Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
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June 19, 2009

_______________________________

EASTERN DIOCESE WELCOMES IRAQI AMBASSADOR AND PRIMATE OF THE DIOCESE OF THE
ARMENIAN CHURCH OF IRAQ

On Friday, June 19, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), hosted a luncheon in honor of
Archbishop Avak Asadourian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
Iraq.

Guests included Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati, permanent representative of
Iraq to the United Nations; Ambassador Armen Martirossian, permanent
representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations; the Very
Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian, Vicar of the Eastern Diocese; and the Very Rev.
Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian, pastor of Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Bayside,
N.Y.

Archbishop Barsamian welcomed Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati and Ambassador
Armen Martirossian to the Eastern Diocese. He said it is always a pleasure
to see Archbishop Asadourian, a dedicated servant of the Armenian Church who
is well-respected in the Armenian community of Iraq and elsewhere.

A cordial conversation was shared by the ambassadors and clergy. Ambassador
Al-Bayati emphasized the important role of the Christian community of Iraq,
noting its centuries-old presence and many contributions to the country. He
said he was himself a graduate of a Christian school in Iraq.

Discussion also focused on the Armenian community of Iraq. Ambassador
Al-Bayati noted the challenges of recent years but said the present
situation is improving and added that he was optimistic about the
restoration of stability in Iraq.

He thanked Archbishop Barsamian for the opportunity to meet with Archbishop
Asadourian. Ambassador Al-Bayati also asked questions about the
Armenian-American community, and was particularly interested in learning
more about Iraqi-Armenians living in the United States.

The luncheon marked the ambassador’s first visit to the Eastern Diocese.
Archbishop Barsamian offered Ambassador Al-Bayati a tour of St. Vartan
Cathedral and the Diocesan Center. The ambassador expressed his gratitude
for the hospitality – a warm welcome which he said made him feel at home.

Ambassador Martirossian stressed the importance of such meetings in helping
to strengthen ties between Armenia and Iraq.

###

Photos attached.

Photo 1: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian welcomes Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati
to the Eastern Diocese. Also pictured are Archbishop Avak Asadourian,
Ambassador Armen Martirossian, and Very Rev. Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian.

Photo 2: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian gives a tour of St. Vartan Cathedral to
Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati.

Photo 3: Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati expresses his gratitude to Archbishop
Avak Asadourian.

GEORGY BOOS BELIEVES IN DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE, ECONOMY AND CULTURE COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.06.2009 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The main purpose of the visit of Kaliningrad
delegation to Armenia is establishing trade, economic and humanitarian
cooperation, the governor of RF Kaliningrad region Georgy Boos told
a press conference in Yerevan.

Stating that 15 000 Armenians live in Kaliningrad region today,
Mr. Boos emphasized, that it is important to enable the Armenian
community to preserve cultural and historical traditions and ties
with their motherland.

Among the spheres of potential cooperation between Armenia and
Kaliningrad region the governor mentioned tourism, processing industry,
fishing, jewelry, as well as agriculture processing. The trade turnover
between Armenia and Kaliningrad region will increase soon after the
visit of Kaliningrad delegation to Armenia, Mr. Boos said. Trade
with Armenia is currently less than 1 per cent in foreign trade of
the region.

On Friday, June 19, the delegation from the westernmost part of Russia
will visit Genocide Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of Armenian
Genocide victims. Besides, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II
will receive the Supreme Patriarch of the province. On the same day,
Slavonic University students will have meet with the governor of
Kaliningrad region; then the most inventive students from Kaliningrad
and Yerevan will split up into KVN teams to compete with each other.

NABUCCO AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED AT THE END OF JUNE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 17:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Turkey’s principal task is to sign an agreement
that meets its needs and complies with its growth rate. It does
not matter if we achieve such goal through Nabucco or via talks and
agreements with other countries. The agreement on Nabucco project
will be signed in July the latest," Tener Yýldýz, Turkish Minister
of Energy and Natural resources said, commenting upon his country’s
progress within Nabucco project.

Yildiz also said that Turkey cooperates with such countries as Greece,
Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Iraque, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan within
project frameworks.

Nabucco is a projected gas main with a total length of 3.3 km. It
extends from Central Asia to EU member states at a rated capacity of
26 – 32 billion cubic metres per year. Construction is to be completed
by 2014. The sum offered for the project comprises [email protected]

ARMENIAN-SYRIAN RELATIONS ARE AN EXAMPLE FOR IMITATION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 19:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenian-Syrian relations are an example for
imitation and have a significant potential for further development,"
RA President Serzh Sargyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to him, collaboration between the countries is successfully
developing in a number of spheres, ranging from economy to humanitarian
ones.

"We’re aware of great potential Armenian Community in Syria has. Yet,
unfortunately, it’s not too active in the economy investments issue. I
hope the situation will soon improve," Sargsyan said.

He also noted that an agreement on regular meetings between
intergovernmental collaboration committees has been reached. "We
agreed with Mr. Bashar Al-Asad that the committee will submit a work
statement at the following meeting," SArgsyan said.

In his turn, Bashar Al-Asad invited Serzh Sargyan to visit Syria
whenever he finds it suitable.

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PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Writers Union of Armenia Gets New Printing Office Donated by AGBU
Surmelian Fund

This year, Armenian General Benevolent Union has donated a printing
office to the Writers Union for mutual cooperation, reported Writers
Union President Levon Ananian. He noted that AGBU, over the years, has
realized various scholarly publication projects with the Writers Union.
The printing office equipment is being imported from China.

Ananian stated that the press will be named after the American-Armenian
writer Levon Zaven Surmelian, who bequeathed his legacy to AGBU. Ananian
noted that the press will be situated in the basement level of the
Writers Union, where renovation work is currently going on. The launch
of the press is slated to take place in two months. According to the
Writers Union president, this printing office will be of great help in
the work of publishing contemporary literature.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians on six continents.

