Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

SAYING LAST NAMES WRONG IS SO AMERICAN
by Joaquin

The Daily Chisme

June 16, 2009 Tuesday 2:34 PM EST

When I think of a good, basic American last name, Krikorian comes
to mind.

I didnt know how to pronounce Krikorian. My first stab at it went
something like "Creek-or-e-an. Man, was I off. Its actually pronounced
"kri-KOR-ee-uhn. But dont get any ideas that I have to pronounce
it right.

I dont. This is America, so I can say other peoples names wrong and I
dont have to feel bad about it. Furthermore, no one can make me say
Krikorian with the right pronunciation. To compel me to do so would
diminish my assimilation into American life, which in this case would
mean giving in to all the Armenians who expect us to say their names
the correct way.

Im hip to that since Ive become so accustomed to America at large
saying Latino last names incorrectly. As a kid, I was a huge major
league baseball fan, and found it odd that national sports broadcasters
couldnt say simple names like Perez or Cantu right. Then I went to
college far from the South Texas motherland, and professors and fellow
students in a foreign place like Denton, Tx., would look at my last
name, Cavazos, and not want to even venture a guess on how to say it.

I took no great offense, nor did I insist people in Denton, Tx.,
say my last name correctly, which means Im Mark Krikorians kind
of guy. Krikorian runs one of those immigration restrictionist
organizations based in D.C., the ones that blame immigrants for
everything from voter fraud to global warming to parents naming their
kids Willow and Piper.

Krikorian ventured out from his anti-immigrant encampment recently
to say no one could make him pronounce Sonia Sotomayors last name
correctly. To say the last name of President Obamas Supreme Court
nominee correctly – with its Spanish emphasis on the last syllable –
is an Å"unnatural pronounciation in English, Krikorian said.

Thusly, for anyone to insist upon the Å"unnatural pronouncation of
such a strange and apparently non-American last name Å"is something
we shouldnt be giving in to, said Krikorian, whose own last name
originates deep from the heart of what was once the Soviet Union.

Å"There ought to be limits, Krikorian said in deferring to peoples own
pronounciation of their names. So, if Brittney with two ts wants to
say her name differently from Britney with just one plain `t, why shes
out of luck. Well just say Brittney or Britney any dang way we please.

The pronounciation of names is part of the American assimilation
process, Krikorian informed us, so people who insist we say their
last names right, with all of the emphasis on the right syllables,
etc., are basically refusing to be assimilated.

So, Judge Soto-may-er, sorry, youre headed for the highest court in
the land, but no way, no how are we saying your last name correctly,
or else we would be giving in to the multicultural police. Better to
go with the flow of assimilation, just like Mark Creek-or-e-an advises.

Next thing you know were pronouncing Armenian names correctly, and
we dont want to do that. Itll just encourage more immigration.

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I WILL ADDRESS THE G8 SUMMIT 2009 DURING A PREPARATORY MEETING IN ROME

armradio.am
17.06.2009 18:40

Italy will host the G8 Summit of the world’s major industrialized
nations consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
United Kingdom and the United States. The G8 was established in
1975 as an informal forum for Heads of Governments to discuss mutual
or global concerns. Some of the topics discussed by ministers are:
health, economic and social development, environment, foreign affairs,
and justice.

This Summit in Italy is crucial because of the challenges posed by
the global economic crisis. On this occasion, the Italian Government,
in cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church has invited a small
group of religious leaders representing the major world religions to
address the Summit.

His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia
will be the only religious leader from the Middle East and will speak
during the opening session. The topic of his presentation will be
"The Role of Religion in addressing the current economic crisis and
its repercussions on people and the earth," the Communication and
Information Department of the Catholicosate of Cilicia informed.

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

Press and Information Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia
Tel. + 37410 544041. ext. 202
Fax. + 37410 565601
e-mail: [email protected]
web:

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian participates in the
session of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers

On June 14, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian who has been
in Moscow on a working visit attended the session of the Council of
Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In
the course of session issues concerning different areas of the
organization’s activity, a number of decisions were made on the steps
to be taken towards the further strengthening and improvement of the
organization.

During the session Armenian Foreign Minister delivered a report
summarizing the activities undertaken during the Armenian chairmanship
in the CSTO towards the coordination member states foreign
policy. Edward Nalbandian touched upon the work done since September
2008 – the meetings of the CSTO Foreign Ministers held in New-York and
Helsinki by the initiative of Armenia, the consultations of
Ambassadors of the CSTO member states in the third countries, as well
as events aimed at the coordination.

Foreign Ministers of the CSTO member states highly appreciated the
results achieved during the Armenian chairmanship and emphasized the
efficiency of the implementation of mechanisms in the area of foreign
policy coordination.

Ministers discussed the package of the documents to be presented at
the session of the Collective Security Council, including the
documents on the process of implementation of the Collective Security
Council’s decision on "CSTO Rapid Deployment Forces".

During the session of Ministerial Council they discussed issues
concerning the expansion of cooperation between the CSTO and
international organizations.

