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Back on the Stump: Oppositionists pack Government Hall to hear latest rally by Ter-Petrosyan
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Opposition leaders had long encountered problems in trying to find premises for holding the meeting. There was even some talk about a possible gathering in neighboring Georgia, but the newly appointed prime minister had magnanimously let the opposition have the premises, saying that the government’s conference hall was provided to all political forces on equal terms.
The Congress, which was called by the organizers “Movement Heralding National Awakening”, began its workings by observing a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the memory of at least ten people who died in post-election violence on March 1.
Speeches threaded out and held together with appeals to continue the movement and not lose heart every now and then were interrupted by passionate exclamations “Levon!” and “Struggle Till the End!”, and former foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan’s wife Melissa Brown, speaking on behalf of the wives of jailed oppositionists, said that they had been deprived of their husbands, however they “weren’t poor but were lucky to have hero husbands”.
Daily News
At Home & Abroad: Armenians to have two IDs, including biometry for travels abroad
Armenia is going to have a new passport system introduced in 2010 whereby citizens will bear two documents – a personal card to use domestically and a passport containing biometrical data to go abroad. The latter will include basic information, including a chip with fingerprints.“If we don’t have this, Europe, through whose territory we travel to other countries, won’t accept us,” Alvina Zakaryan, head of the Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police, explains.
Laying the Groundwork: Armenian, Azeri FMs in meeting to keep talks alive
The efforts of Bernard Fassier (France), Matthew Bryza (USA) and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), the cochairmen of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) entrusted with the settlement of a protracted dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, resulted in the first-ever meeting between Armenia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov in Strasbourg, France, late Tuesday.
Fare Scare: Hike in gas price fuels speculation about increased transportation charges
“By using taxi services occasionally we felt ourselves humans, now we have to give it up. It is humiliating for people in this miserable country,” 54-year-old Lyova complains. “People live in conditions when even 100 drams matter. I am sick and tired of surviving, but no money is left for living.”
Former oppositionist gets promised Security Council position
Artur Baghdasaryan’s appointment to the post was part of the power-sharing deal reached between the former presidential candidate and President-elect Sargsyan hours before the early morning crackdown on the opposition on March 1 and formalized three weeks later as four political parties, including Sargsyan’s Republican Party, Baghdasaryan’s Orinats Yerkir, and two other pro-government parties – Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – signed an agreement on establishing a political coalition and agreeing to jointly form the country’s government.
Seeking Repatriation: Four Armenians still in Azeri captivity after going astray near border
A group of Armenian citizens who inadvertently crossed the Armenian border into an Azeri exclave early last week still remain prisoners in Nakhichevan.The repatriation of the four men, identified by the Armenian Defense Ministry as residents of Armenia’s Gegharkunik province Vanik Zmboyan, Artyom Zohrabyan, Karen Torosyan and Aghasi Yenokyan reportedly was to have taken place on Saturday, but fell through as the Azerbaijani side refused to do so at the last moment.
News
Issues of importance in the country and region
Feeling the World’s Pain: Armenia part of international trend in food costs
The rise in food prices on the world markets unavoidably provokes inflation in small countries like Armenia. Prices for imported foodstuffs particularly grow here. According to Armenia’s National Statistical Service, in the course of three months, from December 2007 to March 2008, prices for foodstuffs grew by 7.2 percent.
Challenge: Concern lingers over Millennium Account funding
Among concerns since the February 19 presidential election has been whether Armenia can meet requirements of the Millennium Challenge Account and earn the balance of $235 million earmarked for Armenia pending qualification.The US-designated funds would be applied to programs aimed at reducing poverty and improving living conditions in rural Armenia.
But as has been widely reported and infamously commented on by former president Robert Kocharyan doubts have arisen over whether the funds will ever be released to Armenia, due to questionable impositions on human rights during the 20-day state of emergency in March and other reasons.
Review and Dissent: Ombudsman’s report continues March 1 debate of circumstances
In a 68-page report consisting of four parts, the ombudsman, at times from quite a critical perspective, presents a detailed overview of the period from the pre-election time to the bloody March 1 events and the period after that, speaking about the importance of “establishing an independent commission to look into the March 1 events” at the same time placing strong accents regarding former president Robert Kocharyan.
