Author: Chilingarian Babken

S.O.S TEGHUT MOVEMENT ACTIVIST PERSECUTED, LAWYER STATES

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 24 2009
Armenia

Nona Galastyan, who represents the interests of Mariam Sukhudyan, an
active member of the S.O.S Teghut youth Green movement, has qualified
the charges brought against her client as "totally baseless." "I find
the charges brought against Mariam Sukhudyan to be totally baseless
and not in line with the real circumstances of the case," Galstyan
told reporters.

She pointed out that criminal proceedings have been initiated against
Sukhudyan with violations of the law. Specifically, the proceedings
were initiated in three months, whereas the law sets a 10-day period
for the procedure. According to a warrant served on Sukhudyan on
August 11, 2009, she had a status of accused. However, it was only on
August 15 that a decision obliging Sukhudyan to appear as accused was
made. According to Galstyan, a preliminary investigation is outside
the terms of reference of the Erebuni district police department,
Yerevan. She believes that the law-enforcers are thus trying to let
the real culprit go unpunished. Galstyan said that their only aim
is "to reveal the real circumstances of the case and hold the real
culprit responsible."

The story, which evoked public response, had its onset on November
13, 2008, after a Haylur TV report. One of the girls living in
Boarding School #11 in the Nubarashen neighborhood, Yerevan told
about sexual harassment on the part of a teacher. The video record
was provided by active members of the S.O.S. Teghut movement. The
Erebuni investigation department conducted an investigation and
initiated criminal proceedings on August 11- against Sukhudyan,
who was charged with false denunciation.

Incidentally, Hrair Avagyan, a member of the S.O.S. Teghut movement,
who works at Boarding School #11 as volunteer, does not rule out that
the charge brought against Mariam Sukhudyan is aimed at pressuring
her and distracting public attention from the Teghut mine problem.

Environmental Expert (press release) (press release)

Team Leader: Expert in Sustainable Energy (880 working days)

Date posted:Aug. 21, 2009

Organization:Integration Environment & Energy GmbH

Location:Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Experience:Manager (Manager/Supervisor)

The currently tendered project is part of the INOGATE Programme which
supports the devel-opment of energy cooperation between the European
Union, the Littoral States of the Black & Caspian Seas and their
neighbouring countries. The project will include the INOGATE mem-ber
states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Taji-kistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan. Purpose of the project is to assist the INO-GATE Partner
Countries in ensuring improved control of their energy consumption in
the building sector by promoting and developing energy efficiency
(EE), and, where applicable, the use of renewable energy (RE).
Main tasks of the project will be
– Support the development and the enforcement of energy
efficiency-related legislation in the building sector including
drafting of building standards and codes, as well as the promotion of
regional harmonisation of policies and regulatory practices.
– Identify the limitations in awareness of EE and RE opportunities and
the obstacles to the transfer of best practice and technology. Support
awareness-raising initiatives.
– Support an enabling investment climate for energy conservation
projects, including identification and assistance to the preparation
of Energy Efficiency investments in the building sector for submission
to International Financial Institutions (IFIs).
– Assess the needs to strengthening the capacity in energy auditing,
building technologies and design. Provide training and networking
programmes.
For our tender application we are looking for highly motivated and
competent consultant to join our team concerning as a Team Leader:
Expert in Sustainable Energy Key skills:The Team Leader will be
overall responsible for the running of the project, the quality of the
team’s performance and its delivered outputs, and the direct
communication with the Contracting Authority (European Commission,
Direc-torate General EuropeAid, Unit A/3).
Background & Experience:
Team Leader: Expert in Sustainable Energy
– University degree in economics, engineering or a similar profile.
– Very good command of English used in a professional context; ease in
networking and good verbal communication skills; ability to
communicate in Russian is an advantage.
– Minimum of 10 years of professional experience; at least 4 years in
a management capacity and 5 years of technical assistance assignments.
– Demonstrated familiarity (preferably at least 2 years) to work with
direct high level contacts at the institutional level, allied to a
proven ability to develop effective working partnerships and to work
in a multi-cultural environment.
– At least 8 years of experience in the field of EE/RE including
experience in promoting EE/RE in the building sector.
– Knowledge of EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings.
– Good knowledge of building regulations and standards.
– Familiarity with the region formerly covered by TACIS.

The expert is expected to spend at least 80% of his allotted man-days
in the Partner Countries.
The project is scheduled to run from January 2010 until January 2014.
Experts interested are invited to submit their application and
Curriculum Vitae

CONSULTANT, YMCA EXEC BUY 5BD IN HAWTHORNE
by Glenda Smith

Blockshopper
Aug 20, 2009

Earl W. Comstock and Anne E. McInerney bought a five-bedroom, 4.5-bath
home at 7101 Western Ave. N.W. in Hawthorne from Lael Brainard and
Kurt M. Campbell for $1.095 million.

