ILHAM ALIYEV WAS GOING TO START A WAR IN KARABAKH
ArmInfo
2010-05-04 19:23:00
ArmInfo. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was going to start a war
in Karabakh in 2009, says the Azerbaijani newspaper "Yeni Musavat".
The newspaper points out that before signing of the Protocols between
Armenia and Turkey in October 2009 Ilham Aliyev decided to start a
military operation in Karabakh, however, the National Intelligence
Department of Turkey took relevant measures and dissuaded Aliyev.
23RD EUROPEAN REGIONAL FORUM OF PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF LA FRANCOPHONIE TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON MAY 4-6
NOYAN TAPAN
MAY 3, 2010
YEREVAN
The 23rd European regional forum of the Parliamentary Assembly of
La Francophonie organization will be held on May 4-6 in Yerevan,
in the building of Armenia’s National Assembly.
More than 80 representatives from various European countries are
expected to participate in the forum, the press service of the RA
National Assembly reported.
ARMENIA MEMBER OF EU CORRUPTION CONTROL GROUP
news.am
May 3 2010
Armenia
Armenia is interested in cooperating with the European Union under the
Eastern Partnership program, RA Deputy FM Karine Ghazinyan stated at
the third meeting of the platform of the Democracy, Good Governance
and Stability program in Brussels.
The press service of the RA Foreign Office informed NEWS.am that
Ghazinyan informed the participants of the reforms implemented
in Armenia, particularly of the corruption control measures in the
country. The meeting decided to form a task group of EU representatives
and six partner countries.
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS HIS CHINESE COUNTERPART
ARMENPRESS
MAY 3, 2010
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS: Within the framework of the President Serzh
Sargsyan’s visit to China May 2 he met with his Chinese counterpart
Hu Jintao.
Presidential press office told Armenpress that Serzh Sargsyan thanked
Hu Jintao for the invitation to participate in the "Shanghai Expo 2010"
and congratulated on successful launch of the exhibition.
President Sargsyan said that the development of relations with
China is one of the priorities of the Armenia’s foreign policy and
noted that bilateral ties have good dynamics of expansion. Armenian
president pointed out high level political dialogue, cooperation in
social-political, economic, cultural and educational spheres, saying
that mutual assistance in multilateral formats promotes the mutual
understanding between Armenia and China and increases the mutual trust.
The parties noted with delight that many joint projects have been
successfully carried out. Serzh Sargsyan and Hu Jintao said the
assembled experience of the Armenian-Chinese cooperation is a good
basis for taking bilateral relations on a new qualitative level.
The presidents also discussed issues on China’s participation in
construction of Armenia-Iran railway. The parties pointed out that
the operation of Armenian-Chinese joint venture is a good testimony
of development of bilateral ties.
The leaders of the two countries assured that they are ready to exert
additional efforts for expanding Armenian-Chinese friendly relations.
Huffington Post
April 30 2010
Armenia’s Eurovision 2010 Song (VIDEO): ‘Apricot Stone’ By Eva Rivas
Will Adams.Will Adams is editor-in-chief of wiwibloggs.com
Posted: April 30, 2010 05:23 PM
Slighty sweet and fleshy, the apricot works well in summer fruit
salads and as a purée on pancakes. For Armenians, however, it also
stirs national pride. Known by scientists as prunus armeniaca, the
fruit is thought to have originated in Armenia and, over time, it
became a symbol of the nation.
WATCH:
-adams/armenias-eurovision-2010_b_557624.html
In "Apricot Stone," Eva Rivas builds on that, using the fruit as a
tasty vehicle to discuss the Armenian diaspora. She portrays an
Armenian émigré who preserves her identity by clutching an apricot
pit: "May the winter stay away/ From my harvest night and day/ May God
bless and keep my cherished fruit/ Grow my tree up to the sky/ Once I
waved my home goodbye/ I just wanna go back to my roots."
And while the apricot isn’t an obvious candidate for controversy, it’s
landed Rivas smack in the middle of Armenia’s ongoing political
brouhaha with Turkey. In February, a Turkish composer claimed that
Rivas’ song hints at the Armenian Genocide, an event Turkey does not
officially recognize: "Many, many years ago/ When I was a little
child/ Mama told me you should know/ Our world is cruel and wild/ But
to make your way through cold and heat/Love is all that you need."
Critics also say the repetition of "motherland" flames conflict over
ancient Armenian territory now controlled by Turkey.
Rivas, an Armenian born in Russia, denies those allegations and
maintains that the song revolves around cultural dislocation. She’s
right to defend herself. Last year, the European Broadcasting Union,
the body behind Eurovision, disqualified the entry from Georgia
because they felt it took a political jab at Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin. The entry? "We Don’t Want To Put In."
Armenia’s official preview video spares the viewer theatrics and
instead focuses on Rivas in the recording studio. She appears to sing
from the depths of her soul, and oozes emotion that helps you look
past the occasionally nonsensical lyrics: "Now I see the northern
stars/ Shining brightly in the storm/ And I’ve got an avatar/ Of my
love to keep me warm." Close-ups convey Rivas’ passion and suggest she
could make a healthy living as an Angelina Jolie impersonator.
Deliberately or not, the video also captures a former Soviet Republic
integrating into Europe. Modernity, we see, has arrived in Armenia
with its expensive computer equipment and synthesizers. Rivas, a young
Armenian singing with a stellar English accent, embodies a
sophisticated and educated nation ready to do business with the West.
The jury is still out regarding her exposed midriff.
