Author: Kafian Jirair

GTZ implements program on research of natural water basins in Armenia

May 22, 2010 – 17:45 AMT 12:45 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

The Team Leader for the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
– Sustainable Management of Biodiversity Program in Armenia, Thomas
Eberherr said that a program aimed at increasing the population’s
awareness of natural water basins and rivers has been launched in
Armenia.

"Armenia has managed to boost its cooperation with international
institutions in the field of nature protection, however the issue of
natural resources’ preservation is still acute in the South Caucasus,"
Mr. Eberherr told a press conference in Yerevan.

According to him, GTZ actively works to increase the public’s
awareness of ecological issues in cooperation with the RA Ministry of
Nature Protection and Ministry of Education and Science.

Besides, GTZ organized a competition for school students of Armenia on
research of natural water basins.

The results of the competition, which brought together around 80
school students, will be summarized on September 18.

SLOVAKIA PARLIAMENT MEMBER TO OBSERVE NKR ELECTIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 20, 2010 – 14:53 AMT 09:53 GMT

Head of FAAE head and Slovakia’s Armenian Community Ashot Grigoryan
and Slovakia parliament member Frantisek Miklosko will participate
in NKR parliamentary elections in the capacity of observers.

On May 21, Grigoryan and Miklosko will visit Armenian Genocide
memorial to commemorate massacre victims. In 2004, during discussions
on Turkey’s EU bid, Miklosko advanced an offer on accepting Ankara
as EU member only in case it agrees to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

"Frantisek Miklosko’s presence at Artsakh parliamentary elections
is an important part of FAAE project promoting recognition of NKR
independence in Slovakia and Europe. FAAE continues efforts towards
international recognition of Armenian Genocide and Karabakh conflict
settlement," FAAE statement emphasized.

FRENCH MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS ON KARABAKH ISSUE

Panorama.am
19:14 20/05/2010

In the world

France, which co-chairs the Minsk Group, supported Armenian
and Azerbaijani leaders’ efforts to take steps to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and emphasized that political negotiations
were the only means to achieve a solution, the French Minister of
State for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche, told the OSCE Permanent
Council today, according to the OSCE official website.

"The recent crisis in Kyrgyzstan reminded us that the OSCE is able
to react promptly and effectively to crises. Although the work of
its institutions and field operations is often discreet, it has a
real impact on consolidating our common space," he said.

POLICE IGNORE FAMILY VIOLATIONS IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
20.05.10

Armenian women subjected to violence in families turn to the police,
but not frequently, a psychologist of Women’s Rights Centre Siranush
Andreasyan said at a press conference today.

"The police cannot offer adequate assistance as thery are not entitled
with relevant rights in this sector. The policemen can come and talk
to the violator, sooth him. But it cannot be considered as a solution
to the problem unless it is salvaged by the court", said Andreasyan.

According to her traditionally women turn to the court for divorce.

There have also been cases when the women have had physical injuries
due to the violation.

Satenik Gevorgyan, the lawyer of the same centre, added that in most
cases women’s appeals to the police are not responded.

"It is a rooted tradition in the society that family relations are
purely personal: the woman and the man should solve their problems
within the family. And the police do not pay that much attention to
this problem," explained she.

The centre has received this year more than 600 calls on violations
on women both in the capital city of Yerevan and in the marzes
(provinces). Last year there were 800 similar calls.

Experts say this growth of family violations is not accounted for by
an increase in violations but rather by an increase in the level of
awareness and breaking of stereotypes.

PENTAGON OFFICIALS VISIT STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTER OF AZERBAIJAN

news.az
May 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Elkhan Nuriyev CSR president Elkhan Nuriyev greeted the guests and
told them about the activities of center.

On May 17 the delegation of the US National War College, consisting
of senior officers in the Pentagon, visited the Strategic Research
Center under the President of Azerbaijan as part of its trip to the
South Caucasus.

CSR president Elkhan Nuriyev greeted the guests and told them about
the activities of center, the expansion of research and analytical
links with international think tanks and on current and future
projects carried out by the center in cooperation with international
think tanks.

