Author: Navasardian Karapet

WWI Armenian memorial is unveiled

Story from BBC NEWS:
7075899.stm

Published: 2007/11/03 12:37:52 GMT

A memorial is being unveiled in Cardiff to commemorate hundreds of
thousands of Armenians who died in World War I.
Armenians say 1.5m were killed in the war, through systematic massacres
or starvation, and allege deliberate genocide by the Ottoman Turkish
empire.

But Turkey says there was no genocide, and there were massacres on both
sides.

The monument will stand in the gardens of the Temple of Peace on what
is said to be the UK’s first piece of public land donated for an
Armenian memorial.

Welsh assembly Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas said Wales’s
relationship with Armenia "went back centuries".

He will receive a marble cross, or khatchkar, on behalf of Wales at the
unveiling ceremony.

Welsh interest

Lord Elis-Thomas will join members of the Armenian and Christian
communities on Saturday.

He said: "Wales’s relationship with one of the oldest states and the
oldest Christian church in the world goes back centuries.

"The fact that the funds for this fine memorial have been raised
entirely by the Armenians who live in Wales and that it will occupy a
special place here in the Temple of Peace, reflects the vibrant Welsh
interest in the history of Armenia."

The Welsh Centre for International Affairs, which is located at the
Temple of Peace, is a forum which seeks to promote human rights and
international understanding.

Steven Thomas, its director sad: "We’ve held events at the Temple of
Peace over the past seven years to note the Armenian genocide,
including parts of ceremonies we’ve held for National Holocaust
Remembrance Day in January each year. "

However, he said there had been a "much bigger response" to the
monument because the commemoration to the Armenians would literally be
set in stone.

ACCORDING TO ROBERT NAZARIAN, NO INCREASE IN TARIFFS OF PUBLIC
SERVICES ENVISAGED IN COMING MONTHS

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. No increase in tariffs of public
services is envisaged in the first half of 2008, the chairman of the RA
Public Services Regulatory Commission Robert Nazarian stated at the
November 2 joint sitting of the RA National Assembly standing
committees.

According to him, 403.4 mln drams has been allocated to the commission
by the 2008 draft state budget, 387 mln drams of which will be current
expenditures, including the wage fund of 310 mln drams.

Responding to MPs’ question about why tariffs do not decline under
conditions of the changing dollar-dram exchange rate, R. Nazarian said
that in particular, the positive impact of the indicated change in the
energy system is assessed at 1 bln 336 mln drams but taking other
factors into account as well, energy enterprises will benefit in the
amount of 2 bln 349 mln drams next year. However, there are also
negative factors that will result in losses. Particularly, in 2008 the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant will be stopped for a longer period, the
price of nuclear fuel have increased in international market, etc.

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WESTERN DIOCESE E-NEWSLETTER
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Bible Readings
—————–
Is 22.15-25
te07-11-04#Is%2022.15-25

Heb 1.1-14
07-11-04#Heb%201.1-14

Lk 8.17-21
e07-11-04#Lk%208.17-21

Diocesan News
—————–

PRIMATE REJOINS CATHOLICOSÂ’ ENTOURAGE IN EAST COAST

His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church, by the invitation of His Eminence
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, departed
for New York, on Thursday, October 25, 2007. The Primate rejoined the
entourage of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, for
the next three days.
( php?id=675)

ANOUSHAVAN ABRAHAMIAN EDUCATION FUND BANQUET

Under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, the
3rd annual Banquet of “Anoushavan Abrahamian Educational
Fund” took place at the Kalaydjian Hall of the Western Diocesan
Headquarters, on Wednesday, October 24, 2007.
( php?id=676)

LA CANADA AND CRESCENTA VALLEY PARISH ANNUAL BANQUET

On Saturday, October 27, 2007, La Canada and Crescenta Valley Parish
under the auspices of His Eminence Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, held its 3rd annual banquet at
the La Canada Country Club. Mrs. Lena Simonian, Chairlady of the
Parish Ladies’ Society was in charge of organizing the
banquet. The other members of the Parish Ladies’ Society are:
Mrs. Araxie Boyamian, Secretary-Reporter and Mrs. Meline
Aghajanian-Ter Oganesian. Mrs. Maral Sarafian, Parish Council member,
represented the council at the organizing committee. Yeretzkin Mery
Manvelian assisted the Ladies Society with the banquet.
( ry.php?id=677)

