>ARMENIANS ARE CRYING ALL THE TIME>Lragir, Armenia>10-09-2007 14:08:50>>"In fact, in 2004 poverty was 40-41 percent, in 2006 it dropped>to 26-27 percent, and extreme poverty declined as well," says>Aaron Adibekyan, sociologist, who has studied recently the state>of poverty in Armenia for the UN Millennium program. On September>10 Aaron Adibekyan and the head of the Commission for Religion and>Ethnic Minorities Hranush Kharatyan, ethnographer, were hosted at>the Hayeli Club for a debate.>>Kharatyan said she has at hand the results of her survey which is>qualitative rather than quantitative. Hranush Kharatyan says she has>studied poverty since 2000, and observed the dynamics of the quality>of life of the same families. She says the results are not reassuring>because the survey conducted in different regions of Armenia show>the families which were poor in 2000 not only did not improve their>quality of life but on the contrary.>>"I am sorry to say that only one family had improvement. It is a>family of refugees in Charentsavan who have finally got an apartment.>>We did not observe any positive change in the lives of those families,>on the contrary, we observed regress, a poor state," Hranush Kharatyan>says.>>Aaron Adibekyan speaks about a reality which he explains by the>Armenian mentality. According to him, the pollsters wanted to find>out how they evaluate the state of their family. Over 60 percent of>respondents said satisfactory, they can solve their problems. And>in evaluating the state of the community in general, the respondents>said over 60 percent are poor.>>"If 60 percent of the members of the same community say the state>of their family is satisfactory, how does it happen that 60 percent>of the community are poor? An Armenian starts complaining whenever>he meets another Armenian. An American says on meeting his friend he>does well, he has some problem but he will solve it. But an Armenian>starts weeping," Aaron Adibekyan says, describing the Armenian habit of>"weeping".>>Adibekyan says the gap between the rich and the poor has shrunk as>well. His statement amazed Hranush Kharatyan who thinks in reality>the gap between 10-20 percent who have the highest income and 10-20>percent who have the lowest income has become larger.>>>>MAJOR THREAT TO RURAL POPULATION>Lragir, Armenia>10-09-2007 14:39:45>>The rural population of Armenia is exposed to a new surge of poverty,>warned Hranush Kharatyan, ethnographer, on September 10 at the Hayeli>Club. The program of consolidation of land that the government has>launched will make land farming unprofitable, she says. The community>is entitled to put out the reserve land to sale through auction,>and the land is bought by rich people who already own large tracts>of land. A farmer who owns 2000-3000 sq m of land cannot compete with>another farmer who owns 200-300 hectares. Hranush Kharatyan says most>owners of processing factories prefer to deal with owners of large>farms, and farmers face difficulty selling their production.>>Hranush Kharatyan says consolidation of land is one of the best ways>of development indeed but she said the government makes no efforts to>have it in the right direction and to eliminate its social consequences>for the rural population.>>>DIGNIFIED SALARY FOR PROFESSORS>Lragir, Armenia>10-09-2007 14:50:22>>The monthly wage of professors at Yerevan State University has gone up>by 12 percent from September 1, stated the rector of YSU Aram Simonyan>in a seminar on September 8. "Last year the salary of professors went>up by 20-40 percent but it is still low. We want to raise the salary>of professors for them to live a dignified life," Aram Simonyan stated.>>He said now the monthly wage of a professor at YSU is 120 thousand>drams, that of an associate professor is 93 thousand drams. "This is>little, and our goal is to raise the monthly wage up to 250 thousand>drams," said the rector of YSU whose salary is hardly 180 thousand>drams, the lowest among the rectors of the Armenian universities.>>>ARMENIA HAS ABOUT 40 EMBASSIES, CONSULATES AND DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ABROAD>Noyan Tapan>Sep 6, 2007>>YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. At present Armenia has about>40 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions abroad. Buildings>of 12 of them are property of the Republic of Armenia, with 7 being>acquired with state budgetary resources of Armenia. 13 buildings have>been provided gratis to Armenia by the Armenian community of the>given country. Another 13 buildings have been leased with RA state>budgetary resources. The Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian>stated this at the September 6 joint sitting of the RA National>Assembly standing committees.>>He said that Armenia should purchase in the shortest possible time>the buildings it uses abroad for diplomatic purposes - with the right>of property. V. Oskanian expressed a hope that it will be done within>the next 4-5 months. It was mentioned that apartments for diplomats>will be purchased abroad in the future.>>According to the foreign minister, in 2006, buildings with the right>of property were purchased for the Armenian embassies in Vienna,>Athens and Sofia, while in 2007 - in Warsaw. The sum envisaged by the>2007 state budget for purchasing the Armenian consulate's building>in Batumi has not been paid yet, and in case of not being used by>late 2007, it will be transferred to the 2008 state budget.>>>Armenian Wrestlers Set For World Championship In Baku>By Misak Krkyasharian>>Armenia's national wrestling team will leave for Azerbaijan's capital>Baku later this week to take part in a world championship to be held>there, the head of the Armenian Wrestling Federation said on Monday.>>The team's participation in the competition will mark an extremely rare>visit to Azerbaijan by Armenian athletes. The Azerbaijani government>usually opposes the presence of various Armenian delegations on its>soil, citing the unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.>>Earlier this year, the authorities in Baku refused to guarantee the>security of Armenia's national soccer team, which was due to play>Azerbaijan as part of the ongoing qualifying campaign for the 2008>European football championship. The two teams had been drawn into the>same Group A of the campaign. The Armenian side rejected Azerbaijani>demands that the games between them be played in a neutral venue,>leading European football's governing body, UEFA, to cancel the>fixtures.>>The Azerbaijani authorities reluctantly agreed last May to allow>Armenian wrestlers to compete in the world championship, scheduled for>September 17-23, under apparent pressure from the International Olympic>Committee and FILA, the sport's world governing body.>>Levon Vartanian, secretary general of the Armenian Wrestling Federation,>told RFE/RL that it received late last week a letter from Rafael>Martinez, the FILA president, officially inviting the Armenian team to>the championship. He said the 15 members of the team, one of them a>woman, as well as their coaches and federation officials will travel to>Baku via Tbilisi this weekend. The Azerbaijani side has promised to>issue them with entry visas at Baku airport, he said.>>In Vartanian's words, the wrestlers are in `combative spirits' despite>having security concerns and expecting a hostile reception from>spectators. `They are tasked with successfully participating in the>world championship,' he said. `That would earn them qualification for>the next Olympic games.'