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WELL-KNOWN ARMENIAN PHILANTHROPISTS AWARDED FRIDTJOF NANSEN MEDAL
The director of the Fridtjof Nansen Foundation Felix Bakhchinyan says that Kafeschyan has made an invaluable contribution to Armenian economy development, restoration of Cascade Museum in Yerevan. He has made innumerable investments in Armenia's economy and has taken a very active part in pan-national projects.
In the past decade the foundation has conferred medals on the grandson of Fridtjof Nansen Eigil Nansen, ex prime minister of Russia Nikolay Rizhkov, the president of the National Academy of Norway, the Armenian and NKR presidents, Armenia's prime minister and DM, some writers and scientists. ARMINFO NEWS AGENCY WAS HONOURED WITH LETTER OF GRATITUDE YEREVAN, JANUARY 10 ARMINFO. ARMINFO News Agency was honoured with the Letter of Gratitude for covering of economic development of Armenia both inside the country and abroad. The letter of gratitude was provided by the Business Support Council of the Republic of Armenia (BSC) and the Armenian Development Agency (ADA), headed by Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Margaryan. 17 mass-media in Armenia as well as Prime Minister A. Margaryan, 4 ministers and 32 heads of various enterprises, banks and organizations were awarded this letter on the whole. ARMENIA'S PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW FIRST DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO. Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan dismissed Jan 8 Grigory Grigoryan from the post of first deputy director of National Security Service. He has been replaced by Hrachya Haroutyunyan. DATE OF HEARING OF ARMENIAN PILOTS CASE NOT FIXED YET YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO. The Supreme Court of Equatorial Guinea has not yet fixed the date of its hearing of the case of the Armenian pilots sentenced to 14-24 years in jail for alleged complicity in an attempted coup in that country, says the spokesman of Armenia's FM Hamlet Gasparyan. ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs TO MEET IN PRAGUE JAN 11 YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO. The Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers are meeting in Prague Jan 11. Armenia's FM press service reports that Vardan Oskanyan is leaving for Prague today on the invitation of OSCE Minsk Group. He is to come back on the same day of the meeting. BE READY FOR THE ARMENIAN TSUNAMI YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO. A huge tsunami is approaching our shores, says Mehmet Ali Birand in his article in Turkish Daily News. I can almost hear it. The sky is getting darker and the water on the shore is retreating. The tsunami I am talking about comes as a result of the earthquake among the Armenian Diaspora and will soon be upon us. If the necessary precautions are not taken in a timely manner, we might face a huge calamity. We might never recover. The reason why this tsunami formed is that on April 24, 2005 is the 90th anniversary of the symbolic date of the Armenian genocide allegations. Armenians want to utilize this chance fully. For years, due to Turkish indifference, they succeeded in making the world accept the genocide allegations as a fact. No matter how much we deny them, Armenian efforts have persuaded the international public. If you go anywhere, especially in the western world, you will see 90 percent of the people you talk to believe Armenians had been the victims of genocide at the hands of Turks. That is why Armenians do not want to waste this opportunity. They want a final assault and finish the matter. What is the 'final assault?' It is to get their genocide allegations accepted by a broader community and persuade those countries, whose parliaments have yet to ratify the claims. They want to up the tempo on the eve of the centennial, which will come at a time when Turkey will be approaching full European Union membership, as part of their "Forcing Turkey to accept the genocide" campaign. I do not know how many officials know about this matter. What is certain is that Turkey, through its indifference, will eventually have to face the sad truth. What is the nature of the tsunami? The Armenian Diaspora is preparing a huge campaign for the 90th anniversary of the 1915 incidents. There will be conferences, meetings, colloquiums and many other activities planned for the anniversary. Most importantly, they will concentrate on countries whose parliaments have yet to officially accept that the genocide had taken place and will be asked to ratify it on the 90th anniversary. The ongoing battle in the U.S. Congress will be revived. They believe if the Congress ratifies it, Turkey's hands will be tied. The same pressure will be applied to EU member countries and national parliaments will be asked to demand from the EU Council to make genocide recognition as a precondition. They will also try to make the U.N. Security Council pass a similar decision. What can we do? The only way we can save ourselves from being the victim of this attack after years of ignoring the threat is for Turkey to reassess its official policies and take the initiative. Saying, "We never committed genocide" is no longer enough. We will be forced to pay the price of inactivity. We need to do something. One is to call for the establishment of a U.N. Genocide Allegations Investigation Commission just like Yalym Eralp and others suggest. Turkey is in the right. No one can talk of genocide. However, it has failed miserably to put its view across. The only way out is for the matter to be investigated by internationally acknowledged academics and researchers. This is the only way to find the truth. If these studies are initiated, we will gain time. In addition, while this process continues, Turkey can broaden its economic relations with Armenia and open the border gate. Such initiatives, with the international community, in mind, can be taken. Our biggest mistake would be to do nothing and continue to talk to ourselves. THE PRE-CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT IN ARMENIA, HOWEVER THERE IS NO REASON FOR "VELVET REVOLUTION" YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMINFO. Pre-conditions are present in Armenia, however, there is no reason for "velvet revolution", said member of RA National Assembly, politologist Amayak Ovanessian in the interview with the correspondent of ARMINFO, commenting on the statement of editor-in-chief of Russian Service of BBC Konstantin Eggert referring to that Armenia will be the first state after the Ukraine where the "velvet revolution" will take place. A. Ovanessian noted that the hard social-economic conditions of the people, the falsification of results of presidential and parliamentary elections' in 2003, as well as the high level of corruption and shadow economy could be called as pre-conditions for implementation of "velvet revolution" in Armenia. The only fact that in Armenia the "velvet revolution" have not taken place yet is explained only with the weakness of Armenian opposition. However, the post-soviet states bear a great resemblance to each other and processes occurred in these countries, on the principle of communicating vessels, "flow" from one state into another, noted A. Ovanessian. "If the level of democracy and social welfare in the post-soviet states is high enough, George Soros with his money never can do a revolution there. It is not necessary to underestimate the factor of people ever",- Armenian deputy empathized. JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ARMENIA REPORTS SEVERAL INCIDENTS OF VERBAL HARASSMENT YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO.The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal harassment during the reporting period. The director of ALM TV frequently made anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a small, ultranationalist group, called for the country to be "purified" of Jews and Yezidis. On September 17, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan received a message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken and the vandalism was immediately reported to the local police, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government-owned television channel. A television crew arrived at the site together with an official from the Jewish community in Yerevan and to their surprise discovered that the memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard. In May, Jewish groups complained to several government authorities about the distribution and importation of hate literature. Each government agency they contacted responded that the literature was in apparent violation of the "Law on Distributing Literature Inflaming National Hatred" and suggested they press formal charges with the Prosecutor General's office. Jewish leaders have not yet decided whether to press charges. HEADLINES OF FEBRUARY 10 JANUARY
ARMENIA'S AMBASSADOR TO IRAN AND QATAR DISMISSED
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YEREVAN, JANUARY 10. ARMINFO. The well-known philanthropists of
Armenian origin Kirk Kirkoryan and Gerald Kafeschyan have been
awarded Fridtjof Nansen Medal.
Kirkoryan has had a very active hand in the restoration of the Spitak
earthquake zone, repairs of cultural facilities in Armenia, road
building and many other benevolent projects.