HIS GRACE BISHOP NATHAN HOVHANESIAN, PRIMATE OF THE DIOCESE OF GREAT
BRITAIN IN USA

We joyously inform our faithful that the Primate of the Diocese of
Great Britain, His Grace Bishop Nathan Hovhanesian visited the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church and met with His Eminence Archbishop
Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church. The introduction of the Diocesan clergy and a briefing on the
progression of the Mother Cathedral was part of the discussions
between the two Primates.
( ory.php?id=678)

PASSING OF YERTZKIN ANNA ALICE SEMERDJIAN

We grieve the loss of our dear yeretzkin Anna Alice Semerdjian, the
wife of Rev. Fr. Archpriest Shahe Semerdjian. We inform the Western
Diocese clergy, parish councils, Diocesan representatives, and
auxiliary bodies and that faithful that yeretzkin passed away on
Friday, October 26, 2007, in San Diego.
( .php?id=679)

ARMENIAN PROFESSIONALS NETWORK OF WESTERN DIOCESE HONOR U.S. ARMED FORCES

The Armenian Professionals Network of the Western Diocese under the
auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, is
proud to have Mr. Arthur Avazian, Esq. as keynote speaker at a
luncheon honoring the Armenian American men and women who have served
in the Armed Forces of the United States. At the event, Mr. Edward
Minasian will present his new book “Musa Dagh.” The
luncheon is held on Sunday, November 11, 2007, at 1:00 p.m.
( hp?id=669)

DELEGATION FROM WESTERN DIOCESE VISITS JIMMY CARTER WORK PROJECT OF
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN LOS ANGELES

The Vicar General of the Western Diocese, the Very Reverend Father
Dajad Dz. V. Yardemian, representing His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church,
accompanied by Sylva Khachiguian, Dn. Vahe Abovian and Remo Alexandri
visited the 16-unit Harborside Terrace project, on Monday, October 29,
2007. President Carter also visited the site at the same day.
( hp?id=670)

Upcoming Events
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11/11: Armenian American Veterans to be honored on November 11
( l.php?id=64)
11/17: Mother Cathedral Parish Annual Banquet
( detail.php?id=72)
11/30: CYMA Dinner Dance Extravaganza
( ndar/detail.php?id=73)

========================== ==
The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, providing
spiritual guidance and leadership to the Armenian Apostolic community,
is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization comprised of 47
churches in 16 western states. It was established in 1898 as the
Diocese of the Armenian Church encompassing the entire United States
and Canada. In 1927 the Western Diocese was formed to exclusivly serve
the western United States.

3325 North Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: (818) 558-7474 Fax: (818) 558-6333
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

GRANT THORNTON AMYOT’S REVENUES TO MAKE 3.5 MILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Nov 1, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Grant Thornton Amyot is the largest
consulting and audit company in the Caucasus by its revenues and
the number of employees and one of Armenia’s biggest tax payers,
the director of Grant Thornton Amyot Armand Pinarbasi stated at the
November 1 press conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of
the company.

In his words, the company’s revenues are forecast to make 3.5
mln dollars by the results of 2007 against 3 million dollars in
2006. The company annually pays taxes equivalent to nearly a million
dollars. Among Grant Thornton Amyot’s customers in Armenia are 300
local and foreign private companies of various sectors, almost all
international structures operating in the country, various NGOs, state
institutions, 15 banks. Among Grant Thornton Amyot’s customers are also
Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belorusian, Uzbek and Kazakh companies.

The network of Grant Thornton International includes 521 advisory
and audit companies with a total of 25 thousand employees located in
113 countries.

The total amount of revenues of these companies has made 3.5
bln dollars this year. According to A. Pinarbasi, Grant Thornton
International is the only group of consulting and audit comapnies to
function under the same name over 27 years.

