Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Canadian Corporate Newswire
February 27, 2009 Friday 6:06 PM EST

Media Advisory: Minister Kenney to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of
the Armenian Relief Society Day School

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 27, 2009) – The Honourable Jason
Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism,
will visit the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) Day School in celebration
of the school’s 30th anniversary.

DATE: Saturday, February 28, 2009

TIME: 8:00 p.m.

PLACE: ARS High School, Kololian Elementary & Babayan
Kindergarten of Toronto
50 Hallcrown Place (Victoria Park and 401)
Toronto, Ontario

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Minister’s Office
Alykhan Velshi
[email protected]
or
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Communications Branch
Madona Mokbel
416-954-7868
[email protected]
Nation al, Government – Security (law enforcement, homeland etc), Government
– State

Agence France Presse
February 27, 2009 Friday

World Bank fast-tracks aid to Armenia, DRCongo

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 2009

The World Bank said Thursday that it awarded its first fast-track aid
to Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to help them cope with
the global financial crisis.

Armenia received 35 million dollars and DR Congo 100 million dollars,
the Washington-based development lender said.

The loans were awarded by the International Development Association
(IDA), an arm of the 185-nation bank that helps the world’s poorest
countries.

The so-called IDA Fast Track Facility was created with the aim of
speeding up grants and long-term, interest-free loans to fund
infrastructure, education, health and social safety nets.

The World Bank said its board approved the loans "amid clear signs
poor people in both countries are suffering from the crisis."

ONLINE SHOWING OF FIRST FEATURE FILM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ORGANIZED

Noyan Tapan

F Reb 26, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The 90th anniversary of publication
of the "Ravished Armenia" memoirs and the "Auction of Souls" silent
film shot by its scenario at the Metro Goldwin Mayer studio is marked
this year. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the "Ravished
Armenia", the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute has issued a memorial
postcard and has created an online exhibition at Armenian Genocide
Museum & Institute’s official website

"Ravished Armenia", one of the first documentary memoirs of an
eyewitness of Armenian Genocide was published in 1918, in New York. In
this book Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian, a girl from Chmshkatsag,
Armenian populated town in the Ottoman Empire, gave a detailed account
of the terrible experiences she endured during the deportations. At
the age of fourteen Arshaluys was beaten and tortured in harems of
Turkish officials and Kurdish tribesmen.

The book "Ravished Armenia" was completed when American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief offered to create a film based on
the scenario of the book and all the profit, which later on reached
million, would be given to 60.000 Armenian orphans in the Near
East for relief purposes. In 1918, at Metro Goldwin Mayer studio,
director Oscar Apfel made "Auction of Souls" silent film, which
actually became not only the first movie on the Armenian genocide,
but also the first genocide movie ever made. More than 10.000 Armenian
residents of Southern California, including 200 deported children,
participated in the scenes.

The premiere of the "Auction of Souls" was held on February 16, 1919,
in Plaza Hotel, New York under the auspices of Oliver Harriman and
George Vanderbilt, members of American Committee for Armenian and
Syrian Relief.

The film was shown in large cities of 23 U.S. states, in several
countries of Latin America, including Mexico and Cuba. It was a
success everywhere and was estimated as "epoch-making film."

The "Auction of Souls" was taken to Great Britain in December, 1919,
and censured. After long lasting negotiations the film was shown in
Royal Albert Hall, by the permission of Scotland Yard and played for
three weeks. At the beginning of 1920s Mardiganian’s "Ravished Armenia"
was censured and taken off the British and American libraries.

For over eighty years film historians have been searching the world for
the nine reels of Ravished Armenia but failed to find any trace. The
remaining reels of the rare nitrate based film were lost. Some say the
reels presumably sunk with a ship on their way to the port of Batoum,
Georgia, or stolen by thieves. The full-length version of the film,
which lasting 85 minutes, unfortunately, hasn’t been saved. With the
efforts of Eduard Gozanlian, an Armenian from Argentina, a 20 minute
segment of the reel was found in 1994. One copy of that segment is kept
in the funds of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. The film included
English, French and Armenian subtitles for every scene. The list of
the original subtitles for Ravished Armenia is preserved in The Selig
Collection at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. They are also reproduced in Anthony Slide’s
book "Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian". This
book was published by Scarecrow Press in 1997. It tells the story of
the making of the film and reveals the young girl’s survival story.

SARGSYAN TO MEET WITH PUTIN

A1+
[06:45 pm] 26 February, 2009

On February 27 Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan will pay a one-day working
visit to the Russian Federation. The delegation led by the Armenian PM
includes Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan, Energy and Natural Resources
Minister Armen Movsisyan, Transport and Communication Minister Gurgen
Sargsyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, Chief of staff
of the RA Government David Sargsyan, Deputy Head of the RA Central
Bank Vache Gabrielyan, as well as other officials of the RA Government
and RA Foreign Affairs Ministry.