Prediction
Armenia has never placed lower than tenth in the Eurovision final and
Rivas will keep that record going. Identity often scores contestants
points with Eurovision voters. Rivas, who has mixed Armenian, Greek
and Russian ancestry, went on a promotional tour through Greece and
Cyprus to build on that. Armenia also has the built-in advantage of
being a former Soviet Republic: there’s a tendency for them to award
one another points, perhaps stemming from shared historical
connections and common tastes in music.
Armenia will advance easily from the second semi-final (assuming Rivas
avoids backstage conflict with Turkey, who also compete in that heat).
In the final, Rivas will likely finish in the Top 5, but won’t
challenge for the top spot. The professional jury that comprises half
of the vote won’t look past her occasionally questionable lyrics or
the fact this is a song ostensibly about a piece of fruit. That gives
Eurovision favorites Azerbaijan, Germany and Israel a slight edge.
menias-eurovision-2010_b_557624.html
Azg Daily, Armenia
April 30 2010
PACE CONDEMNS THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
On April 30, at the beginning of the PACE full session, the French
Deputy Francois Claude Mignon, presiding the session, publicized a
statement recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. The
statement was introduced the previous day by the PACE Armenian
delegation. Mignon informed that the statement was open for signature
and anyone could join it.
The statement was signed by the representatives of more than 15 countries.
The statement mainly reads:
"Considering that this year 2010 marks the 95th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide of 1915 and the fact that the act of recognition of
this genocide contributes to respect for human dignity and constitutes
an act of prevention of crimes against humanity;
Recalling that the express positions of the United Nations, the
European Parliament and Parliaments of the Council of Europe member
states, including Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands,
Slovakia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, the
Russian Federation, as well as the US House of Representatives and 43
U.S. states, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Canada, Uruguay and Lebanon
demonstrated their unequivocal recognition of the Armenian genocide;
The undersigned, members of the Parliamentary Assembly, call upon all
members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to take
the necessary steps for the recognition of the genocide perpetrated
against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th
century, which will strongly contribute to an eventual similar act of
recognition by the Turkish authorities of this odious crime against
humanity and, as a result, will lead to the normalization of relations
between Armenia and Turkey and thus contribute to regional peace,
security and stability".
ARMENIA SHOULD WITHDRAW ITS SIGNATURE TO THE ACCORD
Aysor
April 30 2010
Armenia
The process of ratification for Armenia-Turkey documents should have
been suspended by Armenia, and, moreover, Armenia should withdraw
its signature to the accord, said at the press conference leader of
the Popular Party of Armenia Tigran Karapetian.
He said that Turkey had labeled the opening of the border with Armenia
as a concession that is why it demanded for concessions in the process
of settlement to the Karabakh conflict.
Tigran Karapetian welcomed the decision by Armenia’s administration
to suspend ratification of Armenia-Turkey protocols: "The Address
by President made it clear that authorities have concerns over the
differences between the reality and the documents. Anyway, we haven’t
lost anything. It’s necessary to pay an attention to the domestic
problems, and continue the process of international recognition of
the Genocide of Armenians. We are on the beam," he said.
SUSI KENTIKIAN: I KNOW I’LL BE BETTER NEXT TIME
PanARMENIAN.Net
April 30, 2010 – 15:14 AMT 10:14 GMT
Four days after her split decision win over Nadia Raoui, unbeaten
WBA/WBO/WIBF female flyweight world champion Susi Kentikian is taking
it easy visiting her grandfather Hayk from Los Angeles and enjoying
her new pink WBO women’s championship belt.
Commenting on her fight against Nadia Raoui in an interview with
fightnews.com, Susi Kentikian said: "That was a very close result. And
when I saw iton TV, I admit that Nadia made a super strong impression.
But I didn’t feel her pressure in the ring."
"In the last year I’ve boxed against four world champions and won four
times. That says something about the matter. I wasn’t in top form,
which I had expected of myself. Still the win was justified."
"I will fight Nadia again. She has earned a rematch. And I’m sure
the fans would also like this. But now I have to recharge my battery
again. In my life it always goes up and down – up to now that has
only made me stronger. So I take the very nasty criticism with mixed
emotions. I know I’ll be better next time."
THREE WAYS TO UNITE THE DIASPORA
Lragir.am
29/04/10
The head of the Armenian forums of Europe Ashot Grigoryan addressed
a letter to Serge Sargsyan which in particular proposes three ways
to unite the Diaspora:
a. Under the auspices of the president of Armenia
b. Jointly with Dashnaktsutyun
c. Under the auspices of the president of Armenia jointly with
Dashnaktsutyun
The author of the letter thinks that the best version is the last one.
He says that this is an urgent issue as the Armenian nation all over
the world is to be mobilized to work on the genocide as well as on
the NKR issues.
DARCHINYAN’S NEXT FIGHT ON MAY 20
Tert.am
30.04.10
Armenian world boxing champion in super-flyweight category (WBC/WBA),
Vic Darchinyan, will fight with Filipino Richard Garcia on May 20 in
Sydney, reports Armenian sports news website Armsport.am.
The bout will take place at Parramatta Leagues Club. It will be the
first time Darchinyan has fought in Australia since 2007.
Darchinyan has fought 21 fights in professional ring and has lost 10
of them.
Earlier Darchinyan was set to have a rematch with another Filipino
boxer Nonito Donaire in August in Los Angeles, but the sides do not
seem to be reaching a consensus over financial issue.
Donaire had knocked out Darchinyan in 2007.