Author: Ekmekjian Janet

LEADER OF AAC IRAQ DIOCESE ELECTED GENERAL SECRETARY OF COUNCIL OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH LEADERS IN IRAQ

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2010 18:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The leader of Iraq’s Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church (AAC), Archbishop Avag Asaturyan unanimously elected
General Secretary of Council of Christian Church Leaders in Iraq,
press office of Holy Echmiadzin reported.

"The assembly of religious leaders of Christian communities in Iraq,
which established the Council of spiritual leaders, was held in the
Armenian Church of St. Karapet in Baghdad. The Council consists of
two patriarchs, 26 archbishops and bishops, representing 30 Christian
church communities, " the report said.

The Council is aimed to unite opinions and positions over church-state
relations, to preserve and strengthen the Christian presence, as well
as to promote cooperation and enhance interfaith dialogue.

US CONGRESSMAN COMMEMORATES 22TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUMGAIT MASSACRES

ArmInfo
2010-03-01 11:12:00

ArmInfo. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., Co-Chairman of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues, issued the following statement Friday to
commemorate the 22th Anniversary of the Sumgait Massacres:

"Mr. Speaker, this Sunday will mark the tragic anniversary of the
massacres that took place against Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian
heritage in February of 1988, in the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan.

This 3-day rampage, carried out by Azerbaijani nationals left dozens of
Armenians dead, a majority of whom were set on fire alive after being
beaten and tortured. Hundreds of innocent people received injuries of
different severity and became physically impaired. Women, among them
minors, were abused. More than 200 apartments were robbed, dozens of
cars were destroyed and burned, dozens of art and crafts studios, shops
and kiosks were demolished, and thousands of people became refugees.

Mr. Speaker, these crimes were never adequately prosecuted by the
Government of Azerbaijan, and most of its organizers and executors
were simply set free, many of whom are presently members of the Azeri
Parliament. Despite the attempt by the Government of Azerbaijan to
cover up these crimes, enough brave witnesses came forward to give
an accurate account of the offenses.

The Sumgait massacres are just another in a long line of Azerbaijan’s
aggressions against the Armenian people. The events in Sumgait were
preceded by a wave of anti-Armenian rallies that shook the city
in February 1988. Almost the entire territory of the city, with a
population of 250,000, became an arena for mass violence against its
Armenian population.

The attacks also marked the beginning of a larger campaign of ethnic
cleansing targeting the Armenian people, culminating in the war
launched against the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The war claimed nearly
30,000 lives and left over one million refugees in both Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The continued hostilities in Azerbaijan and the military
aggression against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh in 1992 through
1994 led to the disappearance of a 450,000-strong Armenian community in
Azerbaijan within a span of just a few years. As this April marks the
95th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we also pause to remember
the crimes committed in Sumgait and the pogroms conducted against
the Armenian people in Azerbaijan.

Mr. Speaker, this anniversary reminds us yet again of the historical
injustice the Armenian people have faced, unfortunately, throughout
their history. As we join with the Armenian people and all people of
goodwill in remembering these atrocities, I strongly urge Azerbaijan
and Turkey to cease their blockade and aggressive posture against the
Armenian people and work to achieve a lasting peace. It is time for
the United States to do all that it can and to use its geopolitical
influence to send a message that ethnically charged genocides,
illegal blockades of sovereign nations and the constant harassment
of the Armenian people will not be tolerated."

TURKISH DEPUTIES TO LOBBY IN US AGAINST ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ BILL

Hurriyet
Feb 26 2010
Turkey

Two groups of Turkish parliamentarians will visit Washington, D.C.,
to lobby against the "Armenian genocide" bill that will be voted on
by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4.

Members of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the
Turkey-U.S. Parliamentary Friendship Group are expected to lobby in
the U.S. capital starting March 1.

Suat Kınıklıoglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or
AKP’s, vice president for foreign relations, described the upcoming
vote as "a misfortune" showing "lack of foresight" while the
normalization processes between Turkey and Armenia is still underway.

"The Armenian diaspora in the U.S. attempted [to pass this bill] in
2007, but failed. The bill was passed through the U.S. House Committee
on Foreign Affairs, but failed to pass in Congress," Kınıklıoglu
told reporters. "We are planning to prevent the bill’s ratification
by the committee. In case of failure, we will attempt [to lobby]
Congress to not vote for this bill."

The AKP official called the timing of the vote "absurd and
inappropriate" in regard to existing Turkey-U.S. relations. "We hope
our efforts will prevent this risky attempt, which may damage bilateral
relations," he said. "We act in unity as government, opposition and
NGOs in the U.S."

