PASSING TO EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM PRESERVING ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOVIET ONE
AZG Armenian Daily
15/06/2006
In the course of the last few years, the quality of education in
Armenia worsened so much that it can be compared to the education
systems of underdeveloped Asian countries, including Turkey, Levon
Mkrtchian, RA education and science minister, said at a press
conference on June 13.
At the same time he didn’t try to find anyone guilty for the crash
of the system, when touching upon Sergo Yeritsian, former education
minister, Mr. Mkrtchian stated that the education system of the country
should put stress on the increase of the education quality for the
pupils and students. In the meantime, he didn’t deny that the human
qualities of teachers had such negative impact on the schoolchildren
that in the course of the latest five years as a result of clashes
between the teachers and the schoolchildren, 60 suicide cases among
the schoolchildren were registered in some of the schools of Armenia.
“The material problems of the teachers should not influence their
work, moreover it doesn’t allow them take revenge from the children
that only learn to live,” Mkrtchian expressed a brilliant idea. In
order the schoolchildren and the students have the opportunity to
get high-quality education, the ministry is to elaborate concrete
mechanisms for teaching. “All the further steps of the ministry are
directed to making cardinal changes in the system,” he said.
It seems that the 12 years school education is a mere stretched
version of the 10 years Soviet school education system, Levon Mkrtchian
said. He said that the reforms for passing to the new school education
system do not keep in line with a number of organizational issues. In
particular, it isn’t clear how the teaching process will be organized
in the senior higher classes, as the students are to chose the subjects
for their future specialization.
Moreover, as a result of stretched education at schools, the education
terms at the universities will also be eliminated. In fact, there
are no problems in the junior classes. In order to study at school
according to the new system, a child should be prepared to make
independent choice of the subjects.
Besides, probation system of evaluation will be applied at schools. All
the issues for the elaboration of manuals for the new school system
will be settled by the beginning of the new academic year.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia will be open for
public and the sphere management will be reformed fundamentally. Such
are the key principles of the new minister, Levon Mkrtchian, presented
at his first press conference. Besides the topical press conferences,
the heads of departments and sub-departments of the ministry will held
press conference once in 10 days, the minister promised. He called
the word “reforms” improper as it indicates to the not-full system
of Soviet education, which Armenia intended to turn repulse. “We are
the result of the Soviet system of education and not our children
who do not get enough knowledge now after the collapse of the Soviet
system. We speak of integrating the Armenian system of education into
the European one and not of eradication of the almost perfect Soviet
system of education,” the minister said.
The minister stressed the importance of assessment of the problems in
the system of general, higher and secondary-specialized education. As
regards the sphere of science, the minister just stated that the
“unclear reform” in the system has almost ruined the Armenian
science. He promised to work on the mechanisms of reanimation of
the country’s scientific potential. He believes that transparent and
logical management of the spheres of education and science must be
secured by the responsible persons. The more so as the problems are
not connected with material difficulties only. The ministry is to start
licensing and accreditation of education establishments in future.
In particular, private universities are to pass rather a long probation
period to justify their claims for the status of an authoritative
establishment.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO GURDJIEV IN ARMENIA
By Gohar Gevorgian
AZG Armenian Daily
15/06/2006
International scientific conference and forum dedicated to Georgy
Gurdjiev, outstanding philosopher of the early 20th century will be
held in Yerevan and Gyumri, on June 16-18. Various scholars will hold
reports and speeches based on the ideas and the life of Gurdjiev at
Armenia-Marriott Hotel. On June 18, the participants of the conference
will leave for Gyumri, to the native city of the great thinker.
Many authors such as Catherine Mansfield, Henry Miller were greatly
influences by the ideas of Gurdjiev during their lives and the creative
activities. Huge amount of literature in the spheres of psychology,
literature, philosophy, health care, ecology and religion was published
after the death of Gurdjiev in 1949.

