Author: Zargarian Hambik

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN’S CONGRATULATION TO VAKHTANG KIKABIDZE

armradio.am
21.07.2008 13:58

RA Presidnet Serzh Sargsyan issued a congratulatory message to
celebrated actor Vakhtang Kikabidze on the occasion of the latter’s
70th birthday.

The message states:

"Dear Mr. Kikabidze, I sincerely congratulate you on the occasion
of your 70th birthday. You are one of the exceptional figures,
whose bright talent stands out for real versatility. Your creative
individuality found it expression in music, cinema and many other
branches of culture.

Many characters you embodied enjoy the love of different
generations. You are known and loved in Armenia and it’s not by
accident that you have become a symbol of friendship, a bridge between
the brotherly peoples of Armenia and Georgia.

Once again congratulating you on your jubilee, I wish you robust
health, new personal and creative success for the sake of Georgian
culture and reinforcement of friendship between our peoples."

WHY DOESN’T BREAD PRICE FALL DOWN?

A1+
21 July, 2008

According to a recent survey conducted by the State Commission for
the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) of the Republic Armenia
it is two months the wheat price has fallen down at the international
market. The wheat price is still the same in Armenia. On July 22 the
SCPEC will convene a consultation with the participation of economic
entities importing flour and wheat to Armenia.

The consultation is aimed at revealing the reasons for maintaining
the prices.

Press Release
July 19, 2008

Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
RA, Yerevan 0028
Memorial Complex of Tsitsernakaberd
Tel.: (374 10) 39 09 81
Fax: (374 10) 39 10 41
e-mail : [email protected]

A Memorial Ceremony in Honor of the Norwegian
Missionary and Armenia Advocate Bodil Biørn

At 10.40am, on July 22nd of 2008, the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute is sponsoring a memorial plaque dedication ceremony in
honor of the famous Norwegian missionary Bodil Biørn.
The ceremony will begin at the AGMI’s Gomidas Hall with the
presentation of the film `They call me mother’; a featured movie at the
2008 `Golden Apricot’ Film Festival. Attending the ceremony are the
members of Bodil Biørn’s family traveling from Norway to Armenia.
The ceremony will also feature the presentation of a photo album of
Eastern Armenia captured by Bodil Biørn. This greatly preserved album
includes photos of the Armenian Genocide and images of life after the
genocide. The presentation will also introduce letters, journals and
other testimonial documents that authenticate the genocide of 1915.
At 12am, the ceremony will be concluded with the placement of a piece
of soil bringing from the tomb of Biørn in the `Memorial Wall’ of the
Tsisernakaberd Memorial Complex.

* Bodil Biørn was born in 1987 in the Norwegian city of Kragerø. In
1905, while working for the `Women Miss
ionary Workers’ organization,
she was sent to the Ottoman Empire, first at the city of Mezereh, and
later in Mush, where her primary interaction was with widows and
orphans. Biørn became an eyewitness of the Armenian Genocide and
documented the developments of massacres through her photography.
In 1917, she returned to Norway for a short amount of time, before she
left to the newly formed Armenian Republic where she established an
orphanage and took care of Armenian refugees from the genocide.
Furthermore, after establishing an orphanage in Armenia she moved to
Syria and engaged in a successful effort of establishing an orphanage
for the survivors. Up until 1934, she continued her services to the
Armenian people and her engagement in the life of the orphan survivors.
Bodil Biørn past away in 1960, but her memory and her work remains
alive in the heart of Armenians today.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, July 17, 2008

AGBU Generation Next Receives $500,000 DOE Grant & Participates in
National Mentoring Dialogue

This year, the longstanding work of AGBU Generation Next Mentorship
Program was recognized by an award of $500,000.00 from the U.S.
Department of Education (DOE). The DOE grant has enabled Generation Next
to hire two new case managers who will facilitate the relationship
between mentors and mentees and help connect mentees to other services
available in the community.

