of our instruction. The School Board, administrators,
teachers, and classified staff have all worked to control expenses,
because legally school districts have little to no ability to generate
revenues. This puts the students in our schools in a precarious
position. In marked contrast, cities have multiple mechanisms to
increase revenue. Sources such as increased fees, the levying of
taxes, fines and municipal taxes give cities greater flexibility to
maintain services during difficult financial times.

Again, it was in the spirit of collaboration that I stood before you on
March 11 to request help with the rapidly increasing utility costs. It
appears that the Mayor and some council members have misunderstood my
intent. I was dismayed at the allegations levied at last week’s
council meeting and the unnecessary personal attacks.

As President of the GUSD Board of Education, it is my responsibility to
represent the interest of our schools, teachers and, most importantly,
our children. I would expect that our Mayor would accept nothing less
>From a president of the Board of Education since his children attend
Glendale schools.

It is very unfortunate that our Mayor has acted out in this fashion.
However, rather than dwell on personal issues and attacks, I implore
our Mayor and city council to move beyond personal attacks and politics
and focus on solutions. It is my hope and goal we get beyond this and
move forward as a community, working together for the betterment of our
children.

The Mayor has chosen to focus attention on the quality support our
community and schools receives from police, fire, and parks and
recreation departments. As a school District, we humbly thank the City
for these high quality services. Yet we believe that there may be
opportunities for additional support.

These are not meant to be outrageous or controversial ideas. Our
School District supports many city-sponsored and non-profit
organizations at little or no cost. We are happy to collaboratively
work with these organizations because of the positive impact on our
community.

We must find ways for our community and its leadership to truly
collaborate, communicate, and work together.

I had the opportunity of serving on the School Board for the past seven
years, serving as president for two terms. For the past 18 years, I
have been the beneficiary of many of the wonderful programs created by
our city, community organizations, and our school district, such as the
Kiwanis, Boy Scouts, Little League and AYSO. I consider myself a proud
citizen of Glendale.

Gregory S. Krikorian
President, Board of Education
Glendale Unified School District

###

G. KARASIN: "PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER OF ARMENIA SUPERVISE SITUATION"

Panorama.am
17:39 20/03/2008

"Armenia and Russia are close friends and for that reason it is very
important for Russia to know what will be here in Armenia, how the
things will be arranged," said Georgi Karasin, the deputy foreign
affairs minister of Russia.

"During my visits many questions were discussed and the sides mentioned
that the relations in the country are being rapidly developed in
politics, economy and in humanitarian fields," he said.

According to Karasin the post election period in the country and
the announcements of the Armenia opposition were also the subject of
their discussion.

"We guess that the only way through the problem is dialogue. I
could feel that Robert Kocharyan as well as Serzh Sargsyan are quite
conscious of the situation and they manage to supervise it," said
Karasin and added that Russia will contribute to the regulation of
the situation.

KHAZAR IBRAHIM: "WE DO NOT OBLIGE ARMENIA TO CONDUCT NEGOTIATIONS"

Azeri Press Agency
March 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova -APA. "We do not oblige Armenia to conduct
negotiations," Khazar Ibrahim, Spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry told APA.

Commenting on Vartan Oskanian’s statement that adoption of resolution
in UN General Assembly can frozen the process of negotiations, he
said that Azerbaijan had settled for a compromise by conducting talks
Armenia for a long time.

"Neither domestic nor foreign factors give chance to Armenia to make
such terms. The country declared the state of emergency, media was
imposed strict censorship, protest actions killed many people and
political situation is very tense. On the other hand, international
community voiced its position with the adoption of the resolution
in UN General Assembly," he said. Touching upon doubtful status of
Vartan Oskanian after the elections, he noted that Armenia should
estimate the situation and take constructive steps, instead of
giving groundless statements. Then, Azerbaijan can think about the
continuation of the talks.

"They cannot make term with Azerbaijan. If there is a term, Azerbaijan
will take proper steps", he said.

POLITICAL PARTIES OF AZERBAIJAN CALL ON OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN TO PUT AN END TO DOUBLE STANDARDS

TREND News Agency
March 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 19 March /corr. TrendNews I.Alizade / The political
parties of Azerbaijan call on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to
put an end to double standards, serve peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and not to any take reckless steps.

"Political parties of Azerbaijan sharply condemn the OSCE Minsk Group’s
position on the Resolution on ‘Situation in Occupied Territories of
Azerbaijan’- which was adopted by the UN General Assembly," stated by
the declaration adopted by the political parties during the conference
organized by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) on 19 March.

On 14 March, the UN General Assembly supported the Resolution on
‘Situation in Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan’, which was
presented by the Azerbaijani side. The representatives of each
three co-chairman-countries ( USA, Russia and France) of the OSCE
Minsk Grou- which was established for the peaceful settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, voted against the
Resolution, i.e. against territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The declaration by the ruling party says that Azeri people were
hoping that the negotiations within the Minsk Group will yield
positive results and the Armenian side will release occupied
Azerbaijani territories. "Despite that certain documents regarding
fair settlement of the conflict were adopted at higher meetings of
the OSCE, no agreement has been reached as a result of unconstructive
policy of Armenia," the declaration says.

The declaration says that according to the mandate of OSCE Minsk Group,
the key obligations of the mediators include achieving a peaceful
settlement of the conflict on the basis of norms and principles of
the international law. "Unfortunately, in several cases, the Minsk
Group Co-Chairmen do not demonstrate succession in this regard. The
statement of Co-Chairmen distorting the essence of conflict adversely
affected the process of peaceful negotiations, nonetheless encouraged
occupant country," the declaration says.

The declaration says that the Co-Chairman countries’ vote against
the document, submitted by the Azerbaijani side to the UN General
Assembly, brought to serious dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan. Thus,
the Co-chairman subjected their objective activities to serious
doubts and demonstrated solidarity with occupant Armenia, who openly
breaks the rights of peaceful neighborhood existence and principles
of territorial integrity.

BLOCKS OF APARTMENTS IN THE PLACE OF FURNITURE FACTORY

KarabakhOpen
19-03-2008 11:59:00

The NKR government decided on March 18 to reorganize the Furniture
Factory of Stepanakert into Stepanakert Office of Implementation
of Investment Programs. According to the order of the government,
the public property run by the factory of furniture is transferred
to the Office of Investment Programs. The government has allocated
16.2 million drams from the Reserve Fund to sustain the Office.

According to Prime Minister Ara Harutiunyan, after the demolition of
the buildings of the furniture factory destroyed by the war blocks
of apartments will be built on private investments, which will be
sold to the citizens on mortgage loan.