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May 15, 2009
1. Nairit fallout: Death toll in rubber plant blast rises to four amid
mounting environmental concerns
2. Who is who: Municipal elections set stage for another ‘battle’ of
current and former elites
3. Fistfight for votes: Violence mars second week of campaign in
Yerevan elections
**4.** Fifth estate: Armenian bloggers get ready for political
campaign
5. Weathering the Storm: the pressure of poverty
6. Karabakh Talks: Next stop in St. Petersburg
7. Forum for Survival: PF-A to host discussions on the financial
"storm"
8. Lessons from the Grave: Ancient Jewish cemetery marks little-known
time in Armenian history**
9. Suspended relief: Shushi benevolent fund puts its projects on hold
10. **Able for communication: Center in Vanadzor helps mentally disabled
children
11. For the love of soccer: Armenia’s women team in first international
action on home soil
12. Sport: Ararat in trouble over license for Europe League
************************************************ ****************************
1. Nairit fallout: Death toll in rubber plant blast rises to four amid
mounting environmental concerns
By Karine Ionesyan
The death toll in serious explosions and fire at Armenia’s sprawling
chemical plant that occurred Thursday late afternoon has risen to four,
according to the information confirmed by the country’s Ministry of
Emergency Situations and the administration of the enterprise itself.
It is also reported that eight people who sustained bodily injuries of
various severity have now been discharged from hospital.
Nairit, a chemical giant on the southern outskirts of Armenian capital
Yerevan that also specializes in synthetic rubber production, was rocked by
a series of explosions and ensuing fire on Thursday at around 18.40 pm. The
incident prompted a massive effort by different services, including police,
rescuers, paramedics and others, who managed to take the situation under
control in late evening.
On Friday, Nairit has released the names of its four workers who were killed
inside the premises of a chloroprene production shop.
They are: Levon Levonyan (born in 1959); Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (1958);
Vahan Gharibyan (1959); and Artur Karapetyan (1970).
It is reported that the fire that had covered an area of 80 square meters
and it took firefighters several hours before they could localize the fire
first and then completely extinguish it.
Officials in charge of relevant state bodies say there are no serious
environmental risks following what happened. But some people still feel
uneasy and skeptical of official statements.
Astghik Atayan, 22, who lives in a residential area adjacent to the chemical
plant, says she was at her computer, working, when she heard a balcony door
being slammed (by someone, as she thought then). Some time later, however,
she felt another thrust and then saw rising smoke, running people, rushing
ambulances and fire engines.
"But the situation was heavier in areas in the immediate neighborhood of
Nairit. My husband has friends there and he says one of them had taken his
two-year-old child to the countryside to avoid any harm, since nothing
beside smoke could be seen there. Last night, we closed our doors tight
before going to bed. Nothing happened, but we aren’t sure something won’t
happen," the woman said.
Through its press service, the Nairit administration on Friday officially
stated that the explosions and fire at the plant did not entail any serious
ecological consequences – "there are no harmful emissions."
Director of the Social-Ecological Association Srbuhi Harutyunyan, who is a
chemist-ecologist by training, says, however, that a large quantity of
acetylene, which is the main material for obtaining synthetic rubber, was
emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the fire. This acetylene is mixed
with oxygen causing various poisonous chemical substances. "As a result, the
quantity of oxygen is reduced in the environment and those poisonous
materials first of all start to influence people’s respiratory tract. Since
these materials can remain in the air for quite a long time, it becomes very
dangerous for people’s health."
Harutyunyan says that one could have predicted the unfortunate event of an
explosion, since currently the plant operates only one line through which it
receives raw materials for production, while during the Soviet times, for
safety reasons, three lines were used for the purpose: "That’s why there
were no such explosions at that time and people did not lose their lives."
Nairit officials cited busy schedules as a reason for refusing to provide
any substantial details or, otherwise, referred ArmeniaNow to the company’s
official website, which says that work continues on the premises to bring it
in order and that the incident cannot cause any environmental harm.
"The cause of the fire will become clear only from the ad hoc group of
specialists that has already been set up and now is looking into the
occurrence," said advisor to the Director of the Rescue Service of the
Ministry of Emergency Situations Nikolay Grigoryan.
Earlier, the Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings in
connection with the case.
The Soviet-era built chemical giant has experienced less serious emergencies
in the past that were mostly blamed on its obsolete equipment and low safety
standards.
In December 2006, it took firefighters two days to extinguish the fire that
started in two Nairit reservoirs with inflammable waste.
Nairit, employing more than 1,000 people, resumed its work last month after
several months of idling blamed on the downturn in the world economy.
The plant currently owned by the British-registered firm Rhinoville Property
Limited has experienced difficulties in recent years, which became more
apparent late last year as the country’s economy began to feel the impact of
the global economic crisis.
Nairit was visited by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan on April 28 as it
resumed its operations, with plans to produce up to 750 tons of rubber a
month.
************************************** **************************************
2. Who is who: Municipal elections set stage for another ‘battle’ of
current and former elites**
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter**
Municipal assembly elections in Yerevan scheduled for May 31 will give the
capital city an elected mayor for the first time in nearly two decades.
The city has had ten president-appointed mayors since Armenia gained
independence in 1991. All of them were to a certain extent ‘people’ of the
incumbent head of state.
Hambartsum Galstyan, Vahagn Khachatryan, Ashot Mirzoyan and Vano Siradeghyan
acted on the mandate of the first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan.
Suren Abrahamyan, Albert Bazeyan, Robert Nazaryan and Yervand Zakharyan were
in charge of the "Yerevan policies" of the second president, Robert
Kocharyan.
Gagik Beglaryan, who was appointed in 2009, is the top executive of
city-related ‘directives’ given by the third head of state, Serzh Sargsyan.
Under the legislation, the president was entitled to dismiss the mayor from
the post. The situation required a change after Armenia joined the Council
of Europe in 2001 and assumed the obligation to make the mayoral post in the
capital an elected position.
In line with the constitutional amendments passed in a referendum in 2005
and the new Law "On Local Government in Yerevan", a 65-seat municipal
assembly elected under a proportional system by popular vote will choose a
new mayor.
The top candidate on the slate of the party that gets an absolute majority
of seats in the elected body automatically becomes mayor.
Six political parties, namely Prosperous Armenia, the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA), Orinats Yerkir, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF,
Dashnaktsutyun), the People’s Party, the Labor Socialist Party of Armenia,
and one election bloc – the Armenian National Congress (ANC), are contesting
the seats in the assembly.
