CABLE FEEDING INTERNET CONNECTION RESTORED
Panorama.am
17:00 13/08/2009
Panorama.am has been informed by "ArmenTel" Company (trademark
"Beeline") that the damaged cable has been restored and has 100%
restored power source.
It’s worth reminding that one of the cables belonging to the company
has been damaged passing through Georgian territory.
KURDS FORBIDDEN TO BURY FAVORITE SINGER
News.am
15:37 / 08/14/2009
Aram Tigran, 75, died in Athens last week.Osman Baydemir, Mayor of
Diyarbakir city (populated with Kurds) took soil from Diyarbakir
to Brussels to the grave of popular among Turkish Kurds singer Aram
Tigran, Turkish Haberler website reports.
According to Haberler, Kurdish community of Turkey wished to bury
the singer in Diyarbakir, assuming that Turkish Government will give
the permission. The Mayor also participated at the burial ceremony
and severely criticized Turkish authorities for banning to bury Aram
Tigran in Diyarbakir. Baydemir stated that he will take the soil from
this symbolic cemetery to Brussels on Aram Tigran’s grave.
NEWS.am notes, that Aram Tigran’s family (Armenian origin) left Turkey
escaping from Genocide. They settled in Syrian Kamshli, where Aram
Tigran was born in 1934.
JUDO PLAYERS OF ARMENIA RETURN FROM WORLD JUVENILE CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT MEDALS
Noyan Tapan
Aug 11, 2009
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The World Juvenile Judo Championship
finished on August 9 in Budapest. The representatives of Armenia returned
without no gold, silver and bronze medals.
MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI: ATTACKING RUSSIA WOULD BE COMPLETE SUICIDE
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.08.2009 21:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Georgia has neither the will, nor the means
to attack Russia," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said in
an interview with FRANCE 24’s regional correspondent "It would be
complete suicide".
Russian troops in South Ossetia and in the other breakaway province of
Abkhazia still number well above 7,000. Mikhail Saakashvili maintains
that Moscow’s aim is to overthrow him. "Russia has made it abundantly
clear that its mission to get rid of the government here in Tbilisi
is not over," he said.
The Georgian president also claimed that Russia had amassed 120,000
soldiers along its border with Georgia. The aim, he says, is to test
Western countries’ ability to react. "Without international community’s
pressure Georgia will not be able to speak the language of diplomacy
with Russia," the President stated.
ARMENIAN EDITOR SET FREE
Hovannes Shoghikian
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyu n.am/content/article/1792354.html
Aug 4 2009
Arman Babajanian, the editor of the pro-opposition "Zhamanak" daily
suffering from a brain tumor, was set free on parole on Tuesday after
spending more than three years in prison for draft evasion.
Babajanian’s release came just hours after a state commission empowered
to grant parole discussed his worsening health condition and decided to
let him undergo urgent treatment in a civilian hospital. The decision
was swiftly endorsed by a Yerevan judge.
Babajanian was greeted by dozens of relatives and opposition
activists as he walked out of a prison hospital in Yerevan. He
visibly had trouble moving his right leg and had to be assisted by
Armen Martirosian, an opposition parliamentarian.
"My condition is unstable right now," Babajanian told
journalists. "Pray, pray for my health. This is all I’m asking you."
Babajanian’s uncle, Levon Vartanian, said the young editor will be
flown abroad for treatment. "Our doctors have fooled as so much we
don’t trust them anymore," he told RFE/RL.
Vartanian claimed that Babajanian’s brain tumor was first detected
a year ago and that local doctors denied its seriousness until
recently. "If they let him go last year there would not be so many
complications," he said.
Babajanian was taken to the prison hospital last month after a serious
deterioration of his condition. The hospital administration formally
recommended his early release on Friday.
Babajanian was arrested in June 2006 and subsequently sentenced
to three-and-a-half years in prison for forging documents to evade
compulsory military service. The authorities have repeatedly refused
to free him on parole despite appeals from domestic and international
human rights groups.
