Author: Nargizian David

ESTONIA PIP ARMENIA IN QUALIFIER

SportsYA!
sh/news.php/Goal_from_Sander_Puri_gave_Estonia_tig ht_victory_over_Armenia_in_Qualifying_tie.html?id_ estruc=283&id=204040
April 1 2009

Sander Puri scored a late goal Wednesday to give Estonia a 1-0 win
over Armenia in a World Cup qualifier for South Africa 2010.

Sander Puri received a perfect pass from Ragnar Klavan to make it 1-0,
eluding Armenian Robert Arzumanyan in the the 83rd-minute.

Kristen Viikmae was close to give Estonia an early lead in the ninth
minute but he was denied by goalkeeper Roman Berezovski.

Armenia controlled most of the first half, with Artur Yedigaryan’s
powerful shot just missing in the 22nd minute. The visitors kept
pressing in the second half but Estonia goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko
saved shots in the 49th and 50th minutes.

Estonia and Armenia stand last and next to last in Group 5 with 2
and 1 point respectively.

GYUMRI HAS PRESERVED THE AURA AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE 19TH CENTURY
by Tatul Hakobyan

The Armenian Reporter
mri-has-preserved-the-aura-and-architecture-of-the -19th-century
Friday March 27, 2009

Gyumri, Armenia – The devastating earthquakes of October 22, 1926,
and December 7, 1988, which claimed the lives of about 750 and 17,500
residents of Gyumri respectively, ruined most of the city’s buildings
except those built during the czarist era – from the second half of the
19th century to the 1920s. When you walk through the central streets
of Gyumri, you feel the aura of the 19th century and become fascinated
by the city’s architecture. That city, however is not present-day
Gyumri, it is Alexandrapol, a city which in its day used to be the
second richest, most beautiful and attractive city after Tbilisi.

At the beginning of the 19th century, present-day Gyumri was just a
village named Kumayri. However, after a dozen years it became one of
the most important railway junctions in the Caucasus. In 1837 Russian
Czar Nicolai I visited Kumayri and in honor of his wife, Alexandra
Fiodorovna, renamed Kumayri, Alexandrapol. Three years later in 1840
Alexandrapol received the status of a city.

In order to learn the history of today’s Gyumri and feel the breath
of former Alexandrapol, the available volumes of history books and
ethnography are not enough. A visit to the museum of the Dzitoghtsians,
which is in the center of the city, in old Kumayri, is a must. In
general, Gyumri is very rich with museums. I always try to avoid using
the ambitious phrase "open-air museum," regardless of which country
or city and site it may refer to. However, when it refers to Gyumri’s
center, where 100-150-year-old architecturally valuable buildings,
villas, museums, churches, and other structures with black, sometimes
black-and-yellowish stones, are located, the phrase "open-air museum"
can be used.

There are three house-museums in the center of the city, on Varpetats
Street: Armenian writer Avetik Isahakian’s, Hovhannes Shiraz’s,
and actor Mher Mkrtchian’s, who is loved by Armenians throughout the
world. The crafts museum of the Aslamazian sisters is located a short
distance away. However, the most famous museums, where diasporans and
tourists to Gyumri visit, are without a doubt that of the Dzitoghtsians
and sculptor Merkurov.

The museum of the Dzitoghtsians

The Dzitoghtsians Museum or the museum of national architecture and
urban life of Gyumri was constructed in 1872. The house that is the
museum today used to belong to one of the wealthiest people in Gyumri,
Petros Dzitoghtsian. I toured the museum with Karine Mkrtchian,
one of the employees of the museum.

The museum comprises several sections, where belongings of the former
owners have been preserved. Here you can get a clear idea of how
wealthy Armenians lived 150 years ago, their tastes, preferences,
and interests. Their furniture has been preserved in the rooms of the
Dzitoghtsians: the piano and watch brought from Austria 130 years ago,
paintings by famous painters brought from Italy and other pieces of
furniture brought from Russia and Europe.

Alexandrapol was truly considered the city of arts and
crafts. Armen Tigranian staged the opera Anush for the first time
in Alexandrapol. The instruments on which they played at that time
including the bagpipe, kyamancha, shvi, duduk, and tar have been
preserved in the museum. Jivani and Sheram, the famous Armenian ashughs
(minstrels) of that time sang in Alexandrapol.

