Author: Takmazian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

THE TRADITIONAL ANNUAL BOOK FAIR OPENS IN ANTELIAS

"AS OF 2010 THE CHURCH WILL ORGANISE PAN-DIASPORA BOOK FAIR" ARAM I

On Sunday November 1 2009, after the Holy Liturgy the clergy and laity
walked in procession from the Cathedral Gregory the Illuminator to the big
tent erected in the middle of the Courtyard of the monastery housing the
Annual Book Fair. Annually, Armenian publishers, organizations, media,
producers of DVDs and CDs all over from the Americas, Europe, the Middle
East and other regions are invited to exhibit their books, documents, music
and other cultural artefacts for a whole month. The Publishing House of the
Catholicosate that publishes hundreds of volumes annually sponsors the Book
Fair. This event is an occasion to sensitise the Armenian public on the
spiritual, literary and cultural achievements of the Diaspora.

In His opening speech His Holiness Aram I welcomed the participating
organizations and thanked them for their work in sustaining Armenian
language and culture in the Diaspora. He then showed the first print of the
book that included essays by Armenian Students in the Diaspora who had won
the Essay competition. His Holiness had announced the competition during the
Book Fair in 2008. At the end of his speech Catholicos Aram I announced that
as of 2010 all the communities in Diaspora would be invited to take part in
Book Fairs.

##
View the photos here:
tos/Photos415.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the books
published in the Printing House of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate,
The Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

ARMENIA, THE NETHERLANDS INTERESTED IN DEEPENING BILATERAL RELATIONS

armradio.am
29.10.2009 12:15

The newly appointed Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia, Pieter
Jan Langenberg, presented the copies of his credentials to the Deputy
Foreign Minister of Armenia, Karine Ghazinyan.

Congratulating the Ambassador on appointment, Deputy Foreign Minister
Ghazinyan noted that Armenia wished to deepen the friendly and allied
Armenian-Dutch relations and expressed hope that Ambassador would make
an important contribution to the further expansion and deepening of
the cooperation between the two countries.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the intensification of
the political dialogue and promotion of trade-economic ties.

The parties attached importance to the launch of the Eastern
Partnership Program and the full utilization of its potential,
particularly the simplification of the visa regime and the conclusion
of a free trade agreement.

At the request of the Ambassador, Deputy FM Karine Ghazinyan presented
Armenia’s approaches on the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict
settlement, and the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

EURO-CAUCASIAN FORUM OF CARDIOLOGISTS UNDERWAY IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo
2009-10-29 14:44:00

ArmInfo. Yerevan is hosting the Euro-Caucasian Forum of Cardiologists
on October 29-30.

The Forum is organized by the Diaspora Ministry and Armenia-France
Health Action organization under aegis of Prime Minister of Armenia
Tigran Sargsyan.

The Diaspora Ministry press-service reported that nearly one hundred of
cardiologists from Russia, France, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Israel,
Lebanon and Armenia are participating in the event. The two-day forum
will consider a number of issues related to cooperation and exchange
of experience between the cardiologists of Armenia and Diaspora,
development of health protection in the country and retraining of
specialists. Karlen Admyan, Head of the Association of Cardiologists
of Armenia, says 53-54% is the share of cardiovascular disease (CVE)
in the total mortality. He came out for raising this problem at the
political, for it will be impossible to reduce these diseases without
relevant national programs. Among methods to prevent CVE, Adamyan
highlighted introduction of up-to-date technologies. The Association
is currently surveying usage of up-to-date technologies of treatment
in Armenia. He highlighted that Armenian cardiologists have been
actively participating in international conference for the last 20
years. They made 54 reports during European Congress of Cardiologists,
which is several dozens of times more than indicators in the region.

Nearly 17 million people die of CVE in the world every year. Research
shows that a long-lasting stress may shorten life by 3-4 years,
smoking – by 10 years, fatness – 9 years and excess weight -by 3
years. Healthy way of life is the best method to reduce CVE risk.

NKR BORDERS BALDLY DRAWN UP IN CONSTITUTION: MP

news.am
Oct 29 2009
Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament MP Armen Sargsyan took the floor at
today’s session, saying it is unlawful to speak of the territories’
liberation on areas Karabakhi law is extended.