A majority of analysts, though, tend to view it as a ‘two-horse’ race **
between the opposition ANC and the governing RPA.
ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
The core of this political bloc – the Armenian National Movement (ANM)
party, was "born" in 1989 on the basis of the Karabakh committee – a group
of intellectuals recognized by many Armenians as their de facto leaders who
sought the unification of the Armenian-populated oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh
(then part of Soviet Azerbaijan) with mainland Armenia.
It is this party that held political power in the republic from September
1991 to February 1998. Correspondingly, it also governed the city of
Yerevan.
The top three candidates on the ANC slate for the May 31 elections are
ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, leader of the People’s Party of Armenia
Stepan Demirchyan and coordinator of the opposition bloc Levon Zurabyan.
Among the supporters of the ANC are Suren Abrahamyan, who headed the city in
1998-1999, during the period of the first term of President Robert Kocharyan
in office. In June 1999, Abrahamyan was appointed Interior Minister.
Several months later, though, he was dismissed from the ministerial post
after the shootout in the Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999. Later,
Abrahamyan joined Ter-Petrosyan.
The first two candidates on the ANC list also ran for president – Demirchyan
in 2003 and Ter-Petrosyan in 2008.
The current 167-man ticket of the bloc does not include candidates from the
opposition Heritage party with which the ANC had conducted negotiations for
a possible joint participation in the elections. Heritage eventually refused
to take part in the elections.
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA
The RPA is participating with the most extensive election list of candidates
including 180 names.
The top three candidates are incumbent mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan,
prefect of the capital’s northwestern district of Avan Taron Margaryan (the
son of the late prime minister Andranik Margaryan) and Hrach Poghosyan, who
heads an engineering design organization.
The RPA was founded in 1966 and for 25 years was an underground organization
in the territory of the Soviet Union. The party stood for Armenia’s
independence. It was officially registered in 1991. It was during that year
that the party’s leader at the time, Ashot Navasardyan, unsuccessfully ran
for the post of Armenia’s first president. Leading RPA members were in the
forefront of the defenses during the 1991-1994 Karabakh war.
After the war, the party joined the then ruling ANM and participated with a
joint bloc in the 1995 parliamentary vote. The elections then were
accompanied with large-scale violence and were held in a general atmosphere
of fear, which adversely effected the images of both parties.
The two parties also fielded a single candidate in the 1996 presidential
race. That vote entailed the first mass post-election disturbances in the
territory of independent Armenia in which firearms, water cannons and
explosives were used. A state of siege was declared in Yerevan.
Ashot Mirzoyan was the then head of the city. But in fact powerful Defense
Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and feared Minister of the Interior Vano
Siradaghyan were in charge of the situation.
Today’s president Serzh Sargsyan was then Minister of National Security.
Strongman Vazgen Sargsyan became the leader of the RPA in 1998. The first
president of Armenia had already resigned over ‘his position of concessions’
in the Karabakh issue.
The RPA was split after the October 27, 1999 terrorist act in parliament in
which the then prime minister Vazgen Sargsyan was assassinated along with
seven other top statesmen and politicians. Seven months after the terrorist
act, some of the ‘Republicans’ led by the brother of the assassinated prime
minister turned away from the authorities and formed a party with a very
similar name – Republic. And in the course of time they rejoined the ANM
camp that had lost many of its members by then.
Among the ‘returnees’ was also Albert Bazeyan, who was in charge of Yerevan
affairs as mayor in 1999-2001. This circumstance became the main reason for
Bazeyan’s resignation from the post.
Another part of the RPA retained the name and rallied around nonpartisan
president Robert Kocharyan. Their leader Andranik Margaryan was appointed
Prime Minister in 2000.
In 2003, then Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, not a member of the RPA,
topped the party’s slate and led it in that year’s parliamentary elections.
After those elections the party has in fact governed the city solo – through
its members Yervand Zakharyan (2003-2009) and Gagik Beglaryan, who succeeded
the former earlier this year.
The ANM and the RPA are the two most radical groups on the Armenian
political landscape with a once "shared shadow sector of the economy." This
antagonism, which can also be called "elections of Yerevan’s mayor", is
nothing more than the division of an old pie. The ANM had been more powerful
before, the RPA is more powerful now.
Among other parties contesting the election are pro-establishment Prosperous
Armenia and Orinats Yerkir, both junior partners in the RPA-led governing
coalition. If voted into the municipal assembly without enough mandates to
name their own candidates for mayor, they are most likely to give preference
to the RPA candidate for the post.
Top candidates of these two parties’ lists ** Health Minister Harutyun
Kushkyan (Prosperous Armenia) and MP Yeghine Bisharyan (Orinats Yerkir) **
practically have no chance for becoming mayor. These parties are political
projects that had once been designed "to steal the votes". One of them,
Orinats Yerkir, was born in 1998, the second – in 2004.
One of the oldest Armenian parties, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, stands out in this
lineup. This traditional party already governed the country in 1918-1920
when Armenia briefly became independent before being divided between
Bolshevik Russia and Kemalist Turkey.
Dashnaktsutyun also governed Yerevan during its rule in the short-lived
first republic. Remarkably, the party had invited to the capital great
architect Alexander Tamanyan, who designed the city’s master plan in 1919.
The party took an active part in the Karabakh war. After the end of
hostilities in 1994, the nationalist party was outlawed – not in Azerbaijan
though, but in Armenia.
But today, MP Artsvik Minasyan stands little chance, if at all, to become
mayor, since Dashnaktsutyun, which had been incorporated into
different-level government structures since 2000, has lost a large part of
its potential electorate.
The party is well aware of this and its participation in the elections is
the first step on the way of gaining a new place on the political space of
Armenia after a recent exit from the governing coalition. And this is its
motivation.
Thus, each of the five organizations (four parties and one bloc) have their
own motivation for participation in the elections.
The People’s Party (led by media holding president Tigran Karapetyan) and
the Labor Socialist Party of Armenia (led by Movses Shahverdyan) might have
as well skipped the elections as they represent nothing more than d¨¦cor for
the stage of Armenian internal political life.
***************************************** ***********************************
3. Fistfight for votes: Violence mars second week of campaign in Yerevan
elections
Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Having hardly overcome the bitter consequences and memories of the previous
election, Yerevan officially entered a new stage of the pre-election
whirlpool on May 2, the campaign dynamics of which ** marked by violence **
gives grounds to predict fresh wounds in the domestic politics of the
country.
