Author: Kalashian Nyrie

ARMENIA INTERESTED IN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS WITH FRENCH-SPEAKING CITIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2009 12:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan attended the
opening ceremony of the 30th Assembly of International Association
of Francophone Mayors.

When in Paris, he also held a number of bilateral meetings. "Armenia
is interested in establishment of relations with French-speaking
countries and cities," the Mayor said.

He also informed that the Armenian government and Francophone
university agency (AUF) will sign an agreement on granting premises to
the digital database center, which is currently located in Yerevan
Linguistic University, the city administration’s press service
reported.

MASS LAYOFFS AT H.CEGIELSKI

Wirtualna Polska
Warsaw Business Journal
05.10.2009 | 18:12

Last week saw the first stage of mass redundancies at
H.Cegielski-PoznaÅ~D, a company which is famous for manufacturing
trams, engines, generators and compressors. A total of 497 people
will be fired over the course of a month, with workers employed in
ship engine production the first to go.

The two largest of the state-owned firm’s five labor unions agreed
to the lay-offs. "It was put into effect because it was accepted by
most representative unions," the company’s CEO, JarosÅ~Baw Lazurko,
told Radio Merkury. However, some union leaders have threatened that
those allowed to keep their jobs could go on strike in order to get
better protection from future lay-offs.

H.Cegielski-PoznaÅ~D has debts which could amount to zÅ~B.50 million by
the end of the year. The redundancies will cost the firm about zÅ~B.11
million, but should bring zÅ~B.25 million in savings as quickly as
next year according to its management, which has described the firm
as overstaffed.

H.Cegielski Diesel Engines and Generating Sets Factory, a subsidiary of
the capital group, has been hit hard by the crisis in the shipbuilding
industry. Some of of the laid off workers may find employment in
H.Cegielski Rolling Stock Factory, which manufacturing trams and
rail cars, but only if the company manages to ink contracts with PKP
Intercity, Solaris and the government of Armenia.

Mr Lazurko announced that restructuring plans for the capital group
will include privatization of the rolling stock factory, consolidation
of other subsidiaries and diversification into new business areas.

84 POINTS OF THE ARMENIA-NATO IPAP ACCOMPLISHED

armradio.am
05.10.2009 16:12

The interdepartmental commission for implementation of the Armenia-NATO
Individual Partnership Action Plan held a sitting today chaired by
the Secretary of the National Security Council, Arthur Baghdasaryan.

The IPAP aims at deepening Armenia’s cooperation with European and
Euro-Atlantic structures. The IPAP envisages 122 actions, 84 of which
have already been implemented.

Arthur Baghdasaryan emphasized the importance of the issues connected
with border security, improvement of the fight against terrorism,
organized crime and cyber crime.

Members of the commission presented the process of implementation of
the provisions of the IPAP. The commission stated that the process of
implementation of the actions envisaged by the IPAP in the Ministries
of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Justice, Emergency Situations, Health, as
well as the National Security Council fully correspond to the schedule.

The commission will next meet in January 2010.

SARKISIAN DID NOT ADDRESS DEMONSTRATORS

0/5/protest
12:15 pm | October 05, 2009

Politics

More than 12,000 Armenian Americans from throughout California
converged on the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 4 to protest the
Turkey-Armenia protocols amid Armenia President Serzh Sarkisian’s
meeting with representatives of Armenian American organizations to
defend his decision to sign the flawed documents. The protest was
organized by the Stop The Protocols Campaign.

AsAsbarez.com reports, blockades and guardrails contained
protesters who held signs proclaiming, "Serzh Don’t Betray the
Armenian People," "Turkey Accept the Genocide!" and "No to the
Protocols!" Meanwhile, planes overhead were carrying banners which
stated "Stop Turkish-Armenian Protocols," as large moving vans drove
around the hotel with billboards picturing presidents Sarkisian and
Gul with the slogan "Don’t Betray us."

Prior to the beginning of the community meeting, Pres. Sarkisian’s
delegation stood out on their 12th floor balcony and watched
demonstrators, who called out in hopes that the President would
address them directly.

Pres. Sarkisian chose not to address the people. During the fourth hour
of the protest, several hundred frustrated demonstrators broke through
the barricades and stormed across the street to the hotel entrance,
yelling "votch (no), votch (no)," stopping traffic on Wilshire Blvd.