Many long-term studies on mentoring, such as the landmark Big Brothers
Big Sisters Public Private Ventures study (BBBS PPV) of 1995, have found
that mentoring is only an effective model when certain conditions are
met: "In our judgment, the positive impacts observed are unlikely to
have occurred without both the relationship with the mentor and the
support the program provided the match." The report touted the BBBS
model, "which consisted of one-to-one interaction with an adult
volunteer…supported by a professional casework staff that followed a
detailed sequence of operational standards designed to promote a
positive match."

Until recently, Generation Next supported each mentoring match through
volunteer case managers. Through the help of nine volunteers, the
program was able to provide a strong support structure for mentoring
matches but was limited to roughly 65 pairs in terms of growth. With the
new professional case managers on board, Generation Next will be able to
support more than double that amount of mentoring matches and provide a
wider array of services to mentees.

In addition to the grant’s enormous impact on the program’s services and
general growth, the award speaks volumes to AGBU Generation Next’s
credibility. Dr. Nicole E. Vartanian, a Senior Advisor for Academic
Planning at Hunter College in New York, comments, "This really shows an
impressive vote of confidence in the sophistication and maturity of the
work Generation Next is doing."

The grant will be providing 54% of the total funds used in the program’s
new growth phase. The half million dollars will be used over the next
three years mainly to provide for new staff and increase the program’s
capacity to serve more youth. The remainder of the program’s budget,
which amounts to approximately $140,000 annually, is provided mainly
through charitable donations to AGBU.

Additionally, Generation Next’s Task Force Committee or board raises
funds locally and procures in-kind donations. This year’s 6th Annual
Artistic Showcase was sponsored by California Pizza Kitchen, which
provided complimentary food for the 140 attendees.

In other exciting news, for the first time ever, Generation Next was
chosen to participate in the highly prestigious Portland State
University’s Summer Mentoring Institute. This is a great honor for the
small mentoring program, since only 25 programs are chosen from across
the country to participate in this national-level research seminar.
Program director Ara Arzumanian will be attending the event in Portland,
Oregon this summer to represent Generation Next. Arzumanian sums up
their progress as such: "Basically, over the last two years we’ve
tripled the amount of youth we serve, doubled our budget and doubled our
staff. By the time we implement all the facets of this grant, we’ll be
serving 150 youth; that’s up from 22 only two years ago. We work closely
with the schools, we have a dedicated group of volunteers and an amazing
group of luminous kids."

A strong working relationship with the Glendale Unified School District
(GUSD) is at the heart of Generation Next’s success. That relationship
began with GenNext’s founding, and continues to the present day. The
close relationship with the schools was a big plus in the grant
application which was lead-authored by Arzumanian and co-authored by
program coordinator, Nora Ayvazian. Generation Next also participates in
the Violence Prevention committees of both Toll and Roosevelt middle
schools in Glendale. Additionally, Arzumanian was recently elected to
head the GUSD’s Healthy Start Collaborative-a state-mandated body that
meets monthly to bring together all the service providers working with
youth in the GUSD. Alice Petrossian, GUSD Assistant Superintendent of
Educational Services, affirms the importance of the program’s
relationship with the schools: "The creation of the mentor program is a
tribute to the young AGBU professionals who wanted to help young
Armenians and show them a better way of life. [They] have succeeded;
[they] have literally saved the lives of many troubled students in
GUSD."

In addition to school support, many parents regularly laud the program’s
impact and accomplishments. "I am a proud mother of an AGBU mentee. I
cannot begin to explain what a productive, helpful and positive
organization AGBU is. My son has been a part of Generation Next for a
year now and we have seen outstanding improvements in his personality
and behavior. Thanks to the generous grants and donations the program
has received, my son and many other lucky participants are open to
endless opportunities. All the words in the world cannot describe how
grateful we are for this wonderful organization," explains Mineh
Aghayani, a Generation Next mother.

