representative
office in Armenia and a member of the ARF Dashnaksutsyun Party, said
at the "Urbat> discussion club, Thursday.
To remind, at the latest elections to the US Congress, the Democratic
Party gained the majority of seats in the House of Representatives.
In K.Manoyan's opinion, this allows to hope that the situation in the
American parliament will change in the Armenian lobby's favour.
DRAFT RESOLUTION ON RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN OTTOMAN
TURKEY TO BE PRESENTED IN US CONGRESS NEXT WEEK
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. A group of US Congressmen, including
Adam Schiff, George Radanovich, Frank Pallone, Joe Knollenberg,
addressed a letter to the members of the US House of Representatives,
informing about their intention to present the draft resolution on
recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in the US
Congress next week.
According to the "Zaman> Turkish newspaper, in the letter the
Congressmen appeal to their colleagues to support this initiative.
The source reminds that the voting on a similar resolution was
rejected at the last minute in 2002 when Republican Dennis Hastert,
the former Speaker of the House of Representatives decided to leave
it for the consideration of the White House's administration.
Meanwhile, during the last parliamentary elections, Democrat Nancy
Pelosi, the present Speaker of the House of Representatives, promised
her voters to support this resolution.
IT IS TACTLESS TO APPOINT A REPRESENTATIVE OF NON-TRADITIONAL SEXUAL
ORIENTATION AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: HAKOB AVETIKYAN
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. It is tactless to appoint Richard
Hoagland, a representative of a non-traditional sexual orientation,
as the US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia
which is a country of strong traditions, Hakob Avetikyan, the
editor-in-chief of the "Azg> newspaper, said at the "Urbat>
discussion club, Thursday.
In his turn, Kiro Manoyan, the head of the "Hay Dat> office in
Armenia and a member of the ARF Dashnaktsutsyun Party, noted that it
is undiplomatic and tactless of Armenia to make any statements about
the appointment of Richard Hoagland. This issue should be addressed
in the USA, moreover, the "Hay Dat> office has already expressed a
discontent in its message to the Senate. Particularly, the message
runs that R.Hoagland will fail to properly represent the interests of
the USA in Armenia, K.Manoyan said. He added that Armenia should wait
for the further course of events.
To remind, US President George Bush has twice failed to appoint
Richard Hoagland as US Ambassador to Armenia. For the first time, the
voting in the US Senate for confirmation of R.Hoagland's nomination
for a new US Ambassador to Armenia was suspended in September 2006.
The Armenian community of the USA came out against Hoagland's
nomination, as he denies the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
1915.
U.S. SENATE RE-STUDIES RICHARD HOAGLAND'S CANDIDACY AS THE U.S.
AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. Richard Hoagland's candidacy is in the
agenda of U.S. Senate for nomination of the new U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia.
In the U.S. diplomatic mission to Armenia the ArmInfo correspondent
was told that President George W. Bush has once again proposed Mr.
Hoagland's candidacy for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.
Liz Zentos, Information Officer of the U.S. Embassy to Armenia, said
- "First the Senate foreign relation committee will have to vote on
Hoagland's nomination, if it is approved by the committee the
nomination will go to the Senate for a vote." Ms. Zentos added that,
as per the Senate's regulations, the candidacy could be approved or
refuted even if the Parliament considers that the candidacy should
not be re-reviewed again.
In September 2006, Senator Robert Menendez blocked Hoagland's
candidacy and together with Senator Harry Reid requested President
George W. Bush for a new candidature for the position of U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia. Hoagland's nomination will be studied by the
110th Congress where Democrats are in lead after the November
elections.
OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE: FROZEN CONFLICTS IN GEORGIA, MOLDOVA AND
NAGORNO-KARABAKH DEMAND SPECIAL ATTENTION
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. The frozen conflicts in Georgia,
Moldova and Nagorno-Karabakh demand special attention, OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Miguel Angel Moratinos said at a conference in
Vienna, Thursday. The conference covered the issues of terrorism,
ecology and pluralism. The Chairman added that in the settlement of
these conflicts, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe will pay special attention to establishing relations between
communities and nations, the OSCE told the ArmInfo news agency. In
each of these conflicts the wall dividing the nations into two parts
should be pulled down, A.Moratinos said. For a favorable settlement
of the conflicts the OSCE should interfere now and build a base for
further progress, he noted.
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT REIMBURSED ARMAVIA'S COSTS FOR PEOPLE
TRANSPORTATION OFF LEBANON-ISRAEL CONFLICT ZONE
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. Armenian Government allocated 1165.00
mln AMD (315 thnd USD), from the reserve fund stipulated by the state
budget for 2007, to reimburse Armavia's costs for transportation of
people off Lebanon-Israel conflict zone to Armenia and for
humanitarian cargo transportation, governmental press service
reports.
Hundreds of refugees were transported to Armenia by Armavia's special
flights to Syria during combat actions in Lebanon.
HEAD OF "HAY DAT" ARMENIAN OFFICE: PROBABILITY OF PASSING OF
RESOLUTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF US
CONGRESS VASTLY INCREASED WITH VICTORY OF DEMOCRATS IN PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTIONS
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. The probability of passing of
resolution on Armenian Genocide by the House of Representatives of US
Congress has vastly increased with the victory of democrats in the
recent parliamentary elections, the head of "Hay Dat" Organization's
Armenian Office, Karo Manoyan, said today in "Urbat" club. At that,
he made a slip in speech that it is his personal opinion.
