Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Eva Rivas heads to Eurovision
Russian-Armenian to represent Armenia in pan-European song contest

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Published: Saturday February 20, 2010

Yerevan – Choosing among nine finalists Armenians picked 22-year-old
Eva Rivas, a tall Angelina Jolie look-alike with powerful vocals, as
Armenia’s next representative at the Eurovision, a popular
pan-European music contest.

During February 14 national final, Ms. Rivas performed a soulful
pop-folk song Apricot Stone composed by Armen Martirosian and with
lyrics by Karen Kavalerian on a theme of Diasporan’s longing for
Armenia.

The Russian-Armenian beat the Los Angeles-based duo Mihran and Emmy
with their dance number Hey (let me hear you say)! The latter
protested the outcome and their supporters speculated that public
voting conducted via SMS was skewed in Ms. Rivas’ favor.

But most music fans appeared to have dismissed the protests, with Ms.
Rivas emerging as a favorite well before the vote. As of this week,
the Apricot Stone video clocked more than 150,000 YouTube hits with
Ms. Rivas’ earlier performance of Sayat Nova’s Tamam Ashkhar – more
than 135,000.

By comparison, top videos Emmy and Mihran’s Hey! got about 70,000 hits.

As in years past, the contest was organized by Armenia’s Public
television and vote count was monitored by Grant Thornton Amyot
auditors.

A Rostov Armenian

Ms. Rivas was born Valeria Reshetnikova to a Russian-Armenian family
in Rostov-on-Don, a city with large and historic Armenian presence.

"I am 75 percent Armenian and I feel Armenian," Ms. Reshetnikova told
Panorama.am in a recent interview.

According to her web site and reporting by Gazeta
Dona, a Rostov newspaper, while only eight years old Lera (short for
Valeria) began singing with a local Armenian ensemble Arevik that
performed classical, church and pop music. Appearing in youth
festivals in Russia, Lera and Arevik won numerous awards and
commendations.

In addition to singing, the tall brunette with striking looks modeled
and participated in a number of beauty pageants. In 2005 she was
selected as runner up in the "Miss Caucasus" competition held in
Yerevan.

At the same time, Ms. Reshetnikova launched her solo music career,
performing one of Sayat Nova’s Armenian classics at a Moscow music
festival and recording several Russian-language songs.

Since leaving Rostov in 2006, Ms. Reshetnikova adopted her ethnic
Greek grandmother’sname, Eva Rivas, as her stage name.

After winning a third spot at the Russian "Five stars" competition in
2007, Ms. Rivas said her goal was to sing at Eurovision.

"I always achieve what I set out to do," she reportedly said at the
time. And now Ms. Rivas has taken aim at the top spot of the
Eurovision competition in Norway next May.

Nadezhda Sargsyan, mother and producer of Emmy, is ready to dispute
the results of Eurovision 2010 national qualification

2010-02-20 14:23:00

ArmInfo. Nadezhda Sargsyan, mother and producer of Emmy, is ready to
dispute the results of Eurovision 2010 national qualification.

"We are not speaking against specific singers. The decision that Eva
Rivas will go to Oslo has already been passed and we are not going to
change it. We just want to know – who is that Intermob company whose
server received all the SMS messages during the voting?" Sargsyan said
during a press-conference today.

She has already received written answers from two of the three mobile
operators of Armenia, VivaCell and Orange Telecom, who say that
operators are responsible only for the forwarding of SMS to short
number 2525. The analysis of the data was the responsibility of
Intermob’s server in Kazakhstan.

Sargsyan does not agree: "As soon as we receive the answer from
ArmenTel (the third mobile operator), we will file a suit. What we
want is to know who that elusive Intermob is as, in fact, the Armenian
participant has been selected by that company," Sargsyan said.

To remind, during the national qualification Feb 14 the jury gave the
first place to Emmy & Mihran’s "Hey" song (68 points), Eva Rivas and
her "Apricot Stone" got 62 points, Ani Arzumanyan’s "The Mermaid Song"
– 45 points, Razmik Amyan’s "My Love" – 39 points. The results of the
SMS voting were different: Eva Rivas got 6,039 SMS messages, Razmik
Amyan – 1,877, Emmy & Mihran – 1,437.

So, Armenia will be represented by Eva Rivas and "Apricot Stone"
(music Armen Martirossyan, lyrics Karen Kavaleryan).

