RUSSIA TO BID FOR ARMENIA NPP CONSTRUCTION
RIA Novosti, Russia
February 6, 2008
YEREVAN, February 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is to bid in a tender for
the construction of a nuclear power plant in Armenia, the head of
Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Wednesday.
"The Armenian government will hold a tender for the construction,
and we will participate in it – we have a good chance of winning,"
Sergei Kiriyenko said.
Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet
PRESS RELEASE
February 7, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA LAUNCHES CAMPUSCAUSE.COM – THE ONLINE PORTAL TO ARMENIAN
AMERICAN STUDENT ACTIVISM
WASHINGTON, DC — With Armenian American student activism at an
all-time high, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
recently launched CampusCause.com (), a new
website spotlighting Armenian advocacy on college campuses.
The initiative was inspired by the rising tide of student activism
seen throughout the nation over recent months, particularly
following the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s consideration of
the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The site will serve as a portal
for information on a broad range of student led educational and
political initiatives across North America. It is meant to be a
supplement to the soon-to-be-updated student section of the ANCA
website.
`Students and youth play a particularly important role in Armenian
activism and CampusCause.com is geared toward connecting them with
one another and making them better aware of what is being done by
their like-minded peers,’ said Serouj Aprahamian, Director of the
ANCA’s Capital Gateway Program.
Young activists can check CampusCause.com to see what Armenian
Americans on other campuses are doing to advocate and publicize the
concerns of Armenian American issues. They can also share news of
their own efforts and developments at their universities and
colleges. Upcoming events and a book of the month will also be
regularly posted on the site for visitors to utilize.
"This site provides a fast and easy way for college and university
organizations throughout the country to come together in our effort
to further the Armenian Cause," said Vahram Shalvardzhyan,
President of the University of California at Santa Barbara Armenian
Student Association. "It has sped up the communication process,
resulting in better organized and more coherent messages sent
through colleges and universities."
Student participation and input is an integral component to the
success of the website. Armenian Students Associations and student
activists are encouraged to participate by contacting
[email protected]
#####
BRITISH SCIENTIST TO JOIN ARMENIAN RESEARCH CENTER
By H. Tsulikian
AZG Armenian Daily
06/02/2008
Science
"Armenian Mirrot Spectator" newspaper informs that Dr. Joan Leycock,
Manchester University, UK, has been invited to the Arbor University of
Michigan in order to take the place of the head of the post-doctorate
researchers’ department, sponsored by the Manoogian-Simon Foundation.
Dr. Leycock has been recently engaged with Armenian issues, especially
the Armenia-Diaspora relationships and repatriation in the Post-Soviet
period. Her doctorate thesis was dedicated to the English and French
researches on Armenian culture and history and the attitude of the
French and English scientists to the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Dr. Leycock’s activities at the Armenian Research Center of Arbor
University shall involve studies of the Armenian history in the
1978-1915 period.
CONTEST OF BEST REPORT IS ANNOUNCED AS EUROPEAN OFFICIALS ARE ABOUT TO VISIT KARABAKH
KarabakhOpen
[email protected]
05-0 2-2008 12:09:10
High-ranking European officials are going to visit Armenia and
Azerbaijan February 4-6 to dedicate new diplomatic missions to the
South Caucasus. The delegation includes Benito Ferrero Valdner,
commissar for foreign relations, the minister of foreign affairs
of Slovenia Dmitrij Rupel, head of the EU, and the EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby. The European
officials will discuss the implementation of the partnership plans
signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan a year ago.
On Saturday the two-day training of journalists held by the
Nagorno-Karabakh based NGO Open Society ended at the Resource Center
of Stepanakert. The training was part of the project "The topic of
European integration in the mass media of Karabakh" supported by the
International Alert.
The training for the journalists of the print media of Karabakh was
conducted by the chair of the Armenia-based European Integration NGO
Karen Bekaryan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are members of the Council of Europe and
have a partnership plan as part of their membership. Karabakh is a
disputable territory and therefore is not included in any of these
plans. Karabakh is mentioned in the context of the commitment of
the sides to a peace settlement. Nevertheless, the integration of
Armenia and Azerbaijan with the European community is impossible
without Karabakh, the participants of the training say.
