ARMENIAN SAMBO WRESTLERS WON
News.am
12:33 / 10/17/2009
Armenian sambo wrestlers Tigran Kirakosyan (48 kg) and Mher Karapetyan
(75 kg) won bronze medals in the Junior World Sambo Championship
in Samakov, Bulgaria, October 16-19, 2009, Armenian Federation of
Sambo reports.
Armenian national team is represented by six sambo wrestlers in the
world championship.
TERMS OF GORAN LENNMARKER’S REGIONAL VISIT NOT DETERMINED YET
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.10.2009 14:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The terms of OSCE PA Special Representative for
Karabakh and Georgia, Mr. Goran Lennmarker’s regional visit have not
been determined yet.
The visit will apparently take place next month, OSCE Yerevan Office
told PanARMENIAN.Net.
In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Lennmarker said he is planning to
visit the region in November.
TIGRAN SARGSYAN: ACTIVITY OF GALOUSTE GULBENKIAN HAS BECOME AN INSTRUCTIVE EXAMPLE
NOYAN TAPAN
OCTOBER 14, 2009
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan on October 13 received a delegation of the Galouste Gulbenkian
Foundation. The delegation was led by Martin Essayan – the Foundation’s
Board Director, Head of UK Branch and Armenian Communities Department,
G. Gulbenkian’s great-grandson.
The prime minister stated that G. Gulbenkian’s activity and merit
are appreciated in Armenia, while his charitable work has become
an instructive example and experience. T. Sargsyan attached great
importance to the Galouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s work for the benefit
of the Armenian nation and its contribution to the preservation of
Armenian identity and the development of Armenian studies.
In the words of T. Sargsyan, it is necessary to create opportunities
for cooperation between the RA National Competitiveness Council (set
up on his initiative and through collaboration of the public and
private sectors) and the Gulbenkian Foundation, particularly in the
implementation of educational projects. In this connection he presented
the educational projects of Luys Foundation, including the assistance
programs for Armenian youth studying at best universities of the world.
The prime minister restated the RA government’s high opinion about
the activities of the Gulbenkian Foundation and underlined the fact
that the Foundation has provided assistance to independent Armenia
over the past 18 years. He expressed a hope that the visit of the
Foundation executives will give impetus to mutual cooperation and
ensure continuity of the Foundation’s work useful to the nation.
TURKEY’S POLITICAL ELITE HAS ARRIVED AT DECISION ON RA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT ISSUE
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.10.2009 16:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish political elite has already arrived at
an internal decision on RA-Turkey rapprochement issue, NAS Oriental
Studies Institute Director Ruben Safrastyan told a news conference in
Yerevan. "Despite the decision taken, we won’t see the results of it in
near future. Ankara will delay Protocols’ ratification so that Armenia
made concessions. Border opening should not be expected too soon."
He did not preclude the fact of border closing after it was opened,
"I believe, Armenia has to take the fact into consideration. Mechanisms
have to be developed to preclude such a step, and draft laws adopted
for the purpose," Ruben Safrastyan stated.
COURT RULES THAT AZERBAIJANI FLAGS ALLOWED IN BURSA STADIUM
Tert.am
14:16 14.10.09
The civil court has ruled that Azerbaijani flags won’t be prohibited
at the stadium during the Armenian-Turkish football match. Last week,
Bursa’s municipal administration had prohibited the flags, after
which several Bursa residents appealed to the courts, stating that
the decision was in contradiction with the Turkish constitution.
Turkish media have also announced that the decision would be a severe
violation of human rights. On this note, the court overturned the
city administration’s decision. The Azerbaijani flags will now be
allowed, but visitors will not be allowed to bring posters and signs
with writing on them into the stadium.
SERGE SARGSYAN DID NOT HAVE TO GO
45.html
16:40:32 – 14/10/2009
According to the Head of the ARF NA faction Vahan Hovhannisyan,
Serge Sargsyan did not have to go to Turkey because the situation he
spoke about lacks today. "Serge Sargsyan stated that he will leave
for Turkey only if the border is open or evident to be opened. But
there is not such a situation because a number of Turkish officials
stated that the border will not be opened till the Karabakh issue is
not settled the way Azerbaijan wants. If our government wants to make
other concessions to open the border, it is their problem. But now
there is no ground", said Hovhannisyan. In Hovhannisyan’s opinion,
there is no prospect for the border opening.