ASSEMBLY ANTHONY PORTANTINO MEETS WITH THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF PASADENA ON FEBRUARY 28

Noyan Tapan
Feb 25, 2010

PASADENA, FEBRUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIANS TODAY. Assembly Anthony
Portantino will be meeting with community members on February 28. The
event is organized by Kevork and Houry Aposhian and the Pasadena
chapter of the Armenian National Committee.

According to , the event is an opportunity to speak
to the Assembly member about issues important to Armenian-American
families, businesses and the general community as well as a greed
fundraiser. The minimum contribution to attend is .

DIGITIZATION OF INDEX CARDS IN ARMENIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY FINISHES

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2010 16:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Digitization of the index cards of the Armenian
language literature in the RA National Library will be finished this
year, said Luiza Berberyan, leading specialist of the department
on protection of cultural heritage and values in the RA Ministry
of Culture.

"2 538 465 book titles have been included in the database since 2002.

Along with that, the digitization of index cards of the
Russian-language literature collection is in process," she told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Last year, there was an attempt to operate the search engine on
Internet through the index cards. However, it was found out that a
license costing AMD 6 650 000 is needed for each library connected to
the system. For that reason, the search engine is temporary inactive.

"It was planned to accomplish the program on the introduction of the
library network by 2012. However, due to the economic crisis, no funds
were allocated this year for the purchase of additional technical
equipment. We have no lack of personnel, but insufficient number
of computers makes the digitization process longer. An additional
server is needed to archive the huge volume of information," Luiza
Berberyan said.

12 libraries, including RA National Library, RA NAS Fundamental
Library, YSU library, RA Scientific and Technical Library and
others are included in the program. According to Luiza Berberyan,
all Armenian libraries will be involved in the overall information
network in a while.

ANC LEADER, EUROPEAN AMBASSADORS DISCUSS KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2010 13:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian National Congress (ANC) leader Levon
Ter-Petrossian met with ambassadors of EU member states accredited
to the RA.

During the meeting, parties focused on social and economic situation in
Armenia, as well as issues related to corruption, democracy development
and human rights.

The discussion also centered on Karabakh conflict settlement and
Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, ANC press service reported.

Armenian National Congress: Before February19, 2008 elections, an
alliance of more than 20 political parties and initiatives formed
the all-national movement around presidential candidate, Levon
Ter-Petrossian, Armenia’s first President. On May 2, 2008 at the 2nd
Congress of all-national movement, Levon Ter-Petrossian put forward
the idea of establishing the Armenian National Congress. On August 1,
2008 the Armenian National Congress was formally established.

Among the basic requirements of ANC are the release of political
prisoners, restoration of the constitutional rights of citizens and
holding of early elections.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR ADDRESSES LETTER TO UN SECRETARY GENERAL

24/karen-nazaryan
02:25 pm | February 24, 2010

Politics

UN Permanent Representative in the UN Karen Nazaryan addressed a
letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of the
anniversary of the tragic events, the massacre of the Armenian
population in Sumgayit and Baku.

Referring to the cheep propaganda and false facts presented by
Azerbaijan, Karen Nazaryan wrote: "Azerbaijan continues presenting
itself as a victim of so-called "Armenian aggression," distorting
the tragic events known to the whole world."

Ambassador Nazaryan, in particular, recalls the interview of
Azerbaijan’s ex-President Ayaz Mutalibov, where he describes how
the Azerbaijani opposition and militia were trying to prevent the
evacuation of civilians form the zone of military actions through
a mountain corridor. The opposition hoped to come to power via the
slaughter of its own compatriots.

The letter underlines that the international community has confirmed
the atrocities of the Azerbaijani government against the unprotected
Armenian population.

"In response to the peaceful and constitutional demand of the people
of Nagorno Karabakh to realize their right for self-determination,
the Azerbaijani authorities armed the mob, which perpetrated a
massacre of Armenians in Sumgayit in 1988. This was the first case
of mass killing on the territory of the Soviet Union. Immediately
after Azerbaijan gained independence, the murderers were set free
and declared national heroes."

"It should finally become clear that Azerbaijan launched military
aggression against Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia is confident that the
best solution in this situation is to restore the legal demand of
the people of Nagorno Karabakh to realize the right of peoples to
self-determination.," the Armenian Ambassador

ARMENIAN DIASPORA IS A GLOBAL RATHER THAN JUST FINANCIAL PARTNER

ArmInfo
2010-02-24 12:29:00

Interview with Bekor Papazyan, Executive Director of the National
Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia

The National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia was established in
2009 for drafting and coordinating programs to enhance the country’s
economic competitiveness. The foundation implements projects mostly
in the fields of tourism, health care, education and information
network development.

