Author: Jilavian Emma

"La cucina d’Armenia" alla Biblioteca Rispoli di Roma

Biblioteca Rispoli – Piazza Grazioli, 4 – Roma
VENERDI’ 23 APRILE – Ore 19.00

La Biblioteca Rispoli di Roma presenta il volume di Sonya Orfalian "La
cucina d’Armenia – Viaggio nella cultura culinaria di un popolo"
(Ponte alle Grazie Editore) alla presenza dell’autrice, a colloquio
con la psicoanalista e saggista Pia de Silvestris. L’evento è
organizzato in occasione della Giornata Mondiale del Libro e del
Diritto d’Autore 2010. Quest’anno la Conferenza Generale Unesco ha
recepito le risoluzioni dell’Assemblea delle Nazioni Unite volte a
celebrare il 2010 come Anno Internazionale del ravvicinamento delle
culture. L’obiettivo consiste nel consolidare e intensificare il
dialogo tra culture al fine di incrementare il rispetto etico della
diversità e la mutua comprensione, elementi chiave della Carta delle
Nazioni Unite e della Costituzione dell’Unesco. Il tema dominante
suggerito dall’Unesco è dunque incentrato sul libro come avvicinamento
e dialogo tra culture.

Sonya Orfalian per "Slowfood"

E’ in uscita in questi giorni il nuovo numero della rivista
internazionale Slowfood, emanazione dell’omonima Associazione fondata
nel 1986 da Carlo Petrini. Diffusa in 30.000 copie, Slowfood non si
trova nelle edicole ma raggiunge otto volte l’anno i soci italiani
dell’Associazione. In questo numero, un lungo articolo di Sonya
Orfalian intitolato "Nel labirinto delle spezie". Qui di seguito il
link al sommario della rivista:
e/SLOWFOOD/IT/45/slowfood45.html?-session=slowfood store_it:570BACCE0a2ee34716IWn2380CF0&-session =slowsitestore_it:570BACCE0a2ee34716JqN2380CF2

AzTV, Azerbaijan
April 14 2010

President says Azerbaijan to stay out of Armenia-Turkish relations

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said countries meddling in
regional issues are unaware of history and involved in blackmail.

In a cabinet meeting held on 14 April and broadcast by Azerbaijani
state-owned AzTV, Ilham Aliyev said: "Neither Azerbaijan nor others
should meddle in the Turkish-Armenian border opening, despite the fact
that some countries believe that they can meddle in everything. These
are relations between the two countries and let these two countries
sort out their relations and, of course, while sorting out these
issues, these countries will consider regional processes, history,
historical relations. What do the sides who are unaware of regional
processes want to achieve by exerting pressure and blackmailing? This
is how we see it. This is a policy which openly runs counter to
Azerbaijan’s interests, and the Azerbaijani state is taking
appropriate steps and will do so."

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT EXTENDS CONDOLENCES ON CHINA QUAKE

armradio.am
16.04.2010 17:17

President Serzh Sargsyan sent a telegram of condolence to the President
of the People’s Republic of China, Hu Jintao.

On behalf of the Armenian people and himself, President Sargsyan
extended condolences to the President and the friendly people of
China connected with the earthquake that claimed a number of human
lives and caused destructions.

"Sharing your pain and sorrow, I wish tenacity and strength of spirit
to the relatives and friends of the deceased. I’m confident that the
measures taken by the Government of China will help to successfully
overcome the consequences of the disaster," the message reads.

ARMENIAN CLASSES PENDING IN ANKARA UNIVERSITY

News.Am
April 13 2010
Armenia

Member Of The Turkish Council Of Higher Education Professor Durmus
Gunay stated that they approved application on introduction of Armenian
classes in Ankara University.

According to Turkish Milliyet, Gunay noted that Armenian will be taught
at Ankara University in the following academic year. "There are few
people in Turkey speaking Armenian, while different state institutions
need officers with knowledge of Armenian language," he said.

Nevsehir University also got a permission to open Armenian and Greek
departments.

STUDENTS SHOW THEIR ART AT KOMITAS CULTURAL COMITTEE CONTEST
Christopher Cadelago

Glendale News Press
10/04/12/news/gnp-armenian041210.txt
April 13 2010
CA

Photo: Shant Sarkisyan, 11, takes a look at other students’ work
during the Ark Family Center’s Komitas Cultural Committee youth art
contest. (Cheryl A. Guerrero/News-Press)

DOWNTOWN — A bald eagle, bucolic landscapes and busts of historically
significant figures greeted Vachik Gharibyan on Sunday evening on
his way into the Armenian Cultural Arts Contest.