The arts of jewelers, silversmiths, blacksmiths, lace work, and other
crafts were developed in the city.

"There were two beer factories in Alexandrapol. One belonged to
the Dzaghikians and was constructed in 1881 and the second, which
opened sometime later, belonged to Mkrtich Dzitoghtsian, who was
Petros Dzitoghtsian’s brother. He sent his son to Munich, where he
learned the art of making beer. The beer produced in Alenxandrapol
was in demand not only in Armenia and the Caucasus, but also outside
its borders," explains Karine Mkrtchian.

In the Dzitoghtsians museum you feel that you are in the 19th century,
the time when Alexandrapol was the richest Armenian city. At that
time Eastern Armenia, which was a part of czarist Russia, only had six
cities: the richest and the most important one was Alexandrapol, then
came Yerevan, New Bayazet (today’s Gavar), Goris, Shushi, and Kars.

In the 1920s the Dzitoghtsians left their house and moved to the Crimea
and from there to France. There are no other details about them and
their heirs. In 1984 the house was turned into a museum. However
after 1988 it was inhabited.

Sergey Merkurov’s museum

Sergey Merkurov’s museum is next to the Dzitoghtsians museum. Director
Arshak Manukian says that Merkurov’s creations are phenomenal in the
development of Armenian sculpture genre. The creation of monumental
memorials of renowned people in pre-revolution Russia is linked to him.

Sergey Merkurov was Greek by origin. To be more precise, in his
own words, which he repeated several times, "I am a Greek Gyumretsi
[resident of Gyumri] or a Greek-Armenian Gyumretsi." Decades after
moving from Alexandrapol, not only did he not forget Armenian, which
was like a native language to him, but he always talked and like all
residents of Gyumri, joked in the Gyumri dialect.

The Merkurovs, their true surname Merkuridi, moved to Alexandrapol in
the mid-19th century, along with another 100 Greek families. Merkurov’s
grandfather was a trader who had shops in Kars, Tbilisi. and Baku, as
well as baths in Alexandrapol. The Merkurovs were among the wealthiest
families of the city.

The future sculptor lived and studied in Alexandrapol till the age of
15, then moved to Tbilisi and studied and worked in Zurich, Munich,
Paris, Moscow, and many other cities. He studied philosophy and,
apart from Armenian, he was also fluent in English, Russian, German,
and French.

"Merkurov was a sculptor and monument maker. His huge sculptures
were placed in the open air in squares. When we opened this museum
we had some difficulties since we could not move some of those
sculptures here. Merkurov is famous for being a master of death
masks. In the pre-Soviet and Soviet period Merkurov was the most
famous death-mask-maker," recounts Manukian.

Merkurov made his first death mask in 1907. When the Catholicos of
All Armenians Khrimian Hairik died, senior clerics invited Merkurov
to Armenia from Europe to sculpt the death mask of the Armenian
Catholicos. And so, Merkurov, who was by then a world renowned
sculptor and monument maker, started receiving numerous invitations to
create the death masks of famous people of the time. Those included
writers Lev Tolstoy, Hovhannes Toumanian; composer Nicolay Scriabin;
political and state figures Vladimir Lenin and Georgi Plekhanov –
70 death masks in total. This means that he was invited to different
cities throughout the world 70 times.

"The largest similar museum in the world is in Dusseldorf, in Goethe’s
museum, where there are about 300 death masks. Here we have 56 death
masks. All of Merkurov’s sculptures were transported from Moscow. His
son Georgi Merkurov lived in Moscow. Merkurov had a large studio
there and he gave all of them to us," says Manukian.

Merkurov was close to Lenin and after his death he created a dozen
huge sculptures of the Soviet leader, which were placed in numerous
cities. Merkurov created the sculptures of other famous political and
art figures: Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Marks, Engels, Shahumian,
and Stalin – in total 190 sculptures.

During the years he lived and created in Moscow, he saved the
sculpture of Empress Catherine II and sent it to Yerevan. In 2006
the sculpture was returned to Russia at the request of the mayor of
Moscow, Yuri Lujhkov.

Today, Merkurov’s museum in Gyumri is the same house where Merkurov
lived for a dozen years.

"Before his death Merkurov gave this house to the city as a gift with
the request that it should serve art.