The session of Council of Foreign Ministers was followed by the joint
session of the Council of Foreign Ministers and Defense Ministers of
the CSTO member states. At the session they discussed and approved
several documents which will be presented at the session of the
Collective Security Council.

Afterwards the session of Foreign Ministers Council was continued in
enlarged format.

On the same day Edward Nalbandian participated in the session of the
Collective Security Council, within the delegation headed by the
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

‘ARMAVIA’ ATTRACTS SWISS PASSENGERS BY EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND ACCURACY

ArmInfo
2009-06-15 16:51:00

Armavia attracts Swiss passengers by effective management and accuracy,
Director of General Sales Agent of Armavia in Switzerland – AirPass
company, Roland Buhler, says.

It is still early to say that Armavia is perceived as a brand in
Switzerland, but he thinks that Armavia has effective management
and flight control. The planes always arrive in time, and the Swiss
passengers pay special attention to this. Armavia has become a brand
among the Armenian community in Switzerland, Buhler said. To recall, on
30 March 2009 Armavia opened a direct flight Yerevan-Zurich-Yerevan,
which is currently the only direct flight between Armenia and
Switzerland. There are several target groups in the Swiss market,
particularly, the Diaspora Armenians (about 5 thsd in Switzerland),
business clients, tourists who should familiarize themselves with
a new direction – Armenia. Transit passengers are also an important
group as Armavia made Zurich one of its transit centers, the AirPass
director said.

Initially the company is going to inform around 2.5 thsd travel
agencies of Switzerland of the new route of Armavia. Afterwards
the information will be disseminated among Armenian organizations
in Switzerland. Then a trip to Armenia will be organized for
Swiss journalists. AirPass will familiarize them with Armavia’s
activity, as well as with Armenia as an attractive country and a new
travel direction. He thinks about 2 mln Swiss readers will read the
journalists’ publications. According to him, Armenia also may interest
Switzerland as a transit point for visits of Swiss tourists.

Speaking of the forecasts on the growth in flow of passengers,
Buhler recalled that in 2008 when there was no direct flight between
the two countries, 3.5 thsd people came to Armenia from Switzerland
by air. It is difficult to specify the practical "ceiling": when
Swissair carried out a regular flight between Zurich and Yerevan,
the number of passengers amounted to 6 thsd per year. Buhler said
that the company intends to gradually increase the flow of passengers.

CRDF NORMATIVE LEGAL BASE DEVELOPED AND COORDINATED

ArmInfo
2009-06-15 12:12:00

ArmInfo. The normative legal base of the Collective Rapid Deployment
Force (CRDF) has been developed and generally coordinated at the CSTO
Summit in Moscow on Sunday, ArmInfo correspondent to Moscow reported.

The key topic of the CSTO Summit was formation of the CRDF. The
presidents discussed nearly 20 issues on the agenda.

Opening the Summit, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev thanked CSTO
leaders for operative decisions on coordination of the arrangements
to establish the Collective Rapid Deployment Force achieved at the
previous CSTO Summit. CRDF normative legal base has been developed and
generally coordinated. It is based on the Agreement on CSTO CRDF. The
documents define the status, the formation procedure and activity of
the CRDF as well as the rules of its application.

In addition, the staff of the CRDF consisting of mobile units and
formations equipped with modern military hardware and provided with
consistent armament was submitted to approval of the presidents.

CRDF will comprise also special forces consisting of special
subdivisions of the law-enforcement agencies, security services and the
agencies engaged in prevention emergency situations and liquidation
of their aftermaths. To manage CRDF when preparing and conducting
operations, the Collective Security Council formed CRDF Command.

In addition, during the meeting of the Collective Security Council, the
president approved a series of documents on creation of an effective
system of collective counteraction to new challenges and threats
as well as an action plan of CSTO member-states on formation of a
collective system to combat illegal migration from third countries. The
president heard the report by Chairman of the CSTO Council of Defense
Ministers on the process of coalition military building as part of
the CSTO.

The decision to create CRRF was made at the extraordinary summit of
the CSTO Collective Security Council on February 4 in Moscow. Earlier,
CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha said CRRF will consist of
two components – troops of special appointment (airmobile forces),
capable of moving to any points of CSTO states for the localization
of armed conflicts, and the force of special appointment from the
security services, Interior Ministries for the special operations of
anti-terrorist and anti-narcotic nature.

Armenia assumed CSTO chairmanship from Kyrghyzstan in 2008. Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
are members of CSTO founded in 1992. On June 15 2009 Armenia rotated
CSTO chairmanship to Russia temporarily because of Belarus’s refusal to
participate in the session of the CSTO Ministerial Council in Moscow.

56 ARMENIAN STUDENTS AND SCIENTISTS RECEIVES DAAD STUDENTSHIP

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.06.2009 21:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today 56 Armenian citizens became scholarship
holders of DAAD (German Service of Academic Exchanges). Ambassador
of Germany to Armenia Mrs. Andrea Viktorin handed certificates to
scolars in Yerevan.

