“Baze - 2011” yearly youth Again, Armenian roundup kicks off Page 2 genocide resolution confronts a president PAGE 4 HIGHLIGHTS

Weekly Digest of the

August 17-22, 2011 THEMA

Armenian president awards participants in 5th “Quote of Pan-Armenian Games the week”

“It has never served our national inter- est to become com- plicit in the denial of genocide, and it never will,”

Adam Schiff US Senator from Republican party

rmenian President ry opportunity,” the Armenian leader said. Aattended the closing ceremony of President Serzh Sagsyan presented the Upcoming Events the 5th Pan-Armenian Games in Lib- awards instituted by the World Commit- erty Square in In his speech addressed tee of Pan-Armenian Games. The Best to the participants the Armenian leader Delegation award was presented to the August 27 - September 3: St. congratulated all of them on the high- Buenos Aires team (Argentina); the Fair Petersburg State Orchestra will per- level organization of the 5th Pan- Game award was presented to the Ur- form concerts in Armenia Armenian Games. He thanked all the mia team (Iran); the Sports Spirit and Pa- winners and said that “there have been tience award was presented to the Chaldir September 21: Armenia Marks no losers during these excellent sport- team (); the 5th Pan-Armenian Independence day ing events because we have gathered Games Revelation award was presented in the capital, , to complete, to the Sasun team and the 5th Pan-Ar- September 29: World famous but also t make new friends.” “Living menian Games Beauty award was pre- Cesária Evora will give a concert in in different parts of the world we have sented to Kristine Nazaryan Jerusalem). Yerevan a major common feature – we are all President Serzh Sargsy- ,” President Sargsyan said. an also attended a concert. The Armenian leader is happy about Before the closing ceremony, the Armeni- numerous participants’ wish to hold an leader attended a final basketball game USEFUL LINKS the next Pan-Armenians Games sooner of the 5th Pan-Armenian Games. The Ar- • www.president.am than in four years. He wished all the par- menian leader awarded the three winner • www.gov.am ticipants to return to their homes safely. teams, Los Angeles, Sochi and Glendale. • www.parliament.am “Be sure that each of you is a welcome Last week, President Serzh Sargsyan also • www.mfa.am guest for us. We want you to come to held meetings with the members of the • www.armenpress.am Armenia not only to take part in Pan-Ar- World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games. • www.panarmenian.net menian Games, but also to do so at eve- August 21, 2011 www.tert.am • www.matenadaran.am ARMENIA HIGHLIGHTS CHRONICA “Baze - 2011” yearly youth roundup kicks off Headlines of the week rime Minister goal of gatherings like this is to pro- Ptook part in the opening ceremony mote patriotic upbringing of the ris- • August 17: Participants of the Armenian Youth Foundation- ing generation. “The gathering has a of Pan-Armenian Games vis- hosted “Baze” annual youth roundup special objective: we will be mark- it Tsitsernakaberd, Tsaghkadzor in Tsakhkadzor as ing soon the 20th • AH attended by over anniversary of our • August 18: California 350 young people young State. Our Center for Arts to host con- between 18-30 Ar- State is just young cert featuring Armenian dances menia, Javakhk, like you, filled with • AH Artsakh and Di- a strong belief in • August 19: Composer Karen aspora Armenia. the future, and you Grigoryan to perform in London Welcoming the par- will be the poten- • AH ticipants, Tigran tial of strengthen- • August 20: Armenian sol- Sargsyan said the ing of our state- dier deadly wounds himself hood. The roundup has a goal of unification, inviting Armenians from all • AH over the world to participate in this event held at home. This assembly will • August 22: Next generation may give you more strength and energy, and together with us you will be able resolve Karabakh conflict - ex- to