Author: Hunanian Jack

EXHIBITION OF HOVHANNES AIVAZOVSKY OPENED IN PARIS

Yerevan, February 7. ArmInfo. An exhibition of Hovhannes (Ivan)
Aivazovsky was opened in the Musee de la Marine, Paris, Feb 6.

The chief curator of the National Picture gallery of Armenia Vehanush
Tunarjyan says that this is the first such exhibition in France
in the last 15 years. The exhibition will feature 42 pictures. All
of them were insured by Rosgosstrakh, the official partner of the
year of Armenia in France. The Armenian Government guaranteed the
safe transportation of the pictures to France. The pictures were
transported by the air operator of Armenia, Armavia.

To remind, Feb 2 Paris hosted an exhibition of Martiros Sargyan.

ARAGATSOTN MARZ TO BE COMPLETELY PROVIDED WITH GAS SUPPLY WITHIN NEXT THREE YEARS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 07 2007

ASHTARAK, FEBRUARY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. Aragatsotn marz will be completely
provided with gas supply within the next three years. The regional
governor Gabriel Gyozalian told this to reporters on February
7. According to him, 29 out of the 114 communities of the marz were
provided with gas supply last year, another 11 will be provided this
year. It was noted that last year 4.5 bln drams (about 12.3 mln USD)
of state budgetary resources was allocated for school construction,
22 schools were repaired, 1.1 bln drams was allocated for road
construction, 900 mln drams – for gas supply provision, and 1.1
bln drams – for repairs of irrigation systems. It was noted that
allocations for construction of schools and roads have been increased
1.5fold compared with last year.

MELIKIANS BOOST ASU’S GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Carol Hughes

Arizona State University, Tempe
Feb 6 2007

ASU’s commitment to global engagement received a major boost in the
form of a $1 million contribution by two longtime Phoenix civic
leaders and philanthropists: Gregory Melikian and his wife, Emma
Ordjanian Melikian.

Gregory Melikian, left, and his wife, Emma Ordjanian Melikian, pose
Jan. 30 with Stephen Batalden, director of the new Melikian Center,
at the ceremony at the University Club on the Tempe campus to announce
their $1 million contribution to the center.

Their gift will fund the expansion of international programming at the
university’s Russian and East European Studies Center, a unit in the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that will be renamed the Melikian
Center in recognition of the university’s partnership with the couple.

The center’s programming features the internationally recognized
Critical Languages Institute, which offers intensive instruction
every summer in less-commonly taught languages of Eastern Europe and
Eurasia , including Armenian, Albanian, Macedonian, Tatar and Uzbek.

The center’s strategic partnerships with major universities of the
region – notably its linkages with Yerevan State University, Moscow
State University, the University of Sarajevo, Ss. Kiril and Metodij
University (Macedonia) and the University of Pristina – have been
supported by grants from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency
for International Development.

"This major contribution from the Melikians brings the study of Eurasia
and Eastern Europe into ASU’s wider scope of global engagement that
already includes important programming in China and Mexico," says
ASU President Michael Crow. "Programs like these are at the heart of
ASU’s global engagement efforts."

In 2001, an endowment from the couple led to the creation of the
Melikian Fund, which supports the study of Armenian language and
culture at ASU. In announcing this recent $1 million gift, center
director and ASU professor Stephen Batalden says the Melikians’
generosity will make a difference in the lives of students and faculty,
a difference that often has transformative results.

"At a time when the geopolitical significance of the Eurasian Islamic
rim has never been greater, this gift from the Melikians will offer
students at ASU a unique research and language training opportunity
for the 21st century," Batalden says.

In commenting on the growing importance to understand the history,
language and culture of Eurasia and Eastern Europe, Gregory Melikian
says: "What better way to communicate than to speak each other’s
language? These are critical languages, and there is a critical need
in the world today for people who can speak these languages fluently."

The Melikians are of Armenian descent, and between them they speak
numerous languages, including Russian and Armenian.

"Our world is shrinking," notes Emma Melikian. "And to understand
all people of the world – and participate in global engagement – our
future generation has to speak critical languages and know history
to help America in the world arena."

This latest gift by the Melikians follows a history of commitment
and giving to ASU. In addition to the creation of the Melikian Fund,
Gregory Melikian has donated to the university’s Special Collections
eight World War II dispatches, including a copy of the message sent by
Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower announcing the end of World War II
in Europe . Melikian, an Army Signal Corps sergeant at the time, was
tasked with sending the original high-speed radio transmission of the
message, a copy of which he saved in plain text on a Signal Corps form.

Gregory Melikian, who says with a chuckle that, as a senior citizen,
he always has admired longevity, began his long-term relationship with
ASU in the 1970s, while serving on the board of the Friends of Eight,
a volunteer organization at the university’s PBS-affiliated television
station Eight.