What stage is the program on creation of an oncology clinic in Armenia
at? It was said earlier that a group of French doctors of Armenian
descent are ready to finance the project.

We already have the architectural sketches of the complex. We have
discussed them and think that they are quite acceptable. The doctors
you have just mentioned visited Armenia two weeks ago, together
with representatives of General Electric and Varian, the companies
the investors are going to buy equipment from. Presently, we are
finalizing the financing agreements.

We are studying the prospects of not only nuclear medicine but the
whole field of oncology. Here, we can draft a couple of investment
packages. Besides considering the possibilities of purchasing a
cyclotron and manufacturing radio-isotopes for medical purposes, we
are looking forward to the prospect of opening a cancer diagnostics
center, equipped with PET scans. This center might treat different
types of cancer by means of radio-, chemo- and immunotherapy. We
might also have a center for post-clinic recovery. We have made rough
calculations for each of the projects – taken both separately and
in different combinations – and have shown them to our potential
sponsors. We are expecting response from both foreign and local
investors, including hospitals and individuals.

You have asked the Belgian Government to finance the purchase of the
cyclotron. Are you close to final agreement?

Presently, we are waiting for the approval by the Armenian Government.

As soon as the inter-governmental agreement is approved, we will start
formalizing loan guarantees. According to the initial agreement, we
were supposed to be given a loan and a grant but we prefer to get a
zero interest and a three-year grace period instead of the grant. The
loan will be provided for 15 years. The cyclotron will cost 12mln EUR –
exactly the size of the loan. The oncology clinic will cost 12mln EUR,
with the cost of the three PET scans estimated at 2mln-2.5mln EUR each.

We have not reached final agreements yet but we are planning to
do it this year. We want this program to be wider and we want the
Government of Armenia to proclaim oncology as a priority sector. This
would attract much bigger investments and we would be able to develop
a single business plan for the whole complex.

Does our region have similar medical complexes?

Our neighbors don’t have such centers. Eastern Europe does. The demand
for such services is constantly growing. So, if we ensure at least
half of the domestic demand and annually receive 500-1,000 people
from Georgia, Iran and, perhaps, from some other countries, we will
have quite a normal load for the center. The business projects will
be finalized in a month. The specific business plan will be presented
as soon as we have an investor.

We have presented this project in Silicon Valley in the United States,
at Berkeley University, and have received enthusiastic response. We
want to cooperate with them. Why? Because Diaspora can play a serious
role for Armenia not only as a source of financing but also as a
partner in creating professional networks. If we in Armenia want
to treat cancer according to the international standards, we need
professional diagnostics assistance from the Diaspora specialists.

Doctors from Diaspora could help us, say, for a couple of days,
a month on a paid or free of charge basis. Our Diaspora colleagues
have welcomed this idea.

What a stage the project on creation of the highland sports training
camps near Lake Sevan is at?

We are planning to open several highland training camps around Sevan.

Highland training is in high demand in different sports – cycling,
football, ice hockey. We have invited two experts from Germany,
who have helped us to draft a business plan. The plan contains an
investment proposal. In the coming months we will develop this project
into an investment package with detailed cost estimates.

We also have a program to build a cableway to Tatev Monastery as
part of the project to create a tourist and educational complex in
this area.

It will be a 5.7km reversible cableway, the longest such facility in
the world. The launch is scheduled for the autumn 2010.

During the opening ceremony we are planning to meet with our partners
under this program. By that time we will have started restoring Tatev
Monastery and creating a training center there. We will also begin to
develop products for tourists. The final stage will be construction of
a hotel. The launch of the ropeway will be the first tangible result
of the project.

We already have preliminary estimates on the hotel. We already know
where it will be situated and how many people it will be able to
accommodate. The final parameters will be determined as soon as we
have the first visitors. The construction is supposed to be started
in two years. The other components of the program will be completed
by the summer 2011. The training center will have to branches:
a monastery school and a summer research school for historical and
archeological studies. The money for the construction of the ropeway
and the renovation of the monastery has been provided by the Tatev
Fund. This fund has been established by Ruben and Veronica Vardanyans
and has already raised $20mln. This money is not an investment and
is not expected to give profit. It is a donation. Ruben Vardanyan is
the manager of Russian Troika Dialog and one of the trustees of the
National Competitiveness Foundation.