The two new professional case managers have already begun working with
the schools and facilitating mentoring relationships-working directly
with mentors and mentees. Besides their primary case management
responsibilities, they will also be focusing on reaching out to students
in the district that may benefit from mentoring and will be recruiting
qualified new mentors. Arzumanian comments: "As I always say, if you’re
willing to give a little of your time and step up and become part of
your community, give us a call. We’re always looking for strong, caring
men and women to take on the challenge and privilege of mentoring our
kids."

To make a donation to AGBU Generation Next, please visit their homepage
() and make a fast and secure donation using Paypal.
For more information about the program, please contact AGBU Generation
Next Mentorship by e-mail, [email protected], or phone, 626-794-7942.

NEW ARCHEOLOGICAL FIND DURING TIGRANAKERT’S EXCAVATIONS

DE FACTO
2008-07-16 15:39:00

In the course of excavations of early Christian basilica on the
territory of an ancient town of Tigranakert archeologists found a
small disc. Its diameter is about 8cm, with a cross on one side and
a portrait of a bearded man in a fir hat on the other.

According to DE FACTO own correspondent in Stepanakert, on July 15,
at a press conference held in this connection, Hamlet Petrosian, the
head of archeological expedition, head of Department of Culturology
of Yerevan State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, stated
there were contracted legends in Armenian – "God" and "I, Vache,
the Servant of God" on the disc’s both sides. According to Hamlet
Petrosian, further research will enable to find out who Vache is and
if he bears a relation to a number of renowned figures of 5th-7th
centuries bearing the name.

In the scientist’s opinion, the place of archeological find’s
discovery, cross’s image and legend’s type give the ground to date the
disc from 5th-6th centuries; the 7th century is not ruled out either.

According to Hamlet Petrosian, such crosses were ordered by believers
and presented to church. Hamlet Petrosian underscored that the find was
one of the most ancient Armenian evidences found on the territory of
historic=2 0Artsakh /Karabakh/. It is noteworthy that today the NKR
government has rendered a decision to forbid carrying out building
and agricultural works, as well as household and industrial activity
on the territory of Tigranakert. The MoD has been commissioned to
hold military exercises far from the historic monument.

NKR PM Ara Harutyunian noted the government would devote a special
attention to the monument’s security and its due presentation to the
world scientific circles.

To remind, Tigranakert was the biggest and the most famous settlement
of pre-Christian period on the territory of Artsakh and was founded
in nineties BC by Armenian King Tigran II and existed till 13-14
centuries AC. The settlement’s remainders were found in 2005 on the
territory of Shagbulag village of modern Aghdam region.

KAZAKH MILITARY TO ATTEND NATO DRILLS IN ARMENIA

The Times of Central Asia
July 11, 2008 Friday

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia will not participate in the Cooperative
Longbow/Lancer NATO exercises that take place in Armenia this fall.

The deputy head of the general staff of the Armenian armed forces,
Arshaluys Paytyan, made this announcement at a final session of the
NATO exercise planning conference.

According to him, drill participants from the former USSR include
Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

"22 countries take part in the exercises, including 7 NATO member
countries, among them U.S., UK, Canada, Poland and Lithuania, as
well 13 NATO partner countries. Representatives of the United Arab
Emirates will arrive in Yerevan to represent Istanbul Cooperation,"
said Paytyan.

According to the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry,
NATO CP exercises are scheduled for September 26 ? October 7 and
include 429 officers and a total of 748 servicemen.

ARMENIA UNDER NO DANGER
G. Harutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 09, 2008
Armenia

The Presidency of the EU Council has been shifted to France from July
1 up to the end of the year.

During the coming six months the French Presidency is planning to
reform Europe’s energy policy, to contribute to the maintenance of the
environment and assist the struggle against the climate change. French
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Serge Smesov
and Head of the delegation of the European Committee in Armenia Raul
de Lucenberger yesterday represented three more priorities of the
French presidency.

They particularly underscored that 27 EU member countries are already
elaborating a common immigration policy. In this framework France will
mostly pursue the goal of averting illegal immigration. The issue of
Europe’s security and defense is one of the priorities.