REGIONAL POLICY AND INSTRUMENTS WORKSHOP TO BE HELD IN VANADZOR, ARMENIA

ARKA
Feb 15, 2010

YEREVAN, February 15. /ARKA/. On Friday, Armenian-European Policy
and Legal Advice Centre (AEPLAC) in cooperation with the Ministry of
Territorial Administration will hold a workshop "EU Regional Policy
and Instruments" in Vanadzor, Armenia, the AEPLAC press office reports.

Officials of Shirak, Lori, Tavush and Gegharkunik provinces’
administrations as well as representatives of various social groups
will attend the workshop.

The aim of the workshop is to provide an overview of EU structures
and main policies, EU-Armenia relations with the focus on regional
development instruments to the target group.

"Participants will avail from the workshop obtaining the latest
information on EU and EU-Armenia relations and development
opportunities. In addition the workshop is anticipated to be highly
effective in terms of articulation of the needs at grassroots
level and communication between civil society and state entities,
preconditions for development of a realistic Armenia’s EI Information
and Communication Strategy," the press release says.

The workshop is the first in the series to capture the whole landscape
of Armenia.

OFFICIAL BAKU WANTS TO BAN EURONEWS BROADCASTING IN AZERBAIJAN

ArmInfo
2010-02-18 16:44:00

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan has not come to terms with the reportage on
Euronews TV channel "Nagorno-Karabakh – the Wind of Change" telling
about the history and culture of the region, Karabakh conflict,
today’s life of Armenian refugees, and Nagorno-Karabakh is called
the Christian heart of Armenia. According to Azerbaijani sources,
Azeri MP Aidyn Mirzazade said that the Azeri parliament may resume the
debates on the issue on Euronews. "The fact of repeated placement of
the biased and unilateral reportage on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
at the Euronews website desolates, and this issue may be included in
the agenda of the next sitting of parliament",- he said.

The heart-rending foreign political yelling of official Baku, numerous
notes of protest, pickets and letters full of indignation seem to
have done their part. Euronews has prepared another material on the
same topic. This time Euronews has gone to the camp of Azerbaijani
refugees to show the problem from their point of view. In Yerevan
nobody has raised hysteria about this. As regards the reportage, it has
not saved the situation, failing to cool the ardor of the Azerbaijani
dynastic regime which is really convinced that information should be
disseminated the way it is used to do, i.e. by using the mass media
to manipulate the public opinion and inculcate the image of Armenians
as enemies.

Taking into account the recent Euronews interview with Ilham Aliyev,
who was asked a number of "delicate" questions about the lack of
democracy, to be more precise, about the presence of authoritarianism
in his state, one can suppose that in an easy state of mind of MPs
the given TV channel in Azerbaijan will have the same destiny as the
other Western mass media "Liberty" or "Voice of America". To recall,
the broadcasting of these mass media was banned in Azerbaijan because
the latters dared to say what ran counter to the official viewpoint
of Aliyev, who is used to keep all the information sources under
strict control.

GENOCIDE RESOLUTION WILL HARM NORMALIZATION WITH ARMENIA, ANKARA WARNS

Hurriyet
Feb 18 2010
Turkey

Passage of the Armenian genocide resolution by a U.S. congressional
panel early next month would hinder normalization efforts with Armenia,
Turkey warned Thursday.

Speaking to reporters following a joint press conference with Burkina
Faso Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation Bedouma
Alain Yoda, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the issue
was taken up in detail during Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun
Sinirlioglu’s meetings in Washington this week.

"We are exerting efforts for a comprehensive peace in the Caucasus,"
said Davutoglu, referring to Turkey’s initiative to normalize ties
with Armenia. He warned, however, that attempts such as passing a
genocide resolution would harm this objective and called for such
initiatives to come to a halt, within reasonable limits.

The issue was also discussed during Davutoglu’s telephone conversation
with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to diplomatic
sources who said Washington was informed of the resolution’s potential
to harm bilateral relations with the United States.

BAKU DISMISSES ARMENIAN CHARGES OF OCCUPATION

news.az
Feb 17 2010
Azerbaijan

Elkhan Polukhov A war of words continued today between the Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministries.

Baku has dismissed as illogical charges by the Armenian foreign
minister that it is occupying the districts of Martakert, Martuni
and Shahumyan.