BORDER LANDS OFF-LIMITS: MEGHRASHAT RESIDENTS FACE "SECURITY" QUANDARY
Yeranuhi Soghoyan
20 09/08/03 | 18:02
The most picturesque structure in the village of Meghrashat, close
to the Turkish border in Shirak Marz, is the Sourb Astvatzatzna
Church. Even though the belfry and walls were damaged in the
earthquake, the church still amazes visitors with its massive
size. During the Soviet era it was used as a storage facility.
‘I still haven’t found a benefactor so that the sound of the church
bell can ring out in this village. We’ve grown sick and tired
of listening to the muezzin’s call to prayer," says Mayor Vahram
Maghatelyan.
At exactly 2:30 pm the village calm was broken. It was prayer time
in the village of Moungyughar over on the Turkish side.
"That’s not all. At seven in the evening it’s the same story. There’s
no escape. We have to listen to it. Less than one kilometer separates
the two villages," added the mayor.
Meghrashat was founded in 1812 and lies some 500 meters from the
border. Starting in the 1950’s, Meghrashat, along with a few other
Armenian villages, found itself cordoned off within the restricted
zone. You needed a permit to enter the area.
‘Just imagine a prison. You could walk around but needed a permit
to enter. It was forbidden zone for non-residents. My father passed
away in 1965. At the time my brother was living elsewhere. By the
time he arrived it was late at night. He had no permit and they
didn’t allow him in. He had to return to Gyumri," says Deputy Mayor
Ishkhan Sahakyan.
Mrs. Aileta from Megrashat remembers that it was only after residents
constantly protested that the permit entry system was removed.
No outside suitors for village girls
"The village was cut off. There were no outside suitors for the girls
in Meghrashat. Thus, marriages took place within the village. There
came a point when the entire village was interrelated. Something had
to be done," Mrs. Aileta says with a chuckle.
In 1967 the permit system was eased somewhat. The road barrier opposite
the village was removed. However 99% of the village’s pasture land and
fields now lay behind the barbed wire that delineated no-man’s land.
"Now, are we to blame for Meghrashat’s geographic position?" complains
Mayor Maghatelyan, "Is it our fault that our lands are so close to
the border? Does it mean that the animals can no longer graze there?"
Village residents square-off with border patrol
Come every spring, the residents of Meghrashat also start to have
their share of problems with the command of the border guard unit
stationed in Gyumri. The mayor told us that in 2006, the former
commander of the unit gave an order that the villagers wouldn’t be
allowed to take their animals out for grazing for two months.
Just before this there was an incident of cattle rustling and security
was beefed up all along the border.
"They wouldn’t open the road barrier so that we could take the animals
to graze," recounts Grandpa Vazgen from the village. "Our livelihood
was crumbling before our eyes. Later, we called in a camera crew to
document what was taking place here. They came and shot some film
and then showed it here and there. We thought the problem would be
solved. But the problem is that there have been no border violations
in the village. But if there’s an incident along the entire stretch
of the border, we along with the others suffer."
Mayor Maghatelyan realizes that the border guards go about their
business in accordance with RoA regulations regarding border
security. And the law stipulates that guards have the right to forbid
anyone access to the border closer than one kilometer.
No lands for grazing
"Meghrashat is less than a half kilometer from the border. So, will
they evict the entire village? Will we have to move to the nearby
village of Kaps? Of the village’s 350 hectares of land that fall
within the border zone, we only cultivate 50. Every day, we have to
graze some 400-500 head of cows. Where should we take them?
The current commander of the border patrol, Mr. Polishuk, says that
we should graze them on the lands in the neighboring villages of
Haykavan and Voghji. Do you think our neighbors would allow such a
thing?" Mayor Maghatelyan said.
In the spring of this year, an attempted border violation was
registered. Border patrol Commander Sergei Polishuk reported the
incident at last month’s Regional Council meeting and called on all
mayors of border communities to remain alert and to cooperate with
all security measures.
