Author: Karabekian Emil

IMPLEMENTATION OF AN UNPRECEDENTED PROGRAM IS STARTING IN NKR

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2009-03-06 15:50
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Presentation of a large-scale investment program on the development
of the NKR power system has taken place in Stepanakert. The program
will be implemented by the ‘Artsakh HPS’ open joint-stock company.

The peculiarity of this program is that all the individuals and
legal entities in Artsakh in Armenia are offered for the first time
to become shareholders of the joint-stock company.

Director-General of the ‘Artsakh HPS’ Vahram Beglarian called on the
citizens, offices, and organizations of the Republic to take an active
part in this program envisaging construction of some mini hydropower
stations in the NKR territory.

"Participating in this program, you’ll become shareholders of the
stations and get corresponding benefits", noted Vahram Beglarian.

It is planned to involve also citizens of Armenia and Diaspora
representatives in the program.

The program will have 3-stage implementation. The first stage
will comprise construction of one station on the Trghe River and
2 stations on the storage reservoir in Martakert region’s Madaghis
village. According to the preliminary calculations, about 3 billion and
450 million Armenian Drams will be needed for building these hydropower
stations, and the ‘Artsakh HPS’ will issue the first lot of share s
within this amount. The shares will be sold at 1050 Armenian Drams
each, the par value of which is 1000 AMD. The subscription for the
shares will last till April 10, 2009. The shareholders are supposed
to get about 15-percent benefits.

According to NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunian, since 1995, the NKR
Government has elaborated a corresponding program on the development
of the NKR power system, but due to the lack of investors, it hasn’t
come true for many years.

"We have already conducted certain works, and the first HPS will be
put into operation in 2009. Considering the evolution of the energy
vectors’ rise at the world market, this program will be significant
for our country’s economy and its population. We must ensure our
energy independence", noted the NKR Premier.

The total need in electric power in NKR makes 220-230 million kW/h.

Currently, the only Sarsang hydropower station in the NKR Martakert
region provides 40-60% of the Republic’s needs. The implementation of
the large-scale program on building and putting into operation mini
hydropower stations will fully meet the Republic’s needs in electric
power and ensure the energy security of NKR.

More detailed information on the program can be got at

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN OFF TO FRANCE

A1+
[03:15 pm] 04 March, 2009

On March 4, 2009, Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan and
ex Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Babken Ararktsyan left for
France to take part in the funeral of their friend, talented poet
Zulal Gazanjyan.

Zulal Gazanjyan lived in Armenia for the last 6 years and was an
activist of the Pan-national movement.

The Armenian National Congress (HAK) mourns over Zulal Gazanjyan’s
death and coveys condolences to his relatives and friends.

STUDENTS PRESENT WORK AT SYMPOSIUM
By Whitney Clark

BYU Newsnet

Brigham Young University
March 2 2009

Students had the opportunity to show their talent on Friday by
presenting their papers at the 11th Annual Religious Education
Student Symposium.

Every year, students are invited to submit original papers on a wide
variety of subjects with the hope that they will be chosen to present
at the symposium.

"The purpose is to give students, before they leave campus, a
sympo-sium experience," said Patty Smith, the supervisor of the
Religious Education Faculty Support Center.

Smith said the papers are usually due the Monday after Thanksgiving
and then given to a committee to choose those who will present.

Each year the symposium receives about 80 to 90 papers, and chooses
between 35 and 50 to present, she said.

"We have a wide variety of topics," Smith said. "Everything from music
and art to very spiritual topics, how-ever, everything must be within
a religious context."

Smith said that once all the papers are submitted, those who are
chosen are given 15 minutes to present their papers at the symposium.

The symposium was held in three different sessions, with about 12
presenters during each session.

"It’s a really good experience to be able to research something
and present it to a group," said Sarah Bowthrope, a sophomore
from Cottonwood Heights studying illustration who presented at the
symposium. "I can’t think of any negative things about it."

Bowthrope presented a paper entitled "Applying the Hero’s Journey to
the Gospel." In her paper she com-pared a long time literary technique
of creating the Hero’s Journey used in books such as "Harry Potter"
and "Star Wars" to gospel topics and our lives as a whole.

Paper topics, though they must all contain spiritual context, covered
a wide range.

John Manis, a senior from Las Vegas Nev., studying Family Science,
pre-sented his paper on Armenian traditions.

"The Armenian tradition has been neglected by LDS scholarship,"
Manis said in his presentation. "My hope is that a few of these
minimal insights may serve as sufficient moti-vation to LDS scholars."