Besides, after the recent statements of the Minsk Group co-chairs
that no breakthrough is expected in the settlement of Karabakh until
the Azerbaijani presidential election in the autumn of 2008 the
European direction remains one of the few spheres in which Armenia
and Azerbaijan cooperate.
"It becomes clear from surveys and interviews with experts that
people in Karabakh are unaware of the European values, benchmarks,
prospects of cooperation. Moreover, the idea of integration with the
European space is perceived negatively by part of the population who
think the European values contradict to the national imperatives,"
says Anahit Danielyan, member of the board of Open Society.
Therefore, she says Open Society thinks there is need for raising
awareness of European values, political, historical, social, economic,
ethnic and cultural structure of Europe among the population of
Karabakh.
In December 2007 Open and Unity monitored the most popular media of
Karabakh, the Public Television of Artsakh, the Azat Artsakh Newspaper,
the Demo, and Karabakh-Open.com. (The public Television programs are
broadcasts three hours a day, the Azat Artsakh is issued twice a week,
the Demo is a biweekly newspaper, Karabakh-Open.com is updated daily).
The results of the monitoring are: over the month Europe was mentioned
41 times in Karabakh-Open.com, including 38 times with a neutral shade,
twice with a positive, and once with a negative shade, 13 times in the
Demo (10 neutral, 3 positive), 12 times in the Azat Artsakh (4 neutral,
7 positive, 1 negative), 58 times in the Public Television of Artsakh
(43 neutral, 14 positive and 1 negative).
The expediency or harm of European integration was mentioned 4 times
in Karabakh-Open.com (3 neutral, 1 positive), 3 times in the Demo (1
neutral, 2 positive), 4 times on the Public Television, all positive,
and no times in the Azat Artsakh.
As to the participation of the European organizations in the settlement
of the Karabakh issue, Karabakh-Open.com mentioned it neutrally for
ten times and positively once, the Demo mentioned neutrally twice,
positively 5 times and negatively once, the Azat Artsakh mentioned
neutrally once, positively three times and negatively once, the
Public Television mentioned neutrally 13 times, positively 5 times
and negatively 3 times.
The European organizations were mentioned 37 times in
Karabakh-Open.com, 3 times in the Demo, 5 times in the Azat Artsakh,
29 times on the Public Television. In addition, they were mentioned
positively every time.
On the whole, European culture was mentioned 5 times in
Karabakh-Open.com, 3 times in the Demo, twice in the Azat Artsakh
and 10 times on the Public Television of Artsakh.
The ratio of own information to information from other sources was
13 to 28 in Karabakh-Open.com, 5 to 8 in the Demo, 2 to 7 in the Azat
Artsakh and 8 to 50 on the Public Television.
The ratio of news to analyses in Karabakh-Open.com was 21 to 20, in
the Demo 6 to 7, in the Azat Artsakh 5 to 4, on the Public Television
43 to 15.
"We announce a contest of the best report on the European topic. We
want to encourage discussion on the European topic, without suggesting
evaluations and opinions," said Naira Hayrumyan, chair of Open Society.
UKRFERRY ENVISAGES IMPLEMEMTING CONTAINER SHIP TRANSPORTATION IN ILYICHEVSK-POTI DIRECTION
Noyan Tapan
Feb 5, 2008
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Ukrferry company (Ukraine) envisages
to implement container ship transportation as well in Ilyichevsk-Poti
direction. The chairman of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen
of Armenia Arsen Ghazarian announced this at the February 5 round
table organized by the union at the suggestion of the embassy of
Ukraine. However, according to him, for the Armenian side it may not
be a full alternative to the current – ferry one as the transportation
cost is quite high.
A. Ghazarian said that Ukrferry has been implementing ferry-railway
transportation between Ilyichevsk-Poti and Ilyichevsk-Batumi ports
for 7 years. In his words, Ilyichevsk-Poti ferry may transport 108
freight cars, while Port Kavkaz-Poti ferry may transport 40-45 freight
cars. According to the union chairman, the low tariffs envisaged in
the latter case are not used because the ferry is not fully loaded
during a trip.
In the past 10 months, Ukrferry transported 588 thousand tons of
cargos, including 237 tons to Armenia and from Armenia to Ukraine.
50 GRADUATES GOT EXPERIENCE
Panorama.am
18:41 02/02/2008
This year UN development project within the borders of Global
contract carries out "Youth development path 2" initiative. This
program gives opportunity to new graduates get experience in their
professional field.
