Author: Varosian Antranik

PanARMENIAN.Net

European development only way out for Armenia
11.03.2009 16:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European values are a kind of abstract mosaic with
diverse mentalities and values. They are not in conflict with one
another; on the contrary, they enrich the common European mentality,
said Victor Yengibaryan, head of European Movement of Armenia during
his interview with the PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. As he says, if we
look at certain EU countries, England and Romania, for example, their
mentality is too different from each other’s and too contradictory,
but taken together, they are considered to be part of European
mentality.

As Yengibaryan remarks, Armenia’s only way out is following European
development model and adopting European values. However, if we
consider the fact that fundamental values like democracy, human
rights, and the ideology of freedom have long been running in our
blood, we can easily find the way to implement these values. After 70
years of totalitarian regime, at the stage of the transitional period,
we need to have several mechanisms, the most important of which can be
said to be education.

`It should be noted that from institutional and technical point of
view Armenia has established a legislative system and in this respect
we are in advance of all South Caucasus countries and even Western
Europe. But from the point of view of how these values are implemented
in Armenia, there is room for improvement as Armenia falls behind all
countries of Western Europe and South Caucasus,’ Yengibaryan noted.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

12 March, 2009

Hayastan All Armenian Fund begins reconstruction of drinking-water system in
Aknaghbyur Village

The Hayastan All Armenian Fund launched a vital infrastructure-development
project in Aknaghbyur Village, located in Armenia’s Tavush Region, aiming to
provide residents with an adequate and reliable supply of drinking water.
The initiative, worth around 81 million drams (U.S. $222,000), is sponsored
by the ARF Central Committee of Canada.

Slated to be completed by August 2009, the initiative will result in a
thorough renovation of Aknaghbyur’s drinking-water spring, pipeline, and
internal network. The existing drinking-water system, built in the 1970s, is
in a state of disrepair and has long failed to deliver a regular supply of
water.

"Solving Aknaghbyur’s water problem is a critically important step toward
helping ease the daily struggles of the villagers," said Ara Vardanyan,
acting executive director of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund.

Earlier this year, the fund finished building both a gas pipeline and an
irrigation system in Aknaghbyur, vastly improving local farming and the
residents’ quality of life.

One of Armenia’s oldest rural communities, Aknaghbyur today has a population
of 551. The village was established in 451 in honor of Vardan Mamikonyan,
and its landmark oak tree, believed to have been planted by the general
himself, remains a beloved symbol and a source of pride.

Fresno Bee Editorial
Armenian population numbers are a chilling reminder of genocide
Mar. 12, 2009
8.html

A chilling bit of new evidence has emerged in the controversy over the
Armenian genocide, and it comes from an unlikely source: the records
of the man who was in charge of the deportation of tens of thousands
of Armenians during World War I, when the genocide began.

A book published in Turkey in January quotes records left by Mehmed
Talat, the Ottoman Empire’s interior minister during that period. By
the numbers, the population of Armenians in the empire fell
dramatically in 1915-1916, from just under 1.3 million to a little
more than 280,000. Almost 1 million people simply disappeared from the
records.

The modern-day Turkish government, as always, has little to say about
the figures beyond its standard line about there being a war on, and
the Armenians were treacherously supporting Russia, the Ottomans’
ancient enemy.

As always, that story doesn’t wash. The armed opposition of a tiny
handful of Armenians doesn’t explain the Ottomans’ perceived need to
deport, starve and kill some 1.5 million people, many thousands of
them old men, women and children.

This revelation will add new fuel to the campaign for official
American recognition of the genocide. April 24, the traditional day
marking the beginning of the genocide, is coming up, and with it a
renewed effort to put the American government on record acknowledging
those awful events.

To that end, a group of congressmen who’ve lobbied hard for genocide
recognition has sent a letter to President Barack Obama, calling on
him to fulfill his earlier support, as a senator and presidential
candidate, for American recognition of the genocide. The group is led
by Rep. George Radanovich — a co-author of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution — and includes Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, Mark Kirk,
R-Ill., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J.

There will be considerable pressure brought to bear on Obama to
continue the denial of the Armenian genocide that has characterized
presidents of both parties for decades. The argument has been that the
U.S. relationship with Turkey would be threatened by recognizing the
historical fact of the genocide, given the Turks’ intransigence on the
subject.