Since there were apartment issues during the Soviet years, people
resided here, about 25 families. In 1978 it was decided to turn this
house into a museum. The museum opened in 1984. After the earthquake
once again people resided here, but in 2003 it was renovated by the
Lincy Foundation and it reopened as a museum," says Manukian.

STAR SUPERMARKET NETWORK WON’T CLOSE

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2009 13:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The information that STAR supermarket network can
be closed is untrue, marketing director Narine Avetisyan said.

"The rumors are untrue. We are working and developing. The liabilities
are of 38-45 days. This will by no means affect our company’s
profitability. It’s an ordinary phenomenon. In developed countries
the term can reach 90 days," she told PanARMENIAN.Net.

According to STAR executive director Vahan Kerobyan, the company makes
major payments every day. "I wonder who is interested in disseminating
lies," he said.

ACCORDING TO ARFD REPRESENTATIVE, THOUGH PACE DEMANDS HAVE NOT BEEN FULFILLED COMPLETELY, NEVERTHELESS CONCRETE STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN

Noyan Tapan
March 31, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. Though the PACE demands have not been
fulfilled completely, nevertheless the Armenian authorities have taken
concrete steps in that direction, which was recorded by the Monitoring
Group. Artyusha Shahbazian, the Secretary of the RA National Assembly
ARFD faction, stated at the March 31 press conference. He said that
many of those convicted on the 2008 March 1 events have been already
granted an amnesty and, most importantly, Articles 225 and 300,
RA Criminal Code, have been amended. According to A. Shahbazian,
thus the Criminal Code was cleaned of two political articles, which
in itself is already a great progress and is of much importance for
not only the current situation, but also for the future.

It should be mentioned that on March 30 the Monitoring Committee
discussed the process of Armenia’s filfilling Resolution N 1643. The
Committee welcomed the legislative reforms carried out and attached
improtance to the further process of their use.

ERGENEKON CONSISTS OF MORE THAN COUP ATTEMPTS, SAYS MIROGLU

Today’s Zaman
March 30 2009
Turkey

Kurdish intellectual and author Orhan Miroglu has said justice will
be served if the Ergenekon investigation is expanded to involve the
suspects’ connections in the extra-judicial killings in Turkey in
addition to their coup attempts.

"Turkey is going through a period in which a few force commanders are
on trial. … Some Ergenekon suspects’ pasts are dark, and there is
more to it than attempting military coups," he said in reference to the
investigation into Ergenekon, an underground terrorist organization
charged with countless atrocities, murders and attacks staged for
the ultimate purpose of inciting a military takeover.

Miroglu pointed out that some suspects in the Ergenekon case have
always seen themselves as above the law and that they have been
shocked at being subjects of a serious probe.

For Monday Talk, Miroglu elaborated on the issue and called on
Turkish intellectuals to develop a mutual mindset and stand behind
the investigation into Ergenekon. We talked with him in Ä°stanbul
because he was there for his hearing over controversial charges under
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) restricting freedom of
expression. He is already on probation for speaking in Kurdish during
his election campaign in 2007.

What did you think when you heard the news of the arrest of Col. Cemal
Temizöz [from the Kayseri Provincial Gendarmerie Battalion, in
relation to the ongoing investigation into the human remains found
in the wells in Å~^ırnak’s Silopi and Cizre districts]?

His arrest is very important especially for a person like me, who
was a witness and was even subjected to the horrifying events in
the years of the intense Turkish-Kurdish conflict. I and many other
intellectuals have been saying that the investigation into Ergenekon
should be expanded.

Why exactly? Would you explain?

There were so many human rights abuses committed during those years
of conflict [in the 1980s and 1990s]. And it was mostly the Kurdish
people who were subjected to human rights abuses. The Ergenekon
investigation has lifted the hopes and expectations of many liberal
and democratic people that those responsible for these abuses will be
punished. But the first indictment did not contain much about JÄ°TEM’s
[the intelligence unit of the gendarmerie that does not exist on
paper and whose existence has been consistently denied by officials]
murders. We said that the people who were indicted are related to
JÄ°TEM. But the investigation was limited to the coup attempts in
2003 and 2004.

Are the people of the Southeast more comfortable speaking out now
than they were before?