Grant Thornton has been operating in Armenia since 1991. In 1994,
Grant Thorton France founded its subsidiary in Armenia, reorganizing
it into Grant Thornton Amyot joint venture in 2007. At that time the
company has 10 employees, whereas now – 120 ones who work in the audit,
business advice, tax and accounting, and legal units of the company.

In the words of Daniel Kurkjian, the president of Grant Thornton
France, "when the decision to establish an Armenian office was made 15
years ago, we were sure that we will succeed. An excellent team which
has formed at Grant Thornton Amyot. It quickly learned international
experience of audit and advisory work".

ARMEN KHACHATRYAN WILL RESIDE IN NEW EMBASSY

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 1 2007

The state budget of 2008 allocates 200 million drams for new embassy
buildings every year. The deputy minister of foreign affairs Gegham
Gharibjanyan said during the discussion of the state budget at the
National Assembly the annual assignment allows buying at least two
buildings for Armenian embassies every year. This year a building
was bought in Bulgaria, in 2008 a building will be bought for the
embassy to Ukraine in Kiev.

Gharibjanyan also said Armenia has bought 12 buildings for embassies,
of which 7 were bought by the Armenian government, the rest were bought
on donations of Armenian communities abroad. Armenian embassies to
13 countries do not have their own buildings yet.

ARMENIA LEFT OUT OF THE 2007 E-READINESS RANKING BY ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

arminfo
2007-10-31 13:42:00

ArmInfo. Armenia was left out of The 2007 e-readiness ranking
by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The ranking model evaluates
the technological, economic, political and social assets of 69
countries-including this year’s newest addition, Malta-and
their cumulative impact on their respective information
economies. E-readiness is the "state of play" of a country’s
information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and
the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT
to their benefit.

The countries where government commitment is not strong-for example,
Indonesia (67th), Brazil (43rd) or Russia (57th)-saw their places in
the rankings slide, although their absolute scores did not.

The world’s overall e-readiness is improving perceptibly, however: a
global average score of 6.02 in 2006 rose to 6.24 this year. And the
e-readiness gap is decreasing: the distance between the most eready
country and the least (Azerbaijan in 2006, Iran in 2007) dropped from
6.08 points to 5.80 points this year. The score differentials between
the top, middle and lower tiers also continue to decline year on year.

The e-readiness rankings are a weighted collection of nearly 100
quantitative and qualitative criteria, organised into six distinct
categories measuring the various components of a country’s social,
political, economic and of course technological development. The
underlying principle behind the rankings is that digital business
is at its heart business, and that for digital transactions to be
widely adopted and efficient they have to thrive in a holistically
supportive environment.

E-readiness derives from more than just the number of computers,
broadband connections and mobile phones in the country; also critical
are citizens’ ability to utilise technology skilfully, the transparency
of the business and legal systems, and the extent to which governments
encourage the use of digital technologies.

The world’s incumbent e-readiness leaders- Denmark and the US-retain
their respective number one and two spots (with Sweden also tied
for 2nd place), and nine of last year’s top ten remain in that
bracket. The US and Hong Kong are the leaders in this category of
e-readiness in 2007. In the sheer scale of individual and business
Internet use, the US certainly dwarfs all other countries. Several OECD
countries, on the other hand, have suffered a decline in e-readiness
performance as a result of the changes. Our sharpened focus on the
policy environment and e-government, as well as the use of new data
to assess educational levels and innovation have resulted in drops in
both scores and ranks for Switzerland (5th), Finland (10th), Germany
(19th) and Ireland (21st) as well as Canada. Even Denmark and the
US experienced a reduction in scores. Further down in the rankings,
the role of the government as a promoter and adopter of ICT was a key
determinant in whether countries moved up or Economist Intelligence
Unit e-readiness rankings, 2007

To recall, World Economic Forum has recently published The Global
Information Technology Report 2006-2007 wherein Armenia occupies the
96th position by ICT development yielding by 3 positions to Georgia
and by 25 positions to Azerbaijan. Armenia shares the position with
Kenya. Then goes Ecuador, Gana and Burkina Faso, Chad proved the
last 122nd.