Cure or Crime?: Armenian lawmakers revise punishment for drug abusers
If the amendment goes into force (the amendment was approved by first reading in National Assembly on February 28) drug abusers will be subject to administrative fine – an amount in 200 to 400 minimal salaries (from 200,000 to 400,000 drams-$645-$1,290) instead of the current two month imprisonment.
Outside Eye
A non-Armenian's view of life in his adopted home
Faith and Remembrance: Goofy white guy’s mental meltdown when worlds collide
One famous binge of behaving poorly required our participation (the Doctor and me; not the Jehovah woman) at a mid-Chicago institution called the Weed. At an hour I don’t often see anymore unless occasioned by a bladder or a deadline, we reached the establishment astoundingly in better shape than those who’d already put their wheels down there. To reach our perches we had to step over a large man having a rest squarely in mid-floor. “That’s Butchy”, the Doctor said. “Resident drunk?” I asked. “No, he’s the manager.”
Features
Peoples and Events of Interest
Catching up to Contemporary Commerce: HSBC Armenia leading the way for progressive banking
Competition has led to new services as established institutions such as the internationally prominent HSBC are bringing Armenia into the age of individualized and custom banking.
Ichthusiasm?: Release of finger fish aims to repopulate jewel of Armenia
The Minister of Environmental Protection Aram Harutyunyan says if “70-80 percent of fish released in the lake survive, the work will be considered efficient.”
Gap: Armenia lacks a public diplomacy strategy
In an earlier commentary I had characterized as “less than significant” the passage of the Azerbaijani sponsored U.N. Assembly resolution asserting its territorial integrity and demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno Karabakh and its surrounding areas. From a legal-political view it was no victory for Azerbaijan. However, the other side of the coin revealed a serious weakness in Armenia’s diplomatic strategy. The question it posed is why did only seven nations oppose the resolution when the United States, Russia, and France voted against the resolution? The three nations who had been chosen by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to head a negotiating body to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh voted NO, and only four other delegations, including Armenia joined them.I believe the principal reason is that Armenia does not have an adequate public diplomacy strategy and program. Yerevan has not been able to deflate Baku’s strident publicity demanding international affirmation of its territorial integrity.
Alternative Approach: Karabakh and Azerbaijani journalists mediate for peace-process by means of documentary
One film narrates about war captives and human rights activists from both sides, the second film is а composition of two films one of which will be shot in Karabakh, the second one in Azerbaijan.
New pits, old problem: Gyumri residents dream of no-holes town
City streets are marked by ditches, dug for installing or restoring water pipes, fixing the electricity cables or installing phone lines. And, while the progress to building the city goes on, safety for pedestrians or motorists is an afterthought, as in most cases the trenches and holes are left unmarked.
Children’s joy: A center in Kapan offers new model for education
In Kapan, Syunic province, where most of the kindergartens offer the same program “Dopdopik” (pit-a-pat) offer its children more than just a regular schedule. It aims to teach children creativity and reveal individuality. That’s why some 40 parents in Kapan chose “Dopdopik” as the preferred place for their children’s development.
Kicking for kids: Brazilian embassy, enthusiasts hold soccer tournament for Armenian orphans
A soccer tournament last Saturday organized by the Brazilian Embassy in Armenia brought together on a football pitch charges of four orphanages and boarding schools from various regions of Armenia as well as teams of internationals and expats working or staying in Armenia.
Sport
If an Armenian kicked it, lifted it, wrestled it, etc. you?ll find news of it here
Sport: Armenian boxing star on the defensive after rape allegations made by German tabloid
Boxing champ Arthur Abraham has found himself at the center of a tabloid-driven sex scandal after a German newspaper spread information alleging that the 28-year-old performing for Germany had been charged with rape. The Armenia-born IBF middleweight champion himself has strongly denied this information as a complete hoax made up by a rival camp.
Under the headline “Prosecutors Bring Case Against Bloody Boxer”, The Bild (www.bild.de), in particular wrote that while on a training assembly on a Baltic Sea island weeks before his late-March victorious bout against Elvin Ayala (USA), Abraham, dubbed King Arthur, allegedly raped a hotel maid, who later made a claim against him to local police authorities.
Photo Of The Week
Oppositionists were allowed inside the Government Building Friday for a “Nationwide Congress”. Leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan met with several hundred supporters to discuss political strategy in the wake of the controversial recent presidential election, the subsequent public disorder and the formation of the new government.
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