When the committee reviews the papers, a first, second and third place
are chosen. Smith said the winners of these rewards win an amount of
money ranging from $1000 for first place, to $500 for third place. The
next 13 papers to place also receive a small prize.

The "Call for Papers" is presented in advance during spring term,
and then officially at the beginning of fall semester during religion
classes.

Nancy Davis, from the ORCA mentoring grant office, said the sym-posium
is a wonderful way for students to get some mentoring, as well as to
present to their peers.

"It can change the direction of their goals," Davis said. "It gives
them a step up when they can say they pre-sented at something like
this."

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ARRIVE IN STEPANAKERT

ArmInfo
2009-02-28 13:39:00

ArmInfo. OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Matthew
Bryza (USA) and Bernard Fassier (France) are arrive in Stepanakert
today evening.

As ArmInfo special correspondent reported, they are going to meet
President of Nagornyy Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan. The co-chairs
will come back to Yerevan on 2 March.

PIANINST NARE ARGAMANYAN TO HOLD A CONCERT IN MONTREAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.02.2009 18:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Mar.8 a Canadian pianist of Armenian decent Nare
Argamanyan will hold a concert dedicated to the International Women’s
Day. The concert will be conducted in St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral, Montreal.

Nare Argamanyan became a laureate of the International Pianists
Contest 2008, held in Montreal.

FELIX GHUSHCHYAN PASSES AWAY

National Assembly of RA
Feb 27 2009

Representative of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
in the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Secretary General of
CIS IPA Felix Ghushchyan Passes Away

At the age of 58 untimely passed away the representative of
the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in the CIS
Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Secretary General of CIS IPA
Felix Ghushchyan. As an experienced lawyer and skilful organizer he
was trusted the responsible post of the first representative of the
RA National Assembly in CIS IPA, where he worked faultlessly and with
great dedication.

Felix Ghushchyan was born on October 5, 1951 in the village of
Barekamavan in Noyemberyan region.

In 1974 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State
University.

1976-1977 he worked as senior investigator at the Prosecutor’s
Office in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR). 1977-1994
he worked as senior assistant in the Supreme Council of the ASSR
and the Republic of Armenia, later in RA National Assembly, deputy
head of the division on Pardon, deputy head of the division on the
Soviets work, deputy head of the Organizational division, head of
Inter-Parliamentary Relations division.

On March 8, 1994 he was appointed representative of RA Supreme Council,
later of RA National Assembly in CIS IPA, where he worked till the
end of his life. He was repeatedly awarded letters of acknowledgement
and diplomas for his long-lasting faultless work.

We deeply mourn the irreparable loss of a good and intellectual
person, endowed with state way of thinking and we share the grief of
the family.

The work and name of Felix Ghushchyan will always remain in the
memories of his friends and colleagues.

National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia

The funeral service of Felix Ghushchyan will take place at 6 p.m. on
March 1, at Komitas 38/1, flat 34, and the farewell ceremony will be
at Chamber Music Hall on March 2, at 12:00 – 2 p.m.

RA NA Public Relations Department

IS TURKEY USING NAGORNO KARABAKH TO GET RID OF KURDISH PROBLEM?

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.02.2009 18:59 GMT+04:00

Shushi Charitable Foundation Head Bakur Karapetyan addressed an open
letter to Karabakh Conflict Settlement OSCE MG Co-Chairs: Matthew
Bryza (United States), Bernard Fassier ( France), Yury Merzlyakov
(Russia). The letter said "Recently I headed for Gyulistan with a
group of people from NKR Shahumyan Region. We were fired at as we
were approaching NKR – Azerbaijan frontier. Those who shot at us
were not border guards, yet it was clear they were given permission
to shoot. After the incident, I collected information on armed
militants. According to Azeri media, within last two years Kurdish
armed groups moved from Turkey to Azerbaijan, having settled at
NKR-Azerbajjan frontier and the adjoining territories "

"Baku and Ankara decided to settle these territories with Kurdish
militants, trying to divert Kurds’ attention from Turkey to
Karabakh. We should’t forget that Turkey, who solved the Armenian
Problem in 1915-1923 by means of the Genocide, gained a Kurdish
problem, which is not easier. Now the Turkish part believes it has
found a way out, resettling those Kurds in Karabakh ", noted Bakur
Karapetyan. He expressed hope that the international community won’t
allow resumption of war between NKR and Azerbaijan, and will do its
best to stop the export of terrorism from Turkey to South Caucasus. "We
demand OSCE MG Member States and international organizations to take
drastic steps to prevent the appearance of new terrorism sources
in the South Caucasus and provide the security of Armenia and NKR",
Karapetyan emphasized.