Meanwhile, ARF Western Region Central Committee member Hovan Tashdjian,
who had just left the meeting with the President, described a tense
Pres. Sarkisian faced with overwhelming opposition by representatives
of Diasporan organizations, attempting to defend the formation of
a so-called "historical commission" and arguing that the Protocols
would not affect the Karabakh peace process.

Stoptheprotocols.com reports that 200 people answered an immediate
call to action Sunday morning and rallied at the Montebello Armenian
Genocide Memorial in California, forming a human barricade around it
to prevent Serzh Sarkisian from using the monument for a publicity
stunt while in Los Angeles on his tour of the Diaspora.

The people who turned out came hours ahead of a major demonstration
against the Turkey-Armenia protocols set for 3pm at the Beverly Hills
Hilton where Sarksian is holding a banquet in his honor.

The president did not visit the memorial and after three hours the
crowd rallief and headed toward the Beverly hills hotel where thousands
will demonstrate against Sarkisian and the protocols at 3pm today.

Remind that Pres. Sarkisian has embarked on a Diasporan junket to
gain support for the beleaguered Turkey-Armenia Protocols, which have
met with resounding rebuke by Armenians around the world. He has been
met with protests in Paris, New York and Los Angeles, with additional
demonstrations planned in Lebanon and Russia.

VARTABEDIAN: KUSHIGIAN LETTER STIRS UP EMOTIONAL MEMORIES AT OLYMPICS
By Tom Vartabedian

0/05/vartabedian-kushigian-letter-stirs-up-emotion al-memories-at-olympics/
October 5, 2009

PROVIDENCE, R.I.-On the night that Harry Kushigian was honored as
an Olympic King, he received an unexpected letter from his brother
John-25 years after his death!

The letter came from Robert Avakian (no relation to Camp Haiastan)
who held it all these years before bringing it to Providence for the
Olympics. How it got into his hands was another matter.

A bicycle accident took Johnny’s life in 1984 at the tender age of
39. He was on his way to St. Vartanantz Church to do some work for the
ARS with its senior citizens program. Johnny was a tireless worker
for his church and community. He often spoke at ARS conventions and
was the architect of senior programs in his city.

He had also organized a social group called ONE that predicated itself
upon unity. Whatever could be done to erase divisions among Armenians,
Johnny Kushigian was the motivation.

He had gone to Africa in 1977 and detailed his experiences in a letter
he sent to his good friend Stepan Piligian. The two were connected
fraternally through Camp Haiastan and the AYF. Actually, John was
Stepan’s counselor when he was 12 years old and grew to respect his
friend for the many Armenian virtues he perpetuated.

Stepan enjoyed the letter and thought it should be published for all
to read. He sent it to Robert Avakian who, at the time, was publishing
a magazine called "Road Hye-Lander," which contained Armenian news
in Rhode Island.

Somehow, the letter fell through the cracks and never got
published. Avakian kept the letter tucked away in a drawer for 32
years before retrieving it this summer. Thinking Stepan would be at
the Olympics, he brought the letter with him intending to return it.

Inside a crowded hall filled with AYF alumni with music blaring,
Avakian pulled Stepan aside and handed over the Kushigian letter
from 1977. The moment practically coincided with the introduction
of the Kings and Queens. There to receive his gold medal was Harry
Kushigian-Johnny’s brother-who knew nothing about the letter until
he was approached by Stepan.

The emotion that followed was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

"My brother was there in spirit to help me celebrate the greatest
moment of my AYF life," said Harry, a community activist. "My brother’s
name comes up so many times. The legacy he left behind remains
uppermost in my mind. I must put myself aside for my brother. It
supersedes anything I could have won, any honor bestowed, even being
named Olympic King."

When Harry was pounding bodies on the gridiron for Boston College,
his brother was always there to lend support. They were two years
apart in age.

"He used to drive my mother to the BC games and she would always bake
choreg for the game," Harry recalled. "She’d stand there with Johnny
and pass out choreg to the players and Jesuit priests."

Johnny was a friend to those who had no friend, one and all. He
embodied the very essence of that kid on his way to Camp Haiastan.

"He was special-a Pied Piper with kids," remembered Sona (Babayan)
Petrossian. "Johnny sang in the choir with my sister Tamar. He truly
loved life."

This story culminates with a letter Stepan sent Harry expressing
his thoughts.

"The events surrounding this letter were no coincidence," Stepan
wrote. "It was part of God’s plan for you and I to feel John’s spirit
through God. I am so thankful to have been a small part of this. To
see the joy on your face was a beautiful thing to behold."