The Melikians are owners of the historic Hotel San Carlos in downtown
Phoenix and have been generous supporters of education and the arts
in Arizona . Gregory Melikian has been a board member of the Phoenix
Symphony and served as president of the Arizona Opera Company. Emma
Ordjanian Melikian has served on the board of the Asian Arts Council
of the Phoenix Art Museum . She is the founding president of the Thank
You America Foundation, an organization in support of educational
opportunities for homeless and abused children of Arizona . For that,
she has received the George Washington Medal of Honor from the Freedoms
Foundation at Valley Forge in 1999, the Outstanding Achievement Award
from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Alpha Delta
Kappa Woman of Distinguished Award in 2002. She also has been active
in the National Society of Arts and Letters for more than 20 years.

Additionally, the Melikians are among the original donors to the
Armenian Cultural Center in Scottsdale. Their three sons and a daughter
– Robert, Richard, James and Ramona – have attended ASU.

More information about the Melikian Center and ASU’s Russian, Eurasian
and East European Studies program is available at (480) 965-4188 or
online at ().

PRESIDENT OF CHESS FEDERATION OF ARMENIA FORECASTS FURTHER VICTORIES BY ARMENIAN CHESS-PLAYERS

Yerevan, February 5. ArmInfo. Armenian Defense Minister, President
of the Chess Federation of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan forecasts further
victories by Armenian chess-players.

In an interview to Armenia TV Sargsyan noted that Armenia is one of
the few countries to have won the Chess Olympic Games but this is just
the beginning of big work. In Jan alone Armenia had three victories:
the best one was Levon Aronyan’s victory in Wijk aan Zee.

Now Armenian chess-players are getting ready for European team cup in
the autumn 2007, while in May Aronyan will start battling for world
championship. "Lets wish him success," Sargsyan said.

USA AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: ASSASSINATION OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST
HRANT DINK STRIKES A BLOW AGAINST FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Yerevan, January 31. ArmInfo. The USA and the whole international
community are indignant at the assassination of Hrant Dink, an
Armenian journalist and Turkish citizen, which struck a blow against
the freedom of expression.

The web site of the US Department of State reports that in condemning
Hrant Dink’s January 19 murder in Istanbul, Julie Finley, the
U.S. ambassador to the OSCE noted that the assassination of an
independent-minded journalist like Dink is "an assault that is felt by
all." Finley said the United States welcomed Turkey’s "quick and
proper reaction" and promise to solve the murder case as quickly as
possible. She added that Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was
right in characterizing the murder as a "repugnant and shameful
attack" that "deeply wounded" Turkey. The ambassador to the OSCE said
that Sezer’s wish that Turkey "never experience such a sorrowful event
again" is the United States’ wish as well, and added that the United
States applauded the "new gestures of openness" between Turkish and
Armenian authorities in response to the assassination. In his turn,
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Daniel Fried, who participated in the memorial service in Washington
for Hrant Dink, noted that the journalist "stood for a civic virtue
higher than hatred, higher than ethnic stereotypes, higher than fears
and repression and ignorance". "His was a vision of a better
world. His was a vision of the best in Turkey’s tradition. The measure
of how our world falls short must be judged by his murder at the hands
of an ignorant, hate-filled nationalist," D.Fried noted.

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
Feb 1 2007

Wilson: US to oppose `genocide’ resolution
Thursday, February 1, 2007

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson said yesterday that the U.S.
administration would actively oppose the draft "genocide" resolution
introduced Tuesday by Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the
House of Representatives.

`Yesterday a resolution dealing with the tragic events that took
place at the end of the Ottoman Empire was introduced into the U.S.
Congress. The Bush administration’s position on this issue has not
changed. As I have said before, the administration will be actively
involved with the Congress to oppose this resolution,’ Wilson said in
a written statement released yesterday.

When Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül visits the U.S. capital next
week, the genocide issue will be at the top of their agenda in talks
with their counterparts.

In a related development, a group of Turkish lawmakers are planning
to head to the United States in February to meet with contacts both
in the House of Representatives and Senate, a move to lobby against
an Armenian `genocide’ resolution likely to pass in the U.S.
Congress. But the Turkish Parliament speaker has not yet given the
go-ahead.

The list of lawmakers and appointments with regard to contacts in
the United States has not yet been made clear.

`This was a previously planned initiative to explain the Turkish
theses over Ankara’s European Union process and an alleged Armenian
genocide, but nothing is clear as of today,’ ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) deputy Süleyman Gündüz, member of
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, told the Turkish Daily News.

BIG INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN OCTOBER
2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. A big international jewelry
exhibition will be held in Yerevan in mid October 2007. The Armenian
Jewelers Association (AJA) is the event’s organizer. Gagik Mkrtchian,
Head of the Gem and Jewelry Department of the RA Ministry of Trade and
Economic Development, stated this.

According to him, AJA has developed the program on preparation and
holding of the exhibition, which was discussed by the AJA Board during
the annual international exhibition in the Italian city of Vicenza on
January 12-14, 2007.