Following the arrest of Temizöz, the number of people in the Southeast
applying to public prosecutors’ offices to find out what happened to
their relatives who were victims of the unsolved murders has increased
and reached nearly 200. Even this figure is quite low considering
the fact that past parliamentary commissions have put the number of
unsolved murders at 17,500. People of the region used to think that
people like Temizöz were untouchable because they had a great deal
of power at their disposal and due to the pressure that JÄ°TEM put
on the region for at least the last 25 years.

Do you think Abdulkadir Aygan’s confessions were a starting point
for an investigation into JÄ°TEM?

His confessions, which were first made in 2004 and published in the
Gundem newspaper, was a good starting point. But nobody at the time
wanted to pay attention to what he said. Aygan reported details of the
JÄ°TEM-related murders, including Musa Anter’s assassination. Today
he is saying the same things he had said before.

Now more people seem to be listening to what Aygan says, right?

Turkey is going through a period in which a few force commanders
are on trial. This is very important in the history of Turkey. Some
Ergenekon suspects’ pasts are dark, and there is more to it than
attempting military coups. Ergenekon suspects Temizöz, Veli Kucuk,
Arif Dogan, Levent Ersöz and others were involved in many criminal
acts. The bones and the remains of the people found underground may
offer some clues to help identify their murderers.

‘I expect to see some mysterious murders’

Do you think it would be possible to identify more than 17,000 victims
of unsolved murders?

It is a process we are undertaking, although it may go slowly. But
step-by-step there will be progress. Moreover, not all of the 17,500
people are buried without a trace. For some of them there are detailed
files. Their relatives may speak up and offer clues as to what might
have happened to the victims — if they had a democratic environment in
which to voice their concerns. After the arrest of Temizöz, someone
in the region spoke up and said that he wanted his father’s head. He
was referring to his father’s decapitated body that was given to his
family. There are spine-chilling stories waiting to be revealed. But
fear holds people back. I know of towns and villages in the Southeast
that Nevruz has not been celebrated in for 30 years because of the
terror that JÄ°TEM has caused there. The arrests of people such
as Ersöz and Temizöz have started to make people a little more
comfortable, but there is a long way to go to erase the horrors of
the last 30 years. I hope the cases in Diyarbakır related to the
unsolved murders will be combined with the Ergenekon investigation. As
far as I know, the Ergenekon prosecutors requested those files from
officers of the court in Diyarbakır. Turkey cannot just look at the
coup attempts in 2003 and 2004 without digging deeper into them and
see the underlying picture.

Do you think Aygan should be brought to Turkey to talk more about
what he knows?

He is an important witness of JÄ°TEM’s operations in Diyarbakır
and its surroundings. But I don’t think his presence in Turkey would
be useful.

Why not?

He could be assassinated if he comes here because he knows too
much. Instead of bringing him here, there is no reason that prosecutors
cannot take his deposition while he is abroad. And I expect there to
be a few mysterious murders and suicides in Turkey in the near future.

Do you mean suicides like Abdulkerim Kırca’s [former Diyarbakır
group commander of JÄ°TEM]?

Yes, though his suicide is quite doubtful. Such people like Kırca
could never imagine that they could be put on trial just like an
average citizen. They always have envisioned themselves as above
the law.

Are there more people like Aygan who could speak about extra-judicial
killings and acts of terrorism in Turkey?

There are more people like him who speak under an alias. In the second
Ergenekon indictment, we see another name, Aladdin Kanat, who grew
apart from the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] in the early
1990s and then joined JÄ°TEM. He confessed that the assassination
of Hrant Dink [Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in 2007] was a
job organized by Veli Kucuk [a retired general who said he was the
founder of JÄ°TEM in his testimony after he was arrested as part of
an investigation into Ergenekon]. There were about 500 informants
who had joined the ranks of JÄ°TEM.

‘Neither Ergenekon, nor the AK Party’ slogan absurd

What do you think about the discussions surrounding the visit of
President Abdullah Gul to Iraq and whether he used "Kurdistan" in
reference to the northern Iraqi administration?

It is quite alright for the president to shake up some well-known
paradigms, but this is not enough. We, the intellectuals, need to
take some initiative.

What needs to be done?