confront all the challenges facing our nation,” the Prime Minister stated. pert: Jose Melkonyan wins swim- Tigran Sargsyan was present in the tennis and “Brain-Ring” tournaments. The ming races at Pan-Armenian Games Prime Minister was accompanied by Ministry of Education and Science Armen AH Ashotyan, Head of State Property Management Department by the Govern- ment Arman Sahakyan and Kotayk marz governor Kovalenko Shahgeldyan. Note that the roundup will be held in a traditional format, rich in sport- On August 19 “Mashtots” expedi- ing, cultural and intellectual events. Meetings with top-level Ar- tion led by is back menian public officials, political and public figures are scheduled. home from its world journey By the way, a new tradition has been developed this year: 7 key national figures whose anniversaries will be celebrated this year (Mesrop Mashtots, Misaq Metsarents, Grigor Zohrap, Alexander Spendiaryan, Garegin Nzh- deh, Arno Babajanyan and Metaxya Simonyan) were depicted on the par- ticipants’ T-shirts. On August 24, Liberty Square will host the final event of Baze – 2011 at which the winners will get the awards due to them. August 20, 2011 www.gov.am : We can provide advantage over armies of our neighbors only through our fighting capacity the Armenian Defense Ministry, as well as the t the “international” airport development prospects of the armed forces. Athe expedition was welcomed Referring to preparedness of the Armenian by the Minister of Diaspora Ha- armed forces, Mr. Ohanyan particularly not- kobyan, other officials, NGO rep- ed, “We must never be concerned about the resentatives, expedition members, quantitative advantage of our neighbors, as relatives, friends and compatriots. we have already seen that quantitative ad- May 28 2009. - Valencia start- vantage still after 1988 and during 1992-1994 ed the “Mashtots” expedition n August 21, Armenian Defense Minister large-scale war, and have taken victory over it traveling over the world and end- OSeyran Ohanyan hosted the participants thanks to our fighting spirit, moral high char- ing their journey on 20 th anniver- of “Baze-2011” pan-Armenian youth assem- acteristic features and high-quality prepar- sary of the Republic of Armenia. bly. Public Relations Department of Armenian edness of our soldiers. We can provide our On the ceremony dedicated to the end Youth Federation told Armenpress that wel- advantage over the armies of our neighbors of boating in Cypriot port city Limasol coming the participants, the Defense Minister only through our fighting capacity. Today the head of the expedition “Mashtots” Zori particularly noted that there is a healthy com- armed forces have the task of reaching supe- Balayan said, that the expedition of St. petition, as a result of which everybody wins. riority not by “satisfactory” or “good”, but by Mesrop Mashtots started the journey According to Mr. Ohanyan, suchlike events “excellent” service”. The Minister also present- from the Mediterranean waters, sail- first of all increase the patriotic and military- ed the works carried out in the armed forces. ing trough the Gibraltar Strait, in the patriotic upbringing level. He expressed confi- To remind, this year a detachment represent- Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. dence that our young people with their mental ing the Military Institute after The head of expedition’s staff mem- capacities, knowledge, physical qualities and participates in “Baze” pan-Armenian assem- bers in all continents where moral faculties are ready to defend the home- bly. The latter has already registered achieve- Armenians has lived for centuries land from encroachments at any moment. ments in cultural and sport competitions. and there are millions of our compa- Mr. Ohanyan presented to the participants of August 22 2011, triots have carried out all their tasks. the assembly the defense policy conducted by full story www.armenpress.am August 19, 2011 www.armradio.am