POSSIBLE ACQUITTAL OF ARRESTED ZHIRAIR SEFILYAN TO CREATE NEGATIVE
IMAGE OF RA LAW MACHINERY IN DIASPORA'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY:
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF "AZG" NEWSPAPER
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. A possible acquittal of the arrested
Zhirair Sefilyan, the leader of the public-patriotic organization
"In defense of Liberated Territories", accused of calls to the
armed subversion of the constitutional system, will create a negative
image of RA Law machinery in the Diaspora's Armenian community,
the Editor-in-Chief of "Azg" newspaper, Akop Avetikyan, said today
in "Urbat" club.
According to him, if Sefilyan is acquitted and it becomes clear that
he was accused groundlessly, the image of Armenia's law machinery
will be undermined. "The Diaspora has always treated and still
treats the Armenians with heroic past too emotionally", Avetikyan
said.
MEDIA OF ARMENIAN DIASPORA AND MASS-MEDIA OF ARMENIA PERFORM
DIFFERENT TASKS: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF "AZG" NEWSPAPER
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. The Mass Media of the Armenian Diaspora
and the Mass Media of Armenia perform different tasks, the
Editor-in-Chief of the home "Azg" newspaper, Akop Avetikyan, said
today in "Urbat" club.
A. Avetikyan reminded that he had been the editor of another
"Zartonk" newspaper, edited in Beirut, for 13 years. Therefore, he
is well aware about the Armenian newspapers of Diaspora, what is
called, from inside. According to him, very often these are
newspapers of one man, whish combine the editor, journalist,
corrector and issuer in one person. Very often, it is a family
business, when the representative of one family are the owner of a
newspaper for tenth of years. If the newspapers, issued in Armenia,
have as an object to inform the reader of the events in Armenia and
in the world, the newspapers of Diaspora broadcast, first of all,
the events of the Armenian community of the country where they are
issued.
In hid turn, the Head of the "Hay Dat" Armenian Office, Kiro Manoyan,
said he is also well aware of the Armenian newspapers of Diaspora,
since he used to head the "Horizon" newspaper, issued in Canada.
Neither Manoyan nor Avetikyan agreed with the opinion that the
newspapers of the Armenian Diaspora are "isolated" from the Armenian
reality. On the contrary, they are very well aware of it.
AR DEPUTY FM: CONSTRUCTIVE WAYS ARE SEARCHED TO COORDINATE
POSITIONS FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. "Azerbaijan has demonstrated a
constructivism and political will, necessary for the Karabakh
conflict settlement and now it is Armenia's turn to show a similar
approach", the deputy FM of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov, told ANS TV
Company, Day.az reports.
According to Azimov, all the issues of the shortly coming meeting of
the two countries' Foreign Ministers are known and "constructive ways
are searched to coordinate the positions". "Azerbaijan has taken all
the possible measures to reach this constructivism. It may sound
trivial, however, the ball is at the Armenian side since we have
made our presence felt", he said. A. Azimov called the
mediator-countries to develop the settlement principles in detail
and to commit them to paper for their further implementation. ""All
this work can be done within a month or it may my not happen even
during 5 years. All depends on the political will. Now it is a
matter of the adverse party", he said.
FRENCH SPORTS AND CULTURE UNION "PROVANCE-ARMENIA" INTENDS TO
BUILD SPORTS COMPLEX IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Stepanakert, January 11. ArmInfo. The objective of our visit to
Nagorno-Karabakh is to help children going in for taekwondo. We have
given them suits and bags. We are also planning to help 250 orphans
and children from poor families. I have asked my friends in France
for help and they have given me clothes for Karabakh children, the
chairman of the Provance-Armenia sports and culture union (France)
Agobik Khalchadourian said during a press-conference in Stepanakert.
He also said that the Union and the Karabakh authorities are going to
build a sports complex in Nagorno-Karabakh. The project is to be
launched in June 2007. Pop stars from Armenia and France will take
part in the ceremony of laying of the first stone.
The Union is also planning to build a culture and education complex
in Kotayk region, Armenia.
EARTHQUAKE IN TERRITORY OF CASPIAN SEA
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. Earthquake with magnitude 5 happened
today morning at 7:58 AM by local time in the territory of Caspian
Sea in 90 km to the east of Makhachkala town. The earthquake shock
in epicenter was of force 6-7, National Seismic Protection Service
told ArmInfo.
VTB-ARMENIA BANK ADDED TO ITS TOTAL ASSETS TO 26 MLN USD
Yerevan, January 11. ArmInfo. By January 1, 2007, VTB-Armenia bank's
net profit added 6.7% to the bank's total assets making up 9.333 bln
AMD that is 26 mln USD.
VTB told ArmInfo that VTB's registered capital underwent no
amendments by January 1, 2007, and was fixed at the rate of 19.7 mln
USD. Its net profit as per the 2006 results made up 746.344 mln AMD
that is 2.1 mln USD.
As per the sources, assets in the context of the year grew up by
10.1% making up 45.649 bln AMD that is 125.5 mln USD by January 1
2007. VTB's obligations in the context of the year grew up by 11%
making up 36.315 bln AMD that is 99 mln USD.
