Chess to be taught at schools from coming 2011-12 school year
Aysor.am
Thursday,July 14
The government has made amendments to its previous decision envisaging
holding chess lessons in comprehensive schools from coming 2011-12
school year.
Pupils in second, third and fourth grade will have chess classes twice
a week, government’s press office reported.
US Senators Voice Concern Over Turkey Radar Deal
asbarez
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is one of the senators voicing concern
WASHINGTON (Agence France Presse) – Two key US senators expressed
concerns Tuesday about a possible agreement to base a missile-shield
radar in Turkey, citing the NATO ally’s strained ties with Israel and
relations with Iran.
Two key US senators expressed concerns Tuesday about a possible
agreement to base a missile-shield radar in Turkey, citing the NATO
ally’s strained ties with Israel and relations with Iran.
Republican Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk wrote Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeking reassurances on
the possible deal, which was described in a news report last week.
The lawmakers asked for `written assurances’ that data collected by a
so-called X-band radar `will be made available, in real time’ to
staunch US ally Israel to be `fully integrated into its battlement
management and control.’
They also sought a guarantee that `Turkish entities are not engaged,
or suspected of engaging’ in activities that fall afoul of various US
laws aimed at curbing suspected nuclear weapons programs in Iran and
Syria and keeping sensitive know-how from North Korea.
And President Barack Obama’s administration must also certify that the
powerful radar will only be operated by US personnel, and for 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, except for maintenance breaks, the senators
said.
Kirk and Kyl, the number-two Senate Republican, also questioned
whether the reported decision to locate the radar in Turkey would
`ensure the best defense of the United States against the Iranian
long-range ballistic missile threat.’
They cited a US Missile Defense Agency study that found that the South
Caucasus to be `the optimum placement’ if the system is designed to
defend against an eventual Iranian ballistic missile attack.
`The administration’s plans for missile defense will require the
cooperation of the Congress; the prospects for such cooperation are
jeopardized if the Congress is not provided the information it
requests,’ they warned.
Daily Life in Egypt after the Revolution Remains the Same; but One
Thing has Changed
Sona Avagyan
18:34, July 12, 2011
In terms of the everyday life of the people, nothing has changed in
Egypt after the revolution. There are many economic problems remaining
in the country because the whole economic system was corrupt before
the revolution and built on a few businessmen who were close to the
power. Most of them are now in prison.
Basem Fathy, a board member of Egyptian Democratic Academy and an
activist of the Egyptian revolution expressed such an opinion when
speaking to “Hetq”.
“Of course, we want to institutionalize the revolution and laws and
everything. Five months is a very small period for getting these
gains,” he added.
During the anti-regime protests in Egypt that started on January 25
and ended on February 11, resulting in the resignation of President
Hosni Mubarak and his 30 year reign, more than 800 protesters were
killed by the Egyptian central security forces and their hired thugs.
Basem Fathy says it’s really a problem in Egypt that those who killed
the protesters haven’t received any punishment so far because the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, formerly affiliated to the
Mubarak regime, remains in power.
During 18 days of protests, 15,000 people were wounded because live
ammunition was used against them. About 1,000 people lost their
eyesight either completely or partially because the police
intentionally shot at the eyes of protesters with rubber bullets in
order to stop them.
At the same time, Basem Fathy says that after the revolution, on the
level of freedom in people’s minds and dignity, the situation is
totally different in Egypt.
“We don’t have the same threats. I and all the activists were under
constant 24 hours watch by the secret police. We got threats from the
secret police and now we don’t, and this is one of the achievements on
the political level,” the Egyptian revolution activist said.
He had been detained 3 times before the revolution for his political
activities and released after several days.
In Egypt there were a lot of reasons for a revolution and not just
one. 40% of Egyptians live under poverty line.
Basem Fathy says that the other reason was the brutality of the
police. In Egypt it’s common to read that every day somebody has been
detained for no reason or tortured in a police station.