"When our paths crossed, your brother always had a lasting impact,"
Stepan continued. "It was God’s plan to become a part of this Olympics
and the people he so dearly loved in Providence-during a year in
which you were honored as King. Indeed, this was no coincidence,
but a miracle. The honor and love that you have given your brother
is something we all admire."

Aysor.am
03.10.2009, 10:46

Commemoration of Christ’s seventy-two Disciples

Today the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates day of Christ’s
seventy-two Disciples.

Besides the 12 Apostles, Jesus also had 72 disciples, whom he sent to
`preach the Good News to all nations’.

Unfortunately, those disciples’ names are not mentioned in the
Gospels. In the New Testament the word `disciple’ is used of the
followers of the Jesus Christ. Christ sent out his apostles and
disciples `like lambs among wolves’ two by two, to go ahead of him to
every town and place where he himself was about to go, saying them:
`Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me;
and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me¦’ (The Gospel
according to Luke 10:16).

There are hardly any differences between the 12 apostles and the 72
disciples, they have the same power and authority and the same mission
(The Gospel according to Luke 10:9; 9:1). However, the names of all 72
disciples, like the names of the 40 innocent children martyred in
Bethlehem, are known to God only and are written in the sacred book of
the Heavenly Kingdom.

REANIMANIA-0 FESTIVAL TO BE LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

Panorama.am
16:54 30/09/2009

Reanimania-09 international animation film festival will be launched
in Yerevan on 3 October and last till 6.

The festival has been much supported by Republic of Armenia, Embassies
of France, USA and Germany. On this respect, the director of the
festival Vrezh Qasuni declared in his speech at news conference that
the embassies could be called co-founders of the festival as their
support has been much of use and significance for it.

Suzan Breidenstine of U.S. Embassy said that famous animators are
going to attend the festival.

CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN COALITION MEETS WITH U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS ON MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM PLANS

Eesti elu
29 Sep 2009

WASHINGTON, DC (EANC) – National Security Council officials from
the White House met with the Central and East European Coalition
(CEEC) on Tuesday, September 22, 2009, to provide information on the
Administration’s new plans for a missile defense system in Europe. This
followed initial discussions on September 17, the day that President
Obama announced his decision to cancel current agreements with Poland
and the Czech Republic.

Both the Estonian American National Council, Inc. (EANC), and the
Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC) are members
of the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), an assembly of
18 ethnic organizations representing 22 million Americans of Central
and East European descent. Both Marju Rink-Abel, EANC President, and
Karl Altau, JBANC Managing Director, were at the meeting with senior
members of the Obama Administration Antony J. Blinken, Deputy Assistant
to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President;
Jeff Hovenier, Director for Central and Southeastern Europe; William
Schlickenmaier, Director for Eastern and Strategic European Affairs;
and Jon B. Wolfsthal, Special Advisor for Nonproliferation.

Antony Blinken stated that the Administration has "moved to a new
phased approach" in the deployment of missiles aimed at protecting
the U.S. and its European allies against Iranian missiles. The United
States has reassessed the threat from Iran, and will deploy "proven
technology" in the form of multiple short and mid-range missiles
in various locations, initially ship-based and later land-based,
beginning in 2011, instead of the small number of long-range missiles
previously planned to be deployed several years later in Poland and
the Czech Republic.

The United States will work through NATO to develop its plans, and
intends to consult with the Russian Federation in the framework of
the NATO- ssile defense to on-going negotiations for the Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

The CEEC voiced concern about the negative perceptions engendered
by the decision to change course and the manner in which the
announcement was handled. CEEC members also offered suggestions
for the Administration to consider that would demonstrate continued
U.S. support for Central and Eastern Europe.

One such suggestion, the formulation of a public U.S. policy regarding
the Central and East European region, including affirmation of the
delinkage of this policy from that of the U.S. policy toward Russia,
was raised by Marju Rink-Abel. The policy should discuss security in
the region, addressing topics such as increased military presence,
more training and aid, cooperative military exercises, and contingency
plans. In response, Antony Blinken affirmed the Administration’s
intent to "articulate the basic tenets of the policy" in a robust
fashion before the year is out, but stated that the policy would
encompass more than security, including areas such as the economy,
cultural exchanges, and energy.