Graduate and postgraduate students, who received DAAD’s studentships
are given the opportunity to continue their studies and conduct
research in higher educational institutions and scientific research
centers in Germany. 25 Armenian students will improve their language
proficiency in Germany’s summer schools.

" Every DAAD scholar becomes RA ambassador in Germany. We highly
estimates cooperation of the Armenian ministry of education and
science with DAAD and the German Embassy," Mrs. Andrea Viktori,
Ambassador of Germany to Armenia said.

DAAD provides more than 800.000 euro annually for educational
programs in Armenia. Since 1991 some 1300 Armenians have received
DAAD studentships.

DAAD unites 230 German higher educational institutions and 126 student
organizations and mediates foreign cultural, educational and scientific
policy of the country. DAAD has 14 foreign representation offices and
48 information centers in the world and provides 50 000 studentships
a year.

Ahmadinejad wins Iranian presidential election

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s hardline incumbent President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Friday’s election, leaving his rival,
reformist former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, far behind.
With over 38 million votes counted, preliminary results showed
Ahmadinejad gained almost 64% of the vote, and Mousavi nearly 33%.
Thhe Islamic Republic’s election commission kept polls open for an
additional two hours on Friday as the voter turnout exceeded 80%.
Expectations that there would be a runoff fell flat, and Western
leaders who counted on Mousavi’s victory will now have to keep dealing
with the reelected president.
The West accuses Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program,
but Tehran says it need nuclear power solely for civilian purposes.
Almost 500 candidates registered to run in the election, but only four
were allowed onto the ballot, the other two being Mehdi Karroubi and
Mohsen Rezaei, who received few votes.

Crisis dictates universality in work

2009-06-13 15:43:00

ArmInfo. The financial and economic crisis has made a positive effect
on the labor market, this is proved by the research of the analytical
department of Norvik Universal Credit Organization (UCO) provided to
ArmInfo. The research shows that the reduction in vacancies will allow
employers to make the employees to show a more responsible attitude to
their work. Nevertheless, nobody frightens them with difficulties of
search of a new vacancy or threatens to take economic measures, for
instance, to decrease the salary. Employees themselves start
displaying a more responsible attitude to their work. Furthermore,
the requirements to the applicants have changed.

In particular, more universality in work is required – companies no
longer can afford keeping employees with narrow specialization. The
requirement of universality also affected the requirements to the age
of employees. Earlier recruitment agencies looked for young employees,
now specialists above 50 years of age also can get a job if their
experience allows them to make sense of several working issues
simultaneously. As for those dismissed, they also have new
opportunities to work at their personal professional qualities. At
present, companies do not axe to minimize the expenses on the account
of employees, but everybody realizes that to be irresponsive at work is
fraught with reduction in salary, bonuses and social packages.

The methods used in Armenia do not cause fear, which only presses
efficiency, on the contrary, the current situation abruptly increases
the labor efficiency and the employees’ responsible attitude to work,
which was lacking earlier and this was the main problem of all
employers. At the same time, there are no socio- psychological methods
increasing the satisfaction with work.

The experts’ opinion about the employees’ mood is indirectly confirmed
by the research held by Norvik UCO. According to the research results,
in October 2008 only 10% of pollees observed a growth in work
efficiency of employees while after the New Year holidays 45% of
pollees gave a positive answer.

To recall, Norvik UCO is an Armenian branch of Latvian-Icelandic JSC
Norvik Banka. It received the licence of the Central Bank of Armenia in
July 2006 and started operating since late September 2006. It has held
the leading positions in the rating of universal credit organizations
for three years.

TURKISH FM DECLARES END OF "COLD WAR" WITH ARMENIA

Today.Az
s/53052.html
June 11 2009
Azerbaijan

The period of cold war between Turkey and Armenia has ended, therefore,
Ankara is waiting for the visit of President Serzh Sargsyan, said
Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoghlu.

"The period of "cold war" has completed", Davutoghlu said on the
board of a plane on the way to Afghanistan.

He considers that a concept of enemy is already absent in the relations
between Turkey and Armenia.

"Our relations with Israel serve for Palestine. Azerbaijan also
sees that our relations with Armenia serves its interests", said the
Turkish FM.

Davutoghlu also commented on possible visit of Serzh Sargsyan to
Turkey to watch an October football match between the national teams
of Tirkey and Armenia.

"It is highly unlikely that Sargsyan will refuse to come to Turkey if
borders are not open. We would be upset. In case relations deteriorate,
the possibility of his visit equals zero. This is too bad", said
the Minister.

"If he (Sargsyan) considers that the process is moving forward, the
possibility of his visit to Turkey is very high, which is the best
variant", noted the Turkish FM.

ARMENIAN CLERGYMAN FOUND DEAD IN JERUSALEM

Panorama.am
12:43 11/06/2009

Dead clergyman was found in St. Hambarcum church, in Jerusalem,
Public TV reports. It is believed that the cause of clergyman Armen
Khachatryan’s death was heart attack.

Some other Armenian clergymen found him unconscious and called
doctor. Before the ambulance arrived Khachatryan was dead.