2 AH ARMENIA HIGHLIGHTS RES PUBLICA 5th Pan-Armenian Games stamp issued Expert: applies stamps will be sold for AMD 380. dirtiest propaganda war “I am glad to take part in this cer- methods emony. Sports stamps have always been appreciated by philatelists,” Minister of Transport and Commu- nication Manuk Vardanyan said, hailing the sportsmen who arrived in Yerevan to participate in the Games. Pan-Armenian Games stamps were first issued in 1999, and 0 thousand stamps dedicated to then in 2001, 2003 and 2007. 2the 5th Pan-Armenian Games August 20, 2011 www.panarmenian.am were issued on August 20, 2011. The t’s not new that Azerbai- How did we live without Facebook? Ijan accuses Armenia of train- ing members of terrorist organi- aware of Facebook while the registered zations, a political expert said. users used the site only to communicate “With the world engaged in fierce with friends or relatives living abroad. struggle against terrorism, any coun- Now, social networks arouse a lot of try supporting terrorist organizations talk, both positive and negative. On is labeled as rogue. That is why Az- the one hand, they are a perfect source erbaijan applies the dirtiest propa- of information and communication. ganda war methods to accuse Arme- Besides, they provide a wonderful nia of supporting terror,” the director opportunity for online marketing. of Yerevan branch of Institute CIS uring the recent years social net- On the other hand, social networks Studies, Alexander Markarov told Dworks gained extreme popular- may turn people into zombies, di- a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. ity among Armenians. When Internet verting them from the reality, live He reminded that Turkey used to began penetrating into the country, communication, walking or read- bring similar accusations against young people moved from mIRC, Hay- ing. They make the days too trans- Armenia. “Our neighbors can’t in- astan and similar chats to Odnoklass- parent both from the viewpoint of vent any new tools of informa- niki.ru. Now, they prefer Facebook. personal relations and psychologi- tion struggle,” Markarov said. Socialbaker.com website, which cal condition, mood or location. Several days ago, Iranian and Az- makes the official statistics of Face- So, a question arouses: isn’t our right erbaijani media circulated in- book watches the changing number to private life jeopardized? Do we formation that PJAK members of users across the globe. Accord- use our time correctly? And finally, are being trained in Armenia. ing to statistics, Armenia is in the how did we live without Facebook? Iranian Foreign Ministry has offi- 117th place with 195 380 users. August 20, 2011 www.panarmenian.net cially refuted reports on trainings the Three years ago few Armenians were Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) allegedly conducts in Armenia. British mission to Armenia nicknamed ‘love embassy’ “One should not rely on informal sources, whose information is not he UK Foreign Office has The two developments have led to true to fact,” the Ministry said. Tbeen accused of making Brit- local politicians nicknaming the The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan is ain a laughing stock by appoint- British mission the ‘love embassy’. a militant Marxist Kurdish nationalist ing a married couple to share a Mr Aves, 51, and his 41-year-old wife group with bases in the mountainous senior diplomatic appointment. will both have the title of ambassa- regions of northern Iraq, which has Jonathan Aves and his wife Katherine dor when they move to the Arme- been carrying out numerous attacks in Leach will take turns to be the ambas- nian capital, Yerevan, next January western Iran, southern Turkey and the sador to Armenia, each doing the job with their children Maddie, seven, northeastern parts of Syria where the for four months while the other spends Mimi, four, and Joe, two. But the Kurdish populations live. Most ex- that time looking after their children. announcement has surprised many perts describe PJAK as an offshoot of Critics Armenia say the unu- Armenians and there is concern that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). sual arrangement means Brit- it could reduce Britain’s standing In 2009, U.S. listed PJAK ain is displaying a ‘lack of se- in the country, an important ally in as a terrorist organization. riousness’ towards the country. the strategically sensitive Caucasus August 15 2011 www.panarmenian.net The controversy comes after current region between Europe and Asia. ambassador Charles Lonsdale, 46, August 22, 2011 www.panarmenian.net married his Armenian press secretary two months ago, Daily Mail reports.