The 2,490-square-foot house was built in 1942.

Comstock is chief executive officer at Comstock Consulting.

Previously, he was president and CEO at COMPTEL. He also was a partner
at Sher & Blackwell LLP.

He graduated from George Mason University School of Law.

McInerney serves as vice president of Legislative Affairs at
Rolls-Royce North America as well as a director at Armed Services YMCA.

She received her B.A. in government from The College of William and
Mary and a J.D. from the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Brainard is the vice president and director of the Global Economy
and Development program and was a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution.

She previously was an associate professor of applied economics at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.

She received a degree from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. and
Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Campbell is the chief executive officer and co-founder of the Center
for a New American Security and the director of the Aspen Strategy
Group, the chairman of the editorial board of the Washington Quarterly,
and the founder and principal of StratAsia, a strategic advisory
company focused on Asia. He is also the assistant secretary of state
for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

He received a B.A. from the University of California-San Diego, a
certificate in music and political philosophy from the University
of Erevan in Armenia, and a Ph.D. in international relations from
Oxford University.

There were four sales in Hawthorne in 2008, with a median sales price
of $682,000.

Filed under: Lawyer, Consultancy Address: 7101 Western Av NW Buyer(s):
Lael Brainard and Kurt M Campbell Seller(s): Philip Neidermair and
Kira Schulz Sale date: 2001-08-10

GUARDIAN DIAGNOSED AZERBAIJAN

News.am
18:38 / 08/18/2009

Guardian daily recently published article under "Azerbaijani
authorities interrogate music fans in Eurovision probe" heading.

"Forty-three Azerbaijani music fans who voted for neighboring Armenia
in this year’s Eurovision song contest have been questioned about their
‘ethnic pride’," the article reads.

NEWS.am has already reported that Ministry of National Security of
Azerbaijan (MNS) detects Azerbaijani citizens who voted for Armenia at
Eurovision-2009. 43 Azerbaijani citizens voted for Arshakyan sisters
(Armenian contestants). MNS summoned all the mentioned and had a short
talk of their ‘political correctness’, ‘ethics’ and other paramount
issues Azerbaijani should not neglect. But all this is done in the
light of "national idea and pride."

Guardian writes: "Though officials told the BBC that they had &’merely
invited [voters] to explain’ their votes, one fan described a more
robust interrogation."

MNS is impotent to realize the whole scope of panhuman values,
that should be apart of political interests. Demanding to keep the
‘code of honor’, Azeri officials deprive the latters of the main
advantage-free expression of will. Fanaticism ‘dazzles’ anyone and
drives him to inadequate actions. The one becomes ill in all senses
of this word, meanwhile feeling healthy. He attempts to cure ‘ill’
behaving a ‘doctor’.

The matter is, if Azerbaijani authorities display disrespect towards
their citizens, isn’t it immoral to expect antipodean? Fanaticism
and anti-humanism gives rise to similar phenomenon. True meaning of
‘national pride’, ‘love for homeland’ and ‘code of honor’ notions
should be thoroughly considered and one should have a long way to go
before he fully digests the meaning of these words.

THREE CHESS PLAYERS SHARE LEADING POSITION IN FIDE GRAND PRIX SERIES TOURNAMENT IN JERMUK

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.08.2009 13:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the final rounds of FIDE Grand Prix Series
Tournament organized in Jermuk, Armenia, three chess players appeared
on top of tournament list. Rustam Kasimdzhanov, the only player who
finally held victory in the 9th round, joined tournament leaders
Vasily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko. Uzbek chess player was competing
against Ivan Chaparinov who gave in at the 42nd move.

Armenian grand master Levon Aronyan and Vladimir Hakbyan played drawn
games against their rivals Bacrot and Yakovenko. After the 9th round,
Aronyan who has 5 points continues sharing the 4th-7th positions with
Kariakin, Elianov and Alekseev. Aronyan’s tournament position also
remains unchanged: he shares the 11th-13th positions with Chaparinov
and Kamsky.

August 19 is declared a rest day. In the 10th round scheduled on August
20, Aronyan will play against Vladimir Hakobyan with black figures.