"LEVON TER-PETROSSIAN DID NOT DISMISS DEMIRCHIAN"

A1+
[07:30 pm] 31 October, 2007

Today People’s Party (HZhK) Leader Stepan Demirchian dispelled the
rumors that Ter-Petrossian had dismissed Demirchian.

"Karen Demirchian resigned office in 1988 according to his
application," he said.

"And where was Levon Ter-Petrossian in the May of 1988?" he asked a
rhetorical question.

In 1991, during Ter-Petrossian’s office, Karen Demirchian became the
director of "ArmElectro" factory.

Demirchian did not foil the Karabakh movement and official Moscow
accused him of nationalism. Michael Gorbochov was eager to dismiss
Karen Demirchian and the heads of other countries. He didn’t head
the movement either and preferred to leave the political domain.

It was possible to avoid bloodshed thanks to Demirchian, the HZhK
leader said.

"The members of Karabakh Committee were taken into custody after
Demirchian’s resignation," former Yerevan Mayor Vahagn Khachatrian
reminded A1+.

"Just on the very first day of my office Demirchian called me and
gave sound advice. Thanks to Demirchian we have achieved what we set
out to do. He became a mediator between Armenia and Georgia and the
countries established fruitful partnership," Vahagn Khachatrian said.

"Demirchian did not sit down with his hands crossed after
resignation. Many turned to him for reasonable advice and help."

"The authorities fear that one day the oppositional forces might
unite. Therefore they have frequent nervous breakdowns," the former
mayor said.

TREES BEING REMOVED

A1+
[01:27 pm] 31 October, 2007

The trees of Yerevan City "got tired" of the ongoing construction. Cars
ran into trees and damage their branches while passing around the
holes.

"All trees hampering the road-building are being removed," Avet
Martirosian, the Head of the Environment Department of Yerevan
Municipality, told A1+.

For example, eleven trees in Northern Avenue, and five trees in Orbeli
Street were taken away. New trees will replace the cut down ones,
he said.

Over 10 thousand trees will be planted near irrigation systems
after the defoliation. Many trees died away because of dryness,
Avet Martirosian said.

MINISTER OSKANIAN APPRECIATED THE FAIR VERDICT RETURNED BY THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF HUNGARY

armradio.am
31.10.2007 13:13

At the initiative of the Foreign Minister of Hungary Kinga Gonez,
October 30 RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian paid an official visit
to Hungary.

Mr. Oskanian held his first meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Hungary. Greeting the Armenian Minister, Mrs. Gonez emphasized the
historic ties between the two peoples, the cultural contacts and the
existing friendly attitude.

During the meeting the parties turned to bilateral relations, the
opportunities of cooperation in the current stage. Importance was
attached to the opportunity of cooperation with Hungary under the
Armenia-EU Action Plan. Noting that the interest of the European
Union in the countries of the South Caucasus has grown, Mrs. Gonez
stressed that Budapest appreciates EU’s efforts towards the East.

The two Ministers discussed the opportunities of intensifying the
economic cooperation, pointing out to pharmaceutics, information
technologies and tourism as primary directions, where there is great
potential of cooperation.

The parties exchanged views on international issues, regional
developments and relations with neighbors. The Foreign Minister of
Hungary presented his position on the Kosovo issue. Vartan Oskanian
spoke about the latest developments in the peaceful settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.

Speaking about the murder of Armenian Officer Gurgen Margaryan by an
Azeri Officer, Minister Oskanian expressed appreciation for the fair
verdict announced by the judicial system of Hungary and noted that the
claims of Azerbaijan on extradition of the criminal are unacceptable
for Armenia.

In the second half of the day Minister Oskanian delivered a
speech at the Central European University of Budapest and met with
representatives of the Hungarian Armenian community.

AzarTac News Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 26 2007

Azeri leader meets OSCE’s Karabakh mediators

26 October. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs – Bernard Fassier (France), Yuriy Merzlyakov
(Russia) and Matthew Bryza (USA) – as well as Andrzej Kasprzyk, the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, at the Presidential Palace on 26 October.

The meeting discussed issues related to the resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.