ARMENIANS ARE WELCOME IN AJARIA
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[01:04 pm] 05 September, 2006
Hrach Silvanian, Armenian Ambassador to Georgia, met with Levan
Varshalomidze, Ajarian Prime Minister in Ajaria during his visit
to Batumi.
The Prime Minister informed the Armenian Ambassador that the Ajarian
Autonomous Republic has welcomed 35 thousand Armenian tourists and
they expect that the number of Armenian tourists will still increase
and reach 45 thousand at the end of September. The two parties find
that there is an urgent need to found a consulate in Batumi taking
into consideration the abundant flow of Armenians to Ajaria.
Levan Varshalomidze attached great importance to the involvement of
the Armenian businessmen into Ajarian interior market taking into
account their great experience in agricultural sphere. The two parties
focused on the necessity to enhance bilateral cooperation via working
out mutually beneficial new methods.
The Prime Minister also referred to the problems of the Armenian
church enclosure and restoration of the adjacent territories. Levan
Varshalomidze noted that the Mayor of Batumi will be assigned with
a concrete task on this score.

HENRIK HOVHANNISIAN AND DAVIT HOVHANNES HOLD SAME OPINION THAT CHOOSING OF NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM WAS NOT URGENT AT THIS MOMENT
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Art critic Henrik
Hovhannisian and poet Davit Hovhannes presented their viewpoints
and comments on the new Armenian national anthem at the September 5
dispute at the Hayeli (Mirror) club.
>From the very start the dispute participants emphasized that they
should not have kicked up a racket over the national anthem, on the
contrary, the commission and the people in a quiet situation should
have selected the song that was more close to their hearts. Both of
the guests gave assurance that choosing of the national anthem was
not urgent at this moment. In Henrik Hovhannisian’s words, among 5
variants that have passed to the second stage, the anthems with music
composed by Tigran Mansurian on the basis of the “Armenia-Heavenly
Country’s” Komitas version and “I Love the Sun Sweet Taste of Armenia”
poem by Charents are most acceptable for him.
In the words of Davit Hovhannes who left the contest commission on
selection of national anthem lyrics and music on August 28, two out of
five variants having passed to the second stage are “criminal.” The
authors of these two variants introduced themselves by nicknames and
it was unknown for a long time who they are. After long searches it
was found out that the author of one of them is Arsen Soghomonian,
Head of the Board of RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs, and
another one, Ararat B., is member of the above mentioned commission,
poet Razmik Davoyan. In the last circumstance, as Davit Hovhannes
declared, the working order of the contest commission was grossly
violated, as none of the persons included in the same commission has
the right to submit a bid. In D.Hovhannes’ words, this circumstance
casts doubt on the commission’s future activities.
In Henrik Hovhannisian’s words, the anthem’s Aram Khachatrian and
“Our Homeland” variants have a political past: both of them contain
the logic and necessity of the time. The art critic emphasized that
the national anthem is not merely lyrics and music but history and
politics.

BARROSO SEPARATES ADHESION FROM TURKEY OF THE QUESTION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ArmRadio.am
05.09.2006 16:58
The president of the European Commission, Jose-Manuel Barroso, refused
Monday to force Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide before
his possible adhesion with European Union. “This kind of examination
must be voluntary. It cannot be imposed,” declared Monday the owner
of European executive. “One should not pose that like an additional
condition,” insisted Manuel Barroso by underlining the “difficulty”
and “time” necessary to the control of this kind of debate. “How
long the catholic church did put to recognize the reality of the
enquiry? How long the colonial powers did they put to recognize the
colonial crimes?” he pled.
Jose-Manuel Barroso rejected any purely geographical definition of
the Union. “There is no geographical consensus on the borders of the
Union. Let us seek a political consensus rather, because is with us
to decide “, but” one should not say ‘ no’ to these countries which
testify to a will of Europe,” he noted.
For the president of European executive, European Union must accept
all the countries which fill the criteria fixed at their adhesion
“and which represents a step ahead, an added value, for European
integration”, he concluded, while admitting that the question of the
accession of Turkey was one “of most difficult at the present time in
Europe.” An accession of Turkey to the European Union would make it
possible, according to him, to avoid importing instability into Europe.

AMERICAN ARMENIAN BENEFACTORS ARE DECORATED WITH “SAINT GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR” ORDER
Noyan Tapan
Sept 05 2006
ETCHMIADZIN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On September 3, at the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians decorated American Armenian benefactors,
Mr. and Mrs. Pedros and Anna Oruncakciels with the “Saint Gregory
the Illuminator” order. According to the information submitted to
Noyan Tapan by the Information Services of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, they were awarded that order for their productive
activity, beneficial to the nation and church.

