Author: Tambiyan Samvel

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT TO RUN FOR CAPITAL’S MAYOR

Mediamax
March 16 2009
Armenia

Yerevan, 16 March: Armenia’s ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the
[opposition] Armenian National Congress [ANC] he leads will take part
in the mayoral election in Yerevan due on 31 May.

The decision was taken at a sitting of the ANC’s political council
on 15 March, Mediamax quoted the ANC’s report as saying.

Ter-Petrosyan will head the list of ANC candidates.

With its another decision, political forces comprising the ANC
entrusted its central office to consider the [opposition] Heritage
party’s proposal for taking part in the election with a single list
of candidates and instructed it to start official negotiations.

Elections to the Yerevan council of elders and of mayor of Yerevan
will be held on 31 May.

The parties comprising the ruling coalition decided to run in the
elections separately. Incumbent mayor Gagik Beglaryan heads the list
of candidates from the Republican Party, whereas Health Minister
Harutyun Kushkyan heads the Prosperous Armenia party list.

ANC EYES YEREVAN MAYOR ELECTION AS SECOND ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.03.2009 18:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenian National Movement views Mayoral elections
as the second round of presidential elections," Armenian National
Congress coordinator Levon Zurabyan stated, calling on Yerevan
citizens to actively participate in Mayoral elections. The victory
of our candidate will become the victory for the whole Armenian
National Movement.

According to him, on Mar 15. 18 affiliate ANC parties made a joint
decision to nominate Levon Ter-Petrosyan for Yerevan Mayor, as
current elections are crucial for the opposition. "More than a half
of Armenian population and political and economical resources are
concentrated in Yerevan. If the opposition wins, the struggle against
corrupted political and economical system will enter a new phase,"
Zurabyan emphasized.

"RA National Party Leader Stepan Demirchyan came second in candidates
list, and the names of other candidates are still under consideration
to be finalized within a few days," ANC Press Secretary Arman Musinyan
reported.

When questioned by PanARMENIAN.Net whether the opposition will
change election tactics of last year in case the candidate loses
the elections, Arman Musinyan replied, "Our tactics will not be
changed. We’ll fight for democracy and constitutional rights till
the end. The Armenian society won’t forgive the authorities for
new violence."

A1+

Unemployment on the rise
[12:04 pm] 10 March, 2009

More people are seeking employment in the Lori Marz in the past two
months. According to director of the employment center of Vanadzor Ara
Arakelyan, the number of unemployed has risen by 685 during the months
of January and February and a considerable growth of unemployed is
seen in the city of Vanadzor.

There have been 554 people seeking jobs in Vanadzor from January 1 to
March 1 and the number has increased by 128.

The number of unemployed in Alaverdi has gone up by 47. According to
Ara Arakelyan, the number of people seeing employment will increase
even more in the months to come due to lay-offs of people working in
many factories and organizations.

On January 1, 2009, there were 13,596 registered unemployed people and
this is 1037 more than the number in January 1, 2008. The index of
unemployed has gone from being 10,673 to 11,772. As a result, the
level of unemployment has gone from 9.8% to 10.6%

Gayane Sargsyan

Vanadzor

VivaCell-MTS presents free airtime to women subscribers on occasion of
March 8

2009-03-09 19:59:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE:
MBT) gives men an unprecedented opportunity to congratulate the women
they love and make a surprise providing them an opportunity to make
free of charge calls during a whole week.

From March 8 till April 7, send the command *888*subscriber’s phone
number# – indicating your sweetheart’s phone number, and along with
congratulations she will receive an opportunity to call you free of
charge during a whole week more than 10 000 minutes. 1400 AMD are
charged from the account of the subscriber who sends the command.Free
airtime can be presented only to VivaCell-MTS prepaid and corporate
subscribers. It is possible to present free airtime to the same
subscriber maximum 4 times. Every time one more week is added to the
free calls period. If the number of the sender is included in the
recipient’s "My World" list, it will be excluded from the list and
after the free calls period expires, she can add it back to "My World"
list. If the number of the sender is the recipient’s Special Number, it
will stop being a Special Number and after the free calls period
expires, the subscriber can reset it as a Special Number. Subscribers
of "I love:" tariff plan cannot present free airtime to the subscribers
of their Beloved Numbers. Free airtime can be presented and received
only during the card’s validity period. The free airtime cannot be used
in roaming.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Georgian, Azeri and Armenian youth taught tolerance
14.03.2009 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With the assistance of RA Ministry of Culture, the
Armenian Branch of the British Council together with a
non-governmental organization `Future belongs to you’ and the Armenian
team of LoFT (Leap of Faith Together) are conducting a program `Let’s
live together.’ The Armenian presentation of the program under the
heading `Knowing Ourselves’ has taken place today, in Yerevan.

Students from five countries are taking part in the program: Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Wales, Israel. Eight participants were selected
from each country, who worked out and conducted various youth and
social programs in October 2008 and February 2009.

Boston Herald, MA
March 8 2009

Already missing Mr. Speaker

By Peter Gelzinis
Sunday, March 8, 2009 –

My last phone conversation with George Keverian was two weeks
ago. `I’m looking over bread inside the Market Basket,’ he told me.

I apologized and said I’d call back in an hour.

`Peter, don’t be silly,’ said the former speaker of the House. `Your
call is the highlight of my day. I’m able to multitask, you know. I’m
sure I can squeeze the bread and provide you with insight at the same
time. So, Peter, please, what can I do for you?’

Our phone calls always ended the same way, with me promising to bring
coffee over to his assessor’s office in Everett. `I’ll look forward to
it,’ George would say.