Early in the second week of the campaign, May 11, women distributing flyers
about an upcoming opposition rally were assaulted.
If before the flyers would be simply taken away by force from the women,
this time fists were put in use. One of the women, Ophelia Margaryan, was
hit in her head with a stone causing a serious wound on her forehead; the
other two women- Astghik Aghekyan and Amalya Poghosyan, were beaten with
fists.
"At the Avan branch of the Star supermarket some 20 young men, who had been
watching us from their cars, approached and asked what we were doing there
and what rights we had to distribute flyers in their turf," Astghik Aghekyan
told ArmeniaNow. "They attacked us, took away the whole bundle of leaflets
and started hitting – in my face, shoulders, head – wherever they could
reach."
In the heat of the fight fists got replaced with stones.
"I didn’t understand how that young man jumped and hit in my face with a
stone; blood gushed out immediately, and before we were able to figure out
what was happening they were gone," said Ophelia Margaryan.
As the women tell, the assailants were saying every now and then: "What are
you doing in Avan? This is Taron’s district and he is a Republican [party
member], and Levon’s [Ter-Petrosyan’s] foot won’t step in here."
Taron Margaryan is the head of the Avan district administration, a member of
the ruling Republican Party (RPA) holding the second position on the party’s
election ticket. He is the late prime minister Andranik Margaryan’s son, who
is, however, denying his or his party’s connection to the incident.
Margaryan told in an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that "the RPA
headquarters and republicans" have nothing to do with the incident; and that
the attackers could have been ordinary residents of that community.
According to him, he had tried to find out who the young people were, but
failed.
Republican party spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov gave a similar response,
saying that such incidents least of all are in their interests.
"I can assure you that only a short-sighted politician would take such a
step, this is another provocation: we witnessed similar cases during the
presidential elections, that tension is created by certain well-known forces
and we all know what it ended up with," Sharmazanov told ArmeniaNow, calling
for "refraining from such methods".
Meanwhile, the opposition cries foul and says ‘the methods remain unchanged’
and that ‘the authorities must give them up.’
Arman Musinyan, a spokesperson for the opposition Armenian National Congress
led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan that participate in the municipal elections as a
bloc, says that the incidents typical of the presidential elections are
being repeated now.
"It’s the same kind of criminal activities; remember the Artashat incident
from the previous campaign, when our supporters underwent an assault by
Hovik Abrahamyan’s kinsmen, or the squabble during the Talin rally. These
have the same handwriting and are, unfortunately, leading to the same
deadlock," Musinyan says.
It’s noteworthy, though, that the conflicts rise not only between the
opposition and the authorities, but among the members of the pro-government
coalition as well.
Late on May 12, there was a confrontation between members of Prosperous
Armenia and Republican parties, as a result of which Republican Arayik
Kotanjyan, head of the Kanaker-Zeytun district administration, and another
republican member of the district council, reportedly, suffered. Kotanjyan
denies this information assuring that there was a small argument and that’s
all there was to it; his statement being in contrast to the fact that a
large group of policemen arrived at the place where the incident took place
and that, as Aravot daily reported, Kotanjyan was limping after the quarrel.
"It was simply a guy quarrel with one insulting another by asking why the
latter had been changing parties quite so often- at first they were members
of Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law), then became Republican, now they are
members of Prosperous Armenia. That’s what prompted the argument which,
however, ended soon after," Kotanjyan told ArmeniaNow adding that ‘somebody
needed to make noise in this period, and so they did.’
Heritage party member, MP Stepan Safaryan fears the forthcoming elections
will be "as tense as the February 19 presidential ones, at best".
"There will be fights and scuffles, as the negative trends do not bode
well," Safaryan told ArmeniaNow, adding: "How can we possibly avoid
incidents, when the previous ones were never punished; the election process,
the formation of election committees, is already not transparent and that
alone is enough to raise serious concerns."
If until recently the authorities had been periodically declaring that these
elections were no more than local government elections and shouldn’t be
politicized, today it is obvious that they are of state importance.
The Council of Europe, too, recognizes the significance of the elections of
the Yerevan City Council. Members of the PACE monitoring commission made a
statement following the start of the pre-election campaign, which was also
preceded by violence against opposition supporters distributing flyers
announcing the May 1 opposition rally (Link to that story
amp;AID=3D3681&lng=3Deng<http://armenianow. com/?action=3DviewArticle&AID=3D3681&lng=3 Darm>).
On May 5, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
co-rapporteurs on Armenia John Prescott and George Colombier welcomed the
opposition’s participation in the elections. "The fact that Levon
Ter-Petrosyan has decided to be a candidate in these elections should be
seen as a clear signal of the Armenian National Congress that it wants to
overcome the political crisis and play its role as a political force in the
democratic institutions in the country," stated the co-rapporteurs.
However, predicting not so smooth a campaign process, the co-rapporteurs
took another step: they declared about two months in advance that Armenia’s
issue would be on the agenda of the PACE’s forthcoming session in June.
"As a rule, the information about placing an issue on the agenda is
publicized not sooner than a week before, hence, this is an obvious warning
to the authorities, on whom, I can assume judging from their actions, that
warning has had no serious effect," says political analyst Yervand Bozoyan.
Armenia’s Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan calls for vigilance and tolerance; the
Human Rights Defender is deeply concerned with the repeated cases of
violence against people distributing opposition rally flyers and the fact
that so far those responsible for the violence have not identified.
"It is unacceptable, considering the fact that the victims of violence, as
they say, have filed complaints to the RA Police submitting photographs and
license plates of the assailants’ cars," says the Ombudsman, adding that if
the cases are not detected "the inertness on the part of the police can be
viewed as an encouragement of such incidents."
******************************** ********************************************
4. Fifth estate: Armenian bloggers get ready for political campaign
By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter **
On the threshold of municipal assembly elections in the capital Yerevan (May
31), Armenian bloggers are actively addressing the campaign and forthcoming
vote in their blogs. Still, many of them say blogs are unlikely to have any
significant influence in the elections.
In the past two years blogs have been extensively and successfully used for
campaigning purposes, in addition to being a primary source of information
for a certain period.
The most popular bloggers are unanimous – starting from summer 2007 blogs
began to interest political forces, because they found out that blogs enable
them to spread not only information, but also opinions, campaigning, and
very often misinformation as well.
Nevertheless, campaign blogs are rather active. Some of the political
parties participating in the Yerevan City Council elections periodically
refresh their blogs.