Vahan Hovhannisyan dwelt also on the incident in Zurich when the
foreign ministers of both countries did not hold speeches despite
previous arrangements. "If I was in Zurich, and Turks wanted to issue
a disgusting statement for us, I would not oppose, but I would make
my own statement", he noted. In this case, according to Hovhannisyan,
everyone would know what the Turks think. While, according to him,
Armenians were told in Zurich to sign, so they signed.
PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TO ATTEND FOOTBALL MATCH IN TURKEY
2009/10/ 12 | 13:16
Politics
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Monday that he will attend
Wednesday’s football match between Turkey and Armenia in Bursa,
according to Reuters news agency.
Meanwhile, the Armenian national football team arrived in Bursa on
Monday morning, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Calgary Herald
October 9, 2009
Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize too hasty
By Harry Sterling, For The Calgary Herald
Nobel awards are supposed to be awarded for concrete accomplishments,
not simply good intentions.
For example, have Nobel Prize committees in Stockholm ever given the
prize for literature for a novel not yet written?
The majority of Nobel award winners toiled for years, even decades, to
have their work and accomplishments recognized. Canada’s own Willard
Boyle, winner this year of the Nobel Physics Prize only had his team’s
digital photography breakthrough recognized 40 years later.
While many people around the world understandably have been encouraged
by U. S. President Barack Obama’s stated desire to resolve important
global issues through peaceful dialogue rather than unilateral action
as practised by former President George W. Bush, others cannot
comprehend how he can be given the Nobel Peace Prize after only eight
brief months in office, particularly since he actually has no
significant accomplishments to speak of as of now.
Unlike most previous Nobel Peace Prize recipients,
Obama has not yet had to prove himself in any meaningful way, as did
Martin Luther King, Andrei Sakharov, Mother Teresa, Bishop Tutu, the
Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Kim Dae-jung and others.
Such previous Nobel award winners often spent years struggling to
promote democracy or social justice and human rights, some, like
Nelson Mandela and Kim Dae-jung were actually imprisoned for years
under oppressive conditions.
With a few exceptions, former Nobel Peace Prize winners were widely
praised for making concrete contributions to world peace.
For many, despite considerable respect for Obama’s good intentions,
this year’s award is premature, a gesture of support for what they
hope will be accomplished during his time in office. For others,
including cynics, granting such an award to Obama is not solely
premature but also misguided.
Already there are those who point to some recent actions by Obama
which
es as human rights. His decision to not receive Tibet’s spiritual
leader, the Dalai Lama, last week during the Dalai Lama’s weeklong
visit to the United States, stunned many Americans. Human rights
advocates have denounced the president’s decision, calling it an act
of appeasement towards China.
The fact that Obama administration officials made it known that the
failure to receive the Dalai Lama was based on a wish to not undermine
negotiations next month with Beijing over the controversial nuclear
programs of North Korea and Iran, only angered American human rights
groups and members of Congress.
They described Obama’s action as a complete reversal of his
pre-election position when he and Hillary Clinton both urged Bush not
to attend the opening ceremony at the Olympics in Beijing in protest
over China’s use of force to quell the uprising of Tibetans.
(Interestingly, despite publicly meeting with the Dalai Lama last
year, during the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Canada Prime Minister
Stephen Harper did not receive him. And by no apparent coincidence,
Canada’s foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon, not only attended China’s
national day reception in Ottawa, he also praised China’s
accomplishments over the past 60 years, his unprecedented attendance
seen as a major shift in policy toward China by Harper.)
Armenians were also shocked that Obama reneged on a promise to
describe the massive killing of Armenians in Turkey during the First
World War as genocide. Many Armenians didn’t accept the explanation of
White House officials who justified his silence based on a desire not
to undermine the prospect for normalization of relations between
Turkey and Armenia. They saw it simply as an example of the American
administration’s unwillingness to anger the U. S.’s NATO ally.