The first day of Egyptian anti-government protests came 11 days after
the revolution in Tunisia. This was great inspiration for Egyptians,
who thought – “As long as the Tunisians did it, why shouldn’t we do
it?”
Another reason for the revolution, in Basem Fathy’s words, was that
parliamentary elections, which had been held 2 months before, were
totally falsified. The ruling party had taken 81 % of the seats in the
Parliament. The other 19 % of the seats had been taken by parties
affiliated and loyal to the ruling party. Thus, no one from the
opposition had succeeded to enter the Parliament.
Basem Fathy and activists like him had been participating in protests
to push their ideas for many years. On January 25, the first day of
anti-regime protests, they only called to conduct a large protest in
front of the Ministry of Interior (and not in Tahrir square) against
police brutality and to demand the resignation of the Minister of the
Interior.
“This was the top of our dreams. But on the 25th we found that a lot
of people responded and started to participate and spontaneously the
people started to move into Tahrir square from everywhere in Cairo. It
was the first moment for the people to feel freedom, to feel that they
are the strongest. It was unbelievable,” Basem Fathy says.
On that day, he was responsible for getting some blankets, tents and
sleeping bags in case they were going to stay in the square. On the
following days, non-politicized people who never thought about
revolution before took to the streets protesting against Mubarak and
the regime.
On January 28, the Internet activists posted the list of starting
points for the marches from all over the country on Facebook and
blogs. The marches were to start from the mosques and churches all
over the country and head to the very logical destination, Tahrir
(Liberty) Square, where people had gathered 3 days ago.
On the same day, Internet and cell phone connections were made
unavailable for the Egyptians, but the people started to march from
everywhere around Cairo towards Tahrir Square. Basem Fathy says that
the security forces, the biggest share of which was concentrated in
Cairo, encircled the square in order to prevent the protesters from
getting there.
Besides the army of about 750,000 Egyptian servicemen, who will
disobey any order to shoot at their people, Egypt has internal army,
the security forces of 1.5 million people. In Egyptian activist’s
words these forces are established and kept for political reasons and
are trained for dealing with protests.
“We started a battle. We were unarmed and they were armed with rubber
bullets, even live ammunition, of course tear gas, all the day
beating, even using police vehicles to crash into the people. On
January 28 people just went to Tahrir square after a 5 hour battle
with 1.5 million soldiers and they have been defeated in 5 hours by
the people. While you are under this, you have something inside
yourself, adrenaline, putting on the confrontations and pushing you
forward, not back,” Basem Fathy said.
He added that the protesters, he included, were scared.
“I felt that I am brave and I was standing against the ruling power
for years, but it’s very different when you find bullets everywhere
and people killed. The revolution always starts with the first
bloodshed. When I and my friend go to protest and my friend is killed,
I cannot go back, I have to continue, whether I’ll be killed also or
we will win just to have the revenge of our friend. This was the case
in Egypt,” Basem Fathy said.
He quoted the following words of one of the Egyptian revolution
activists, who on January 27 wrote in his Facebook:
“I have been beaten a lot through 2 days, but feel that we are very
close. I’ll go today anyway to protest, because we are very close and
we have to reach to what we want.”
On January 28 he was killed.
TREES GROWING ON DOME OF SANAHIN MONASTERY HAVE ALREADY AROUSED CONCERN OF EVERYONE EXCEPT:SUPREME PATRIARCH
arminfo
Saturday, July 16, 11:40
The ancient monastery complex Sanahin in the north of Armenia has
recently appeared in the focus of public attention. This unique
monument of the Armenian culture and architecture, which is included
in UNESCO Heritage Fund, is in an extremely poor state. The trees
growing on the dome of Sanahin Monastery cannot but arouse concern
of the public. In fact, today on July 16 a youth initiative group “We
will not be silent” organizes a trip to the monastery for journalists
for further wide coverage of the problem.