During the working visit Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan will meet with
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Russian Transport Minister,
co-chair of the Armenian-Russian inter-governmental commission on
economic cooperation Igor Levitin, Head of the Central Bank of Russia
Sergey Ignatev and businessmen. Tigran Sargsyan will also pay a visit
to the Armenian Embassy of Russia.

Among issues on the agenda of the talks are issues relating to the
decisions made during the inter-governmental commission’s last meeting
in October, execution of agreements, further strengthening of trade
between both countries and cooperation in a number of perspective
fields.

JACES REPRESENTATIVE FORGED DOCUMENTS

A1+
[01:13 pm] 25 February, 2009

The Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service (JACES) of the
RoA Ministry of Justice reports that the head of the JACES regional
division of Gegharkunik Marz, Sevak Baghdasaryan, has forged documents
abusing his position.

Sevak Baghdasaryan drew up a false report on a sale of lot by
compulsory e-auction, signed a purchase contract and handed it to
a buyer who later submitted the document to the Cadastre Committee
for registration.

Sevak Baghdasaryan has been dismissed from office.

Preliminary investigation is underway. The case has been referred to
the Office of Prosecutor General for a legal assessment.

GREEK AMBASSADOR: "WE WISH THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT TO BE SOLVED SOON"

APA
Feb 25 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. "The Caucasus is particular partner for
the OSCE chairmanship", said Greek Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ioannis
Metaxas at the press conference on Wednesday, APA reports. Greece,
as a chairmanship of the OSCE, expressed full support to the work of
the Minsk Group, especially to the co-chairs, which is an organized
way of international community to assist the countries to achieve
the peaceful solution of the problem, said the ambassador.

Answering the question about the Greek Foreign Minister and OSCE
Chairwoman-in-Office Dora Bakoyannis’s ideas about the solution
to Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan, which was objected by the Armenian Dasnaksutyun party,
the ambassador said Greece had a standard policy in this area. "There
is a standard policy of Greece in this area, and this standard policy
is not a new one and it comes from decades. It is the respect for
international law and the respect for the decisions of the United
Nations. We don’t need to adjust our foreign policy. We have very
long tradition of foreign policy and cannot change today the foreign
policy according to the proposals of this or that special factor or
part and etc. As a chairman of the OSCE, we should keep same distance
between all participated states to the OSCE. We cannot say word to
one participated state against the other specially when there is
so important issue. The question of Karabakh being the protracted
conflict, we wish that this problem to be solved soon".

AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES 225 AND 300 DO NOT CONTRADICT ANY INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENT
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
25.02.2009 16:52

Today the National Assembly continued the discussions on the amendment
of Articles 225 and 300 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. Head of the
working group set up to elaborate the amendments David Harutyunyan
noted that the proposed changes do not contradict any international
document.

Stressing the political implication of the changes, independent Deputy
Victor Dallakyan tried to predict the future development of events
after the amendment of the Criminal Code. Although the changes refer
to the "case of 7" and are in line with the requirements of PACE
Resolutions, Viktor Dallakyan specially emphasized the necessity
of amnesty.

President of the parliamentary ad hoc commission set up to probe into
the events of March 1 Samvel Nikoyan made it clear that the issue of
amnesty has always been and remains on the agenda.

The opposition MPs are not satisfied with the changes to the Criminal
Code.

Anahit Bakhshyan from the "Heritage" faction is assured that everything
is being done for a special purpose.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED A HIGH-LEVEL GEORGIAN DELEGATION LED BY SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT DAVID BAKRADZE

Tue sday, 24 February 2009

The parties agreed in that the strengthening of cooperation between
Armenia’s and Georgia’s legislative authorities will help expand
bilateral economic relationship and will provide for more pro-active
interaction between the two governments. The availability of a
solid legal framework between the two countries was said to be
conducive to speedy and effective realization of those high-level
arrangements reached between the two Presidents, as well as for the
implementation of a number of decisions passed by the intergovernmental
commission. "We are interested in having sustained and constantly
developing bilateral political and economic relationships. What
is good for Armenia’s economics, so it is for Georgia and for the
regional cooperation as a whole," Davis Bakradze said and went on to
assure of Georgian Parliament’s readiness to back the development of
economic ties.

The Armenian Prime Minister and the Georgian Speaker of Parliament
underscored the importance of the ADB-supported construction of a
north-south highway through to Batumi, which is supposed to have
an anti-crisis bias with several new jobs and infrastructures to
be created.