It’s time for that to end.

Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to
fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

Tigran Sargsian: Armenian-Italian relations have entered new stage

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The relations with Italy have currently
entered a new stage, and Armenia is interested in promotion of
Armenian-Italian especially economic partnership. RA Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsian stated on March 6 at the meeting with Deputy Foreign
Minister of Italy Alfredo Montica.

T. Sargsian and A. Montica emphasized that in spite of a number of
Italian companies’ activity in Armenia, the current level of economic
relations is still far from being satisfactory and does not correspond
to the two countries’ potential.

A. Montica acquainted the RA Prime Minister with the meetings of his
delegation during the visit, especially with the results of the
discussions on possibilities of bilateral economic development with the
RA Minister of Economy. According to him, a draft program of further
development of cooperation between the two countries was mutually
worked out, one of which is establishment of direct contacts and
cooperation between Armenia and Italian province of Veneto.

According to the report of the RA government Information and Public
Relations Department, issues of Armenian-Italian cooperation within the
framework of EU Eastern Partnership, regional security and stability
were also touched upon during the meeting. T. Sargsian presented
Armenia’s positions over Nagorno Karabakh peaceful settlement,
Armenian-Turkish relations.

MARIINSKY THEATER SOLOISTS AND GERGIEV TO VISIT YEREVAN
By Nana Petrosian

AZG DAILY
07-03-2009

Culture, religion

Easter Festival initiator and art director Valerie Gergiev, together
with the Mariinsky Theater orchestra and soloists will visit Yerevan.

It will be the first tour of the Festival with two concerts, though
the art director of the Festival is ready to double the number of
the concerts, Russian "Gazeta" reports.

According to the same source, the Easter Festival will embrace 28
Russian cities and town this year – from Murmansk to Khabarovsk.

The number of the concerts will be 100 with participation of 500
performers of 10 countries.

Gergiev together with the Mariinsky Theater orchestra and soloists
will visit 11 cities and towns.

CHAIRMAN OF STATE COMMISSION FOR ECONOMIC COMPETITION: PETROL AND DIESEL PRICES WILL FELL BY 10 DRAMS STARTING MARCH 7 IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-03-06 13:28:00

ArmInfo. Petrol and diesel prices will fell by 10 drams starting
March 7 in Armenia, Chairman of the State Commission for Economic
Competition Ashot Shanhnazaryan told media Friday.

‘We had a meeting with major petrol importers Thursday in the evening
and achieved relevant agreement with them’, A. Shahnazaryan said. The
price will even more fall later due to the measures taken by the
Commission, he said.

To recall, the sharp fall of the Armenian national dram against the
US dollar on March 3 resulted in a rise of prices in the retail trade
network including of oil products. In particular, Petrol Super AI-98
was sold for 290 dram per liter on March 3 in the morning, whereas
it rose to 340 drams by 17.2% already in daytime the same day. The
price of Premium AI 95 rose by 19.2% from 260 drams to 310 drams per
liter. Regular AI 91 rose in price by 20.8% from 240 to 290 drams
per liter. Diesel price rose y 17.3% from 230 to 270 drams.

‘I CLICKED WITH THE IRISH’
By Catherine Reilly

ked-with-the-irish,1723
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 17:57

DOCTOR Diana Minasyan is originally from the Armenian capital Yerevan,
and works at Cork University Hospital and St Mary’s Orthopaedic
Hospital.

She came to Ireland in 2002, initially working outside her profession,
and living in Mulloughmore, Co Sligo, in her words "a tiny, beautiful
village."

The Armenian woman "clicked" with the Irish natives, and notes a
shared sense of humour. "It’s very, very similar," she says, "and I
clicked with it very well."

Minasyan was schooled in Yerevan during Soviet times and received a
high quality education, which came with a heavy workload. It wasn’t
all hard work, however, and the games she enjoyed alongside her school
friends would certainly be familiar to Irish children of the 1970s and
1980s, with football, hide-and-seek and skipping among the favourites.

Despite the Soviet system, the Armenians always managed to keep their
native language predominant, but times would get tough in more ways
than one for this proud nation.

By the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms were hastening the
end of the Soviet Union. Minasyan remembers the period well.