Earlier in an interview with ArmInfo, Director of the Research on
Armenian Architecture (RAA) NGO, historian Samvel Karapetyan said:
“During my latest meeting with Catholicos Karekin II, I once again
studied the problem of Sanahin Monastery and reminded him of the
fact that a forest has already grown on the roof of this historical
monument. We offered Karekin II to direct at least part of the funds
allocated for construction of new churches to the settlement of this
problem. In response, he only said that he has nothing to do with the
monasteries and churches located in the mountains”, said Karapetyan.
“However, I’d like to recall that the Church should have cared first
of all for the cultic constructions. Needless to say about the state
structures, which should be interested in removing the forests from the
roofs of churches”, he said and added that when he says that Armenians
are not a nation respecting their cultural and historical heritage
of their ancestors, this concerns everybody, even the Catholicos.
Sanahin is a medieval monastery located not far from the town of
Alaverdi. It was one of the main medieval cultural centers of North
Armenia. Sanahin had a scriptorium, a library and an academy.
TARKAN ARRETE SON CONCERT A L’ANNONCE DE LA MORT DES SOLDATS TURCS
Krikor Amirzayan
armenews.com
samedi 16 juillet 2011
Le chanteur turc Tarkan etait en concert a Trabzon lorsqu’après deux
chansons, il apprenait la mort des 13 soldats Turcs a Diyarbekir tues
lors d’accrochages avec les separatistes Kurdes. Selon ” Hurriyet ”
Tarkan est revenu sur scène pour annoncer la nouvelle et s’excuser
auprès du public pour ne pas pouvoir continuer son concert. Pour
ces nationalistes Turcs -dont Tarkan en fait partie- il est plus
acceptable d’apprendre la mort de milliers ” d’etrangers ” que de
quelques soldats Turcs…
UN MEMORIAL DEDIE AU COMBATTANT GAGUIK BAGHDASSARIAN A TALIN
Krikor Amirzayan
armenews.com
samedi 16 juillet 2011
En Armenie, la ville de Talin continue de celebrer la memoire des heros
tombes lors de la guerre de liberation de l’Artsakh (Haut Karabagh). Il
y a deux mois etait inauguree a Talin la salle ” Parki ” (Gloire) en
l’honneur des resistants. Le 11 juillet au village de Tachdatem proche
de Talin, dans la region Arakadzodn un memorial dedie au combattant
Gaguik Baghdassarian fut inaugure. Baghdassar Baghdassarian, le père
de Gaguik, egalement resistant a declare lors de l’inauguration
” meme si dans mon c~ur la douleur de la perte de mon fils n’est
toujours presente, je suis heureux qu’il soit tombe en heros. Nous
devons arreter de pleurer sur nos morts. Nous devons etre fiers de
nos enfants heros tombes pour la victoire et la paix d’aujourd’hui
“. Etaient presents a la ceremonie outre la famille et les amis de
l’heros, David Garabedian le secretaire de presse du Ministère de
la Defense, Sarkis Sahakian le gouverneur de la region d’Arakadzodn,
Mnatsagan Mnatsaganian le maire de Talin et le Conseiller du Ministère
de la Defense Vahram Barseghian.
OSCE CHAIRMAN UPBEAT ON KARABAKH PROCESS
news.az
July 15 2011
Azerbaijan
‘It is very important to base on this approach and reach an agreement
on ‘basic principles’ as soon as possible’.
The OSCE chairman-in-office Audronius Azubalis considers that the
attainment of an agreement on basic principles and shift to developing
a comprehensive peace treaty between the parties to the Karabakh
conflict is a priority and an attainable goal.
‘This goal is completely attainable and the sides must consider it
their priority’, said the OSCE chairman-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign
Minister Audronius Azubalis, reported Trend.
He said OSCE is still ready to support any effort as part of the Minsk
Group and in a trilateral format of talks of the presidents of Russia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The recent meeting of the three presidents was held in Russia’s
Kazan in June. Big hopes were laid on this meeting, the ninth
consecutive over the past three years, in terms of the breakthrough
in the negotiation process that last for over 20 years without clear
progress. However, it ended without agreements on the main principles
of solution. In the joint statement, the sides just stated progress
on the way to this goal.