AVETIK KARAPETIAN TAKES SECOND PLACE IN HELSINKI INTERNATIONAL BALLET CONTEST

Noyan Tapan
June 16, 2009

HELSINKI, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Sweden-based Avetik
Karapetian took the second place in the International Ballet Contest
held in Helsinki. According to Marmara, he was given a monetary prize
of 6000 euros.

21-year-old Chinese Khyoayu Khen took the first place.

Besides Avetik, another three Armenian ballet dancers, David Jeyranian,
David Vardanian, and Arman Jazian took part in the contest.

Avetik Karapetian was born in 1985 in Yerevan, he went to the
Choreography School of Armenia for eight years, currently he resides
in Sweden.

International Ballet Contests of Helsinki have been organized since
1984.

More than 100 ballet dancers from 40 countries have taken part in
the contest this year, only 29 of which have passed to the final.

Medvedev criticizes Belarusian leader for pulling out of summit

17:1014/06/2009

MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian president criticized his
Belarusian counterpart on Sunday for refusing to attend a security
summit in Moscow, and for failing to personally discuss the matter.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pulled out of the summit of
the post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) security
bloc in protest against Russia’s ban on Belarusian dairy products.

Dmitry Medvedev told reporters in Moscow: "I would like to say that in
such a situation, leaders should act as partners."

"Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko did not call me on the telephone and
tell me that he had taken the decision not to come, but staff from his
administration called us," he said.

The Belarusian government earlier said it would refuse to send a
delegation to the summit, in protest against "economic discrimination"
on the part of Russia.

Earlier in June, Russia banned imports of over 1,000 types of dairy
products from Belarus, dealing a significant blow to its budget
revenue, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to
comply with new Russian regulations.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a note handed to the CSTO
secretariat on Sunday that the country’s non-participation "means the
lack of approval from the Republic of Belarus of decisions being
considered" at the summit, along with the foreign and defense
ministers’ meetings, and "consequently a lack of consensus for the
taking of these decisions."

However, the leaders of the other member states – Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – signed an agreement at
the summit on creating a joint rapid-reaction force.

RIA OREANDA, Russia
June 11 2009

President of Armenian National Assembly Received Italian Ambassador

Yerevan. OREANDA-NEWS . On 11 June was announced, that President of
the Armenian National Assembly Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan received the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Armenia
Mr. Massimo Lavezzo Cassinnelli on the occasion of completing his
diplomatic mission in Yerevan .

During the talk the Head of the Armenian Parliament expressed his
gratitude to Ambassador Mr. Lavezzo Cassinnelli for close cooperation
of the last years. Mr. H. Abrahamyan highly assessed the Ambassadors
work and stressed that he made his unique contribution for developing
bilateral relations.

The President of the National Assembly expressed hope that in future
the Armenian-Italian cooperation will be continuously developed in
political, trade-economic, cultural and other spheres. In that context
the interlocutors discussed the perspectives of cooperation between
the parliaments of two countries and touched upon the existing
investment programmes.

Summing the discussion Mr. H. Abrahamyan wished successes Ambassador
Mr. Lavezzo Cassinnelli in his endeavours and expressed hope that he
would continue his friendly relations with our country after
completion of his diplomatic mission in Yerevan .

Protest rallies in Tehran against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
13.06.2009 19:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triggered mass
opposition protests and furious complaints of cheating from his
defeated rivals, AFP reports.
Riot police clashed with protestors in unrest not seen for a decade as
thousands of supporters of main challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi took to
the streets shouting "Down with the Dictator" after final results
showed Ahmadinejad winning almost 63 percent of the vote.
Moderate ex-premier Mousavi cried foul over election irregularities
and warned the vote could lead to "tyranny," as some of his supporters
were beaten by baton-wielding police.
The interior minister said Mousavi had won less than 34 percent of the
vote, giving Ahmadinejad another four-year term in a result that
dashed Western hopes of change and set the scene for a possible
domestic power struggle.
Iran’s all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed
Ahmadinejad’s victory and urged the country to unite behind him after
the most heated election campaign since the Islamic revolution,
The vote outcome appears to have galvanised a grass-roots movement for
change after 30 years of restrictive clerical rule in a country where
60 percent of the population was born after the revolution.
The international community had also been keenly watching the election
for any signs of a shift in policy after four years of hardline
rhetoric from the 52-year-old Ahmadinejad and a standoff over Iran’s
nuclear drive.
Mousavi protested at what he described as "numerous and blatant
irregularities" in the vote which officials said attracted a record
turnout of around 85 percent of the 46 million electorate.
In the heart of Tehran, thousands of angry Mousavi supporters voiced
their disbelief and frustration at the results, with some pelting
stones at police who struck back with batons.
Reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who came a distant fourth with
less than one percent of the vote after ex-Revolutionary Guards chief
Mohsen Rezai in third, also declared the result "illegitimate and
unacceptable".
Ahmadinejad’s supporters had earlier taken to the streets in triumph,
honking their horns and waving Iranian flags.
The election highlighted deep divisions in Iran after four years under
Ahmadinejad, who had massive support in the rural heartland, while in
the big cities young men and women threw their weight behind Mousavi.

LIST TO BE PUBLICIZED TOMORROW

A1+
06:51 pm | June 10, 2009

Politics

The issue of amnesty is still in the focus of public attention. The
Public Council decided in its plenary session to apply to the
President. The contents of the Council’s letter will be publicized
tomorrow.

Hakob Barkhudaryan, a member of the Public Council, says special
reference is made to people charged with the March 1 unrest.

People liable to amnesty are grouped into several categories -socially
vulnerable people, elderly people, invalids and others.