Press service of the center reports that the round-table discussion
on the Azerbaijan-US relations, external and internal priorities of
the Azerbaijani policy were held with participation of the center
officials and the US delegation.

During the meeting they discussed the current state of the
Azerbaijan-US relations, the prospects for mutual relations
in political, economic, military and humanitarian spheres, as
well as the geopolitical processes in the South Caucasus region,
the Turkish-Armenian relations, the negotiation process around
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In addition, views were exchanged on
projects of regional concern related to research collaboration between
the two academic institutions.

NKR PRESIDENT SUGGESTS ARTSAKH WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM AS TELETHON 2010 PRIORITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 14, 2010 – 13:35 AMT 08:35 GMT

Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan delivered a speech at the
meeting of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Board of Trustees.

"First of all I would like to welcome the working style of the Hayastan
All Armenian Fund Board of Trustees envisaging on site introduction
with carried out programs, exchanging ideas about the work done and
discussing important issues in an immediate atmosphere.

Your traditional visits to Artsakh on the eve of the annual meeting
of the Fund’s Board of Trustees are a good evidence of that," Mr.
Sahakyan said.

"The activity of the Fund is of utmost importance for strengthening
and flourishing of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, improving living
conditions and raising lining standards of our people. As during the
years of the post-war period today there are issues in Artsakh that
have national significance too. These issues can be solved only by
joint efforts of the whole Armenians. In this row the restoration
of the republic’s water supply system, which was almost completely
destroyed in the result of the military operations is of primary
importance."

He went on saying that "the authorities of Artsakh together with
Armenia and the Diaspora set about the development of this economically
and politically significant field."

"Together we managed to realize a number of complex programs
directed to improving the water supply of the country. Owing to
the active participation of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund drinking
and irrigation water needs of dozens of settlements have fully been
satisfied, some objects in the capital Stepanakert and regional centers
have been restored. However, there are still numerous tasks to be
fulfilled. Two hundred villages out of 323 existing in Artsakh face
sharp shortage of drinking water and need urgent solutions. Serious
problems exist in Stepanakert and in the regional centers where more
than half of the republic’s population lives. This program is quite
expensive. Only in the capital the construction of new water supply
objects and restoration of the operating ones require AMD6,5 billion,"
Mr. Sahakyan said.

He concluded his speech, saying, "It is obvious that the problem of
water supply in Artsakh can be solved exclusively by means of our joint
efforts. Taking into consideration the significance of this strategic
program, I propose to discuss inclusion of water supply issue that has
vital importance for Artsakh into the framework of Telethon 2010. This
will provide opportunities to realize corresponding programs improving
water supply system of the republic."

FAO REGIONAL CONFERENCE ENCOURAGES GOVERNMENTS TO ENHANCE AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT AND REGIONAL COOPERATION

armradio.am
14.05.2010 16:49

The two-day 27th Regional Conference for Europe, which ended today
in Yerevan, Armenia, strongly supported enhancement of investment
in agriculture and regional cooperation, including in exchange of
policy and programmes experience, and encouraged FAO to support this
cooperation among countries and country groups in the region, such
as the Caucasus or Central Asia, as well as the exchange of experience.

This conference within the region of Europe and Central Asia has been
the first held in a country that is among the principal beneficiaries
of FAO’s technical assistance, said FAO Director-General Jacques
Diouf in his speech to the 27th FAO Regional Conference for Europe.

"This is strong testimony of the significant progress that has
been made in integrating the new Member Nations of this region into
technical activities and governance of FAO", he added.

In the spirit of the new structural approach, recommended by the
Conference and already under implementation in FAO, Ms Fernanda
Guerrieri, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative
for Europe and Central Asia will sign today the National Medium Term
Priority Framework (NMTPF) for Georgia, which has already been accepted
by the Government of Georgia. The NMTPF will improve the efficiency
of FAO assistance in the country.