‘Though the recent meeting in Kazan led to no agreement on ‘basic
principles’ on which we laid our hopes, I am still encouraged by the
fact that the sides confirmed their readiness to achieve solution by
way of talks’, Azubalis said.
It is very important to base on this approach and reach an agreement on
‘basic principles’ as soon as possible, he said.
‘Before the meeting, in late May, the presidents of the United States,
France and Russia made a statement on Nagorno Karabakh in which they
urged the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to demonstrate a political
will and finish working on basic principles of settlement during the
meeting in Kazan”.
The OSCE chairman urged the parties to respect the agreements that were
reached earlier as part of the meetings of the leaders in trilateral
format in Sochi and Astrakhan.
ARMENIA TO CONSTRUCT GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
news.am
July 15 2011
Armenia
YEREVAN. – Armenia has launched exploration works to construct
geothermal power plants, said head of Renewable Resources and Energy
Efficiency Fund Tamara Babayan.
She said three areas Dzhermakhpyur (Syunik region), Qaraqar (Syunik
region), and Gridzor (Gegharkunik region) are prospective from this
viewpoint. Due to the rapid development of relatively new volcanic
processes Armenia is considered one of the most promising areas for
geothermal energy development.
According to Babayan, Armenia~Rs geothermal potential is currently
estimated at about 30 megawatts.
It is not great capacity but geothermal energy has several advantages
over other types of renewable energy. In particular, the thermal
energy of the earth is constant, unlike wind and solar power.
In order to use geothermal energy one should drill at least 1-3 km
to reach hot rocks. The exploration works are carried out within
World Bank’s GeoFund program, which provided $ 1.5 million. However,
construction of geothermal power plants should be made at the expense
of private investments. According to Babayan, a number of foreign
companies are interested in this program.
MANOYAN: ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES WON’T RECONCILE OVER PRINCIPLES WHERE NK STATUS ISN’T DEFINED
Panorama
July 15 2011
Armenia
I don’t think the Armenian authorities will reconcile over issues where
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh isn’t defined, the head of ARF office
on political affairs Giro Manoyan stated today in a news conference.
“I don’t think the Armenian authorities will reconcile over principles
where the status of Nagorno-Karabakh isn’t carefully defined,” he said.
G. Manoyan says he’s sure the policy adopted by Azerbaijan is the
obstacle to reach positive outcomes in the resolution process.
“Taking into account the statements made by the Azerbaijani President
we cannot express hopefulness.”
‘RUSSIA’S ROLE CRITICAL IN KARABAKH PROCESS’
news.az
July 15 2011
Azerbaijan
‘Russia’s role is very crucial for the Nagorno Karabakh resolution.
There are number of issues that do not give right conditions for
Kazan. One was Medvedev and Putin. I don’t think that Putin will allow
Medvedev to make major diplomatic break-through under this leadership.
Secondly, is Russia really committed to resolution of the conflict?
Because this conflict gives Russia good lever one South Caucasus
doesn’t seem nearly seek full resolution,’ Brenda Shaffer, Professor of
Israel-based Haifa University and Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy said.
Touching on some analysts’ views that under the pressure of Moscow,
Armenia may withdraw its troops from some of the occupied territories
and Russian peacekeepers may be deployed there, Brenda Shaffer said:
‘And if it was offered it was not clever mark to accept it. Because
Russian troops in Azerbaijan would be the end of truth independence
of Azerbaijan. It will solve one, but start another problem.’
‘We also see Armenia has not been serious about concessions. Second
factor- Armenia-Turkish border to make very small concession and Turkey
would open the border. To accept this would be really smart strategic
move, but they did not do it. It was very advantage deal for them. It
shows {Armenians} really not ready to change the status quo.’