We have made a list of sights around Tatev Monastery and are presently
negotiating with representatives of local travel agencies and hotels.

The pilot project will be made public by the autumn, when the ropeway
is launched. It will contain elements of cuisine tourism, information
on travel routes, etc. In 2010 tour operators will already be able
to receive guests. For being able to receive more tourists, we are
developing a network of Bed & Breakfast motels in the nearby villages
– Tatev, Khdzoresk, Shinuayr, Tandzatap. Under this project we are
planning to cooperate with SME DNC.

We also have a project of training center for Yerevan.

In 1-2 months we will announce an international tender for the
feasibility study of the project. The project will be based on
government-private sector partnership. The center will consist of
office premises and state educational facilities. The commercial sector
is supposed to finance the academic one according to the well-known
Land Grant system – when the money received from the use of the
property lent by the donor is spent on research and education. One
of our partners is ready to watch this model of cooperation.

In the framework of WB PHRD program, you were supposed to select
a company to consult the Armenian authorities on how to develop a
republican fiber network.

We have already selected the company. It is Detecon International from
German. The company has been working for already two months and in
early Mar 2010 is supposed to familiarize the concerned parties with
potential models based on government-private sector partnership. The
final report and the construction plan will be presented a month
later. The constructor will be selected within the framework of the
WB’s credit program to also be supervised by the foundation. Now we
are watching several models. The greater part of the network will be
made of optic fiber but in the difficult-to-access highlands we will
probably apply wireless technologies. The goal of this project is to
fiber-network the whole territory of Armenia.

Thank you

Aram Gareginyan, ArmInfo, Feb 22 10

ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS NOT TO BE RATIFIED BY TURKISH PARLIAMENT

news.az
Feb 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish parliament If Armenia has any claims regarding the signed
protocols, it should have declared about it earlier during the
discussions.

After the changes introduced by the government and the Constitutional
Court of Armenia, the Armenian-Turkish protocols will not be ratified
by the Turkish parliament, said Yashar Yakish, chairman of the CE
Compliance Commission and former foreign minister of Turkey.

"If Armenia hopes that Ankara will adopt changes made by the
Constitutional Court to the protocols signed with Turkey, it is
mistaken. Ankara will never adopt them", Yashar Yakish said.

The international practice has no rule that after signing any
international document it can be introduced some changes from the
side of the internal legislative body, Yakish said.

The Turkish government has signed protocols not with the Constitutional
Court but with the Armenian government and the decision taken by the
said body is an internal affair of Yerevan that has no attitude to
Turkey, he added.

He said if Armenia has any claims regarding the signed protocols,
it should have declared about it earlier during the discussions.

Even if the Turkish prime minister puts the issue of ratification
of these protocols for discussion in the parliament, the Turkish
deputies will not confirm them unless there is a positive achievement
in the Karabakh issue. "If the deputies of the Turkish parliament have
declared that they will not ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols
unless the Karabakh issue is settled and their decision cannot be
changed by the prime minister, the foreign minister or the president
of the country", Yakish said.

As for the efforts taken by the United States and Russia that are
co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, Yakish said Washington is currently
more interested in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict as the
delay in this issue may have a negative influence on the relations
with such US ally as Turkey.

Saturday School Students Learn About ARS History

ool-students-learn-about-ars-history/
By Asbarez Staff on Feb 19th, 2010

GLENDALE, CA-More than 100 ARS Saturday School students from five
schools participated in a seminar program held on February 6, 2010, at
the Glendale Youth Center. The event organized by the Regional
Saturday School Committee was emceed by Kevork Bedigian, principal of
the Talin School.

Maestro Alfred Mardoyan led the choir practice session, as the
children sang enthusiastically. Nyree Derderian, who chairs the
Regional Strategic Planning Committee, presented the history of the
ARS in an interactive bilingual manner and then showed a video
prepared for the ARS Centennial. Derderian emphasized the role of the
ARS in the educational arena, including running the Saturday School,
where she noted, not only are the students taught the Armenian
language and culture, but they are enriched with the Armenian spirit.

Annie Guiragossian, ARS of Western USA Regional Executive Liaison to
the Saturday School Committee, thanked the program participants; and
Ung. Sossie Poladian, Chair of the Regional Executive, asked the
students to be proud of their heritage and encouraged them to learn
and practice using the Armenian language and culture.

In an effort to reach to the student population, Nyree Derderian and
other ARS members are visiting day schools and making presentations
regarding the ARS and its century-long heritage of service.