Other topics discussed included enhanced public U.S. support through
high-level visits and exchange programs, expansion of the visa waiver
program, NATO expansion and assistance to Georgia and Ukraine, and
the use of the Baltic and Western NIS Enterprise Funds, as well
as assistance for Armenia and Belarus. NSC officials referred to
President Obama’s July 2009 speech in Moscow and to Vice President
Biden’s February Munich speech and trip to Ukraine and Georgia in
July as examples of U.S. commitment to Central and Eastern Europe
().

MIGRANT COMMUNITIES AND URBAN SPACE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN PORTS, 17TH-19TH CENTURIES
Delphine Cavallo

Calenda
http://panelmigrantspaceghent2010 .blogspot.com/
29 septembre 2009

Appel a contribution

Communautés migrantes et espace urbain dans les ports de la
Méditerranée, XVIIe-XIXe siècle

Dixième conférence internationale d’histoire urbaine, Gand, 1er-4
septembre 2010

Migrant Communities and Urban Space in the Mediterranean ports,
17th-19th centuries

Tenth International Conference on urban History, Ghent 1st-4th
September 2010

Publié le mardi 29 septembre 2009 par Delphine Cavallo Résumé

Recent research on migrant communities has witnessed a clear shift
towards a more sophisticated understanding of the variety of bonds
that link minority groups to the society they live in, as well as to
their places of origins. Yet, when it comes to the understanding of
past migrations, historical discourse still depends in many ways on
traditional categories of analysis, that often poorly reflect the
profound originality of the situations under study. This session
is an attempt to challenge traditional and "ready-to-go" views on
the organization of community life among migrants who lived in the
Mediterranean port-cities during the late modern period (17th to
19th centuries).

Annonce

10th International Conference on urban History, Ghent 1st-4th September
2010 Main session

"Migrant Communities and Urban Space in the Mediterranean ports,
17th-19th centuries"

Recent research on migrant communities has witnessed a clear shift
towards a more sophisticated understanding of the variety of bonds
that link minority groups to the society they live in, as well as
to their places of origins. Yet, when it comes to the understanding
of past migrations, historical discourse still depends in many ways
on traditional categories of analysis, that often poorly reflect the
profound originality of the situations under study.

This session is an attempt to challenge traditional and "ready-to-go"
views on the organization of community life among migrants who lived
in the Mediterranean port- s effect, the session will address the key
issue of "minority spaces", namely of urban spaces that were socially,
architecturally or culturally formed and shaped by the presence of
migrants and foreigners. It will also consider the way such spaces
were perceived by the local population, as well as the role played by
urban space as a stake within broader patterns of social coexistence
or exclusion.

Following the idea that routes of commerce were also the major routes
of emigration, the session will focus primarily on Mediterranean
port-cities, but will also consider cities located on other types of
commercial crossroads. Conceived as minorities, foreigners’ groups may
include the so-called Diaspora groups such as the Jews, the Greeks,
and the Armenians, but also the other "nations".

Favoring principally papers with a comparative approach, the session
aims to approach the theme of "migrant spaces" from the point of view
of both the community studies and the urban studies. Comparison can in
turn be approached both on a theoretical level and through different
case studies.

Session Organizers

* Dr. Heleni Porfyriou (Senior Researcher, CNR-Italian National
Research Council- ICVBC, Rome, Italy) [email protected] ,
[email protected] * Dr. Athanasios Gekas (Lecturer,
Manchester University, UK) [email protected] * Mathieu Grenet
(PhD Candidate, European University Institute, Florence, Italy)
[email protected]

Deadline

Paper proposals have to be submitted on the conference website
() between 1 October and 1 December
2009. Session organizers have to decide which papers they accept,
and they should inform the speakers and the organizing committee
about their decision (deadline: 1 February 2010). In April 2010 the
final program will be available on the website.

ARMENIAN FM TO SPEAK AT UN

News.am
20:27 / 09/28/2009

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan is to deliver a speech at the
64th session of the UN General Assembly to follow his Azerbaijani
and Turkish counterparts. The Minister is to address the foreign
policy agenda.

The Armenian FM recently held a meeting with the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs. The sides discussed the possibility of an
Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meeting in Kishinev on October 10.

The Co-Chairs held a meeting with the Azerbaijani FM as well.

Minister Nalbandyan also held a meeting with his Russian counterpart
Sergey Lavrov. The two discussed the Armenian-Turkish relations. At
their meeting, the Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers discussed
the issue as well.