Author: Nargizian David

SEVEN ARMENIAN PARTIES RUN FOR YEREVAN MAYOR

EurasiaNet
March 23 2009
NY

Seven political groups will vie for seats in the Yerevan city council
in May 31 elections. Two key opposition groups failed to join forces
for the vote, Armenian news sources reported.

The opposition Heritage Party did not submit candidates after failing
to agree on a joint candidate list with the Armenian National Congress
led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian. A mayor will be selected
based on the party that wins the majority of council seats.

Aside from the Armenian National Congress, government coalition
members Prosperous Armenia, Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and Orinats Erkir (Country of Law), and the
opposition People’s Party and Labor Socialist Party of Armenia will all
take part in the vote. Registration for the election ended on March 22.

ARMENIAN JUDOISTS WIN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT GOLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2009 12:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian junior judo team won 2 gold, 1 silver and
2 bronze medals at the international junior tournament which was held
in Istanbul from March 21 to 23.

7 other sportsmen took the 5th place.

In all, Armenia was represented by 17 judoists, including 3 girls.

MEETING OF BSEC TRANSPORT MINISTERS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
March 23, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: Meeting of Ministers of Transport
of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) member countries will be
held March 25-27 in Yerevan with the participation of BSEC member
countries – Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romaine, Russia,
Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Media relations department of Armenian Transport and Communication
Ministry told Armenpress that at the meeting entitled "Prospects of
BSEC activity in development of transportation links between Europe
and Black Sea region" participation of high ranking representatives
of a number of international transportation organizations as well as
foreign embassies in Armenia is also intended.

During the meeting discussions will be held on the opportunities
of development of transport communications between Europe and Black
Sea regions.

A concluding document is also intended to be adopted on behalf of
BSEC Ministers, in which directions of activities of BSEC member
countries will be involved.

MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT TO ATTEND CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN

Panorama.am
17:00 23/03/2009

Black Sea Economic Co-operation Ministerial meeting of the Ministers
of Transport will be launched in Yerevan, on 25-27 March. The
representatives of the Ministries of Transport from Bulgaria, Georgia,
Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine will
attend the meeting, reports the public relations department of the
Ministry of Transport.

The highlight of the meeting is the perspective of BSEC activities
to develop transport communication between Europe and Black Sea
region. Representatives from international organizations and foreign
Embassies in Armenia are also invited to attend the meeting.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION TO HELP CREATION OF FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE IN THE REGION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.03.2009 19:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The international recognition and condemnation
of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire will not only help
normalization of the relations between Armenia and Turkey but
also creation in the region an atmosphere of trust, friendship and
prevention of future genocides, Armen Rustamyan , the chairman of
RA NA permanent committee on external relations, said in a letter to
Howard Berman, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee .

In his letter, Mr. Rustamyan said that Armenia is thankful to him
and Congressmen Adam Smith, George Radanovich and Frank Pallone for
their efforts for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the
U.S. "Washington’s position on the problem of the Armenian Genocide may
contribute to the acknowledgement of the fact that the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is not an
anti-Turkish policy but it is a necessity to condemn the genocide as
a crime against humanity ," he said.

As the Armenian parliamentarian mentioned the normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations must be based on justice and truth.

ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY: ALL ARMENIAN SERVICEMEN ARE UNDER PROTECTION OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-03-20 14:40:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Defence Ministry recalls that all Armenian
servicemen, including war prisoners, are under protection of Armenia
and all the necessary actions will be taken in future as well
to protect them, press-secretary of the ministry, Colonel Seyran
Shaksuvaryan told ArmInfo.

‘Till today the Azerbaijani party via the ICRC has not submitted
any true documents regarding Armenian citizen, war prisoner Paruyr
Simonyan.

Moreover, Simonyan was not given an opportunity to make use of his
rights’, – he said.

‘Armenian Defence Ministry condemning any case of capturing an Armenian
soldier prisoner, has always attentively investigated all the facts,
watching all the circumstances and making the relevant conclusions’,
– statement of Armenian Defence Ministry says. The latter has also
applied to the Armenian servicemen which became captives or victims
of special services of Azerbaijan.

‘Soldiers, we understand very well in what unhuman conditions you
stay today. We are also aware of the harsh actions special services
of Azerbaijan can apply. You really broke the discipline norms of
the military service as a result of which you found yourselves in
the hands of the enemy. but you are the sons of your Motherland and
you should be sure that being answerable for your own mistakes is
the feature peculiar to an Armenian and soldier. To save your life
you can take any steps towards the enemy and lay your way back to
the Motherland. Remember, Motherland, your parents and relatives are
always waiting for your returning’, – the statement says.

PARTY LEADERS SHARE RESPONSIBILITIES

A1+
07:09 pm | March 20, 2009

Politics

Leaders of 48 political parties at the head of Serzh Sargsyan and
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan have been trying to find a way out of
the global economic crisis since early morning.

Only the leader of the oppositional Marxist Party, David Hakobyan,
was present at today’s roundtable. "I am here to provide first-hand
information to the main opposition," said David Hakobyan. The
parliamentary opposition faction Zharangutyun (Heritage) abstained
from the discussion of political forces.