In Argentina, they had a 30,000-page document called "Never
Again." It’s about the bitter past of the country. We really need to
face up to Turkey’s bitter past. And it is time to do it. Turkish
intellectuals should take the initiative. Ergenekon provides the
background for it to be done right now, right away. Intellectuals
need to develop a mutual mindset for it. I find it absurd that some
intellectuals say "neither Ergenekon, nor the AK Party [Justice and
Development Party]." This approach prevents them from taking the
correct side and defending the investigation into Ergenekon. On one
side there is a legitimate political party, the AK Party, and on the
other side, there is an armed group of people. The group includes
force commanders and people who once terrorized the citizens of
the country. It is hard to understand the intellectuals who equate
Ergenekon with the AK Party. There are even some recent comments
about how the AK Party is establishing its own "deep state." This is
really absurd.

Why?

My analogy is this: I point out some people and say that they killed
people. I show the evidence. On the other hand, others say that what
you have is not important because those in the government are going
to kill us. I think that we should first deal with the ones who did
kill people. If there is a possibility that there are some others
who are planning to do the same, we can deal with them when proof is
found. It should have been impossible in this day and age to ignore
the chilling acts of some deep state elements that hopefully are a
thing of the past.

‘Kurds will inevitably come together for dialogue’

Do you think the Kurdish groups will be able to get together at
a conference in Iraq in the near future as Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani recently suggested?

This would be a positive development. Such a conference would have the
Kurds engage in a dialogue among themselves and bring some important
issues to the table.

Has there ever been a meeting in which Kurds have come together?

They haven’t had such a meeting. But even if they can’t get together in
April or May, they will do it in June or some time in the near future
because it is impossible to avoid dialogue on possible solutions to
the existing problems.

Would such a conference include people from the PKK?

Yes, it would. The most important item of the meeting would be related
to the PKK. There are also other issues, such as the fate of some
of Iranian Kurds who are facing the death penalty in Iran. And the
most important contribution of such a conference would be to solve
Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

Would you explain how?

It would strengthen the ground for dialogue and compromise. It would
not be a conference only to tell the PKK what to do. It would also tell
Turkey what needs to be done. We have already seen that unilateral
decision-making has not worked well in the past. Turkey also views
the conference in a positive light. So does the United States.

In one of your articles, you stated that Turkey’s Kurdish problem is
also the problem of the United States and Iraq. Would you elaborate
on that idea?

As the new US administration prepares to withdraw from Iraq, it wants
to see a process of normalization in the region. Even though Turkey’s
relations with northern Iraq go back to the tenure of former Prime
Minister Turgut Ozal in the 1990s, the Turkish public has only recently
been aware of Turkish and northern Iraqi rapprochement. Ozal provided
privileges for the Iraqi Kurds — like giving them passports and having
representative offices in the capital, Ankara — to enable them to
be present in the international arena. But this soft-power policy
did not last long. Northern Iraqi Kurds have been belittled by the
Turkish authorities. Now the president of Iraq is Kurdish, the Iraqi
chief of General Staff is Kurdish and there are about 1 million Kurds
living in Baghdad, so the Kurdish problem is also an issue for Iraq.

‘Kurds dream of being neighbors with a Turkey that’s an EU member’

What do the Kurdsof Iraq really want?

They dream about being neighbors with a Turkey that’s a member of the
European Union. This expectation is also true for Syrian Kurds. And as
Turkey comes closer to being a member of the EU, we will be talking
more about administrative autonomy in the Kurdish provinces of
Turkey. Turkey’s chance is to have the AK Party government realize
those realities and see them as opportunities, despite the fact
that the AK Party administration has not been courageous enough to
implement more democratic reforms. If the opposition CHP or the MHP
were in power over the last five or six years, it would have been
impossible to see Talabani in Turkey or a Turkish president in Iraq.

WAS MOSSAD PLANNING ERDOGAN ASSASSINATION?

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2009 15:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish media sources detail information implicating
the Israeli Mossad in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.

An e-mail found on a personal computer belonging to one of the members
of the underground Ergenekon organization exposed Mossad’s role in the
failed assassination efforts against Erdogan, Turkish media outlets
reported on Friday.

The organization has been accused of orchestrating a coup plot against
the current Turkish administration.