"I don’t understand what else we can do to cooperate. Last year
we rounded up some Turks who had entered the village and handed
them over," recounts Vahram Maghatelyan, "this was the incident
Commander Polishuk was referring to. The alarm was raised at
all the checkpoints. But, in the end we never understood what had
happened. They said that some Kurds on horseback crossed the border
and then went back."
Shirak Regional Administrator visits border
The border patrol commander even raised the issue with the Regional
Administrator with the request that he talk to the villagers and see
if they could come up with an alternative to grazing the animals
within the restricted zone. Regional Administrator Lida Nanyan,
at the invitation of Commander Polishuk, visited the border areas
considered to be dangerous. However, she refused to take Commander
Polishuk up on his offer.
Mrs. Nanyan explained that, "I told him that I wasn’t ready to penalize
the residents of Meghrashat. They live off the income derived from
their livestock. I said that it was their problem and that they were
getting paid to monitor the border as necessary. If the guards have
a problem their ranks should increase. That’s their responsibility."
Meghrashat’s mayor attended this year’s National Assembly hearings
regarding the border communities. He said that, "If all those
resolutions are actually implemented then conditions in these
communities would be so wonderful that everybody would pack their
bags and head off to live in the border villages."
"But God knows when all that will happen, if it ever does. The fact is
that the village receives a yearly state subsidy of one million AMD as
a border community, complains Mr. Maghatelyan. "What kind of money is
that? Can the problems of the village be solved with such a pittance? I
got so angry last year that I told them to keep their money; that it
wasn’t a proper amount but more like a charity hand-out. This year
they’ve allocated three million. But it’s still not enough for villages
like ours. People like us safeguard the border, the national border."
HEAD OF KANSAS NATION GUARD: "PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA HAS REALLY MATURED"
2 009/08/02 | 12:44
Politics
The following is an article that appeared in today’s edition of
the Topeka-Kansa Journal regarding the recent trip to Armenia by
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, adjutant general of the Kansas National Guard.
The Kansas adjutant general said Friday a trip he and other officials
took last week to the Republic of Armenia cemented the three-year
partnership the Kansas National Guard has with the former Soviet
Union country.
The focus of the trip was to foster growth in the areas of biosecurity,
agriculture development, education and law enforcement.
"The partnership has really matured," Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting said
during a news conference in Topeka. "It’s an evolving partnership."
Kansas and Armenia were linked in 2003 through the National Guard
Bureau’s State Partnership Program. Since then, the Guard has worked
closely with Armenia’s Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health,
Rescue Service, and other governmental offices and agencies.
Armenia, an independent nation with a land mass smaller than Maryland,
neighbors Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Among the officials going on the trip were retired Lt. Col. Craig
Beardsley, program administrator for the National Agricultural
Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University, and Blake Flanders, vice
president of work force development for the Kansas Board of Regents.
Beardsley said he talked with Armenian agricultural officials about
how they respond to and manage foreign animal diseases and shared
how the United States plans and trains for outbreaks.
The United States attempts to stop the spread of disease by destroying
infected animals, he said. Armenia slaughters the animals and uses
them for food or to make other products.
"Some of the diseases not in the United States are in that country,"
he said, listing foot-and-mouth disease as an example. "It was an
opportunity to visit with agricultural folks that actually manage
(the diseases) and get their insight into diseases we don’t deal with
on a weekly or daily basis."
Flanders said his focus was on assessing where improvements could be
made in the Armenian educational system, including how it could be
leveraged to support economic development. As an example, he explained
a regents’ program involving a combined effort by universities,
technical colleges and community colleges to increase the number of
registered nurses in the state.
In turn, Armenian officials looked at different aspects of the
educational system in Kansas, such as the funding approach for
technical colleges.
Bunting also said members of the 190th Air Refueling Wing, of the
Kansas Air National Guard, are in Armenia building a climate-controlled
warehouse, which will be used to store medical equipment and supplies.
Sharon Watson, director of public affairs for the adjutant general’s
office, said 37 civil engineers from the 190th Air Refueling Wing –
known as the Kansas Coyotes – are helping to build the warehouse.