ONLY CHRISTIAN ON IRAN NATIONAL SIDE SAYS HE PLAYS FOR HIS COUNTRY
Slobodan Lekic
AP Worldstream
Jun 14, 2006
Many soccer players have a habit of routinely crossing themselves as
they emerge onto the field for a World Cup match.
But Anderanik Teymourian is different.
His simple gesture has amazed television viewers around the world
because Teymourian plays on the national team of Iran, one of most
thoroughly Islamic nations in the world.
Teymourian is a member of Iran’s tiny Armenian minority, part of
an Orthodox Christian presence dating back to biblical times. About
200,000 Armenians currently live in Iran, mostly in Tehran and other
towns of the northwest.
Although Iran is an Islamic theocratic state, Christianity and other
non-Muslim religions are not banned as in other strictly fundamentalist
states such as Saudi Arabia.
“I’m the first Christian Iranian player in the World Cup since 1978,”
Teymourian said.
The last non-Muslim player on the national team was defender Andranik
Eskandarian in 1978. He now lives in the United States.
The gangly, 22-year old midfielder, who is seen as one of the great
hopes of Iranian soccer, plays for the Aboo Muslim club from Tehran.
He also has played for Iran at every youth level so far before being
drafted to the national squad by coach Branko Ivankovic.
“He is a wonderful player. Very serious, very committed, I can rely
on him to fulfill any task,” Ivankovic said. “He will definitely play
a big role on the national team for many years to come.”
Teymourian says he gets along very well with his teammates, and that
religious differences don’t affect their relations on the field or
on a personal level.
“I am very happy that as a Christian I am playing for a Muslim team,”
he said. “I will put all my abilities at the disposal of the nation
and the team.”
He said that normally he regularly attends church in Tehran.
“But it’s been impossible to get out of the camp in Germany because
of security, so I haven’t been able to do so here.”

PRESENTATION ABOARD ‘CILICIA’ ACCOMPANIED BY ARMENIAN COGNAC
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
15/06/2006
A few days ago the presentation of Zori Balayan’s “Cilicia: A Way to
the Ocean” book took place onboard “Cilicia” sailing vessel moored
in Amsterdam. The crew of the vessel received the first copies of
the book.
The participants of the presentation were treated to Armenian cognac
by captain Karen Balayan. Famous actor Sos Sargsian had presented the
cognac before the start of the journey and had asked to drink it only
at the end of the journey in Amsterdam.

“THE GEORGIANS WANT TO TAKE HOLD OF JAVAKHQ”
A1+
[06:46 pm] 14 June, 2006
“Javakhq is an Armenian region with Armenian population in the
Georgian territory. Javakhq must contribute to the development of the
Armenian-Georgian relations and not spoil them”, said Shirak Torosyan,
the head of the patriotic union “Javakhq” during the news conference
with the journalists. He was worried about the recent problems in
the region.
According to Mr. Torosyan, one of the problems of the Armenians
in Javakhq is the preservation of their mother tongue. There are a
hundred Armenian schools in Javakhq, but the Georgian authorities
demand that all the subjects be taught in Georgian. “If the mother
tongue is banned, the people start to feel an antipathy towards the
foreign language”, he said.
As for the possibility of investments in Javakhq by Armenians of
the Diaspora, Shirak Torosyan said, “No one will make investments
in an area where there is no electricity, no roads and other
substructures. If the above mentioned problems are solved, not only
the Armenians, but also others will make investments in the region.”

SERGO ERITSYAN DIDN’T REMAIN WITHOUT A POST
A1+
[11:56 am] 15 June, 2006
According to the decree of Robert Kocharyan Sergo Eritsyan was
appointed the councilor of the RA President.
According to another decree of the President Ara Ayvazyan was dismissed
from the post of the RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
to the Republic of Chile and Eastern Republic of Uruguay and Vladimir
Karmirshalyan, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
the Republic of Argentina was appointed instead.