In the aftermath of his passing on Friday, I can’t remember now what
it was that kept me from going to Everett City Hall.

George Keverian was, quite literally, an abundant man. His similarly
sizable intellect was surpassed only by his prodigious compassion. In
many ways, he was an engaging paradox.

As a public figure, Keverian was skilled enough to dominate in that
shark tank known as the State House. He was also the devoted
first-born son of Armenian immigrants, who died in the same Everett
three-decker where he’d spent all of his 77 years; he was the powerful
pol who never married and cared for his mother until the day she
died. Such bedrock loyalty does not exist in today’s crop of
politicians.

`When George was speaker and (Billy) Bulger was Senate president,’
recalled one insider, `you had this remarkable contrast in styles and
temperament. George was the Everett kid who rode the subway back and
forth to Harvard, a tremendous wit who made himself the butt of all
his best jokes.

`Bulger, on the other hand, was the (BC) Triple Eagle who never let
you forget it,’ the source added, `the studied quip whose fork-tongued
punch lines were always aimed at someone else.’

After Keverian out-maneuvered his Napoleonic predecessor, Tommy McGee,
in a coup of House reformers, the word `paternal’ described a
leadership style befitting a man who really did view the House as his
family.

Our conversations started after George had left Beacon Hill with no
regrets and no desire to lobby or look back. He took refuge in the
bosom of his beloved Everett, where the city immortalized its favorite
son by naming an elementary school in his honor.

`Peter, do you know what it feels like to be able to walk into a
building that bears your name and read Dr. Seuss to a kindergarten or
first-grade class?’ George Keverian would say. `It’s wonderful, truly
wonderful.’

I will miss the insight and the laughter so graciously dispensed by
this kind and generous man with the gentle voice.

s/view/2009_03_08_Already_missing_Mr__Speaker/srvc =home&position=1

President Sargsyan congratulates women on March 8

armradio.am
08.03.2009 13:16

President Serzh Sargsyan issued a congratulatory message on the
occasion of the International Women’s Day. The message reads, in part:

`Dear women,
I congratulate you on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

You have combined the best qualities, you have filled our families with
warmth and care. With all that you play an important role in the public
life of our country, contributing to the development and strengthening
of the state with your work and knowledge.

I extend my gratitude and congratulations to those women who bring up
and educate the new generation of citizens of our country, those
engaged in the fields of science, culture, healthcare and others.

I congratulate our daughters and grandmothers, mothers and sisters, all
Armenian women on this beautiful day.
I wish you love, warmth, happiness and all the best.’

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation led by Deputy
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Italy Alfredo Mantica.

Fri day, 6 March 2009

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation led by Deputy
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Italy Alfredo Mantica.
By pointing out that the bilateral relations have ushered in a new
stage of development, the Prime Minister stated our country’s special
focus on boosting the Armenian-Italian economic interaction.
Tigran Sargsyan and Alfredo Mantica underscored that despite the
functioning of a number of Italian companies in Armenia, the current
level of economic ties is still far from being satisfactory and falls
short of the existing potentialities.
The Italian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs briefed the RA Prime
Minister on the meetings and discussions held in our country by making
a point of the outcome of his talks with the Armenian Minister of
Economy. According to Alfredo Mantica, a draft action plan is out for
the development economic interaction, including the establishment of
direct ties and cooperation between Armenia and the region of Veneto.
The interlocutors informed each other about the steps underway in both
countries towards overcoming the global financial and economic crisis.
The parties also referred to a number of questions concerning the
Armenian-Italian joint endeavors under the EU Eastern Partnership
Program, regional security and stability.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan outlined Armenia’s
positions regarding the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and
Armenia-Turkey relations.

IF U.S. AND RUSSIA STRIKE A DEAL ON IRAN, ANKARA AND BAKU WILL LOSE SIGNIFICANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2009 11:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If U.S. and Russia strike a deal on Iran, Ankara
and Baku will lose their significance for the West.

The matter concerns a serious bargain between Washington and Moscow
envisaging direct partnership to undermine the Ahmadinejad regime,
RTR Vesti reports.

It’s not hard to guess which countries will maximally reap the benefit
of such bargain and which will lose.

Israel, which actually elected Likuda, and Romania, a transit country
for Iranian gas in Nabucco initial draft, will certainly be in the
first group.

The second group will include Azerbaijan and Turkey as presumed
transit countries. Georgia is not counted, since Nabucco also supposes
Iran-Armenia-Georgia transit as an alternative to the Turkish one.

The other countries which will lose from Israel and Romania’s
strengthening are Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Bulgaria, Ukraine and
Moldova.

ETHNIC AZERI GROUP WANTS GEORGIA TO BE CONFEDERATION

Interfax
March 3 2009
Russia

Georgia should be turned into a "confederation" whose constituent
parts would be regions predominantly populated by ethnic Georgians,
Azeris, Ossetians and Abkhaz, according to Dashgyn Gyulmamedov,
president of the National Assembly for Azeris in Georgia (NAAG).

"Otherwise, Georgian statehood will be ruined," Gyulmamedov told a
news conference at the headquarters of the Interfax-Azerbaijan news
agency on Tuesday.

"Neither Europe nor Russia nor Turkey needs Georgia with the problems
it is experiencing at present. After a year those countries will
themselves embark on a procedure to create a confederated Georgian
state," he said.

The NAAG had put its proposal before the Council of Europe, the
European Union and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Gyulmamedov said.

"We see the territorial integrity of Georgia as indispensable to the
solution of all the problems," and NAAG is against alleged separatist
activities by ethnic Armenians living in Georgia, he added.