Taking into consideration the increase of food prices in the whole
world French Presidency attaches great importance to the elaboration
of a common agricultural policy.

Serge Smesov particularly mentioned that France considers it important
to establish a free regional trade zone with the new European neighbors
and provide conditions for free movement, for the citizens of those
countries.

Though the ambassador mentioned lots of reasons why he avoided
answering the questions regarding our country’s internal-political
situation, he had to. He said the requirements of resolution 1609
and 1620 wouldn’t have any impact on the process of the program
"New neighbors".

‘We don’t have any intention to clarify Armenia’s internal political
estimations. Council of Europe came to a decision that in any case they
won’t use any sanctions against Armenia, at least up to 2009. The
program "New neighbors" is EU program and Council of Europe has
submitted the resolution to Armenia.

We can simply hope that the requirements of the resolution will
become an agenda issue for Armenia. Our program is built on the common
value system.

The cooperation between Armenia and the European Union is conditioned
by those factors."

Raul de Lucenberger informed us that the European Union has signed a
plan of actions with Armenia in the framework of the program "New
neighbors" and previewed the activity of the coming years. "The
progress of the relations between Armenia and the European Union is
conditioned by the speed and effectiveness of the jointly elaborated
action plan. And "New neighbors" program is under no danger".

"THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY"

A1+
08 July, 2008

With sanctification of His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, the publishing department of the
Holy See of Echmiadzin published the Armenian translation of "Le
génie du christianisme" by well-known French writer Francois-René de
Chateaubriand. The book ("The Genius of Christianity") was translated
from French by Pargev Shahbazian and published with patronage of
"Armen and Nune Sargsyans" foundation.

The aim of "The Genius of Christianity" is "…to prove that from all
the religions ever existed Christianity is the most poetic, the most
humane and the one most favoring freedom, arts and literature." It
concentrates on Christianity and underlines the importance of Christian
values in social life.

–Boundary_(ID_MkiDk6U8OYKnW0CPmW+mIg)–

AZERIS USE KOSOVO PHOTOS TO DEPICT ALLEGED KHOJALY ATROCITIES

Karabakh Foreign Ministry
Monday, July 7, 2008
STEPANAKERT

The official Azeri propaganda campaign to depict Armenians as
perpetrators of a so-called massacre in Khojaly in 1992 is in full
swing, as some Azeri Websites have begun to circulate photos of
atrocities in the Kosovo war as images of dead Azeris at the hand
of Armenians.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Foreign Minsitry press service recently
unveiled several Websites that utilized forged documents and photos
to advance the Azeri version of the Khodjalu events in an effort to
sway Azeri and world public opinion.

The photograph in question, which has appeared in Khojaly.org and
Azerbaijan.az, depicts a slew of ravaged corpses in a populated area,
to reinforce its claims that Armenian massacred Azeris in that area.

Studies of the color-version of the photograph in question have
concluded that the same photograph was used by Serbian and Albanoan
Websites, as well as the New York Times and other newspapers in the US.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Foreign Ministry, in a statement,
reminded that on February 25 and 26, 1992 the Karabakh Defense Army
launched a military operation to liberate the only airport in the
republic that was under Azeri control, and from where, since 1991,
systematic attacks were being launched by Azeris on populated areas
of Karabakh

The liberation of the airport and neutralizing of Azeri armed units in
Khojaly were of vital strategic importance for ensuring the security
and safety of the Karabakh population.

"Sub units of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army granted a corridor
(evacuation routs: eds) for the safe passage of the Khojaly population
days before the operation, about which the Azeri side was notified,"
said the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Foreign Ministry.

"It is a well-know fact that the Karabakh authorities informed Azeri
side of the plan to neutralize Azeri weapons caches two months prior to
the operations," added the foreign ministry, saying that confirmation
of the information was received by then Azeri President Ayaz Mutalibov.