3 AH ARMENIA HIGHLIGHTS PRO PATRIA Mediating the Conflict Over Naghorno-Karabakh: In Nagorno-Karabakh, Give It Another Try? peace elusive 20 years them to completely ignore certain traditional after Soviet fall borders or to create artificial ones. As long as these were internal borders, it did not re­ally adies and gentlemen please fas- matter, and, if it offers any kind of explana- “Lten your seat belts, make sure that tion as to the Soviet leaders’ rationale for their your seats are in the full upright position decisions, the implications of certain territo- and pay attention as our cabin crew dem- rial arrange­ments in the case of the country’s onstrate the safety features on this Su- ast month Armenian President Serge Sark- untimely demise, are indeed not something perjet SSJ-100,” said the captain’s voice. Lisian and Azerbaijani Presi­dent Ilham Al- politicians usually consider when making Two dozen journalist-passengers, iyev came to Kazan, a Russian city lying on the those arrangements. Be that as it may, what bleary eyed after rising early to make Volga River, to negotiate under the auspices once had been internal borders in a country the two-hour journey to the airfield of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev a of ‘fraternal’ peoples turned to sources of in- and another two hours spent in depar- settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. terethnic confiict after the country collapsed. ture lounges, standing on hot tarmac Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Un- The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh followed and being ferried by buses, obedi- ion, different representatives of the interna- practically the same scenario. Under the So- ently took their seats and buckled up. tional community have been making attempts viet rule, for reasons more speculated than The engines fired up, the cabin was filled to mediate this conflict. Before that, or at least actually known and to the Armenians’ great with a whining like a distressed refrig- until Gorbachev’s perestroika, the conflict displeasure Nagorno-Karabakh became a erator, and the 100-seater plane hurtled over Nagorno-Karabakh Whilst most of the newly estab­ part of the Azerbai- down the runway and lunged into the air, was latent, although it did lished states were celebrating jan SSR. Since it very quickly for a passenger accustomed exist even at that point; in their not being a part of the was utterly and com- to larger, more lumbering jet aircraft. fact, when the Bolsheviks USSR and having nothing to do pletely ’s It was a mundane procedure and came into power, the region with Russia any more, Nagorno- decision, all that could have been an ordinary scene was already quite troubled. Karabakh was declaring its in­ Armenians could do on any morning flight between Euro- When faced at the begin- dependence from Azerbaijan. was try to make a ning of their rule with the task of organ­ising special point of their dissatis­faction to Mos- the administrative-territorial structure, the So- cow, which in its turn made a point of ignor- viet leaders had several options for Nagorno- ing it. With the begin of Gorbachev’s era of Karabakh, a region, populated primarily by Glasnost, which introduced much greater Armenians, but surrounded by Azerbaijani free­dom of expression, the Armenian rheto- territories: a) assign it to the Azerbaijan SSR ric became louder and fiercer, causing the b) assign it to the Armenian SSR c) grant conflict to escalate. When the it autonomy (from both of those SSRs). collapsed, a wave of independence declara- pean capitals. And that was the point. It is worth noting that in the Soviet Union, tions swept over the territory of the former The Superjet 100 is the first new airliner there had never existed a fundamental prin- USSR. Whilst most of the newly estab­lished Russia has built since the fall of the So- ciple on which the administrative-territorial states were celebrating their not being a part viet Union, and the flight from the Zhu- division was based. Beside rather obvious ter- of the USSR and having nothing to do with kovsky airfield over the Moscow region ritorial, economic and ethnic factors, the de- Russia any more, Nagorno-Karabakh was was an attempt to prove that the phoenix cision-makers were often guided by various declaring its independence from Azerbaijan. rising from the ashes of the post-Soviet other reasons, which in some cases motivated August, 2011 www.thewashingtonreview.org aviation industry is as quiet, calm and comfortable as any regional aircraft that Again, Armenian genocide: resolution confronts a competitors like Canada’s Bombadier president fundamental point is to apply the term “gen- and Brazil’s Embraer can produce. ocide” to events that occurred between 1915 The SSJ is meant to resurrect the do- and 1923 during the Ottoman Empire’s final mestic aviation industry. Manufacturer years. The empire was based in what is now Sukhoi and Superjet International, the the Republic of Turkey. “It has never served Russian-Italian joint venture that sells the our national interest to become complicit in planes internationally, has set a target of he perennial political battle over an Ar- the denial of genocide, and it never will,” selling 1,000 planes over the next decade. Tmenian genocide resolution is joined said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. “While It’s a rare enough event to be a pas- again, as lawmakers Tuesday introduced a there are still some survivors left, we have a senger on a Superjet. There are only symbolic measure that puts President Barack compelling moral obligation to speak plainly two in service in the world: one with Obama in a bind.The resolution backed by about the past.” But what some call a moral Armenia’s Armavia and one with lawmakers who represent large numbers obligation strikes others as a diplomatic co- Aeroflot. The machine in use at the of Armenian-American constituents calls nundrum. Obama had one of the first tele- MAKS air show was delivered to the on Obama to “accurately characterize the phone calls of his presidency with Turkish Yerevan-based carrier in April — the systematic and deliberate annihilation of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, with whom very first of the craft to enter service. 