Author: Nahapetian Lilit

ARMENIA FACING INCREASED DEMAND FOR FACE SHIELDS

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.11.2009 19:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ People in Yerevan are concerned over rumors on
incidences of "swine flu" in Armenia.

"Over the past 5 days, there has been increased demand for face
shields. Since afternoon, we have sold 150-200 blocking masks which
cost AMD 80," employer of Farmex drug-store told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.

Liana Torosyan, chief specialist at Health Ministry’s Hygienic and
Anti-Epidemic Inspection, announced earlier that "One patient in
Armenia is currently suspected to have A/H1N1 (swine flu), and we
have sent his analysis sample to London laboratory."

There have been no official reports on swine flu incidences in the
country for now. Nevertheless, World Health Organization will provide
Armenia with relevant vaccines in January 2010.

DEBATE ABOUT GOOD AND BAD OLIGARCHS: NOT ONLY RICH MEN IN REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA

Tert
Nov 9 2009
Armenia

Those oligarchs were chosen; we have nothing to do in that parliament,
said Leader of People’s Party Tigran Karapetyan during a debate
with ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Lernik Alexanyan
today. He blamed RPA for collecting all the rich people under its roof
and then added that RPA, as well as the Armenian National Assembly,
is a parliament of feudal lords.

"There are also good oligarchs," said Alexanyan, in retort, adding
that there are rich people, for example, in all the parties. In
protecting his party, Alexanyan stated not only rich people are
included in RPA, there are also poor people, and when the journalists
asked surprisingly, "Who is poor?", Alexanyan responded by saying,
"Me, for example." His answer, understandably, brought about laughter.

The debate over "good and bad oligarchs" arose when the elections which
are to take place in several electoral districts were touched upon.

Karapetyan said a real competition could take place at least at N10
electoral district, if Nikol Pashinyan was registered as a candidate,
but, in general, there will be violations and bribery in this election,
too. The governing party representative didn’t agree that election
bribery takes place in Armenia. In any case, that violation, in
Alexanyan’s opinion, doesn’t affect election results.

By the way, Alexanyan said that the Republican Party of Armenia still
hasn’t discussed which candidate it will support at which electoral
district.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS PRESENT BAKU MEETING RESULTS TO EDWARD NALBANDIAN

Tert
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

On November 6, Republic of Armenia Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
welcomed OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard
Fassier (France), and Robert Bradtke (US), as well as Personal
Representative of OSCE Chair-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk who visited
Yerevan within the context of a visit to the region.

A number of issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict were discussed during the meeting.

As announced by the Republic of Armenia Foreign Ministry, the co-chairs
presented the results of the meetings they had in Baku to Nalbandian.

A NEW ABRIDGED ENGLISH TRANSLATION "CILICIA 1909: THE MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS" WAS RELEASED

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.11.2009 12:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A new abridged English translation by Ara Stepan
Melkonian and Ara Sarafian was just released by the Gomidas Institute
of London under the title "Cilicia 1909: The Massacre of Armenians."

The book by Hagop H. Terzian was published in Istanbul in 1912,
but confiscated by the Ottoman government. Terzian, a pharmacist by
profession, documented his own and other eyewitnesses’ experiences
during the 1909 massacres in the Adana province. Born in Hadjin in
1879 and educated in Constantinople, he barely escaped the horrific
events, however, was arrested on April 24, 1915 and killed, along
with many of his colleagues.

Sarafian introduced the new volume on Monday, October 12, during the
Armenian Studies Program Lecture Series at California State University,
Fresno, in observation of the one hundredth anniversary of the Adana
Massacres. The detailed descriptions that Terzian recorded in his
diary are chilling, to say the least, but should be widely required
reading. The suffering to which the Armenian population of Adana was
subjected by mobs – in two stages – could be summarized as "going
through hell and back," if you survived!

According to the book, over 21,000 Armenians were murdered during
less than two weeks of massacres. As a result of lootings, in the
Adana province the Armenians lost an estimated 5,400,000 gold liras
in economic and personal property.

With their translation, Ara Stepan Melkonian and Ara Sarafian have
done a great service, not only for recorded history but also for the
illumination of our coming generations. Although the book encompasses
many disturbing and graphic descriptions of eyewitness accounts, it
is easy to read and should be read by every student of humanity. It
provides a preview of what followed six years later, during the
1915 Armenian Genocide. Anyone who would like to educate younger
people about atrocities that may be committed by mankind against
man, or provide help with interpreting unfolding current events,
with the goal of pre-empting and preventing genocidal recurrences,
should hand them a copy of "Cilicia 1909", Asbarez.com reported.

NATO DOES NOT COMPETE WITH CSTO

Arminfo
2009-11-06 12:24:00

ArmInfo. Cooperation of Armenia and Russia in the Collective Security
Treaty Organization is a component of relations between these states
and NATO does not consider it as competition, Special Representative
of the NATO Secretary General for Caucasus and Central Asia, Robert
Simmons said in Yerevan on Friday.