The Karbakh Foreign Minister explained that despite the warnings by
the Karabakh Defense Army, the Azeri government did not undertake any
effort to evacuate the civilian population of Khojaly. Furthermore,
a group of civilians on route to Aghdam was massacred around the
same time.

The Karabakh foreign ministry revealed that at the time, Mutalibov
linked the massacres to his opposition, who were attempting to topple
him from power.

The foreign ministry also detailed that area, where Azeri filmed and
photographed corpses was in fact three kilometers away from Aghdam
and 11 kilometers away from Khojaly, adding that until the liberation
of Aghdam in 1993, that area was exclusively under Azeri control and
all access by Karabakh Defense forces was blocked and prohibited.

The foreign ministry also said that details of the Khojaly events
remain "shrouded in mystery" by official Baku, and efforts to depict
Armenians as perpetrators have, for years, been part of an official
anti-Armenian campaign to fuel hatred toward Armenians in Azebaijan.

One of the most hard-fought battles of the Karabakh liberation
struggle, the 1992 battle of Khojaly has been used by Azeris to allege
mass killings by Armenians, in an effort to veil Azeri-initiated
pogroms against Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad, Shahumian and Baku
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as to create obstacles in
the peace process.

Whittier Daily News, CA

Yearbook furor prompts schools to rethink editing

By Amanda Baumfeld, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 07/05/2008 09:35:15 PM PDT

Local schools will revise editing standards after racially offensive
names were discovered in the Charter Oak High School yearbook.

Baldwin Park Unified School District Superintendent Mark Skvarna said
his staff will be looking closely at their proofs.

"Oh my gosh, I just cringed when I saw that," Skvarna said. "There
will be more of a focus on the quality check process. I am going to
look a little bit harder at all of our books."

A Charter Oak yearbook staff student replaced Black Student Union
names with fake names – such as "Tay Tay Shaniqua," "Crisphy Nanos"
and "Laquan White" – next to a photo of the BSU in the school’s 2008
Chronicle.

The school initially provided BSU students with stickers with
corrected names to be placed over the error in their books.

Charter Oak High is now working with students and their families to
come up with a more effective solution.

"This will not only serve as a learning experience and an example at
this school but at other schools as well," said Charter Oak Unified
School Board President Joseph Probst. "The staff of the yearbook have
responsibilities to meet and one of those responsibilities is to be an
editor."

Officials at Azusa Unified have also taken notice. They are planning
on discussing policies before the start of the new school year.

"We plan to put together a committee later this summer to review our
yearbook policies and guidelines," said Kathleen

Miller, spokeswoman for Azusa. "We will be looking at a variety of
issues, including methods of proofreading." State Sen. Gloria Romero,
D-Los Angeles, who was critical of the incident, agreed standards need
to change.

"I think there’s got to be a greater accountability and review prior
to going to print," Romero said. "Somebody, somewhere needs to be held
accountable for the school’s quality of work."

Charter Oak student Joe Aragon said there are some lessons to be
learned.

"I hope this incident will show our yearbook staff members and others
that punctuality and organization is pertinent to a yearbook staff,"
said Aragon. "Simple filler names could be hurtful even if the intent
was not to hurt anybody."

Aragon claims the names were put in as "filler" text and should have
been caught when the pages were proofed. Aragon was not a member of
the yearbook staff, but said he knows the student who wrote the
offensive caption.

Roger Elliot, a former teacher, said a similar yearbook incident
happened about 10 years ago at a Pasadena-area high school.

Pictures of students showing Armenian gang signs were printed in the
book. As yearbook advisor, Elliot said he attempted to tell the
principal, who told him to white out the signs. Parents and students
were furious and the pages were reprinted, he said.

Elliot said it is nearly impossible to catch all the errors that may
come up in a yearbook.

"The school thought they had it covered," Elliot said. "No matter what
you do to try and cover yourself there’s always going to be something
to come through and bite you."

[email protected]

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108