TEHRAN USES KARABAKH ISSUE AS “TRAMP CARD” AFTER UNREST – AZERI ACTIVIST
Yeni Musavat, Baku
7 Jun 06
The press secretary of the World Azerbaijani Congress, Ali Nicat,
has said that Tehran is trying to exert pressure on Azerbaijan, by
using Karabakh as its “tramp card”, the Baku-based opposition paper
Yeni Musavat has reported.
In an interview with the paper on 7 June, Nicat said that “the Persian
regime started to doubt Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity after the
developments in southern Azerbaijan”.
Quoting sources in northwestern Iran, Nicat said that “Iranian state
TV channel Iran TV-1 insulted the dignity of Azerbaijanis in its
newscast in the afternoon of 5 June. The TV channel carried a report
on the Bucharest meeting between [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev
and [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan and later dwelled on the
Karabakh problem. It said that ‘the independent Nagornyy Karabakh
republic announced its independence 15 years ago. However, Azerbaijan
has territorial claims to the independent Nagornyy Karabakh republic.”
In reaction to the issue in question, a spokesman for the Iranian
embassy in Baku told Yeni Musavat: “The official position of our state
on this issue is known. I do not think that anything like this will
happen. We cannot comment on the remarks by every passer-by. If you
have facts, we will be happy to discuss them.”
Yeni Musavat said that the Southern Azerbaijan information centre had
been set up in Baku on 6 June to keep the public properly informed
about the developments in northwestern Iran.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ALIYEV: “IT IS NECESSARY TO CARRY KARABAKH PEACEFUL RESOLUTION THROUGH”
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.06.2006 18:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “I am sure the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be
settled within the framework of international norms and principles,”
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev told NBC TV channel. In his words,
terms of settlement of the Karabakh issue depend not only on
Baku. “Territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized by the
international community and all countries, except Armenia. We will
never agree to secession of NK, we will provide it widest autonomy
within territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev underscored.
“They advice our country not to think of settlement by force. We
believe that until there is an opportunity to settle the conflict
peacefully, it is necessary to carry that way through,” Aliyev said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SETTLE THE CONFLICT IN PEACEFUL WAY WAS MISSED”
A1+
[03:44 pm] 08 June, 2006
“The window is open, we mustn’t exclude any development, hope dies
but last; we must anchor hope that we shall be able to come to an
agreement on the matters of principle,” RA Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian announced in today’s press release.
The latter didn’t exclude the possibility of meeting with his Azeri
counterpart at any moment but he didn’t go into details and didn’t
inform anything about that forthcoming meeting. “Every meeting is
held when there are new approaches and new offers,” noted Vartan
Oskanian and added that he didn’t see any ground for new offers
yet. He connected the efficiency of the Bucharest meeting with the
offer which is in the process of discussions and with the complication
of the matter. “Unfortunately we failed; the matter under question
was rather complicated. It was also put in front of the Presidents
in Rambouillet and it was again a failure. The new approaches were
not approved either.”
Yesterday the Azeri deputy informed the Armenian journalists that the
Armenian side refused to take the Armenian forces out of 6 regions
and turned down the offer to allocate the peace-keeping forces
instead though they had agreed beforehand. Asked the question by
“A1+” whether the announcement of the Azeri deputy was grounded and
whether the offer was finally turned down Mr. Oskanian answered, “Today
all the questions connected with the conflict settlement are put on
the table. Our foremost task is the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh
status. As for the elimination of the consequences it must be done
after the NKR recognition.”
By the way, if one-page document was put in front of the presidents
during the Paris meeting, it turned into two-page document in
Bucharest. Asked the question what the length of the document is
determined by Vartan Oskanian answered jokingly, “Not by the budget”
and then added that there were no many changes in the contents only
the length of the document changed.
As for Serge Sargsyan’s announcement that Azerbaijan is likely to lose
its chance to settle the conflict in peaceful way Oskanian answered
diplomatically, “After each negotiation we think that another chance
to settle the conflict in peaceful way was missed.”
Vartan Oskanian once more claimed that the NKR conflict has no military
solution; if it had it would have been settled long ago. The Armenian
side frequently announces about the necessity of peaceful negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AGO GROUP SATISFIED WITH MEETING BETWEEN AZERI AND ARMENIAN FMS
Author: R. Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 14 2006
“We are glad that by the totals of meeting between Azeri and Armenian
FMs the conditions for ongoing cooperation in the settlement of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been preserved”, – reportedly said
Ronald Wegener, German diplomat and head of AGO group at Council
of Ministers of CE, speaking on the totals of negotiations at Azeri
Foreign Ministry June 14.
Wegener said the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was one of
top priorities on the day agenda.
Alongside, German ambassador said, quoting, “Azeri, Armenian FMs came
to agreement on continuation of conversations during their yesterday’s
meeting in Paris. We know the meeting took more than 4 hours and was
very tense. FMs also discussed the issue of Presidents’ meeting”.