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide.”The bill Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met introduced with 77 co-sponsors in the House personally. Obama in early April will visit August 19, 2011 of Representatives largely tracks similar Turkey, where the genocide resolution is full story www.themoscowtimes.com resolutions introduced in previous years. Its anathema. August 17, 2011 www.newsobserver.com 4 AH ARMENIA HIGHLIGHTS DIASPORA World Bank Increases Vahan Shirkhanyan: Only Change of System Will Lending To Armenia Lead the Country Out of the Critical Socio-Econom- ic Situation This political deficiency has led to two wings of liberal ideology to negotiate not on the core issues of concern that need to be ad- dressed for a better future of Armenia, but rather on who will take the helm and contin- ue the current socio-economic policies of the he World Bank will disburse up to past 20 years. “Political struggle is the strug- T$100 million in additional loans to rmenia’s former Deputy Defense Min- gle of ideas. There is, however, no struggle Armenia next year to finance more infra- Aister and member of Social Demo- of ideas between authorities and Armenian structure upgrades and public service and crat Hunchakian Party Central Committee National Congress (ANC), it’s a battle of tax reforms, officials said on Thursday. Vahan Shirkhanyan answering questions personalities,” Shirkhanyan said. The cur- Under its four-year Country Partnership of the press this week stated that Armenia rent negotiations between the ANC and the Strategy (CPS) launched in 2009, the faces a critical situation where a clash of authorities will not change the system, that World Bank was to lend a total of over political personalities is constant, as op- is, lead the country out of the critical socio- $540 million to the country. More than posed to competing ideologies and pro- economic situation which it faces today. half of this sum has already been made grams which ultimately contribute to a Shirkhanyan also excluded the possibility of available to the Armenian government. country’s political and economic health. pre-term presidential election in Armenia. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan told members The Hunchakian party sees the solutions to “There is no prerequisite, and the authorities of his government that the bank’s governing Armenia’s problems not in the personalities do not face an immediate tangible “political board in Washington has decided to extend the change, but in the change of the whole sys- crisis, which brings about resignations, the lending program by one year, until 2013, and tem. Mr. Shirkhanyan thinks of two key tasks: Armenian authorities’ motives are obvious; increase its monetary volume by $55 million. first, the recognition of independence of the they have actually strengthened their hand “We are talking about the areas of drink- existing borders of the NKR, the second is to by being receptive to negotiations.” The au- ing water, irrigation, healthcare, education, overcome the 20-year-old socio-economic thorities entered into a dialogue because a agriculture and the modernization of tax, crisis, through legal and economic reforms segment of opposition that was struggling in customs and finance management,” he said. for the improvement of socio-economic con- the streets. The authorities were able to per- Sargsyan ordered the heads of relevant gov- ditions of the Armenia’s populace. He under- suade this segment into negotiations, which ernment agencies to conclude ongoing nego- lined that to resolve social and economical is without a doubt politically beneficial to tiations with World Bank officials and submit problems; Armenia must reject the liberal the authorities. Yet, he finds it difficult to detailed timetables for implementing further formula and take up a social democrat mod- explain the reasons for the ANC’s consent projects envisaged by the CPS. They must be el, entirely altering the government system. to start and take part in these negotiations. ready for launch in July next year, he said. August 17, 2011 www.massispost.com According to one World Bank official, Yer- Tankian Performs in Yerevan, Calls for Separation of Business evan will in fact receive roughly $100 mil- and State lion in extra loans by 2013. The official Armenian songs. He was accompanied on told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that the stage by an orchestra, conducted by Ham- total amount of the bank’s existing lend- ish McKeich from New Zealand. Dorians, ing package will thus reach $640 million. an Armenian rock band, was the opening act. The World Bank has provided almost $1.5 During the concert, Tankian took a mo- billion worth of mainly low-interest and ment to remind the audience of the im- long-term loans to Armenia since 1992, mak- portance of keeping the air, land, and wa- ing it the country’s largest foreign donor. ter clean, adding that Armenia should be Armenia’s overall foreign debt is on course inger and songwriter Serj Tankian was careful not to fall into the same troubles to rise to $3.8 billion by the end of this year. Sin Yerevan on Aug. 14 where he gave a other countries have come across, and Speaking at a weekly session of his cabinet, free concert, making headlines for his calls that citizens must care for one another. Sargsyan said the multilateral institution has to end corruption and for his support of decided to boost lending because of the ef- civic activism. While in Yerevan, Tankian Tankian calls out corruption ficiency of Armenian programs already fi- also met with President Serge Sarkisian, During a public discussion with non-govern- nanced by it. “The World Bank has highly and received an award from Prime Minis- mental organizations and the media, organized evaluated their implementation,” he said. ter Tigran Sarkisian. Tankian performed by Kanachastan, the Civilitas Foundation, The bank approved its most recent single credit before 10,000 fans during the inaugural and the local office of Counterpart Interna- to Yerevan, worth $39 million, last May. The celebration of the Tumo Center for Crea- tional, Tankian also spoke out against corrup- money is due to be spent on the planned mod- tive Technologies, held in collaboration tion in the country, saying there needs to be ernization of the Armenian electricity trans- with Deem Communications and Fugitive a separation between business and politics. mission network. The government is to spend Studios. The program included numbers August 18, 2011 $13 million of its own funds for that purpose. from his “Elect the Dead” album, as well as full story www.armenianweekly.com August 18, 2011 www.asbarez.com "Armenia Highlights" is compiled in association with DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in "Armenia Highlights" do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Armenia.

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