Such restrictions do not demand additional legislative substantiation
as is already stipulated in the Constitution, MP told NEWS.am.

"Constitution is our main law and it clearly states everything. It
is approved by all-people’s referendum, that baldly draws up
the state borders. The similar statements should be considered
anti-constitutional and in no way a democratic right for the freedom
of expression. It is a constitutional tort," he concluded.

RULES OF EUROVISION CHANGED

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.10.2009 20:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Organizers of the "Eurovision" song contest have
changed the voting rules, press office of the contest reports. Next
year, viewers will be able to vote for the participant they liked,
throughout the broadcasted competition. Previously they could only
vote last 15 minutes after completion of all performances.

New voting rules with the help of SMS-messages and phone calls will
be applicable even during the semifinal and final of "Eurovision-2010".

"It is more logical, when you can vote for the performer, yet seeing
and hearing his or her song, not after all performances. The experience
of several national contests also showed that the increasing time to
vote is very effective," the executive director of Eurovision Svante
Stockselius said.

Another change in the contest rules relates to responsibility for
disclosing information about persons who participated in the voting.

Henceforth, the responsibility for such violation will be imposed to
national television companies, translating the song contest.

Previously, it was on the conscience of telecommunications service
providers.

The decision about the change of responsibility was made after
a scandal in Azerbaijan. Then the local prosecutor’s office of
Azerbaijan summoned for questioning several people who voted for the
representatives of Armenia at "Eurovision-2009".

"Eurovision-201 0" will be held next May in Oslo.

ARMAVIA BEGINS REGULAR FLIGHTS TO BAHRAIN

/ ARKA /
October 27, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 27, /ARKA/. Armenia’s national air carrier Armavia
launched Monday regular flights to Bahrain. The A-319 Airbus landed
at the international airport of Manama and was given a very warm
welcome by local authorities.

Armavia will operate two flights to Bahrain a week, Norayr Beluyan,
Armavia CEO, said, adding that the new flight is very important both
for Armenia and Bahrain.

"We expect this new route to boost contacts between Armenia and
Bahrain, particularly, to stimulate tourism development. We also hope
that the new route will be used by transit passengers,’ Beluyan said.

The aircraft’s crew, Armavia owner Mikhail Baghdasarov and Norayr
Beluyan were given special souvenirs by the official representatives
of Bahrain.

The Kingdom of Bahrain, which literally means "Kingdom of the Two
Seas" is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al
Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west, Qatar is to the
southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. It has a population of 700,000,
the capital is Manama.

Armavia is a member of the International Association of Air Transport
(IATA). It operates about 250 flights a month to almost 30 directions
in the former Soviet Union, Europe and the Middle East. In 2008 it
transported 647,000 people. Its fleet is composed of three a-319,
2 a-320, a Boeing 737-300, a CRJ-200 and a Tu-134 aircrafts.

COUPLE FROM KARABAKH WINS TICKETS TO EGYPT

/ ARKA /
October 27, 2009
STEPANAKERT

Stepanakert, October 27. / ARKA /. One of the Karabakh couples who
took part in the Artsakh Big Wedding on October 16, 2008, in connection
with the anniversary of Ameriabank won a two-week vacation in Egypt.

As the correspondent of ARKA News Agency from Stepanakert reported, in
2008 Ameriabank offered couples to become investors of the bank. Only
250 couples responded to the offer out of the seven hundred.

During the year, many of them refused to participate and on the eve
of the draw only eight couples were left.

Following the drawing of lots married couple Gayane Balayan and Smbat
Markaryan won the trip to Egypt.

Ameriabank will continue to provide assistance to young couples.

In Armenia, the bank has a number of functions, which it also intends
to apply in Artsakh.

THE COOPERATION COUNCIL BETWEEN EU AND ARMENIA HELD ITS TENTH MEETING ON MONDAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.10.2009 20:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Cooperation Council between the European Union
(EU) and the Republic of Armenia held its tenth meeting on Monday
26 October 2009. The meeting was chaired by Mr Edward Nalbandyan,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. The EU delegation was led
by Mr Carl Bildt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. Ms Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European
Neighbourhood Policy represented the Commission and Mr Diego Lopez
Garrido, State Secretary for European Affairs represented the
incoming Spanish Presidency. The EU Special Representative for the
South Caucasus, Ambassador Peter Semneby also took part in the meeting.