The blog of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) (
) is very active. Not only the records written to
the blogs are in special forms, but also they have a considerable number of
responses.
Since April 18, the pro-establishment Prosperous Armenia Party increased the
number of its blogs: currently along with its blog on WordPress (
), all those interested in blog information about
the Party may also visit Prosperous Armenia’s websites on YouTube (
), in the Fotoblog and Fotobooket
blogs.
However, in spite of such abundance, the blogs of Prosperous Armenia do not
seem to arouse great interest, judging by the fact that none of the last ten
records written on WordPress’ platform has comments.
Moreover, the records of Prosperous Armenia’s blogs are mainly more official
news than comments comprising personal viewpoint or position typical of
blogs.
Other political forces either do not have websites or their websites are
temporarily out of order (under reconstructed), for example, Gagik
Beglaryan’s (Republican Party) website (), and the
Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party’s website (). The candidate
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun – Artsvik
Minasyan, does not have a blog on his website; and the Forum is not running
().
And the existing blogs, however, cannot traditionally be considered to be
blogs, even due to the way they look.
Ruben Muradyan, a blogger for LiveJournal named uzogh, believes that as
these elections are not perceived by many as decisive, the blogs won’t have
any influence whatsoever.
"Interesting developments in the blogs can be caused by "the factor of
Armenian Revolutionary Federation", since many of the bloggers are
nationalists and will have certain expectations from the Party," he adds.
.
Information security expert, a LiveJournal blogger named kornelij, Samvel
Martirosyan, assured ArmeniaNow that elections will be covered by bloggers
at the end of May.
"At the beginning of spring, when Gagik Beglaryan was appointed Mayor after
his bodyguards had beaten a schoolchild, the blogs became more active. The
next wave of activization was related to Levon Ter-Petrosyan running for the
Mayor’s post, there was also activeness related to whether or not the
Heritage Party would take part in the elections. These were the topics for
heated discussions in the blogs," Martirosyan said.
He points out that at the moment the elections are pushed to the background
by the new developments in the Armenian-Turkish relations, "Gagik
Beglaryan’s or Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s names are not even mentioned."
According to Samvel Martirosyan’s estimates, there are 200-300 active blogs
in the Armenian blogosphere and he points out that the virtual presidential
campaign is more aggressive.
"This antagonism that had existed in the political sphere and the society
also appeared in the blogosphere, perhaps even more aggressive, as people
feel more uninhibited and write more freely, often there was more aggression
in the blogosphere," Martirosyan remembers.
Blogs acquired new significance during the 20-day media blackout following
the introduction of a state of emergency on March 1, 2008, when they became
an alternative to the scarce official information reported and an
idiosyncratic source of information.
According to Martirosyan, the next step in the development of the
blogosphere after it had been an information medium during the media
blackout, was the creation of Serzh Sargsyan’s blog under the influence of
the political atmosphere.
Here the team members on behalf of the president answer the questions asked
in the blog (the blog that was a post-election ploy to smooth
dissatisfaction, it is not active now, and many questions are still awaiting
answers).
"That is, blogs developed in several stages, and as of today, many people,
even those who don’t have blogs, read them, just as they would read online
or print press," says Martirosyan.
Bloggers point out that Armenian blogs are very politicized and apart from
el§Öctions, the main topics for blogs are foreign policy issues, such as
Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azeri relations.
Many are attracted to those blogs because they are emotional.
"From that perspective, they can be very dangerous. They can raise a
negative wave that is far from reality and may have bad consequences," says
Martirosyan.
Muradyan believes the advantage of blogs is that a blog gives the reader an
opportunity to read opinions. "There are people who don’t want to read
facts, they don’t want to read what reporters have written, they are looking
for a personalized opinion in order to agree or disagree with it."
Muradyan is convinced that not only bloggers read blogs, Armenian blogs have
their circle of readers, however, "it is basically impossible to find out
who the actual readers are."
A recent public opinion poll conducted by IREX revealed another indicator –
almost half of Yerevan residents are going to use the Internet periodically
during the forthcoming elections, and more than 63 percent want to read the
news online.
Leah Kohlenberg, a mass media expert for IREX, who had founded a blog when
teaching at GIPA center in Georgia to present the activity of the Georgian
opposition, planned to start the coverage of Yerevan municipal assembly
elections form May 11 in the same blog.
"Primarily, of course, we will be looking for violations on Election Day
that we can confirm and report, as well as following up on any issues that
come up on Election Day. But in the weeks prior to the elections, we will be
posting information on candidate platforms, voting rights, and other stories
we think readers might be interested in looking at both before the elections
and afterwards. Starting on May 11, we’ll begin posting multi-lingual
information on ," Kohlenberg said.
***************************************** ***********************************
5. **Weathering the Storm: the pressure of poverty
By Richard Giragosian
In a significant new assessment of Armenia’s mounting economic troubles, the
head of the World Bank in Armenia warned on May 13 that the country’s
economic crisis will lead to a sharp rise in national poverty. According to
Aristomene Varoudakis, the overall level of poverty in Armenia is expected
to expand by somewhere between 4 and 6 percent.
Statistically, with poverty estimated at about 22 percent, such an increase
would pose an especially troubling challenge to the Armenian government,
which is already facing a serious set of other even more pressing structural
problems, ranging from a new period of "negative economic growth" to a sharp
cut in remittances, or money from abroad.
More specifically, such a rise in poverty is especially significant, for
three main reasons.
First, the official estimates of poverty in Armenia are outdated, based on
the figures of a 2007 survey of household incomes. Thus, because even that
data, which reported that some 22 percent of the population was officially
living in poverty, most likely underestimated subsequent increases in
poverty. Moreover, if the World Bank assessment is accurate, it would mean
that for this year, as much as 26 or 28 percent of Armenians will now be
classified as living in poverty.
The second reason that the sharp rise in poverty poses an especially
difficult challenge for the government is the broader disparities that have
come to define, and divide, the country. In other words, against the
backdrop of already pronounced divisions and disparities in wealth and
income, the gap between the small wealthy Armenian elite and the
ever-growing larger class of poor Armenians, fostering an even greater
degree of social, and even perhaps political polarization in the country.
There is also another broader context, defined by the urban-rural divide,
which exacerbates the problem of poverty in two distinct ways. First, the
expansion of greater numbers of people living in poverty in the regions of
Armenia will be even more destabilizing due to the lack of resources and
absence of economic opportunity outside of the cities. And second, with the
government already failing to adequately address the need for a more
balanced development strategy aimed at bolstering the towns and villages,
the divide between Yerevan and the regions will only consolidate what has
become two very different "Armenias."