The indictment list tabled by the Turkish prosecution against the
organization says that an Israeli journalist had sent the e-mail to
a number of Ergenekon figures to inform them of Israeli readiness to
assassinate the Turkish premier.

According to sources in the Turkish press, the e-mail promised support
for Mr. Dugo – whose identity has not been revealed – against Erdogan
after coordination with Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

The e-mail explained that the Mossad would wait for a green light
from Mr. Dugo to carry on with the assassination plans.

Turkish sources have claimed Mr. Dugo to be Turkish Labor Party head
Dogu Perincek – who is suspected of leading the secret organization.

The news of an alleged Israeli role in the plot comes after a report
last month suggested that Tel Aviv sought to stage regime change in
Turkey in response to Ankara’s condemnation of Israeli crimes in the
Gaza Strip.

Tensions between Israel and Turkey emerged in late January, when
Erdogan stormed out of a Davos forum after a heated debate with Israeli
President Shimon Peres on the military aggression brought upon Gaza.

The Turkish prime minister walked out of the debate – attended by
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other panel members -, while
complaining that his comments on the conflict were cut short by the
Washington Post’s moderator David Ignatius.

Erdogan had told Peres at the Forum, "When it comes to killing,
you know very well how to kill."

The criticism was leveled at the Israeli killing of over 1,350
Gazans amid a crippling 20-month blockade on the densely-populated
Palestinian sliver.

"I know very well how you hit and killed children on beaches," he
lashed out, Iran’s PressTV reports.

Armenia 2-2 Estonia: Ghazarian earns point

Updated: March 28, 2009, 3:00 AM ETA late goal from substitute Gevorg
Ghazarian saw Armenia pick up their first point in the World Cup
qualifiers as they held Estonia to a draw today to finally get off the
mark in Group Five.
Henrikh Mkhitarian put Armenia ahead in the 33rd minute but their lead
lasted just five minutes before Konstantin Vassiljev equalised.
Sergei Zeniov’s 67th-minute goal looked to have won it for Estonia but
Ghazarian pounced three minutes from time to clinch a point for
rock-bottom Armenia.
The game got off to a slow start as both sides tried to get an early
goal but neither managed to get a sight of the target.
The first real shot of the game was not until the 21st minute as Joel
Lindpere saw his shot beat Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky but
crash back off the left-hand post.
Armenia drew first blood shortly after the half-hour mark as
Mkhitarian’s powerful shot ricocheted slightly off Estonia defender
Taavi Rahn’s foot, over Sergei Pareiko’s head and into the back of the
net.
However, Estonia were back on level terms just five minutes later when
Vassiljev latched onto Martin Vunk’s pass and fired a powerful volley
home from 25 yards.
Armenia started the second half in determined fashion but it was
Estonia who were to take the lead with some route-one football in the
67th minute.
Pareiko sent a long goal-kick straight to Zeniov who rounded
Berezovsky before slotting the ball into the empty net.
The hosts strove desperately for the equaliser and both Mkhitarian and
Artavazd Karamyan were denied by Pareiko.
However, just as it looked as though Estonia were to pick up their
first victory of the campaign, Ghazarian fired past Pareiko and
although Rahn attempted to hook the ball clear, the linesman adjudged
the ball to have crossed the line and awarded the goal.

NowLebanon, Lebanon
March 29 2009

Tashnaq Party announces candidates for 2009 elections
March 29, 2009

Secretary General of the Tashnaq party Hovig Mekhtarian said `Lebanese
citizens are waiting for June 7 to cast their votes, make a change and
pull Lebanon out of the biggest crisis it has faced in the recent
period.’

Mekhtarian addressed a Tashnaq party gathering on Sunday, in which the
party announced its candidates for the upcoming parliamentary
elections.

Mekhtarian announced the Tashnaq party had chosen George Qassargi to
run for the Armenian seat in Zahle, Agop Bakradonian to run in the
Northern Metn, Artur Nazarian for the Armenian Orthodox seat in
Beirut’s second district, and Gregore Kalost for the Catholic Armenian
and Freij Sabonjain for the Orthodox Armenian seats in Beirut’s first
electoral district.

He said that the party `had decided to choose non-partisan figures for
the first and second electoral districts in Beirut and in Zahle in the
Bekaa, while a partisan in the Metn.’ Agop Bakradonian is the only
formal member of the Tashnaq party.