Parts of these districts beyond the boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh
remain de facto part of Azerbaijan.

"It’s hard to comment on the illogical statements by the Armenian
foreign minister, as nowhere does any international document talk
about the occupation of one’s own country," Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Interfax-Azerbaijan today.

He said that Azerbaijan is guided in all negotiations by the norms and
principles of international law which do not use the term "occupation
of one’s own land".

"Our country has been accepted in all international organizations
within the borders of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic,
and these borders are recognized by all nations of the world,"
Polukhov said.

He said that Nalbandian’s comments were aimed at a domestic audience.

"If the Armenian leadership stopped using this kind of ephemeral,
illogical statements, this would help expedite the negotiating process
and achieve lasting peace in the region," the spokesman said.

Commenting on Nalbandian’s claims that Azerbaijan is holding up the
peace process by preventing the participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
republic in the talks, Polukhov said that the Madrid principles for
a settlement enshrined the inviolability of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.

"Both communities will be involved in determining the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
after a preliminary agreement," Polukhov said.

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPING CONTINGENT ARRIVES IN AFGHANISTAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.02.2010 19:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A 40-member peacekeeping brigade of the Armed
Forces of Armenia on February 14 arrived in the city of Kunduz to
participate in NATO’s peacekeeping mission within the International
Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The main mission of Armenian
contingent in cooperation with German forces is to ensure security in
the Airport of Kunduz. Within upcoming week the Armenian peacekeepers
will be accommodated and provide a rear.

On February 16 the Armenian officership will leave for the Airport
of Kunduz to get familiar with the location and their tasks, Armenian
Defense Ministry reported.

KAZAKHSTAN TO GIVE RENEWED IMPETUS TO KARABAKH PROCESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.02.2010 12:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kazakhstan intends to give renewed impetus to the
Karabakh conflict settlement process, Kazakhstan’s top diplomat said.

"We are convinced that only the sides involved in the conflict are
capable to settle it. The other participants of the process are just
trying to assist peaceful resolution of the problem, which hampers
sustainable development of the region," OSCE Chairman-in-Office,
Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev said during a joint news
conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

"Astana is cautiously optimistic about the further developments in
the process," he said.

Asked by a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter whether Kazakh chairmanship in the
OSCE will take action for withdrawal of snipers from the front line,
Mr. Saudabayev said "any measures for improvement of the situation,
including withdrawal of snipers, will be supported."

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said, for his part,
that Azerbaijan has always rejected Madrid Principles as the basis
for Karabakh conflict resolution.

"As to working documents presented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
during the meetings, these are questions to be studied by the sides. I
suppose Azerbaijan will submit its proposals soon and we will set to
discussion," the Minister said.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988, as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994
(when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most
of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions is
now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are
holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RECEIVED THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF CSTO, NIKOLAY BORDJUZHA

president.am
Feb 12 2010
Armenia

Today, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received the Secretary
General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
Nikolay Bordjuzha.

At the meeting discussed were issues pertaining to cooperation in
the framework of the CSTO.

The parties expressed satisfaction with the adoption and implementation
of the decisions adopted in 2009, particularly, on the creation of
the Rapid Response Force with the participation of the member states.

They also stressed the importance of preserving in 2010 positive
dynamics in the development of the CSTO structures and necessity of
creating a comprehensive legal framework for the Organization.

ILO COMPILING DATABASE OF ARMENIAN VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING

khatanq/
2010/02/12

World Society

Nver Sargsyan, who heads the Armenian office of the International
Labour Organization, a United Nations agency whose slogan is "Promoting
decent work for all", pointed out today that while the RoA Constitution
prohibits compulsory or forced labour, no definitions are provided.

Mr. Sargsyan said that the ILO is carrying out an anti-trafficking
campaign in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, in conjunction with
local NGO’s, to minimize such human rights violations.

Mr. Sargsyan said that a data base of victims of trafficking was
being compiled at that it would be placed at the disposal of the RoA
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. "This resource will allow for
more effective amelioration of the plight of trafficking victims and
stiffer penalties for those who engage in such activity," he said.

While Mr. Sargsyan does not possess accurate statistics regarding
the number of those falling prey to trafficking, he did say that in
2005 some 12.3 million people worldwide were subject to forced labor
and that in 2009 it was estimated that unpaid salaries for such labor
amounted to $21 billion.