Author: Chaltikian Arsine

HRANT DINK STREET GETS RED LIGHT

Tert.am
17:40 ~U 18.12.09

Istanbul City Hall has denied the application for renaming an Istanbul
street where Turkish citizen-of-Armenian-descent journalist Hrant
Dink was murdered in January 2007 in his name.

Shishli District City Hall approved a decision on September 14 to
rename Safak Street, which is in the vicinity of Turkish-Armenian
paper Agos’ neighbourhood, in honour of Hrant Dink.

The district municipality then informed Istanbul City Hall of its
decision and appealed to the city authorities to ratify their decision.

However, citing reasons of "avoiding confusion and [unnecessary]
security issues in addresses," Istanbul City Hall has denied the
application.

Interesting to note that a number of other countries have already
renamed streets in Hrant Dink’s name.

PERSONNEL ROTATION AT NKR PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 17:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On December 18 NKR President Bako Sahakyan
signed a decree on early suspending the mandat of lawyer member of
the commission of ethics under the NKR Prosecutor General Zhirair
Mirzoyan in connection with his appointment to deputy head of the
Martuni regional administration position.

Vrezh Zhamharyan, head of Legal desk of State-Legal Department of
the NKR President’s office was appointed as the lawyer member of the
commission, Central Information Department of the NKR President’s
Office reported.

YAVER JAMALOV: "AZERBAIJAN BEGAN PRODUCTION OF SEVERAL TYPES OF ARMS THIS YEAR"

APA
16 Dec 2009 18:29
Baku

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. Azerbaijan completed work on several
types of arms and began their serial production this year, said the
Minister of Defense Industry Yaver Jamalov, APA reports.

He said there were automatic weapon, pistols "Zafer", "Zafer-K" and
"Inam", sniper’s gun, training mines and armors produced jointly with
the South African Paramount Group Company.

Jamalov said the ministry fulfilled 106.6 percent of production
forecast, which was 32.3 percent more than last year’s indications.

The ministry fulfilled 100 percent of orders of the governmental
agencies.

According to the minister, Azerbaijan is planning to demonstrate its
products at three international defense exhibitions next year – Jordan,
May 2010, South Africa, September 2010 and Greece, November 2010.

Jamalov added that the development of Azerbaijani Army and defense
industry irritates Armenia and makes it anxious.

POLICE USES TEAR-GAS AGAINST TURKISH FIREMEN

NEWS.am
16:39 / 12/16/2009

Turkish firemen tried to move towards the Istanbul City Hall,
however Turkish policemen hindered them to do so using tear-gas and
water cannons.

930 firemen, whose labor contracts expires this year end, gathered in
one of Istanbul parks and tried to march to the City Hall, CNNturk
informs.

Representatives of trade unions also joined them, however Turkish
policemen warned the protestors that the rally is not sanctioned and
attempted to stop them. As a result of demonstrators’ disobedience
several people got injured.

ACNIS HOLDS ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON GENDER EQUALITY AND THE STATE OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
16.12.2009 18:37

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
convened a roundtable discussion today examining gender equality and
the state of women’s rights in Armenia.

After welcoming the participants, ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian
presented a brief overview of the issues, noting that "for most
countries, the issues of gender equality and the state of women’s
rights serve as key indicators of the overall development of
society and the state of democracy." Giragosian added that "in the
case of Armenia as well, the conditions of the female population,
including the opportunities for Armenian women in the workplace,
the educational system and in politics, present revealing insight
into the real conditions of today’s Armenia."

The ACNIS Director explained that today’s event on gender equality
and women’s rights was the opening event in a larger ACNIS "Gender
Project," aimed at "advocating greater rights and opportunities for
women in Armenia." He then added that ACNIS "seeks to raise awareness
of the plight of women and the need to combat domestic abuse and
violence targeting women."

Following Giragosian’s opening, the first speaker was Ms. Jina
Sargizova, the Project Coordinator for the UNFPA Programme on
Gender-Based Violence, who provided a detailed presentation of
UN activities in this sphere. Sargizova noted several significant
problems, including the lack of awareness, the absence of effective
legislation and inadequate institutional capacity in Armenia to
address the issue.

The next speaker was Tsovinar Harutyunyan, the Senior Democratization
Assistant for the OSCE Office in Yerevan, then presented an overview
of OSCE efforts in this area and stressed the potential of women as
a resource that is not being fully utilized.

A prominent attorney in Armenia, Tiruhy Nazaretyan, then addressed
the issue of women’s rights in the workplace and highlighted the
fact that for the same job, women are most often paid less than men
performing the same work.

The least speaker was ACNIS Analyst Armine Ghazaryan, who focused
on the role of women in Armenian politics. According to Ghazaryan,
"women often feel themselves at a disadvantage in comparison with men
because their life is based on the economic, political, psychological
and social dependence on men." She added that "the objective and
subjective approaches regarding the role of women in politics were
related to the existence of stereotypes in society." She went on to
say that "the approach regarding the political electoral contest and
the general issue should be changed but must not try to equalize man
and woman, as we will have real results and effective activity if a
woman, with her female privileges, does not emulate man but expresses
herself with her own position and role."

PASADENA ANC VISITS LOCAL ARMENIAN BUSINESSES WITH STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER PORTANTINO

Asbarez
Dec 16th, 2009

>>From left to right: Lerna Kayserian Shirinian, aide for
Assemblymember Anthony Portantino, State Assemblymember Anthony
Portantino (D-44), and Pasadena Watch Company owner Kevork Zeytounsian.