The parties also spoke about the establishment of a unified
customs-house based on int ernational expertise. A corresponding
concept is already out and there is a need in expediting this
process. David Bakradze promised to keep the issue under control and
promote the implementation of the agreement reached between the two
Presidents as much as possible.

During the meeting, Tigran Sargsyan raised the sensitive issue of St.

Norashen Armenian church of Tbilisi which was said due to be given a
legislative decision on the part of Georgian authorities. The Prime
Minister asked the Georgian Speaker about the problem’s current status
and Mr. Bakradze’s vision of its possible resolution. David Bakradze
noted that the State of Georgia is prepared to endorse any decision
made on the basis of a church-to-church dialog. He stressed that
Georgian authorities are interested in tackling the issue without
politicizing it and expressed conviction that Armenia is as much
interested in it.

Then the interlocutors referred to the ongoing work on delimitation
and demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian borderline and stressed the
need for involving corresponding experts on either side in order to
step up this process.

The head of the Armenian government and the Georgian speaker of
Parliament highlighted the importance of both sides’ abiding by
an unbiased stance in key foreign policy issues which is crucial
not only in terms of building on the ties of friendship between the
two countries, but also in terms of pr omoting peace, stability and
security in the region.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN’S VISIT TO NEAR EAST COUNTRIES STARTS

Noyan Tapan

F eb 24, 2009

CAIRO, FEBRUARY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
arrived in Egypt on February 23 at the invitation of Foreign Minister
of Egypt Ahmed Abu Al Gheid. The same day the RA Foreign Minister
was received by Prime Minister of Egypt Ahmed Nazif. The latter
mentioned that the people of Egypt and he personally have the warmest
feelings and sympathy for Armenia and the Armenian people. According to
A. Nazif, Armenian-Egyptian friendship’s bright evidence is Egyptian
Armenian community’s active role and participation in country’s
various spheres.

Thanking for the reception, A. Nalbandian said that Armenian-Egyptian
relations have history of ages, and our peoples are connected with
traditional friendship and sympathy proved by history. He said
that Armenia is interested in further deepening cooperation with
Egypt. According to the RA Foreign Minister, the current high level of
political dialogue between the two countries should be strengthened by
bilateral economic projects and efficient use of current possibilities
for development of trade and economic relations.

A wide range of issues related to development of bilateral relations
in various spheres, cooperation at international organizations were
discussed during E. Nalbandian’s meeting with Abu Al Gheid. The
interlocutors stressed that there is a high level of political
relations and a serious potential for expanding economic and cultural
partnership between the states.

E. Nalbandian stated that Armenia is going to continue its steps
to deepen all-round relations with its important partner Egypt in
the region.

E. Nalbandian and Al Gheid also exchanged thoughts over issues
of providing and strengthening security in the South Caucasus and
Near East.

The Armenian and Egyptian Foreign Ministers signed an agreement between
the RA government and Egyptian government on bilateral release from
the requirement of receiving an entrance visa by people having a
diplomatic, official or special passport.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
the same day E. Nalbandian and Egyptian International Cooperation
Minister Fayza Abulnagha discussed issues regarding the sitting of
the Armenian-Egyptian Intergovernmental Commission to be held this
year in Yerevan.

In the evening of February 23 E. Nalbandian had a meeting with
representatives of the Armenian community of Egypt.

E. Nalbandian left for Jordan on February 24.

Millennium challenge account Armenia, German Gitec consult Gmbh sign
$998,000 contract

YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. The Millennium Challenge Account `
Armenia SNCO announced the award of a consulting contract to the joint
venture consortium of GITEC Consult GmbH (Germany) in association with
HGSN Ltd (Armenia). MCA-Armenia reports.

The consortium will provide consulting services for the design
solutions for rehabilitation of Ararat Valley Drainage System under the
MCA-Armenia Irrigated Agriculture Project Infrastructure Activity.

The contract was signed at the MCA-Armenia office on February 20, 2009
by Mr. Ara Hovsepyan, MCA-Armenia CEO and Mr. Wolfgang Jendrischewski,
Director of Water Resources and Sanitary Engineering Department of
GITEC Consult.

The contract includes analysis of the ecological situation, hydrology,
surface and subsurface horizontal drainage systems and wells in the
Ararat Valley, social and health assessment, as well as designer’s
field supervision.

The contract value is $998,243, and will last 31 months, including 17
months for design activities and 14 months for field supervision.

Established by the RA Government, MCA-Armenia is a state non-profit
organization. The fund is responsible for transparent implementation of
the agreement signed between the U.S. Millennium Challenge and Armenian
Government. `0–