According to Arman Valesyan, the coordinator of the project, the
mission of this particular program is to give opportunity to the
graduates to find jobs. Today many graduates have problems when
graduating and not having working experience. He said that last year
50 graduates took part in the program. 20 of them found jobs due to
this program.
AZG Armenian Daily #019, 01/02/2008
Local
"AZG" DAILY ONE OF THE MOST READ AND TRUSTWORTHY NEWSPAPERS OF ARMENIA
Baltic Surveys Ltd./The Gallup organization has studied what sources
of information the population uses. According to it, the main source
of political information remains TV. All the questioned (100 percent)
use this source of information. The second source of political
information is mentioned as newspapers (46 percent). According to the
survey in December it was 41 percent, and in November – 37 percent.
9 percent growth of last months is conditioned by pre-election period
and big public interest of the processes.
As a next source of information relatives and friends are mentioned –
42 percent, which means that gossips continue to enjoy widespread
popularity in our country. Then comes radio – 40 percent.
The list of the most read newspapers is the following – first comes
"Iravunk" weekly – 15 percent, the second place share "Azg" and
"Aravot" daily newspapers, then comes "Haykakan jamanak" daily – 8
percent. "Erkir" weekly and "Hayots ashkharh daily newspapers have 7
percent each, etc.
To the question "Whom do you trust in?" the following answers were
given – "Iravunk" weekly – 8 percent, "Aravot" daily – 6 percent and
"Azg" daily – 5 percent. The other newspapers have low rating of
trustworthiness. 43 percent of the questioned don’t trust in any
newspaper.
So, we can conclude that in Armenian press "Azg" daily, in spite of
available competition, continues to hold front line and work for its
readership.
By Armen Manvelian, translated by L.H.
Armenian publishers to partake in an international book fair in Minsk
armradio.am
02.02.2008 14:27
Armenian publishers will have a separate pavilion at the international
book fair to be held in Minsk on February 6. They will present the best
books published in Armenia over the past two years.
Head of the Publishing Agency of RA Ministry of Culture Edward
Militonyan said at a press conference in Yerevan that the exhibition is
not a large, and few countries will participate in it. However, Armenia
is one of the exceptional countries of the region that constantly
participates in almost all book exhibitions held in CIS member states.
Edward Militonyan specially emphasized the participation of the
Armenian publishers in the international exhibitions in Moscow and
Frankfurt in autumn. `These exhibitions are international events,
another exceptional opportunity to present the Armenian culture to the
world,’ he said.
Russia & CIS Presidential Bulletin
February 1, 2008
SARGSYAN IS ARMENIA’S NEXT MOST PROBABLE PRESIDENT – POLL
The majority of Armenians (67%) are ready to vote for Armenian Prime
Minister, leader of the Armenian Republican Party Serzh Sargsyan at
the presidential elections slated for February 19, show the results
of a poll conducted by the Sociometer sociological center in all
Armenian regions last weekend.
Leader of the Orinats Yerkir (the Rule of Law) party, former
parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian could win 9% of votes,
Armenian ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian – 6%, candidate from the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun – 3%, leader of the
National Unity Artashes Gegamian – 2%, and leader of the National
Democratic Union Vazgen Manukian – 1.5%.
The approval ratings of three more candidates for the Armenian
presidency: former aide to the president of the breakaway republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh Arman Melikian, leader of the People’s Party Tigran
Karapetian, and leader of the National Consent party, are close to
zero.
ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN TO BE AWARE OF ALL THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OVER THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN
arminfo
2008-02-01 14:43:00
ArmInfo. A the signals about human rights violations over the electoral
campaign will be thoroughly examined by the Armenian Ombudsman office.
As Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan said at the press-conference
today, the following hot line telephone numbers and e:mail
address may be used to give information about violations: 53-76-51,
53-92-71, 53- 88-31, 53-76-34, 53-85-77, 091-00-88-17, 091-28-02-06,
[email protected]. He also added that on 19 February from 07:00 AM to
09:00 PM duty will be held at the Ombudsman Office, which is closely
cooperating with Armenian law-enforcement agencies.
The ombudsman called up all the political forces of Armenia to
tolerance.