"It was economically really bad," she says, citing the interdependence
that had existed between the 15 constituent countries of20the USSR. "If
a TV was manufactured, the screen might be produced in Kazakhstan,
and the remote control in another country."

The USSR’s collapse was also a factor in the eruption of tensions over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
while the country also had to cope with the horrendous Spitak
earthquake, which resulted in the deaths of at least 25,000 people.

But through adversity, the humanity of the Armenian people has stayed
strong and true.

"Armenians are very hospitable, really, really warm people, have a
fantastic sense of humour through the hard times, are great hosts,
very generous people and very emotional," says Minasyan, who finished
school in 1990 and commenced medical studies in her native city.

Back in Ireland, Minasyan has found it "easy" to make friends with
the Irish, and from time to time meets up with fellow Armenians for
home-style barbeques and traditional dishes such as dolma.

She visits her native land once a year, and has noticed some
infrastructural improvements. One addition on the Yerevan map is an
Irish bar. "But I don’t know where they get their Guinness from,"
wonders Minasyan, who has tasted this strange version of the black
stuff.

TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School
1200 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tel: 323-461-4377
Fax: 323-461-4247
Contact: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
Web: _http://www.dickranianschool.org_ ()

LEBANESE-ARM ENIAN MINISTER JEAN OGHASAPIAN
VISITS TCA ARSHAG DICKRANIAN SCHOOL

Los Angeles: During his weeklong stay in Los Angeles,
Lebanese-Armenian State Minister Jean Oghasapian took the time to
visit TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School on Tuesday, February 24.

The minister and his entourage were first greeted at the school
entrance by the Board Chairman George K. Mandossian, Principal Vartkes
Kourouyan, ADL Western District Committee Chairman Hagop Nazarian,
members of faculty, members of the Student Council, and several
community leaders. The honorable guest was then led to the Principal’s
Office for a briefing about the Dickranian School as well as Armenian
day schools in California. During such course of conversation, the
Minister was also infirmed that four members of the School’s faculty
were of Lebanese-Armenian origin.

Left to right: Pricipal Vartkes Kourouyan, Benefactor Noubar
Mkhsi-Gevorkian, Minister Jean Oghasapian, Chairman George
K. Mandossian, and Yervant Aghishian

Mr. Mandossian took the opportunity to present the honorable guest
with the school’s yearbook, after which Mr. Oghasapian and his
entourage were given the VIP tour of the campus, visiting several
classrooms and mingling with students.

This was the second occasion for the Dickranian students to meet with
out of state dignitaries of Armenian origin, who could converse in
their mother tongue with them. Back in November 2008, they had the
opportunity to meet with Mr. Sergio Nahapetian, the Armenian member of
the Argentina’s Parliament. Located at 1200 North Cahuenga Blvd., Los
Angeles, the TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School is a federally tax
exempt Pre-K to 12th grade private educational institution. For more
information call (323) 461-4377 or visitthe school website at

THEY MUST RESIGN

Lragir.am
16:13:45 – 04/03/2009

The director of the research institute Politeconomy Andranik Tevanyan
announced today that the prime minister, the minister of economy and
the president of the Central Bank must resign because their economic
policy failed. According to him, the current situation of the Armenian
economy is determined by the global economic crisis to a very little
extent but especially by the internal economic policy.

According to Andranik Tevanyan transition to floating exchange rate
would not be a "shock therapy" for the public if this transition was
made gradually.

He noted that the authorities should have hold speeches on the TV and
informed the society about the situation. The government can hardly
gain public’s confidence again, said Andranik Tevanyan.

UAE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN TRADE ARRIVES ON WORKING VISIT TO ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan

M arch 4, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 4, NOYAN TAPAN. At the invitation of Armenian Minister
of Economy Nerses Yeritsian, the Minister for Foreign Trade of the
United Arab Emirates Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi arrived on a working
visit to Armenia on March 4. According to the Information and PR
Deparment of the RA Ministry of Economy, during her visit Sheikha
Lubna Al Qasimi will meet with Armenian president, speaker of the
National Assembly, prime minister and foreign minister.

The minister will go to Tsakhkadzor and familiarize herself with
diamond enterprises in Nor Hachn on March 5.

She will also visit the House-Museum of Sergei Parajanov.