`Democratic elections portray a face of democracy and it should be
carried out without violence and pressure,’ Mekhtarian said.

He stressed MPs should support legal institutions, especially that of
the president who was elected by a consensus.

`Reviving the Armenian bloc and its role in the parliament is to
support moderation and open dialogue among the different components of
the Lebanese people,’ he said, expressing confidence that the
candidates on the list would win.

-NOW Staff

ARONIAN RETAINS TITLE

The Hindu
March 27 2009
India

NEW DELHI: Armenia’s Levon Aronian pipped Viswanathan Anand and
Vladimir Kramnik to defend his title in the Amber blindfold and rapid
chess tournament at Nice, France, on Thursday.

Anand had the consolation of sharing the rapid title with Aronian and
Gata Kamsky. Aronian also shared the blindfold title with Kramnik
and Magnus Carlsen. Anand blew away his winning chances during the
blindfold game against Wang Yue before emerging stronger in the
rapid encounter.

The results: Blindfold (11th round): Wang Yue (Chn, 3.5) drew with
Viswanathan Anand (6.5); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 5.5) drew with Levon
Aronian (Arm, 7); Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 5) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor,
7); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 7) bt Peter Leko (Hun, 5.5); Alexander
Morozevich (Rus, 6.5) bt Gata Kamsky (USA, 3); Sergey Karjakin (Ukr,
4.5) bt Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 5); 10th round: Carlsen lost to Kramnik;
Anand lost to Morozevich; Aronian bt Wang Yue; Leko lost to Karjakin;
Ivanchuk bt Radjabov; Kamsky lost to Topalov.

Rapid (11th round): Anand (7) bt Wang Yue (4); Aronian (7) drew with
Topalov (5); Carlsen (6) bt Rajdabov (4); Leko (4.5) lost to Kramnik
(6.5); Kamsky (7) drew with Morozevich (4.5); Ivanchuk (4.5) lost to
Karjakin (6); 10th round: Morozevich drew with Anand; Wang Yue drew
with Aronian; Kramnik drew with Carlsen; Karjakin drew with Leko;
Topalov bt Kamsky; Radjabov drew with Ivanchuk.

Final standings: 1. Aronian (14), 2-3 Kramnik, Anand (13.5 each),
4. Carlsen (13), 5. Morozevich (11), 6-7 Topalov, Karjakin (10.5
each), 8-9 Kamsky, Leko (10 each), 10. Ivanchuk (9.5), 11. Radjabov
(9) and 12. Wang Yue (7.5).

State Duma hasn’t confirmed
A1+ 08:00 pm | March 25, 2009 | Economy

On February 7 Armenia’s Ministry of Finance placed a notification on
its website about a 500 million credit extension by the Russian
Federation. The information later disappeared.

The Ministry’s Spokeswoman Irina Ayvazyan says the site has
encountered some technical problems and everything will be recovered
in a short while. "Two weeks ago hackers broke into our site. Some
information disappeared from the site. The notification will soon be
reposted. We didn’t even notice it."

Irina Ayvazyan dispelled the rumours that the credit will not arrive
in Armenia. "An agreement will be signed at the end of April, and the
money will be sent already in May-June."

She also says that no intergovernmental agreement on "allotting a
credit to the Republic of Armenia" has been approved by the Russian
State Duma. The global economic crisis made Russia review its state
budget, that’s why the loan issuance is delayed.

Economist Bagrat ASatryan says the racket over the credit arrangement
is not accidental.

"We haven’t heard from the credit for a month. I think the Russian
side has also forgotten about the arrangement as while reviewing the
state budget no reference was made about the credit," says
Mr. Asatryan.

The economist is convinced that the credit will be given to
Armenian-based Russian companies. "The credit isn’t a gift. It
suggested tough market conditions and was to be paid off by our
generations."

Asked whether Armenia would benefit if Russia didn’t allot the credit,
Mr. Asatryan answered in the affirmative.

Under a disputed agreement signed between the two countries Russia
will give Armenia a credit of 500 million dollars to neutralise the
aftermaths of the global financial-economic crisis in the country. The
loan is given with a term of 15 years.

Economist Bagrat Asatrian foresees inevitable hike in prices from
April 1 caused by the rise in gas, water and energy prices.