But the third factor underlying the powerful pressure from poverty is most
recent and, in some ways, most serious. Due to the fact that the decline in
remittances stems not only from a sharp economic decline in Russia, but from
a related loss of jobs in Russian cities, the increase in poverty is now
occurring within a larger context of thousands of Armenian migrant workers
now forced to return to Armenia. For most of these migrant laborers, there
is even less economic opportunity in Armenia today compared to when they
left, making the competition for even less jobs even more intense.
And as many of these migrant workers have been living in Russian cities for
several years, there are additional political repercussions to their return
to Armenia. The Armenian political reality of today, marked by a new sense
of polarization and an end to overall political apathy, suggests that any
social discontent among this new "electorate" may have political
repercussions, perhaps as a new wave of discontent and discouraged Armenians
quite unhappy wit the current "status quo."
Thus, it seems clear that this new "pressure of poverty" will pose only the
latest challenge to the Armenian government and even more crucially, add a
new threat of potential instability laden with powerful political
implications.
Equally troubling, the Armenian government does not have many options to
respond to this new pressure, however. Clearly the authorities will respond
by modifying its October 2008 poverty reduction program and has decided to
create a new "working group" to deal with the poverty problem. But with a
widening budget deficit and mounting fiscal pressure rooted in low tax
collection, the authorities may be forced to cut social sector spending. And
such a move would only make the problem worse, triggering a new wave of
unrest and fueling overall discontent that may cripple an already weakened
government. Indeed, it promises to be a "hot summer" in Armenia.
************************************** **************************************
6. Karabakh Talks: Next stop in St. Petersburg
Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow Karabakh reporter
The fourth meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in
Prague on May 7 did not result in a tangible breakthrough, with the
standpoints of the two parties remaining diametrically opposite.
Perhaps it is for that reason that the co-chairmen of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe <; (OSCE) Minsk
group ‘postponed’ the breakthrough deadlines till the next meeting of
presidents Sargsyan and Aliev in Saint-Petersburg.
U.S. co-chair of the Minsk group Matthew Bryza even gave the recipe of the
‘breakthrough’ that includes "an eventual return of territories, also the
return of Azerbaijani refugees to these territories", as the American
diplomat himself put in a recent interview with the Russian Ekho Moskvy
radio station, speaking in Russian.
In an interview that also caused a lot of confusion, including linguistic
one, Bryza also said: "Now I can’t predict what will happen to Karabakh. We
know that it will have a new obstanovka (the Russian word for ‘situation’
)."
What the American diplomat’s optimism is based on remains unclear. Perhaps,
while in Prague Sargsyan and Aliev made some promises which were not
publicized, or, maybe, Bryza is simply boosting the process to make it
irreversible. Whatever the case is, such discrepancy of vectors of
statements made by the sides and the co-chairmen makes it hard to believe
either of them.
The concerns on the part of Karabakhi parliamentarians were caused by that
very lack of trust in public statements. During the April 30 session of the
NKR National Assembly the MPs decided to consult with their Armenian
colleagues in order to define the framework of official Yerevan’s powers to
represent Karabakh in the negotiation process. Members of the Karabakh
parliament expressed their indignation over the fact that, the negotiations,
to all appearances, were leading to territorial concessions. The special
session of the Karabakh parliament scheduled for May 4 never took place, and
those deputies who had retreated justified their decision saying they wanted
to first wait for the Armenian authorities’ visit to Stepanakert.
On May 9, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan visited Shushi, liberated on May
9, 1992. Despite the lack of any statement by Sargsyan that day, the mere
fact of his presence in Karabakh on the day of Shushi’s liberation spoke for
itself.
The same day the Armenian President met and talked to his Karabakhi
counterpart. No one knows what was said, however, Bako Sahakyan stated after
the meeting he no longer had concerns over the negotiating process. "The
president of Armenia is doing his best to recover the terms of the Budapest
summit, according to which the NKR is a full party to negotiations,"
Sahakyan said in a statement. It should be noted, though, that Sahakyan did
not clarify whether after the NKR’s recovery in the negotiating format the
negotiations would be led around the same "Madrid principles" or would start
anew. Because, for the residents of Karabakh, it all comes down to the
subject of negotiations rather than their format.
Sargsyan never met Karabakh parliamentarians and never talked about the
negotiation details. Neither did Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan. Nobody knows whether the Armenian and Karabakh members of
parliament would hold joint discussions or not. It is equally unknown
whether the document defining Armenia’s powers in the negotiation process
will be adopted. After all, the need for such a document came forth not
because Karabakhi parliamentarians do not trust the Armenian authorities or
anyone else. The relations between the two countries have to be settled on
a
legal level ** through proper documentation.
There are a number of agreements and treaties signed between Armenia and
Karabakh. In particular, there is an agreement on intergovernmental
cooperation; an inter-parliamentary commission has been formed with sessions
held twice a year. Agreements are signed between counterpart ministries and
departments of the two countries. Karabakh is officially receiving an
interstate loan from Armenia making almost half of Karabakh’s state budget.
The only lacking agreement is the one authorizing Armenia to represent the
NKR at negotiations and international instances.
Meanwhile, not only the parliament but the people of Karabakh as well have
growing concerns over the negotiation process. Bryza’s ‘optimistic’
statements cause the syndrome of ‘gunpowder keg’, when people living in
their own land, in their own house and do not know in what status and within
which borders they can wake up one day.
"On May 11, 1994, the ceasefire was declared, on May 12 a truce was signed.
At least then we managed to force Azerbaijan to come to the negotiating
table: there had been different agreements before – both between the defense
and foreign ministers. However, Azerbaijan had never complied with the
ceasefire regime, and even since May 12, 1994, and until now Azerbaijan has
been trying to improve its positions in order to keep the NKR armed forces
in constant tension," stated NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan.
He also brought some statistical data, saying that 580 gunshots from
Azerbaijan vs. 116 from Karabakh were reported on the frontline in 2006,
correspondingly 1,445 vs. 431 in 2007, 3,480 vs. 728 in 2008 and so far
this year Azerbaijan opened fire on the frontline 1,098 times vs. the 186
times done so by Karabakh.
************************************* *************************************
7. Forum for Survival: PF-A to host discussions on the financial "storm"
Policy Forum Armenia has announced a "high level" economic forum to be held
May 25 in Yerevan that will bring together present and past prime ministers
for a panel discussion, as well as representatives of international
financial organizations.