Conference policy recommendations included proposals to incorporate
policies and programmes to mitigate and adapt to climate change to the
mandate and agenda of Ministries of Agriculture, as well as policies
for protecting farmers’ incomes through diversification of incomes and
jobs in rural areas, and FAO’s a twin-track approach to food security
including both short-term emergency, combined with revival of the
farm and food production. It was noted that an important cause of
the high soaring food prices of farm and food in recent years was the
decline in both agricultural investment and research and development
in previous decades and governments were encouraged to reverse this.

The conference attracted 175 participants, including delegates from
40 Member Nations from FAO Europe and European Union, USA as Observer
Member Nation not in the Region, Holy See as Observer from United
Nations Member States, delegates from 9 United Nations Agencies,
4 Observers from Intergovernmental organizations and 19 Observers
from non-governmental organizations.

RUSSIA ADVOCATES PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF IRAN’ PROBLEM

Interfax
May 12 2010
Russia

Iran should be urged to behave constructively, and further efforts
should be made simultaneously to find peaceful ways of settling
the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, President Dmitry
Medvedev said.

"Concerning Iran, our position is well known and it has much in common
with Turkey’s position," Medvedev said on Wednesday after talks wit
his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Ankara.

"We discussed the necessity to make further efforts to stabilize the
situation and to urge Iran to behave constructively, but simultaneously
we must continue the search for a peaceful way of settling Iran’s
problem," he said.

Medvedev also said that Russia will continue promoting the settlement
of the problem of Nagorno Karabakh and will confer on this issue with
other partners, including Turkey.

"We will promote this process, using all opportunities available, as
well as Russia’s authority and influence. Naturally, we will confer
on these issues with the Turkish partners," Medvedev said.

The Russian president thanked the Turkish president for submitting
his proposals on the Russian draft of a European security treaty.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: COUNTRY CAN TAKE PART IN NEGOTIATION PROCESS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

ArmInfo
2010-05-13 11:17:00

ArmInfo. If the OSCE Minsk Group continues to act in a successful
direction for solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, then Turkey also
may consider participation in this negotiation process, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a joint press conference with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Ankara, Russia 24 television
channel reported.

"Our task now is to push Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a certain
point, which can be considered as the beginning of a peaceful
settlement of the conflict. We, from our part, will do our best to
contribute to continuation of this process," Erdogan said.

FIDE GRAND PRIX: HAKOBYAN TO PLAY AGAINST MAMEDYAROV

Panorama.am
13/05/2010

After Round 3 of FIDE Grand Prix 6th tournament, there is no sole
leader. 5GMs have scored 5. All sets in this round ended in draw.

Armenian Vladimir Hakobyan was quite quick to draw with Peter Svidler.

In Round 4 Hakobyan will play against Azerbaijani Shakhriyar
Mamedyarov.

Round 3. 12.05.10

Hakobyan – Svidler ½-½ Alekseev – Ivanchuk ½-½ Gashimov – Gelfand ½-½
Inarkiev – Leko ½-½ Mamedyarov – Eljanov ½-½ Ponomariov – Radjabov
½-½ Wang Yue – Jakovenko ½-½

Vladimir Hakobyan (Armenia)-Peter Svidler (Russia) 0,5:0,5

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O
c5 8. Qb3 Nb6 9. d3 Nc6 10. Qb5 Nd7 11. Be3 a6 12. Qa4 Rb8 13. Rac1
Nd4 14. Bxd4 cxd4 15. Ne4 Nb6 16. Qa3 Nd5 17. Qb3 a5 18. Rc5 Nb4 19.

a3 Be6 20. Qa4 Bd7 21. Qb3 Be6 22. Qa4 Bd7 23. Qb3 1/2:1/2.

Standing

1. Eljanov 2 2. Gashimov 2 3. Gelfand 2 4. Leko 2 5. Ponomariov
2 6. Inarkiev 1.5 7. Jakovenko 1.5 8. Radjabov 1.5 9. Wang Yue
1.5 10. Hakobyan 1 11. Alekseev 1 12. Ivanchuk 1 13. Mamedyarov 1
14. Svidler 1