PASADENA, CA – Leaders of the Pasadena Armenian National Committee took
California State Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-44) on a tour
of Armenian American businesses in the City of Pasadena on December
11, 2009 to help the Assemblymember better understand the challenges
facing Armenian American business owners in this challenging economy
and what actions, if any, the State can take to improve the economy.

Since November 2006, Portantino has represented California’s 44th
Assembly District, which is home to a large and very active Armenian
American community.

"We are pleased to have hosted a walking tour of Armenian American
businesses for Assemblymember Portantino," remarked Pasadena ANC
Executive Director Ishkhan Boghossian. "I believe the Assemblymember
got a diverse view of the many Armenian owned businesses here in
Pasadena. From visiting an auto body shop, to a restaurant, to a
retail store, he saw that our community is engaged in every aspect
of our region’s economy," added Boghossian.

"In this tough business climate it was extremely valuable for me to
spend time with Armenian-American business owners in my district. It
is always important to support local shop owners and businesses
and the Armenian-American community has had a long and successful
record of entrepreneurial accomplishment." Remarked California State
Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-44) "During this Holiday season
I wanted to hear first hand about the challenges and successes these
owners have been having as we see small businesses continuing to play a
greater role in our economic success." Added Assemblymember Portantino.

The business tour with Assemblymember Portantino began with a brief
visit to the new Pasadena Armenian Center on Foothill Boulevard.

Following that visit, Portantino met with Varoujan Derderian, longtime
owner of Johnnie’s Auto Body. The company, established by Derderian and
his brother in the 1960s, is well known in the area as an outstanding
business. The tour then took Portantino to the Pasadena Watch Company,
where proprietor Kevork Zeytounsian talked to the Assemblymember about
some of the economic challenges facing his business sector. The tour
concluded with a visit to Cafe Santorini, where Vazken Haitayan gave
Portantino an overview of the business environment facing restaurants.

Assemblymember Portantino was elected to serve the 44th Assembly
District in November, 2006. The district encompasses, in part, areas
with large Armenian American populations, including Altadena, Duarte,
La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena and South Pasadena.

Assemblymember Portantino served nearly eight years on the La
Canada Flintridge City Council and two terms as its Mayor. He has
served as President of the League of California Cities Mayor’s and
Councilmember’s Department and the Executive Board of the California
Contract Cities Association. He is also a past member of the Pasadena
City College Bond Oversight Committee. While serving as Vice Chair
of the Santa Monica Mountains Advisory Committee, Assemblymember
Portantino was very active in preserving open space in Los Angeles
and Ventura Counties.

Anthony currently serves as the Chair of the Assembly’s Committee
on Higher Education and is a member of the Government Organization,
Human Services, Labor and Employment and Revenue and Taxation Standing
Committees. He is also a member of the Assembly Select Committees on
the Preservation of the California’s Entertainment Industry, Foster
Care, and Community Colleges.

The Pasadena ANC advocates for the social, economic, cultural,
and political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and
promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the
grassroots and public policy levels.

ARMENIAN TRANSLATION OF NORSULTAN NAZARBAEV’S "KAZAKH ROAD" PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.12.2009 14:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian translation "Kazakh Road", a book by
Kazakhstan’s President Norsultan Nazarbaev, was presented Tuesday
in Yerevan.

The book features the most complicated and striking moments of
Kazakhstan’s history. It comprises Kazakhstan’s strategic development
plan till 2030, as well as the process of adopting the constitution,
the start of owning oil-gas resources and the process of introducing
the national currency.

In their speeches, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Culture David Muradyan,
President of Writer’s Union Levon Ananyan and Advisor to RA NAS
President Tatul Manasaryan highly appreciated Kazakh President’s work.

"This is probably the first time when a President introduces his
country’s achievements in his memoirs," Tatul Manasaryan said.

Levon Ananyan who translated the book into Armenian was hopeful that
such initiative would mark the start of cooperation between Armenian
and Kazakh literary circles.

The event was also attended by Sergey Kapinos, Head of OSCE Office
in Yerevan and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samvel Avetisyan.

The book is also available in Russian and English languages.

NO CHANGES IN STATUS OF SOURP KHATCH ARMENIAN CHURCH IN CRIMEA

Tert.am
15.12.09

The Supreme Council (also known as Verkhovna Rada) of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea (Ukraine’s only autonomous republic) Chair Anatoly
Gritsenko had a telephone conversation with Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Garegin II on the matter
of the status of Sourp Khatch Vank (St. Cross) Armenian church.

Gritsenko assured His Holiness Garegin II that there will be no
changes whatsover in the status of Crimea’s Sourp Khatch Armenian
church, as announced from the Mother See.

Sourp Khatch will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the
Ukrainian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe Commander trips to Azerbaijan

07 December 2009 [16:58] – Today.Az

The top U.S. Air Force Commander in Europe and Eurasia, Gen. Roger A.
Brady, is visiting Azerbaijan Dec.8, Office of Public Affairs of the
U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan said.

During the course of his one-day visit, he will be meeting with senior
officials to discuss the strategic partnership between the United
States and Azerbaijan.

His trip to the region includes a visit to Georgia, as well.

As the Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe; Commander of the Air
Component Command in Ramstein, Germany; and Director of the Joint Air
Power Competency Center at Ramstein Air Base, Gen. Brady has
responsibility for Air Force activities in a theater spanning three
continents, covering more than 20 million square miles and 92
countries and territories.

/APA/

URL:

MINISTER NALBANDIAN OFF TO PARIS

armradio.am
14.12.2009 11:22

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, will visit
Paris December 14-16 to participate in the meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of the member countries of the International organization
of the Francophone.

Minister Nalbandian will have a number of bilateral meetings on the
sidelines of the forum.

In Paris Edward Nalbandian will hold a consultation with Armenian
Ambassadors to European countries.