Vachik’s pieces, inspired by classic, hand-drawn animation and scenes
from nature were among the more than 30 pieces of student artwork on
display at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles reception, sponsored
by the Ark Family Center’s Komitas Cultural Committee.

"Some of this I learned from my teacher," said Vachik, 10, pointing
across the room to Edward Manukyan. "Others I saw in books, or just
liked the colors."

Two of the paintings — one of a tropical bird and the other of a small
passerine bird — were mounted alongside each other and given prominent
placement at the reception, drawing smiles from the boy’s family.

Vachik, a student at Magic Brush Art Studio in Glendale, has seen his
imagination take flight since picking up the brush about a year ago,
he said. His third piece of work captured a moment from a classic
Walt Disney cartoon in which a young man asks permission from the
king to marry his daughter.

Other entries came from students Hamlet Sarkisyan, 17, who painted
a bald eagle, and Armen Barsegyan, 17, whose pieces touched on
architecture and nature. The evening included musical performances
and a presentation of awards, all part of the Ark Family Center’s
mission to stimulate personal growth for youth, adults and families,
organizers said.

The Komitas Cultural Committee is a group of Armenian professionals
who raise awareness about Armenian history and culture, providing a
place where children can connect with their roots.

SERZH SARGSYAN GOES ON WORKING VISIT TO WASHINGTON

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 12, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, NOYAN TAPAN. At the invitation of the U.S.
President Barack Obama, the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on
April 11 left for Washington in order to attend the Global Nuclear
Security Summit there.

While in Washington, the Armenian president will have bilateral
meetings with President Obama, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

NT was informed by the RA presidential press service that follwing his
visit to Washington, S. Sargsyan will spend a short vacation abroad.

SAFAR ABIYEV: "AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT BE RECONCILED WITH OCCUPATION OF ITS LANDS AND AGGRESSOR ARMENIA MUST UNDERSTAND THAT"

APA
April 12 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Defense Minister of Azerbaijan Colonel-General Safar
Abiyev received the delegations headed by the chairman of the NATO PA
Political Committee’s subcommittee for NATO partnership Rainer Stinner.

According to the Defense Ministry’s press service, Abiyev informed
the guests about the economic, political and defense achievements
of Azerbaijan in recent years and said Azerbaijan attached serious
importance to the integration into European institutions and NATO
partnership and the development towards this would be shown brighter.

The Defense Minister also spoke about the military-political tensions
in the South Caucasus. He noted that delay of peaceful solution
to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict is promoting
the tensions. Abiyev said Azerbaijan wouldn’t be reconciled with the
occupation of its lands and aggressor Armenia must understand that. He
said there was an international legal basis for peaceful solution of
the problem and four resolutions passed by the UN Security Council
were enough to solve the problem.

Then the minister expressed his opinions about some issues interested
the guests.

Chairman of Armenian CB: Merger of Ameriabank and Cascade Bank will
create new investment opportunities for Armenia’s banking system

10.04.2010

ArmInfo. The merger of Ameriabank and Cascade Bank will create new
investment opportunities and will foster financial intermediation in
Armenia’s banking sector, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia
Artur Javadyan said during a press-conference today.

He said that the cost of the deal is a commercial secret. He welcomed
the merger and said that this deal will have continuation.

Javadyan said that Ameriabank and Cascade Bank have seriously
continuted to the stabilization of Armenia’s banking system. Since
2007, when TDA Holdings Limited bought a controlling stake in
Ameriabank (former Armimpexbank), the bank has repeatedly replenished
its capital by issuing additional shares. As a result, the bank has
increased its assets sevenfold and has jumped from 16th to 7th place
in this index. As regards Cascade Bank, it has always been known for
its high culture and quality.

Javadyan urged the Armenian banks to create conditions for improving
corporate ethics: "Such a post-crisis consolidation will foster
financial intermediation: investments will become larger, risks – more
controllable, and it will be easier to confront challenges."