The day-long event – "Armenia: Weathering the Global Storm" – will focus on
key issues facing Armenia’s challenge to overcome the world financial
crisis.
"International financial organizations and most economists predict a deep
and lengthy recession for a wide range of developed and developing
countries. As many of these states, Armenia will face the consequences of
adverse global trends, and in some ways is likely to be even more affected
owing to a dramatic economic slowdown in some of its main trading partner
countries," says the PF-A announcement.
Policy Forum Armenia is an independent professional non-profit association
aimed at strengthening discourse on Armenia’s economic development and
national security and through that helping to shape public policy in
Armenia.
Visit for more details of the organization and the forum.
**************************************** ************************************
8. Lessons from the Grave: Ancient Jewish cemetery marks little-known
time in Armenian history
By John Hughes
ArmeniaNow editor
A little known piece of Armenian history received high-profile attention
this week, when dignitaries, villagers and activists for cultural awareness
gathered at an old cemetery in the village of Yeghegis, some two hours south
of Yerevan.
The winding road through the Vayots Dzor province to the cemetery ends at a
questionably sufficient footbridge across the snow-melt gush of the Yeghegis
River, over which ambassadors from three countries cautiously trekked to pay
respects to the remains of what was once a thriving community of Jewish
settlers.
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch (United States), Ambassador Shemi Tzur (Israel)
and Ambassador Revaz Gachechiladze (Georgia), and Honorary Italian Consul
Antonio Montaldo were among some 70 or so guests who gathered to acknowledge
recent efforts to preserve the historic site, including rebuilding of a
boundary wall, put up by a joint project by the Diocese of Siunik, the
Ministry of Culture and a team of experts from Israel led by Professor
Michael Stone.
The event was organized through the office of Bishop Abraham, Primate of the
Siunik Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
On hand for the ceremony was professor Stone, who led a team that
investigated the ancient cemetery from 2000-2003. Stone’s team found that
the tombstone inscriptions – including 10 in Hebrew or Aramaic – include
sayings and verse from Talmudic literature. Some of the names of the
deceased possibly link the settlers to Jewish families of Iran, suggesting
that Yeghegis was originally settled by Iranian Jews who migrated.
Except for the tombstones, no records exist of the community, leaving to
speculation either its origin or the circumstances that caused the Jewish
community’s disappearance.
In his/her turn the ambassadors congratulated those responsible for the
modest but significant preservation work on this remote gorge protected by
nature, but far from view and far from gaining the attention of typical
tourism destinations.
Ambassador Tzur said the site holding some 40 graves dating from 1266 to
1346 was a link to his own people’s place in Armenian history, and
encouraged research into whatever became of the once thriving Jewish
population of the area.
Due to the work of the Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) visitors
to Yeghegis are now led to the village and its unique cemetery by roadside
directional signs, and on-site information panels onto which is told in
multiple languages the history of the area. A total of 4 information panels
and 4 road signs have been installed there, with another 9 panels slated for
installation in September. Each panel is presented in English, French,
Italian, Russian, Armenian – and, for the cemetery, Hebrew.
One of AMAP’s most unique locations chosen for an installation is high above
the Jewish cemetery on an opposite mountaintop, the Zorats Yekeghetsi
(literally "Soldier’s Church"). The church was dedicated in 1303 and is the
only known Armenian church to have been built in such a way as to allow
soldiers to pass the altar on horseback to receive a blessing before heading
off to battle.
At the cemetery commemoration on Monday, AMAP chief of party Rick Ney said
that the attention to such places as this cemetery is well-deserved, as such
recognition helps to round-out the rich history of Armenia as a nation of
multi-culturalism, long before such a term even existed.
"This is a world-class destination," said Ney. "It shows that 13th century
Armenia was a lively, multi-cultural nation, enjoying the fruits of a
cosmopolitan life that was the envy of the Caucasus. This was the seat of
the most powerful Armenian family at the time, with influence in Georgia,
Persia and the Mongol Empire. The Jewish community speaks to the prosperity
and attraction of this medieval capital."
AMAP – funded in part by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) through the Competitive Armenian Private Sector program
– launched its 2009 campaign last month with a presentation of a
bird-watching trail at Armash. In 2008, the NGO put up 54 site panels and 33
road signs in its efforts to improve the tourism experience in Armenia. For
this installation, the project was supported by USAID and the Honorary
Italian Consulate for Giumri.
The 11-member staff of AMAP will produce more than 120 panels by end of this
year at sites that include Tatev, Sevanavank, Amberd, and marking of
Armenia’s "silk road" from Georgia to Iran.
************************************************ **************************
9. Suspended relief: Shushi benevolent fund puts its projects on hold
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Only three years ago, in an interview with ArmeniaNow, Head of the ‘Shushi’
Benevolent Fund Bakur Karapetyan said that only the glorious past of Shushi
is enough to make it Armenians’ cultural center.
Now, however, the head of the Fund announces that he suspends all projects.
"Investors are no longer interested in Shushi. I cannot say whether it is
connected with the financial crisis or not, but one thing is definite –
currently there is also a moral-psychological decline among us," says
Karapetyan.
The "Shushi" Benevolent Fund was founded in 2000 with the objective to
support the one-time cultural rise of the fortress town of Shushi. The
fund has the role of a coordinator for Armenian and foreign investors.
During several years of the Fund’s activity, the investments, attracted by
it, served the reconstruction and preservation of Shushi’s
historical-architectural appearance (as it was in the beginning of last
century) making the town a pan-Armenian cultural center.
Within several years the Benevolent Fund registered 520 monuments and put
their locations on the map of Shushi Town, conducted architectural
measurements of 220 18-19th century buildings, it carried out archeological
excavations, studied many archived materials about Shushi, organized
exhibitions and launched websites (the fund has spent the total of about
$50,000).
"Shushi had to change the fame and aura of a fortress town being a theatre
of wars. However, our projects are currently seriously threatened, and we
simply have to freeze them," says Karapetyan.
Foreseeing the difficulty, the head of the Fund turned to more than 400
organizations, different departments, as well as the President of our
country and the Prime Minister, asking to support them in the implementation
of the projects. Getting no respond, on April 18 Karapetyan sent letters to
several businessmen – Ara Abrahamyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, Mikael Baghdasaryan,
Barsegh Beglaryan, Hrant Vardanyan, and Samvel Alexanyan.