Results for the 9th round: Kamsky Gata – Leko Peter (Hungary)
1/2 Kasimdzhanov Rustam (Uzbekistan) – Cheparinov Ivan (Bulgaria)
1-0 Gelfand Boris (Israel) – Alekseev Evgeny (Russia) 1/2 Elianov
Pavel (Ukraine) – Ivanchuk Vassily 1/2 Kariakin Sergey (Ukraine) –
Inarkiev Ernesto (Rusia) 1/2 Bacrot Etienne (France) – Aronian Levon
(Armenia) 1/2 Yakovenko Dmitry (Russia) – Akopian Vladimir (Armenia)
1/2 Standing: 1. Ivanchuk, Vassily 6 2. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 6 3. Leko,
Peter 6 4. Elianov, Pavel 5 5. Aronyan, Levon 5 6. Kariakin,
Sergey 5 7. Alekseev, Evgeny 5 8. Bacrot, Etienne 4½ 9. Gelfand,
Boris 4½ 10. Yakovenko, Dmitry 4 11. Hakopyan, Vladimir 3½ 12. Kamsky,
Gata 3½ 13. Cheparinov, Ivan 3 14. Inarkiev, Ernesto 2

HOW SOON WILL ARMENIAN INTERNET USERS HAVE ACCESS TO THE BENEFITS OF GLOBAL IT-ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
Grigory Yurin

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.08.2009 GMT+04:00

While the focus of the global IT sector is on the developments of
unprecedented competition between information market giants Google
and Microsoft, the Government of Armenia continues the discussions on
the implementation of global projects on e-government and electronic
control.

For the past month the focus of Internet-users and IT specialists
around the world has been on three main events, namely the completion
of the new operating system Windows 7 – the product of Microsoft
Corporation, the release of the fast browser Chrome by Google and
the work on our own operating system (OS).

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ IT experts are already talking of a possible
large-scale war between these two giants of the computer
sphere. Moreover, as it usually happens in war-time the confronting
parties are trying to attack each other on the Achilles’ heel. Namely,
Google is going to substitute the already usual and popular operating
systems of Windows, while Microsoft, in its turn, took up the search
market, introducing its new search engine Bing and entering into a
partnership agreement with the owner of a large share of this market
– Yahoo!.

All the services offered by Google, such as G-mail, browser Chrome
and others are presented by the company as fast, free and easy to
use. Users believe that the new operating system will be analogous.

In their turn, representatives of Microsoft are talking of the new
operating system as the best product ever offered by the Company and
assure that all the innovations and refinements were made based on
user feedback. The Company does not even conceal that they "learned"
certain things from their competitors, such as the use of large
program icons at the bottom of the screen, like Apple.

Like all the previous versions of Windows, the new version of the
operating system differs from its predecessor by its beauty. In
addition, the new one offers three-dimensional scrolling of pages,
instant translation of any foreign-language site, minimization of
unnecessary windows when the mouse touches the necessary one, quick
access to maps, and much more. But most importantly, experts say,
even old computers work fast with this system. For the first time
the follow-up operating system of Windows uses fewer resources than
the previous one!

Along with the release of the new Windows, Microsoft presents a new set
of office applications, Office 2010. And, strange as it may seem for
the products of this company, its use is free once you don’t install
it on your computer but use the Web-accessible versions of Office
applications that Microsoft plans to make available to registered
Office 2010 users next year. In confirmation of this initiative, as
it became known recently, Microsoft has bought the domain office.com,
which previously belonged to the Belgian company ContactOffice and was
used to establish a virtual e-mail client accessible through desktop
and mobile Web browsers. It is expected that Microsoft will use the
domain office.com for posting online versions of office programs such
as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

So what makes the fruits of this competition between the two
information giants so remarkable? Products fall in price, they
become more accessible and sometimes even totally free. An original
answer to these striking events of the global IT industry is that
Armenia continues discussions on the implementation of the project
"Electronic Government". However, when Armenia will be able to see
the real fruits of this project is still unknown.

For several years the Armenian Government has been notifying Armenian
public of the work being carried out on the projects of e-government
and e-control. Armenian mass media has been elucidating the work done
in this field, but what the Government does for the implementation
of these projects and the projects themselves are wrapped up in halo
of mystery. Certain aspects of the projects, of course, are already
known, but the government avoids answering certain questions, such
as those on the specific date the projects will be implemented,
and they simply use such phrases as "soon", "in the near future", etc.

Recently, however, the veil of mystery has begun to fall, and the
constituent parts of the project were introduced to the Armenian
community, namely the plans of the Government to provide the entire
territory of Armenia with broadband internet, and the procedure to
maintain the communication through an optical network connecting
all major cities and towns. The Government also plans to realize the
projects of e-taxes, e-education, e-health and, what is even better, to
start the development and introduction of electronic identity cards,
which afterward will replace passports inside the country. These
projects, including the project "Electronic Government", will form
part of the global project "Electronic Governance".