JORDAN READY TO DEVELOP ALL-ROUND RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan

F eb 25, 2009

AMMAN, FEBRUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
arrived in Amman on February 24 where he met with Naser Jaude,
the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Jordan (the government was
formed on February 23). The RA Foreign Minister said that he came
to Amman to give a new spirit to cooperation between Armenia and
Jordan by bilateral and many-sided formats. Mentioning the current
great potential in the sphere of the two countries’ cooperation he
attached importance to carrying out a political dialogue between
the two countries, establishment of a legal-contractual sphere,
and promotion of trade and economic cooperation development.

N. Jaude, in his turn, expressed Jordan’s readiness to develop
all-round relations with Armenia.

During the meeting, the interlocutors exchanged thoughts over steps
to be undertaken in the direction of possibilities for making active
tourism and trade and economic cooperation. The Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Jordan agreed to hold periodic consultations between the
two countries’ Foreign Ministries.

E. Nalbandian and N. Jaude also discussed issues related to
peaceful settlement of problems in the Near East and South Caucasus,
strengthening of security and stability.

According to the report of the RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, E. Nalbandian also met with representatives
of the Armenian community of Jordan in Amman.

The RA Foreign Minister left for Lebanon in the morning of February 25.

‘SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAY’ NOT TO RAISE TARIFFS IN 2009

ArmInfo
2009-02-25 14:56:00

ArmInfo. ‘South Caucasus Railway’ [SCRW] is not going to raise
tariffs in 2009, director general of SCRW, Shevket Shaydullin,
told journalists.

At the same time he added the company has all the grounds to raise
tariffs taking into consideration growth of prices for energy
resources. He said that the company led by him is trying to reduce
expenses via the coordinated management. The SCRW is going to conduct
the tariff policy depending on some factors including the category
of client. ‘The first category are bog corporative clients, ensuring
about 80% of our income. The second – small and medium-sized business
and the third – private clients which implement one-off railing. Every
of these three segments require individual approach.

For instance, there are shippers which can pay for shipment only
after payment of a buyer. For them we are drawing out the way for
application of factoring machinery together with VTB-Armenia Bank’,
– director general of SCRW said.

He also added that at present the company is staring to introduce 10%
discount for the route directions and has already reduced tariffs in
several shipment contracts. He also recalled about 30% reduction of
tariffs for cement shipment in December 2008.

JHANGIRYAN TO BE SENTENCED FOR FOUR YEARS?

A1+
[06:39 pm] 24 February, 2009

"The Lent has begun. Government officials, judges, prosecutors, the
Resurrection is coming. Free yourselves from cruelty, indiscretion
and injustice. If you are not afraid of the court of law, be afraid
of God’s judgment," said today former Deputy Prosecutor General
Gagik Jhangiryan in the general court of the Kentron and Nork-Marash
districts.

Judge Zhora Vardanyan denied the refusal of the defendants during
the previous session after which Gagik Jhangiryan made a statement:

"They are keeping me locked up for expressing my views at Freedom
Square. They have not stopped the persecutions, as well as the
political, economic and legal retribution against my family members
and followers. What did the administration get out of locking me up
besides personal revenge? But there is no doubt that the case against
Jhangiryan raised people’s awareness about the devaluation of the
government," said Jhangiryan.

According to him, political prisoners did not break down and stayed
true to their beliefs, the pan-Armenian movement and its ideology. He
believes that the administration is digging its own hole.

Attorneys presented a number of arbitration following the
statement. Attorney Lusine Sahakyan mediated the judge to ask the
prosecutor general to instigate a case according to which Gagik
Jhangiryan has been illegally arrested for a day before his case was
brought up. But the judge was not satisfied with that.

"If we say that I was arrested on February 23 and my case was
scheduled for February 27, this means that I was kept longer," said
Gagik Jhangiryan.

Accuser Koryun Piloyan also declared arbitration by presenting
a number of articles by presses stating that Gagik Jhangiryan was
removed from his post on February 23, 2008. These articles were also
attached to the case. The attorneys state that the copy of the decree
was delivered on February 25, thus it was illegal to arrest Jhangiryan
without the consent of the Prosecutor General.

Accuser Koryun Piloyan read the indictment by which Piloyan
found Jhangiryan guilty under the 2nd part of article 316 of the
Criminal Code and demanded the court to sentence him to four years
in prison. Piloyan still claims that Gagik Jhangiryan assaulted a
state representative.

The attorneys will read their indictments during the next session to
take place on March 13.