TURKEY TRIES TO SECURE CONCESSIONS FROM ARMENIA
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.08.2009 18:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We can’t live in anger and hostility atmosphere
forever. We have to create grounds for RA -Turkish rapprochement. First
step is the most important one, no mater whether it’s undertaken
through "football diplomacy" or as an expression of good will," RA
Literature Institute Director Avo Isahakyan told a news conference
today.
According to him, recent Armenian-Turkish rapprochement -related
events proved Turkey tries to secure concessions on NKR issue
from Armenia without trying to improve relations. "I wish we had
normalized relations with Turkey. Too bad Armenia is more ready to
improve ties than Turkey is. We’re not the ones who committed the
Genocide, we’re not the perpetrators," Isahakyan stated, expressing
a hope that at least Turkish and Armenian youth will manage to reach
mutual understanding.
LEVON ARONIAN – RAPID WORLD CHAMPION
Panorama.am
12:46 03/08/2009
Rapid World Championship ends in German Mainz. Armenian GM Levon
Aronian passed finals as he did in "Chess-960" tournament but,
fortunately, he has not repeated the circle. This time he has been
undefeated giving no opportunity to his rival Nepomniachtchi. The
Aronian won rapid world champion’s title by 3:1 point. Note that
Aronian made his wish come true winning Anand in rapid chess.
TARKANIAN V. SCHNEIDER: Jury says lawmaker defamed opponent
Coach’s son gets $50,000 in actual damages
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, NV)
August 2, 2009
By LAWRENCE MOWER, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A jury late Friday handed down a verdict and $50,000 in damages in
favor of Danny Tarkanian in his long-running legal feud against State
Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas.
At about 10:30 p.m., and after deliberating for more than three hours,
the jury found Tarkanian’s claims were justified, according to
Tarkanian and his attorney, Gus Flangas.
"It was very gratifying — very nerve-racking, but very gratifying,"
Tarkanian said Saturday.
The lawsuit stemmed from a vicious 2004 state Senate campaign between
the two men. After losing the race, Tarkanian sued Schneider, claiming
that he was defamed and libeled during the campaign.
Tarkanian, who was running as a Republican in a heavily Democratic
district, was accused of acting as a resident agent for several
companies that later were investigated for illegal telemarketing scams
that victimized the elderly.
Schneider also suggested that Tarkanian turned "state’s evidence" to
save himself in a criminal investigation.
Flangas said Saturday that he asked the jury for $30,000 in damages
over comments Schneider made about Tarkanian on the "Face to Face"
show with journalist Jon Ralston, $10,000 for fliers mailed out by
Schneider’s campaign and $10,000 for comments Schneider made about the
status of Tarkanian’s law license.
The jury awarded all of that, plus determined that the case was
eligible for punitive damages. Flangas said Tarkanian could be awarded
up to $300,000 during the punitive phase of the trial, which starts
Monday.
Schneider released a statement Saturday saying he was "shocked and
saddened" by the verdict.
The statement continued: "I entered public service to serve the people
of Nevada and have always upheld the law. My family and I are spending
time together. I respect Nevada’s judiciary system and am hopeful for
a positive resolution of this matter."
Tarkanian said the amount of the award was not as important as having
the facts cleared up.
"I was going to settle the case for a lot, lot less if Mike had
acknowledged that at the time he made the statements he thought they
were true but he learned later that they were false," Tarkanian said.
Schneider would not agree to that, Tarkanian said.
Tarkanian was a registered agent for several telemarketing companies
that were indicted on fraud charges, but he said in later interviews
that he was merely an attorney who did legal work on behalf of the
companies and knew nothing of the fraud.
The same claims came up in a 2006 campaign for secretary of state,
which he lost to Democrat Ross Miller. Tarkanian said he wanted to sue
the first person who made the claims. He said he can’t sue Miller
anyway because the statute of limitations has expired.
Tarkanian, the son of legendary former UNLV basketball coach Jerry
Tarkanian and Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, said he is
considering running for office again.
He wouldn’t say for what but felt he wouldn’t be able to win had the
claims against him not been cleared up.
Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at [email protected] or
702-383-0440.
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