But let us look at everything in line. On July 29, 2009 the Armenian
Government held a regular meeting on the issues of developing
Information Technology in Armenia, and the following message in
the official report once again appeared on the government website:
"Introduction of electronic governance in Armenia was discussed among
other issues at today’s sitting of the Information Technology Support
Council of the RA Government. It was noted in particular that works
on e-government are continuing, priority actions in this direction
become certain. In line with the instructions given at the last meeting
some progress has been registered but certain issues are still under
discussion. The Prime Minister instructed to continue the search for
solutions to the issues raised".

The first step that will allow implementation of all the
above-mentioned projects is to provide the entire territory of the
country with fast Internet connection, for which it is necessary to
increase the carrying capacity of the aforesaid throughout the republic
and to construct reliable fiber-optic infrastructure, connecting at
least all the major built-up areas of the country. From then on the
Government will have a real opportunity to implement the remaining
projects, and Armenians will gain access to all the benefits of global
competition between IT companies.

ARMENIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: 6.5BLN-7BLN AMD MAY BE NEEDED FOR CONTINUATION OF RURAL ROAD RESTORATION SUB-PROGRAM OF THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ARMENIAN PROGRAM IN 2009

ArmInfo
2009-08-14 18:42:00

ArmInfo. Some 6.5bln-7bln AMD may be needed for continuation of rural
roads restoration projects of the Millennium Challenge- Armenian
program in 2009, says Minister of Transport and Communication of
Armenia Gurgen Sargsyan.

On Aug 6 the Government of Armenia decided to suspend contracts
on 6 lots with 13 contractors in the framework of the Rural Roads
Restoration sub- program and to transfer the assets and the obligations
of the sub-program to the Ministry of Transport and Communication.

The Ministry, the Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia and the
contractors have agreed on the schedule for repayment of the
obligations under the contracts. "Now we are looking for sources of
financing. We must do it quickly so as to ensure the continuation
of the suspended projects otherwise the whole work will turn out
to be ineffective. We are negotiating with a number of financial
organizations. The money may be provided both as loans and grants
and even by internal sources," says Sargsyan.

Millennium Challenge program was launched in Armenia in 2006. The
program is financed by Millennium Challenge Corporation and executed
by Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia. $235mln was supposed to be
allocated for the program within 5 years, particularly, for restoration
of rural roads, repair of irrigation canals, development of business
skills and lending of farmers.

In June 2009 Millennium Challenge Corporation stopped financing the
rural roads restoration sub-program.

AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES INTERROGATE MUSIC FAN OVER EUROVISION VOTE FOR ARMENIA

Asbarez
horities-interrogate-music-fan-over-eurovision-vot e-for-armenia/
Aug 14, 2009

BAKU-It’s a simple song competition. Or is it?

The Eurovision Song Contest has long promoted itself as an event
where national audiences in Europe and beyond can put politics aside
and enjoy a long night of entertainment performed in the spirit of
friendly competition, if not necessarily musical mastery.

But as Eurovision’s reach has traveled further east, old political
rivalries are muddying the contest’s claim on good clean fun.

Rovshan Nasirli, a young Eurovision fan living in the Azerbaijani
capital Baku, says he was summoned this week to the country’s National
Security Ministry-to explain why he had voted for Armenia during this
year’s competition in May.

"They wanted an explanation for why I voted for Armenia. They said it
was a matter of national security," Nasirli said. "They were trying
to put psychological pressure on me, saying things like, ‘You have
no sense of ethnic pride. How come you voted for Armenia?’ They made
me write out an explanation, and then they let me go."

A total of 43 Azeris voted for the Armenian duo Inga and Anush,
and their song, "Jan-Jan."

Nasirli, like others, used his mobile phone to send a text message
expressing his preference, hardly imagining that his vote would
eventually result in a summons from national security officials.

By contrast, 1,065 Armenians voted for the Azerbaijani team, apparently
without consequence.

The official antipathy can frequently trickle down to personal bias
among ordinary Armenians and Azeris. But not always.

In the case of Eurovision, Nasirli said he preferred the Armenian entry
because it sounded "more Azeri" than his country’s own submission, a
duet featuring Arash, a pop superstar born in Iran and based in Sweden:
"I voted for Armenia to protest the fact that Arash was representing
Azerbaijan. Also, the Armenian song was closer to Azerbaijani style
than Arash’s song," Nasirli said.

Some Azeris cried foul when Arash was chosen to partner with a
relatively young and unknown Azerbaijani singer, AySel, for the
country’s Eurovision entry with the song "Always."