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank, Chairman of the
Board of Directors of Troika Dialog Ruben Vardanyan said that
Ameriabank is not going to change its strategy as a result of the
merger. "We give high priority to consolidation and believe that the
bank’s organic growth would take a long time while the merger with
Cascade Bank will speed up this process especially as Cascade Bank and
Ameriabank have similar ideologies. We are happy that Mr. Cafesjian
will remain our shareholder and hope that our bank will provide
services not only in Armenia but also abroad," Vardanyan said.

Member of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank Andrey Lazarian said
that in the next five years the bank will study the capacities of the
Georgian, Iranian and Southern Russian markets. "We will continue to
be a corporate bank with serious investment banking projects and will
go on offering retail products to corporate customers."

Answering ArmInfo’s question Vardanyan said that the stakes of the
shareholders of the merged bank will be specified and revised
depending on the shareholders’ structure. This information will be
made public only when the deal is finalized in compliance with the
CB’s requirements on disclosure of information on shareholders. The
managers of the bank will be allowed to buy shares. This will be a big
stimulus for them as they will feel themselves as owners rather than
just executors.

Member of the Board of Cafesjian Family Foundation Steve Scallen said
that Gerard Cafesjian has welcomed the merger as it will allow
creating a stronger bank and is ready to support the development of
the other companies incorporated into Cascade Capital Holdings
(Cascade Insurance and Cascade Investments) and to carry out different
projects in Armenia.

On April 10, 2010 Ameriabank and Cascade Bank announced that TDA
Holdings Limited, the owner of Ameriabank, had bought 100% of Cascade
Bank’s shares. The agreement between TDA Holdings Limited and Cascade
Capital Holdings, the shareholder of Cascade Bank, was signed on March
31. TDA Holding acquired shares in Cascade Bank as the first step in a
merger of the two banks. The merger is to be completed by November
2010. The former shareholder of Cascade Bank, Cafesjian Family
Foundation, will get a small share in the capital of the bank.

The amount of the deal has not been announced. The merger will create
one of the strongest financial institutions in Armenia with
consolidated capital of USD 75 million, assets of USD 400 million,
liabilities of USD 262 million assuring the bank among top three
positions in the domestic market. As of late 2009 total capital of
Cascade Bank was $20.1 million (17th position in the banking system)
and capital of Ameriabank was $57.5 million (4th position).

Aysor, Armenia
April 9 2010

One more Armenian`Russian cooperation agreement signed

Today was signed one more agreement of Armenian ` Russian cooperation.
In the RA Chamber of commerce and industry the chairman of the
mentioned chamber, RA NA deputy Martin Sargsyan and the head of the
head of Rossotrudnichestvo office in Armenia, Russian Embassy advisor
Victor Krivopuskov signed an agreement of cooperation between the
institutions headed by them.

M. Sargsyan mentioned that in 2009 between Armenia and Russia the
product circulation has made around 1 bln. dollars. According to him
this agreement is directed towards the dynamic development of the
economy of both countries.

`We will do our best to support our and Russian businessmen to enter
each others markets,’ M. Sargsyan assured.

For the development of the economy V. Krivopuskov attached importance
to the role of the small and average enterprises: `Armenia is of a
great importance for Russia, as Russia for Armenia,’ he said.

According to him the agreement will promote the creation of equal
conditions for the productive activities of the businessmen of both
countries.

EU ‘SUPPORTS’ ALL MINSK GROUP PROPOSALS

news.az
April 8 2010
Azerbaijan

Peter Semneby ‘We support all proposals and initiatives of the Minsk
Group’, said Peter Semneby.

Relations between the EU and Azerbaijan will be the main topic of
discussions during the visit to Baku of the EU delegation headed by
the Commissioner for Enlargement of Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Fule,
said EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Peter Semneby.

According to him, visit of the EU Commissioner to Baku envisions a
series of meetings with Azerbaijani officials:

‘During the visit, the sides will discuss the relations between the
EU and Azerbaijan. We are entering a new phase under the Eastern
Partnership program. This means closer and meaningful relationship.

During the visit we will also discuss regional issues. The meetings
will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh conflict too’.

As for the adoption of the updated Madrid principles by Armenia,
Semneby noted that in the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, EU
supports any proposal put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group:

‘We support all proposals and initiatives of the Minsk Group. I see
no need in commenting the negotiation process, because it is a very
delicate issues. But I can note that EU fully supports the work of
OSCE Minsk Group’.