Ironically, Obama is far more popular in other nations than in his own
country. This might be a partial explanation why the Nobel committee
wanted to award him the peace prize.
Many other countries were aghast at the unilateral interventionist
policie
sident George W. Bush. His decision to invade Iraq in 2003 on spurious
grounds not only appalled numerous countries, it caused a major split
within the European Union with Britain and Spain supporting Bush and
major states like Germany and France totally opposed, refusing to send
troops to Iraq.
Bush’s hard-line approach to Iran and North Korea’s nuclear weapons
threat also was regarded as an impediment to resolving those issues.
Bush’s unilateralism was deeply resented in much of Europe. Barack
Obama’s stated desire to end unilateral policies and actions, instead
working closely with the United Nations and other multilateral bodies,
has had a high positive effect in how many nations view the United
States and its president. His decision to have direct contacts with
North Korea and Iran is considered a highly positive step.
But, like an author who sets out to write a book worthy of a Nobel
Literature award, Barack Obama still has to demonstrate that his own
story turns out to be worthy of such a prize.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
PRESS ROUNDUP
Today’s Zaman
08 October 2009, Thursday
Press Roundup – Public and private sector workers demonstrate during a
protest march in Marseille on Wednesday. France’s major trade unions
held a sixth round of protests against the government’s handling of
the economic crisis.
Public and private sector workers demonstrate during a protest march in
Marseille on Wednesday. France’s major trade unions held a sixth round
of protests against the government’s handling of the economic crisis.
Sabah: "Take into account the voices of protestors," read the
headline of the daily’s main story yesterday, quoting remarks from
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who delivered a speech opening
the World Bank-IMF annual meetings in Ä°stanbul on Tuesday. Calling
for institutions to embrace diverse points of view, he said that if
these bodies want to maintain their legitimacy, institutions need to
incorporate the voices of protesters who are being kept away from the
summit. "Everyone that steers the global economy, that means you, has
to put their heads between their two hands and carefully contemplate
where all these faults stemmed from. Also, we have to lend an ear to
the ongoing protest outside this hall," Erdogan said.
Yeni Å~^afak: "Sarksyan criteria," was the headline of the daily’s
lead story yesterday, which reported that some security measures
will be taken when Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan visits the
western province of Bursa to watch a soccer match between the Turkish
and Armenian national teams on Oct. 14. President Abdullah Gul, who
talked to administrators in Bursa, asked them to be a good example of
Turkish hospitality during Sarksyan’s visit. As part of the security
measures, officials will attempt to prevent provocateurs from entering
the stadium, Azerbaijani flags will not be permitted in the stadium
and chanting political slogans and holding signs that have political
messages will not be allowed, said the daily.
AkÅ~_am: In a front-page story yesterday, the daily reporte ~Y
(TSK) mandate to strike bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) in northern Iraq was approved by Parliament on Tuesday,
receiving the support of 452 deputies. Some 47 deputies from the
Justice and Development Party (AK Party), mostly from the Southeast,
were absent during Tuesday’s vote.
ARMENIAN SOCIOLOGIST: GREATEST PART OF ARMENIAN POPULATION HAS ALWAYS OPPOSED ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS
ArmInfo
2009-10-07 16:33:00
ArmInfo. The greatest part of the Armenian population has always been
against establishment of any relations with Turkey, Aharon Adibekyan,
Director of Sociometer Social Research Center, told media on Wednesday.
"Since 1990 we have repeatedly conducted public polls to find
out which countries the Armenian public wants Armenia to cooperate
with. Respondents have always preferred Russia to Western Europe and
the USA. Only 1% of the polled welcomed establishment of relations
with Turkey," the sociologist said. The normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations is a serious process requiring a serious
approach and accuracy of actions by the country’s leadership.
Nevertheless, the sociologist believes normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations necessary. If Armenia wants to cooperate
with Europe or the USA, it has to play reckon with their rules that
require opening of the border.
"Public is still mostly believes that we do not need relations with
the neighbors and we can live just sowing wheat and selling Jermuk. It
is necessary to put an end to such bourgeois thinking. We should take
into account the conflict of interests of super powers in the region
and get benefits from the situation," A. Adibekyan said.