But others saw the decision as a shrewd move that would lend star
power and an international name to the Azerbaijani submission.

In the end, the gamble appeared to pay off. Azerbaijan came in third
place, its highest Eurovision showing ever. Armenia’s Inga and Anush
came in tenth.

Many Azerbaijanis celebrated the results as a victory over Yerevan. The
third-place finish, however, was apparently not enough to satisfy
Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry, which summoned Nasirli to
its Nasimi district office on August 12.

Nasirli, who was contacted by RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service after
posting a comment about his experience on the station’s website,
said he saw nothing wrong in his vote for Armenia.

"If Azerbaijani parliament members can go to Armenia, then what’s
wrong with voting for the Armenian song in the contest?" he asked. "I
told them, ‘If you don’t want people to vote for Armenia, then why
are you in the same contest with them?’"

‘Police State’

Ministry officials were not available for comment on Nasirli’s
experience, but the case has set off alarm bells in Azerbaijan’s
civil rights community.

Activist Avaz Hasanov called the move "unbelievable" and warned that
Azerbaijan, which has already seen a steady clampdown on civil rights
under President Ilham Aliyev, seems to be moving toward a police state.

"There are no state secrets involved here. It was an open contest. It’s
just people expressing their personal taste," Hasanov said. "It’s
unbelievable that they are trying to keep that kind of control over
people. Limiting people’s choices in such an obvious manner won’t
do any good for the country. If all SMS and phone conversations are
being screened, then this country is nothing more than a police state,
with people being watched all the time."

Some see the ministry’s scrutiny of the Eurovision vote as a bizarre
extension of the government’s preoccupation with gaining the upper
hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Shades of the Karabakh conflict could be detected in the Eurovision
contest itself. The Armenian team sparked a storm of controversy when
the original video backdrop for their performance featured an image
of a memorial in Nagorno-Karabakh that has a profound meaning for
Karabakh Armenians.

Russia, the 2009 Eurovision host, requested the offending image
be removed. But Armenia stoked the dispute further when its 2008
contestant, Sirusho, appeared during this year’s contest holding a
photograph of the same monument.

Elmir Mirzoyev, a commentator on Azeri cultural issues, says some
issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh undoubtedly fall within the purview
of the National Security Ministry. Fueling ethnic hostilities, however,
should not be one of them, he said.

"I have to know what the ultimate goal for our state is-to restore
territorial integrity, or to refuse to accept Armenians as an
ethnicity? Security services are serious organizations. What is their
function? To spread ethnic hatred against Armenians, or to restore
our territory?" he asked.

Mirzoyev continued: "Our government has never declared that Armenians
can’t live in our country, or that those voting for Armenia should
be summoned to the National Security Ministry."

VIVACELL-MTS GIVES INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO MOBILE COMMUNICATION

Panorama.am
16:55 14/08/2009

VivaCell-MTS reports that starting from today, August 14, 2009,
VivaCell-MTS special Service Center-kiosks operate in all 10 stations
of Yerevan metropolitan after Karen Demirchyan.

>From now on the Company’s subscribers are provided greater flexibility
to visit the service center-kiosks of the Company at the most
convenient hours of the day and get high quality customer service
and detailed consultancy on mobile services.

Opening of service center-kiosks in the subway stations is another
innovative solution of VivaCell-MTS in the sphere of mobile
communication and customer care. Owing to this solution mobile
communication services and products will become more accessible for
the population of Armenia, reconfirming the status of VivaCell-MTS as
being the best choice for everyone. The kiosks will enable people to
save their time: subscribers can approach the service center-kiosk
on the way to work or university, on the way back to home or while
waiting for a train.

RA SPORT MINISTER RECEIVED PARTICIPANTS OF PAN-ARMENIAN GAMES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.08.2009 15:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On July 13, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs
and President of Pan-Armenian Games World Committee Armen Grigoryan
received a delegation of Armenians from Istanbul, which has arrived
in Armenia to participate in pan-Armenian games.

Welcoming the guests, Minister attached special importance to
Diaspora’s participation in pan-Armenian games, stressing its role
in maintaining Armenia-Diaspora ties and developing further relations.

Delegation in turn expressed its gratitude to high-level organization
of games and gave souvenirs to Armen Grigoryan, Secretary General
of Pan-Armenian Games World Committee Robert Janibekyan and Deputy
Minister of Sport Khachik Asryan.

The guests also gave Armen Grigoryan a souvenir prepared for President
Serzh Sargsyan.

During the meeting, parties discussed issues on developing cooperation
between Armenia and Diaspora.