R. Simmons said NATO believes that Armenia and Russia, Armenia and
CSTO, Armenia and NATO may develop effective cooperation having their
advantages. It is important for Armenia to have the right to choose
the measures and the type of cooperation with every organization in its
interest, and NATO supports Armenia in these aspirations, Simmons said.

ABOUT 1300 ANTI-ARMENIAN VIDEOS WERE REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE WEBSITE WITHIN LAST 2 MONTHS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2009 16:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Presidential Center for Public Relations and
Information created a system to secure Armenian websites from hacker
attack, Head of the Center Ara Saghatelyan told a news conference
in Yerevan. "Within the last 2 months we studied about 90 websites,
discovered their weak points and submitted the information to RA
Government. Besides, governmental staff members in charge of public
relations were commissioned to take special measures to notify the
society in case of problems," Ara Saghatelyan said.

According to him, within last 2 months, Center, in collaboration with
partners, removed about 1300 anti-Armenian videos rom Youtube website.

"Neighboring country-initiated actions, directed against Armenia
and RA peoples’ informational interests, are closely supervised,"
Head of the Center stated.

ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN: CRISIS MANAGEMENT CENTER SHOULD BE FORMED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.11.2009 17:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 5, Armenia’s National Security Council
Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan met special Representative of NATO
Secretary General in the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert
Simmons. The parties discussed collaboration issues within 2009
Individual Partnership Program. Artur Baghdasaryan briefed Robert
Simmons on Armenia’s activities within program frameworks.

RA National Security Council Secretary gave high assessment to
Armenia-North Atlantic Alliance collaboration, especially noting
significant improvements in justice, defense, extraordinary situations
and healthcare spheres. The importance of crisis management center
creation in Armenia and RA-NATO collaboration strengthening in a
struggle against terrorism and organized crime was also emphasized.

In his turn, Robert Simmons gave high assessment to Armenia’s
activities within Individual Partnership Program frameworks.

The parties also focused on regional issues, with Robert Simmons
expressing support for Armenia -Turkey rapprochement process and
OSCE MG activities in NKR conflict settlement issue, RA NSC press
service reported.

ORANGE LAUNCHES A MOBILE NETWORK IN ARMENIA

Cellular News
Nov 5 2009

Orange has launched its mobile network in Armenia, after winning an
operating license last November. For the launch of its operations,
Orange has invested around EUR 100 million, and provides coverage
for over 80% of the population.

Orange said that despite the relatively high penetration rate in the
country (80%), there is strong demand for the wide-ranging, innovative
services that have forged the reputation of the Orange brand across the
world. With a population of around 3.2 million people, including 1.1
million in the capital Yerevan, Armenia offers the Group significant
growth potential.

Orange already employs over 300 people in the country and some 500
additional people are employed indirectly through suppliers and
third-party retailers.

Commenting on the launch, Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO of France
Telecom said: "We are very pleased to be able to enrich the lives of
Armenians by providing simple, innovative communications products
and services, with unrivalled value and a clear focus on customer
care. We are also proud to contribute to the economic development of
the Republic of Armenia".

Figures from the Mobile World show that the country ended the first
half of this year with a shade over 2.5 million subscribers. The
country has two incumbent operators, VivaCell-MTS and ArmenTel.

ARMENOPHOBIA GAINING IMPETUS IN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 14:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenophobia is gaining impetus in Turkey and
Azerbaijan, Xenophobia Prevention Initiative NGO founder Tigran
Kocharyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

"In Bursa, hosting Armenia-Turkey football match, Armenian journalists
had a good chance to feel the anti -Armenian mood, while in a bus
at which stones were thrown," the expert noted. According to him,
Armenian information filed is supporting tolerance towards Ankara
and Baku, which suggests Armenian nation’s lack of self respect.

Tigran Kocharyan emphasized the necessity of developing unified
state policy in Armenian information field to determine methods of
information war to be employed against Azeri media.

SERZH SARGSYAN: ARMENIA-TURKEY NORMALIZATION, NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE PROCESSES HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON

news.am
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

The Armenia-Turkey normalization process does not at all mean
abandoning the efforts toward the international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide, RA President Serzh Sargsyan at a meeting of
representatives of dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The RA presidential press office told NEWS.am that the Armenian
leader stressed the importance of building harmonious State-Church
relations, especially during this historic period. Speaking of
the Armenian-Turkish relations, President Sargsyan stressed that
Armenia, as a responsible member of the international relations
system, has always remained faithful to its commitments and is ready
to progress in conformity with the Armenian-Turkish protocols and
establish relations with turkey without any preconditions and within
a reasonable timeframe.

The Armenian President pointed out the international community’s
support for the ratification of the documents and establishment
of Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations without precondition. As
regards the fears about Turkey’s attempts to link the Armenia-Turkey
normalization process to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, President Serzh Sargsyan stressed that the two processes
have nothing in common.