"It is necessary to direct a part of your incomes towards the culture and
literature for the benefit of your country, otherwise Armenia would be
buried into moral-spiritual crisis, which may threaten the security of the
country," the appeal-letter reads.
Karapetyan says that he already does not even wait for the reply to the
letter, since the addressees are not interested in the problem anymore.
"The national incomes are amassed in the hands of a group of people, and the
disproportionate distribution causes serious problems for the development of
the country. Moreover, that problem is connected with moral decline, and the
reason for that is people’s detachment from culture," says Karapetyan,
"There is no need to blame the crisis for it, the problem is in us, in our
way of thinking. I believe that it may lead to serious disasters."
In 2008 the Fund published the first and second volumes of the 30-volume
publication called ‘Collected Records of Artsakh Survival Struggle’. Fifteen
volumes are entered into computer and they are ready for publication. A
collection of 7,000 old photos has been created, as well as a website
It was also planned to found Photography National Museum
either in Shushi or in another town of Armenia.
The Fund has held different exhibitions. The photo exhibitions called
‘Western Armenia before 1915 in Photos’ (in the National Museum-Institute of
Architecture), and ‘111 Instances from the Life of Shushi Town-Fortress (in
Yerevan, Moscow and Stepanakert) were held in April-May.
The organization has several websites- ‘Shushi’ popular scientific
online periodical with 2,500 photos, a forum and an electronic museum with
the history of the Karabakh confrontation, calleed ‘Photo Chronicle of the
20-th Century’s Local Conflicts.’
"One of our objectives was to have a ‘material’ museum on the topic of
Karabakh confrontation especially in Shushi. In this case Nagorno-Karabakh
and Shushi would have the role of a peace preacher, which is very important;
moreover later we could have transferred it into an important scientific
center, which would study interracial and local conflicts," says the head of
the organization.
The Fund is preparing to publish a book called ‘Frontier Reportages:
1988-1994.’ The has organization also financed the creation of ‘Shushi’
popular scientific periodical (). They have also
organized a petition for recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to be a
conflicting and negotiation side posted in the website. More
than 3000 people from 43 countries of the world have already participated in
it.
Bakur Karapetyan says that the means of the Fund are gathered both from the
Diaspora and Armenia thanks to different fund-raising events.
"Our main expenses were not that big: we always tried to carry out great
deeds with little funds. Now we even cannot afford paying the rent for our
office," he says, "We do need people’s support in this case. Our books are
not bought, something is wrong. There is no interest in Arstakh and our
history. I believe that it is the result of a moral decline, and it is a
pity. If the nation loses touch with its culture, it is the most dangerous
thing that might happen."
******************************* *********************************************
10. **Able for communication: Center in Vanadzor helps mentally disabled
children
By Naira Bulghadaryan
ArmeniaNow Vanadzor reporter
For the five-year-old Sona two days a week are the favorite ones – the days
she and her mother visit Vanadzor’s Health and Medical-Social Rehabilitation
Center of the ‘Arabkir’ Medical Complex for Children.
The center, which has been run in Vanadzor for five years, is attended by
children with physical and mental problems. As a result of the medical and
psychological treatment they undergo, the children’s physical and mental
skills start developing. Sona is one of the 50 children who attend the
center.
Sona was born with lack of thyroid gland hormones, and consequently she
stopped growing – both physically and mentally. She feels better after the
treatment. And the Center helped her to get rid of the isolation, and to
stop keeping silence. She gradually started speaking, and also communicating
with foreigners.
"She gets bored during weekends, she asks all the time when Monday or Friday
will come," tells Sona’s mother – 38-year-old Evelina Pirumyan. The mother
remembers that before attending the center, when her child was four years
old, she couldn’t even speak, she was reserved, whereas children of her age
were singing and reciting poetry.
Pirumyan says that now daughter speaks, knows the colors, and tries to
communicate with foreigners.
Isolation, absence of desire to communicate, non-speaking are the symptoms
describing the disease of development delay or the so-called mentally
retarded.
Artsvi Harutyunyan, psychologist at the Center, believes that the reasons of
this disease are of different nature: delays in physical, psychological,
social development. The development delay is either an inborn defect or a
disease obtained during the first years of life. It is expressed in
insufficient development of psychic, but mainly – in intellect. The reasons
are various.
Twenty children out of 50 attending the Center have this problem. They are
not only from Vanadzor, but also other towns and villages of the Lori
province.
"They have problems connected with behavior, they do not speak. If you try
to look into their eyes and make them speak they react very emotionally and
may become even more reserved. It is important to make them communicate step
by step, because if there is no communication, there cannot be development,"
says psychologist Harutyunyan.
Another child, six-year-old Gor, who has autism (a complicated disorder
that influences the normal functioning of the brain) after three years of
attending the center not only speaks, but, as his mother says, has also
expanded his limits of communication.
"Gor was not taking off his clothes for three-four months, he wasn’t
talking, he did not look at us, he was in a hard situation, he had
aggressive behaviour," says the psychologist and adds that currently Gor
attends school, and he gets high marks.
"He has musical skills, I think about taking him to a music school, too,"
says the excited mother – Liana Jamharyan, 36.
Now another 50 children are waiting for their turn to attend the center. The
specialists of the sphere are few; this is the reason why the number of
children simultaneously attending the Center is small, and many have to wait
for their turn to attend the Center.
*************************************** *************************************
11. For the love of soccer: Armenia’s women team in first international
action on home soil
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian women soccer players were in their first-ever action at national
level in front of a home crowd as they entertained Estonia and Kazakhstan in
a friendly tournament this week.
The tournament in the town of Abovyan, about 20 kilometers to the northeast
of capital Yerevan, on May 12-16, was held under the auspices of European
soccer’s governing body, UEFA.
A year ago Armenia won a similar friendly tournament held in Macedonia.
Samvel Adamyan, who has coached the team already for a year, says that
victory was important for the national team as the country’s Football
Federation started to pay more attention to women’s soccer after it.
"After we returned from Macedonia the Federation gathered the national team,
praised it, and each soccer player from the team was rewarded with a check
for 50,000 drams (about $135). So they understood that a woman can also play
soccer," says Adamyan.
He says that both men’s and women’s soccer declined in Armenia in the early
1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"Many talented players simply quit the sport during those ‘dark and cold’
years. Now an attempt is made to recover the loss gradually," he says.
In the last 20 years, a national soccer championship for women was held in
Armenia only once – in 1998. The national team manager says because there
are few women soccer players, it is particularly difficult to complete the
Under-17 team, since Armenia’s Football Federation did not provide the
necessary number of players.