G. Mkrtchain attached importance to AJA’s work done among Vicenza
exhibition organizers, thanks to which the latter agreed to assist
with the organization of the Yerevan exhibition.

It was mentioned that AJA will send invitations to all countries
considered as a gem and jewelry making center, asking them to
participate in the exhibition. "We must rule out any tax or customs
red tape when receiving the exhibition participants in order to make
this event a traditional one," G. Mkrtchian underlined.

France and Azerbaijan adopt a joint statement

ArmRadio.am
01.02.2007 14:55

A joint statement was adopted in the result of Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev’s state visit to France. In the document the two
countries underlined ` the positive development of bilateral relations
in all fields and upholding of broad and active political dialogue on
all levels.

The two countries appreciated `the breakthrough in bringing closer the
positions of the parties on fundamental principles of conflict
settlement’ during the talks held under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs.’ They emphasized the importance of further activation
of efforts directed at the peaceful, fair and rapid resolution of the
conflict.’ The French President expressed appreciation for the support
of governments and leaders of G8 countries to the OSCE Minsk Group
efforts.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN: ARMENIAN DELEGATION TO PACE WORKS VERY ACTIVELY

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The plenary session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held on January 22-26
in Strasbourg was, probably, the last for the Armenian delegation of
the National Assembly of the present convention. As Tigran Torosian,
the Armenian delegation head, NA Speaker stated at the January 29
press conference, most probably, the Armenian parliamentarians will
not take part in the next PACE session to take place in late
April. The reason is the RA NA elections to follow the session in few
days. In the NA Speaker’s words, "this is an understandable reasoning
for everybody, however, in Strasbourg."

Arising from the above-mentioned, T.Torosian considered purposeful to
sum up not only results of the session finished recently, but also the
3.5 year work of the delegation headed by him at the Assembly. In his
words, since 2001 the Assembly has adopted 5 resolutions concerning
the process of implementation of the obligations undertaken by
Armenia. The last one, resolution No1532 adopted on January 23 was an
unprecedented one for Armenia with its positive stresses compared with
the ones adopted before. "It does not mean that Armenia has no faults
and Armenia implemented all of its obligations. Just the opposite,
this resolution, fixing progress connected with fulfilling the
obligations, fixing a number of concretely successed steps, also fixes
a number of problems that Armenia must solve in future, at the same
time it fixes faults as well," the speaker said. In his words, the
faults, particularly, relate to the corruption, existing protests
connected with legal bodies’ attitude as well as to the Parliament’s
refusal of the draft on making amendments to the law on television and
radio. The Assembly also sees some deeds in the direction of
liquidating the faults existing in the law on alternative service.

Summing up the Armenian delegation’s work at the Assembly, T.Torosian
expressed an opinion that the delegation, but not all of its members,
worked very actively. The result is both adopted resolutions and
positions they got at the Assembly committees. He especially reminded
that when the delegation started its work, it inherited resolution
No1304, where it was said that if some steps were not taken,
commissions of the Armenian delegation would stop. "The life showed
that not only it did not happen in future, but, I think, important
documents, resolutions were adopted for Armenia," T.Torosian said. In
his words, it relates both to implementation of the obligations and to
problem of refugees in the region as well as to Nagorno Karabakh
problem, "and even connected with the April, 2004, events we managed
to secure by a good work, in a very strained situation, adoption of a
resoltuion which had vital importance in future for weakening the
tension in Armenia."

Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan’s message on Army Day

ArmRadio.am
27.01.2007 11:49

RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan issued a message on the occasion
of the 15th anniversary of formation of the Armenian Army. The message
says,

`Dear compatriots, commanders and soldiers of the Armenian Army,

I congratulate all of you on the most significant holidays of our
people and independent statehood ` the 15th anniversary of formation
of the Armenian Army.

The Armenian Army that was born one and half decades ago together with
the independence of Armenia is one of the greatest achievements of our
independence. On the first days of its formation it overcame the trial
of the Artsakhi war. One of the glorious pages of the Artsakhi war was
the liberation of Shushi, the 15th anniversary of which we shall
celebrate this year as a brilliant evidence of the power and
combativitû of the Armenian Army.

During the subsequent years in a short period of time the National
Army passed a long way. Today we can proudly state that the Armenian
Armed Forces have not only become a reliable guarantee of security and
defense of Armenia and Artsakh and our independence. They also
effectively participate in international peacekeeping processes,
accumulating necessary experience for countering the challenges of the
contemporary world.

Continuing the efforts for the further development of our country,
creation of a competitive economy and reinforcement of statehood, we
clearly realize that it is also one of the important preconditions for
army building and reforms in the Armed Forces.

On this significant holiday I congratulate the officers and commanders
of the Armenian Army, the soldiers, the whole nation. I wish
long-lasting peace, strength of spirit and national unity, high
combativit ûof the National Army for the sake of secure future
of out state and people.