IMPLEMENTATION OF “ARMENIAN BUILD ON FAITH” PROJECT STARTS
Noyan Tapan
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The solemn opening ceremony of
the “Catholicos Karekin II Work Project – Armenian Build on Faith”
construction project was held in the Yerevan “Armenia Marriott”
hotel on September 4, under the high chairmanship of Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. As Noyan Tapan
was informed by the Information Services of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, after the Lord’s Prayer, His Holiness addressed his
blessing to volunteers, gathered in Armenia from different countries
of the world, who will implement their program.
His Holiness Patriarch touched upon the agreement signed between
the Armenian Apostolic Surb (Saint) Church and Habitat based on the
proposal got from the Habitat board and diocesan primates of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, expressing appreciation to the Habitat
International board, in the person of organization representative
doctor Kenneth Benson as well as Bob Edgar, the General Secretary
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, who
closely cooperate with dioceses, churchmen and communities of the
Armenian Church.
His Holiness expressed confidence that this cooperation between the
Church and Habitat will be continuous, and a greater number of flats
will be jointly built in Armenia for needy Armenian sons.
Within the framework of the “Catholicos Karekin II Work Project:
Armenian Build on Faith” construction project, Habitat Armenia
organization will complete this year construction of 37 houses which
will symbolize the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church with
its 36 dioceses. Within the framework of the project, a series
of international volunteers will participate on September 4-9 in
the final stage of construction works of a 24-apartment building in
Gavar. On September 5, works will start in the city of Gavar where all
international and local volunteers will join to beneficiary families
of Armenian Habitat to bring to end construction of the latters’
flats. The house blessing and opening ceremony of the building will
take place on September 9.
“Catholicos Karekin II Work Project – Armenian Build on Faith”
construction program was created this April 20, based on a Memorandum
of Understanding signed at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin between
International Habitat and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Under
leadership of Karekin II, the Armenian Apostolic Church was for
the first time involved in the Habitat activity in 2005, within
the framework of the Jimmy Carter Work Project in the U.S. state
of Michigan. And the cooperation between the Armenian Apostolic
Church and International Habitat was stated just during that period
of time. The Armenian Habitat organization started functioning in
2000. It has built 209 houses by now, for more than 1000 needy people.

ON SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENIAN FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM TO RECEIVE NATIONAL TEAM OF BELGIUM
Noyan Tapan
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia-Belgium meeting will take
place on September 6 at Yerevan Vazgen Sargsian republican stadium
under the group tournament program of Football Europe Championship
selection tour. The Armenian national team started preparatory
trainings almost a week before the game headed by coach of the national
team, Scot Ian Porterfield. Roman Berezovski, Artavazd Karamian,
Edgar Manucharian will not take part in the game. Instead, experienced
players Karen Dokhoyan, Hamlet Mkhitarian, Romik Khachatrian, Arman
Karamian, Armen Shahgeldian are included in the team.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. GOVERNMENT COMPLETES RENOVATIONS TO ARMENIAN NATIONAL CINEMATHEQUE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5 NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The U.S. Embassy
is pleased to announce the completion of ,000 worth of renovations
to the National Cinematheque of Armenia. This project, as NT was
informed from the Public Relations Department of the U.S. Embassy in
Armenia, has allowed the Cinematheque to create a climate-controlled
space to preserve its collection of over 270,000 Armenian films,
audio recordings, and photos. The Cinematheque is the only existing
collection of Armenia’s film heritage, and houses the first Armenian
silent film, rare musical recordings, and historically significant
Armenian photos.
The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, through which
the U.S. Government provided the funding, works worldwide to assist
countries in preserving museum collections, ancient and historic
sites and traditional forms of expression. This program strives to
help preserve the cultural heritage of countries throughout the world
by providing small grants to support heritage preservation. Since
its creation in 2001, this program has supported almost 300 projects
worldwide, totaling .7 million.

WASHINGTON ORGANIZATION PLANS TO PRESENT VALUES OF ARTSAKH MATERIAL CULTURE TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 05 2006
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On
September 5, Chairwoman of the Washington organization Leaders’
Council for Human Rights, Catherine Porter, met with NKR President
Arkady Ghoukassian. She informed the President about the plans of
the organization headed by her concerning presenting the values of
Artsakh material culture to the international community.
The guest said that the monuments of Christian period and the rich
pre-Christian heritage can greatly promote tourism development in
Nagorno Karabakh and can introduce the country to the international
scientific circles.
As NT was informed by the Acting Spokesperson for NKR President, Arkady
Ghoukassian greeted Mrs Porter’s initiative and expressed the readiness
of the NKR authorities to cooperate in the above mentioned sphere.

LEVON ANANIAN: DIASPORA IS NOT ONLY MATTER BUT ALSO SPIRIT
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Relations between
Armenia and the Diaspora have always been firm, the Diaspora has
always stood near Armenia and in the recent years, after Armenia’s
independence, these relations got a new quality. Levon Ananian,
Chairman of the Armenian Union of Writers, declared at the September 5
meeting of representatives of creative intelligentsia with RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian dedicated to the forthcoming Armenia-Diaspora
forum.
As he estimated, the Diaspora’s support was one-sided formerly, but
now Armenia has reconsidered its policy towards the Diaspora. “As
the Diaspora is not only a matter, but also a spirit,” Levon Ananian
declared.
Vartan Oskanian presented the agenda of the Armenia-Diaspora third
forum to the meeting participants. In the minister’s words, the forum
creates a historical possibility for discussing important national
issues among representatives of Armenia and the Diaspora.
The minister drew the attention of those present to the project of
improving the living conditions of 50 Armenian villages and informed
them that 30 Diasporan sponsors have already given consent to finance
the project.

THIRD ALL ARMENIAN MEDIA FORUM TO BE HELD IN TSAGHKADZOR
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The third
Armenia-Diaspora media forum will be held in Tsaghkadzor on September
15-17, 2006. The previous similar forums were held in Bratislava
and Tsaghkadzor.
Organizers of the forum are the World Armenian Congress (Moscow) as
well as Armenian Organizations of Europe Representation (Slovakia),
National Awareness Improvement Center (Los Angeles) and the Noyan
Tapan information-analytical center (Yerevan). The general sponsor
of the forum is the World Armenian Congress.
As Tigran Haroutiunian, the Chairman of the preparatory committee,
Director of the Noyan Tapan information-analytical center stated,
it’s expected that about 150 people from more than 20 countries will
participate in the forum.
The goal of the third forum is to complete problems connected with
creation of the all-Armenian information field and to found the
All-Armenian Media Association. The latter will be aimed to regulate
and make closer the cooperation between Armenian and Diasporan media,
to create a general information field and assist solution of problems
of general interest.