The recent EU Foreign Ministers’ Troika visit to Yerevan (20 July
2009) marked the continuing high level political dialogue between
the EU and Armenia.

RELATIONS WITH TURKEY A DELICATE ISSUE FOR ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.10.2009 11:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Restoration of independent statehood and Armenian
and Nagorno Karabakh Republics’ establishing their presence on the
world map signaled a new stage in Armenian nation’s history, NKR
politologist David Babayan says in his article on Armenian statehood
and its geopolitical consequences. Still, the politologist states,
political as well as historical and psychological dimensions of
Armenian statehood mismatch, especially so in Diaspora.

According to Babayan, relations with Turkey, mostly because of 1915
Genocide and Turkey’s unwillingness to recognize it, is a delicate
issue for Armenia, both from external policy and mentality viewpoint.

"Stable psychological mistrust for Turkey has long been formed with
Armenian nation. This is the reason Armenia-Turkey Protocols signing
provoked ambiguous reaction in Armenian world.

Before Protocol conclusion, Armenian consciousness has never witnessed
a clash between historico-psychological and political components of
statehood, though sometimes they were cited against each other. From
geopolitical viewpoint, establishment of relations with Turkey
creates serious perspectives for effective geopolitical maneuvering,
especially in interrelations with global and regional powers, showing
unconcealed interest to this case.

On the other side, Armenia-Turkey rapprochement gained ambiguous
attitude in Armenian world, especially so in Diaspora, creating
certain tension. Meanwhile, Armenia-Diaspora tie is a key component
of modern Armenian statehood, and any, even inconsequential rifts
are detrimental to our statehood’s interests," David Babayan concluded.

Aravot, Armenia
Oct 20 2009

Armenian court hears suit against opposition paper

by Naira Mamikonyan
"Gind versus Chorrord Ishkhanutyun. The aim is to stop paper from publishing"

The Gind printing house, which has been printing the [pro-opposition]
Chorrord Ishkhanutyun paper until recently, has decided to use all
possible means to stop printing of the paper. Gind has formulated its
suit against the founder of Gind, the Ogostos company, in this very
way – demanding that a court of law in Kentron and Nork-Marash
districts [of Yerevan] should not only arrest the property of the
company but also stop publication of the Chorrord Ishkhanutyun paper.
The matter is that months ago Gind, bypassing the agreement signed
between the founder of the paper and the printing house, unilaterally,
and what is more important, secretly from the paper, without relevant
talks and arrangements, decided to raise the tariff for printing
Chorrord Ishkhanutyun paper.

Months ago, one fine day the printing house sent a bill of debt of
five million drams (about 13,000 dollars), which had accumulated as a
result of the deliberate rise in printing tariffs; and the paper will
no longer be published if it does not pay. The case was sent to court.
The first court hearing, to be chaired by [judge] Gagik Khandanyan,
was scheduled for 9 October. However, the hearing did not take place
on that day, because the judge did not turn up. It was announced that
he was on a business trip and was out of the republic. The court
hearing was postponed, but the matter is that earlier, a month ago, he
had made a decision to arrest the property of Ogostos and wrote in his
decision that it [the decision] could be appealed in the Appeals
Court. No-one applied to the Appeals Court, because such a decision on
the part of the judge was absolute illiteracy. The matter is that
court verdicts on arrest are not subject to being appealed, according
to the Armenian Code of Civil Trials.

Judge Khandanyan came on time yesterday [19 October] and made his
second decision, which from the legal point of view contains a gross
mistake, to put it mildly. He satisfied the motion of the plaintiff
Gind, which demands that the publication of the paper be stopped.

Chorrord Ishkhanutyun knows that Gind’s problem, which, by the way,
had lost two of its "clients" – the [pro-opposition] Haykakan Zhamanak
and Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspapers, was to prevent the publication
of the paper right from the beginning. Gind secretly raised costs for
publishing Chorrord Ishkhanutyun in order to drive the Ogostos agency
into a corner and arrest its property, and consequently to stop
publishing the paper. Seeing that this is senseless, the printing
house decided to reiterate its demand that the paper’s publication be
stopped.

The court hearing on this case will continue.