Only 48 out of the 63 invited parties accepted Serzh Sargsyan’s
invitation. Surely enough, the leader of the National Unity Party,
Artashes Geghamyan, participated in the close discussion with his
programme devoted to the crisis management. Geghamyan was the first
to make a speech after Premier Sargsyan.

Leader of the National Self-Determination Union (AIM) Paryur Hayrikyan
finds the discussion fruitful as besides hearing the stances of
different parties party leaders (who can hardly be considered political
figures) are given a chance to see, hear and learn something.

Paryur Hayrikyan notes that today Armenia encounters a much more
dangerous crisis than the economic one. He says the Prime Minister
instills hope to surmount the financial crisis by a reasonable usage
of long-term credits.

"Provided that the programmes are successfully implemented and at
least half of the credits get to Armenia, our nation will overcome
the crisis without great losses," says the leader of the Armenian
Ramkavar- Azatakan Party (HRAK) Harutyun Arakelyan.

Mass media representatives were banned access to the meeting. According
to a tentative agreement, none of the participants detailed the
discussion. They only expressed their options on the global crisis.

ARF-Dashnaktsutyun member Armen Rusamyan says after summing up
all opinions and assessments they can find a solution acceptable
by the public as "everyone is concerned about the crisis which can
be overcome only jointly." In this view, Armen Rusamyan highlights
similar discussions where political parties are given a chance to
share responsibilities and determine activities. There were new
proposals which were immediately welcomed and accepted.

Armen Rusamyan says that although the main tasks have been outlined,
we should rely on our own resources and be prepared for the worst as
no one is guaranteed against the worst scenarios. We must do everything
to avert the shortage of staple goods."

STAR ALREADY OPERATES IN ARABKIR TOO

ArmInfo
2009-03-18 00:34:00

ArmInfo. STAR company, the largest retail network of Armenia, opened
a new supermarket in Arabkir community, Yerevan, in the place of the
former store "Partez", Tuesday.

This is the 13th supermarket in the STAR network and is considered
to be the fourth in the metro format according to the multi-format
conception of the network development. About 4000 names of food (90%)
and non-food (10%) commodities are represented in the given store,
which occupies an area of 200 sq.m. The company invested $440 thsd
in opening of this supermarket.

In his felicitation Deputy Head of Arabkir community administration
Harutyun Khachatryan expressed his content with the opening of the
given supermarket in Arabkir. "I am sure the residents of our community
will make use of STAR services with pleasure",- he stressed.

For his part, STAR Executive Director Vahan Kerobyan said it was very
pleasant to launch the area of the former store "Partez" for the
supermarket, which completely meets all international criteria. He
added that the company intends to open another supermarket in Arabkir
and in the center of Yerevan in 2009.

Representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) Artashes Tonoyan pointed out that the opening of the new STAR
supermarket proves the efficiency of joint cooperation under the
crisis conditions. "We are looking forward to opening of the 14th
STAR supermarket",- he stressed.

The STAR shareholders are Henrik Zakaryan (71,7%) and EBRD (28,3%).

FIRST SUPERMAN COMIC FETCHES $317,200

LiveMint.com
9/03/17212409/First-Superman-comic-fetches.html
Ma rch 17 2009

The first ever Superman comic which was bought for a meagre amount
of some 35 cent has fetched $317,200 at an online auction

London: The first ever Superman comic which was bought for a meagre
amount of some 35 cent has fetched $317,200 (around Rs1.6 crore)
at an online auction.

Rocker John Dolmayan, drummer for the Armenian-American alternative
metal band System of a Down, paid the huge amount to possess the
rare book.

The untouched ‘Action Comic No. 1’–which shows the Man of Steel
lifting a car on the cover–went on sale on 27 February, the
Contactmusic.com reported. After a two-week auction, Dolmayan entered
the bid on Friday.

ARMEN ASHOTIAN CONSIDERS LEVON TER-PETROSIAN’S NOMINATION AS POLITICAL AMBITION HAVING NO RELATION TO EXPECTED ADMINISTRATIVE WORK

Noyan Tapan

M arch 16, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Deputy of the RA National Assembly
"Republican Party of Armenia" (RPA) faction Armen Ashotian considers
the fact that the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian will
lead the electoral list of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) at
the May 31 elections to Yerevan Council of Aldermen as the absence of
an alternative in the ANC in terms of the possibility of a political
figure’s victory.

"Secondly, I assess it as, so to speak, a decision worthy of
Solomon – concerning the internal debates about who will be the
first: no one will be the first because the first person is Levon
Ter-Petrosian. Thirdly, I assess this approach as a decision taken
under certain external political influences because there were no
facts about this decision prior to its being made public, even at
the March 1 meeting Levon Ter-Petrosian did not address this issue
at all," the deputy said, responding to a question of NT correspondent.

It was also mentioned that regardless of how much Yerevan elections
are being politicized, these are comminity elections, and not every
political figure is capable of being the head of a community so
A. Ashotian considers L. Ter-Petrosian’s nomination as "political
ambitions having no relation to the expected administrative work". "I
am sure that in case of being included in Yerevan Council of Aldermen,
many figures on the ANC’s list, including L.

Ter-Petrosian, will leave the Council because it is not their
place," A. Ashotian said.