"We have approximately 60 female players who mainly play at the ‘College’
and ‘Banants’ clubs. On the basis of these clubs we select players in three
groups – U-17, U-19, and the main national team. This means that we have no
opportunity for selection," says Adamyan.
Adamyan believes that Armenian women soccer players’ mentality may be a
serious obstacle, too.
"For many years they participated in different tournaments just for the sake
of playing and at least for avoiding crushing defeats. I’ve worked with them
for a year, and we have not managed to overcome that psychological barrier
entirely yet. It is ten times harder to work with women than with men,"
Adamyan says.
Still, the head coach says they have quite good players involved in the
national team. Its two forwards, Gayane Kostanyan and Christine Alexanyan,
have even been purchased by a Lebanese soccer club.
To promote women’s soccer in Armenia, the Football Federation pays a salary
of 50,000 drams (about $135) to coaches who can manage to gather women’s
teams. As of this year, eight such teams have been recruited in different
provinces of the country.
Currently Armenia’s women’s national team hold their trainings on FC
Banants’s pitch. The ladies have only one day a week free from training.
"When I became the head coach I thought that they needed permanent trainings
to register good results. Previously they used to participate in the
trainings only three or four days a week. The players of the ‘College’ Club
trained indoors, they did not even have a field," says Adamyan.
The team whose average age is 20 are currently in intensive training for the
World Cup qualifying games commencing in September. Starting this year,
women will play their qualifying matches on a ‘home and away basis’, just as
it is in men’s soccer.
Armenia’s opponents in the qualifying round are Italy, Finland, Slovenia and
Portugal.
"We have quite strong opponents who have higher ratings and level of
performance. However, only the matches with strong opponents can raise the
level of our soccer players. We are also glad that from now on we will also
have a chance to play at home," says Adamyan.
Women players say soccer has great importance for them.
National team defender Armine Khachatryan, 22, says their participation in
World Cup qualifying games is very obliging. She says she went in for karate
and soccer simultaneously when she was seven. But as she grew up, she
realized that she loved soccer more and decided on this sport.
Another member of the national team, 17-year-old Mariam Torgomyan, remembers
that she used to get surprised seeing people who liked watching soccer on
TV.
"I wondered how possible that was to watch it. I used to attend a theatre
group, when I saw an announcement at our school inviting people to enlist
for soccer team training. I decided to give it a try, and now I am very
pleased that I came here," says Mariam.
National team members say there are many girls who want to go in for soccer,
but their parents are against.
"There is a widespread viewpoint that soccer spoils a girl’s body structure,
but it is just the opposite," says Armine Tadevosyan, who has played soccer
already for nine years.
"In fact by playing soccer a girl gets a sportier and more beautiful body,"
the 22-year-old defender of the national team adds.
***************************************** ***********************************
12. Sport: Ararat in trouble over license for Europe League
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter**
Soccer
Last season’s Armenian premier league runner-up FC Ararat is unlikely to
represent the country in the upcoming Europe League, a tournament that comes
to replace the former UEFA Cup, after this week’s unanimous decision by the
Armenian Football Federation’s Licensing Committee to reject the club’s bid
for a license to participate in the UEFA 2009/2010 club tournaments. In
making the decision the licensing body took into account "considerable
shortcomings revealed during inspections."
At the same time, the Committee decided to issue such licenses to Pyunik,
Mika, Banants and Gandzasar. (Armenian champion Pyunik is to represent
Armenia in the most prestigious of the European club competitions, the
Champions League, while Banants will play in the Europe League).
Ruben Hayrapetyan, who heads Armenian soccer’s governing body, referred at
a
press conference Monday to the circumstances that made it incumbent on the
licensing committee to make the decision against Ararat.
He said: "As President of the Football Federation, I am obliged to assist
all football clubs, but that doesn’t mean I have to break the law."
Meanwhile, the Yerevan club still has the right to appeal the decision, in
which case the License Appeals Committee will hold its next meeting on May
26.
In an unrelated report, the Football Federation said Armenia’s top referee
Ararat Chagharyan and two linesmen Arshak Knazyan and Artur Muradyan will
officiate a match a U-21 Euro 2011 qualifying round Group 1 fixture between
Latvia and Andorra on June 6. The fourth official will be Karen Nalbandyan.
Also, the Federation has decided the time and venue for the U-21 Euro 2011
qualifying round Group 2 fixture between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan.
According to the report, the match will take place at the Vazgen Sargsyan
Republican Stadium on June 9, at 8.00 pm Yerevan time.
In Armenia’s premier league football, leader Pyunik lost their first points
as they drew with Mika Ashtarak 2-2 on Wednesday. In other Round 7 league
games, Banants beat Kilikia 3-0, Ararat lost to Ulis 0-1 and Shirak drew
with Gandzasar 0-0.
Pyunik still top the league with 19 points. Banants are a point behind, with
Mika in the third place with 14 points. Last season’s runner-up Ararat are
bottom with no points earned and no goals scored in seven league games this
season.
(Source: Football Federation of Armenia, FFA)
Chess
Grandmasters Karen Movsisyan (Armenia) and Sergey Kasparov (Belarus) scored
6 1/2 points each out of 9 and shared the 4th-9th places in the open which
recently ended in La Laguna, Spain, reports
According to the same source, WIM Tatiana Kasparova (Belarus) scored 5
points. GM Julio Granda Zuniga (Peru), with 8 points, became the winner of
the tournament that had brought together 120 chess players from different
countries.
(Source: )
********************************************** ******************************
Erdogan’s statements in Baku draw reaction from Yerevan
Official Yerevan has responded to the recent statements made by Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who again linked Armenian-Turkish
normalization with Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Turkey’s attempts to interfere with the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process
may harm this process," said Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan
Thursday, responding to Erdogan’s statements made in while on a visit to
Azerbaijan the previous day.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandyan defined that "the
negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem proceed
through the mediation of the cochairmen of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, on the
basis of the Madrid principles and the sides are trying to reduce
differences in their positions."
While in Baku on May 13, Turkish Premier Erdogan said that Turkey will not
open its border with Armenia until Armenia withdraws its troops from
Nagorno-Karabakh.
President Serzh Sargsyan, who has insisted all along that the rapprochement
between Yerevan and Ankara involves no preconditions, also reacted to the
statements the same day.
According to the presidential press office, the Armenian leader said the
best way for Turkey to assist in the Karabakh peace process would be
"abstaining from interfering with it altogether."