Unemployment, The 'Black Garden', Lake Sevan, Diplomatic Missions, New Hotel

HALF OF UNEMPLOYED IN ARMENIA PEOPLE WITHIN 35-50 YEARS OLD>ARKA News Agency, Armenia>Sept 28 2007>>YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. Almost half of the unemployed in Armenia>are people within 35-50 years old, said Consultant of Armenian "Ameria">Company Karen Martirosyan, when presenting the results of the research>on the country's labor market.>>"According to the Company's research, people within 35-50 years old>are 51% of citizens who have the status of unemployed. 55.7% fell to>citizens of this age who have been looking for job over 3 years, 33.5%>- disabled, and 31.7% - people who look for work for the first time,">he said.>>Martirosyan said that the research was conducted in seven so-called>risk groups that these people belong to: those who seek work for the>first time, disabled people, previous prisoners, demobilized from army,>children that reached labor age and are left without parents' care,>people who have the status of unemployed over 3 years, unemployed,>registered in the territorial employment centers.>>According to the data provided by Martirosyan, 45.9% of citizens>involved in risk groups had secondary education, 28.7% - specialized>secondary education, 12.6% - higher education, 0.1% - scientific>degree, 2.1% - had no education.>>"17.5% of citizens of the risk group have working experience of 10-15>years, 16.3% - 15-20 years, 15.4% - 5-10 years, 14.2% - 20-25 years.>>The majority were citizens with the working experience 30-35 years>(5.6%), another 5.5% - over 35 years," the expert said.>>According to the Armenian National Statistical Service, the>average number of unemployed in Armenia was 84,900 people (7.3%)>in January-August.>>The research of "Ameria" was conducted in February-March 2007>in Yerevan and all the regions of Armenia. 1,200 citizens, 520>organizations and 25 experts participated in the survey.>>"Ameria" is a group of companies providing complex professional>services. It specializes in four main sectors of professional activity:>consulting management, audit, bookkeeping and tax consulting, legal>consulting, investment-banking services.>>>Tales from the 'Black Garden'>By Stephanie Holmes>BBC News>September 28, 2007>>The lives of thousands of young Azeris and Armenians have been scarred>by the bitter conflict over a mountainous region whose name means>"Black Garden".>>I kept asking God: 'Why? Why?' Every day, every hour, I asked: 'Why?'>Nobody answered me.>Vafa Farajova, Azeri journalist>>Some 30,000 people were killed during the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in>the early 1990s, and little progress towards peace has been made since>a 1994 ceasefire.>>The struggle for the mainly Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan>remains unresolved, and hundreds of thousands of people are waiting to>return to their former homes.>>For nearly 20 years Azeris and Karabakh Armenians have had no contact>with one another.>>But a group of young journalists from both sides, who grew up during>the war, are now taking part in a project that brings them together to>make short documentary films.>>They explore the impact of war on the two communities and the>absurdities of daily life under the conditions of frozen conflict.>>Massive expulsions>>The shared background for all the film-makers is what Laurence Broers,>an expert on the South Caucasus with conflict resolution group>Conciliation Resources, describes as the "massive mutual expulsions">caused by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.>>One million Azeris were driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding>regions by Armenian forces, or fled homes in Armenia.>>Some 400,000 Armenians were also displaced from Azerbaijan or the>border regions of Armenia.>>Twenty-year-old Suzanna Seyranyana, a Karabakh foreign language>student, was apprehensive about meeting Azeris through the project.>>"Before, I thought that the Azeris were our enemies, I never thought>I'd be able to sit down with them, to have a cup of tea and a chat,>but during the project I met Azeris for the first time and they've>become my friends. I didn't feel any barriers between us," she said.>>A dream>>"I realised that it is not our fault," she continued. "People aren't>guilty - neither Azeris nor Armenians. It was war. It feels like a>dream, sitting with them, talking to them.">>Yet there is reluctance, by both Armenians and Azeris to remember,>recount and relive their experiences of childhood.>>"I was five years old when the war broke out. I saw everything. I>lived in a shelter for about two years. There was no light, no>nothing. It was awful. I don't want to remember that period," Suzanna>said, speaking quietly.>>Vafa Farajova, a bright-eyed 31-year-old Azeri teacher and journalist>explained: "We have forgotten our childhood and school-years.">>But she still has vivid memories of abandoning her home in Zangelan,>one of seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by>Armenian forces during the conflict.>>"When we fled, all the routes to Baku were closed, all the districts>were occupied by Armenians so we had to escape across the river, via>Iran," she said.>>"We left everything - our home, everything... We didn't take my>clothes, my pictures, my dresses or shoes. I felt awful, I cried. I>kept asking God 'Why? Why?' Armenians and Azerbaijanis had had such>good relations. Every day, every hour, I asked 'Why?' Nobody answered>me.">>Sense of the absurd>>Making the films, which involved joint training sessions, gave them>the chance to express their frustration about a conflict they see as>senseless.>>A film by Azeri journalist Madina Nik-Najat, titled "The>Bug-gobblers", unravels how conflicts begin, and the role of seemingly>irrelevant differences in behaviour.>>It juxtaposes members of two neighbouring groups, explaining why they>simply cannot get on, mentioning different speeds of talking and>methods of baking bread. The audience at a screening in London's>Institute of Contemporary Arts laughed out loud.>>Madina describes the film as "almost a comedy, showing that conflict>will be present whenever there is difference".>>Vafa's film introduces the audience to a former solider, blinded in>battle, who bears the scars of the bullet which robbed him of his>sight at his temple.>>He has rebuilt his life. He has returned to university to become a>teacher, got married and had a child but, asked if he would return to>the battlefield, he replies unhesitatingly: Yes.>>The project, organised partly by Conciliation Resources, aims to>develop dialogue between young people from both sides of the conflict.>>The idea is that the films will be shown to both Armenian and Azeri>audiences, but there is no guarantee that this will happen.>>Sevak Hayrapetyan, a 26-year-old Armenian student, nonetheless says he>hopes the films may help increase understanding between Azeris and>Armenians.>>"The war was incomprehensible for me," he says.>>"I don't know if this project will help end the stalemate but these>are at least small steps.">>>LEVEL OF LAKE SEVAN RISES BY 63 CENTIMETERS SINCE EARLY 2007>Author: Arev Hakobian Editor: Eghian Robert>Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia>Sept 28 2007>>YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Since early 2007, the level of>Lake Sevan has risen by 63 cm and currently makes 1,898.86 meters.>>The RA minister of environmental protection Aram Harutyunian said at>the September 28 press conference held in connection with 100 days>of his tenure that this year, water has been let out of Lake Sevan>since June and the water release from the lake amounted to 144.4 mln>cubic meters as of September 26. Out of 95 ha of forest areas covered>with water due to a rise in the lake's level, 72 ha has been cleaned.>>According to the minister, in 2007, state budget allocations for>increasing the number of endemic fish, including summer trout, grew>by 20 million drams (about 58 thousand dollars) to 29 million 995>thousand drams. This year 15,119 young fishes over 4 grams and 84>thousand newly-hatched ones have been released into the lake.>>A. Harutyunian said that the environmental protection inspection of>the ministry conducted checks of 519 economic entities and revealed>492 violations. With the aim of eliminating these violations, 198>instructions were given, 347 acts on administrative fines of the total>amount of 22.2 bln drams and 118 protocols on damage done to nature>of the total amount of 49 mln drams were compiled. 29.2 mln drams>was transferred to the state budget as a result of imposing penalties.>>PRIME MINISTER OF ARMENIA CALLS ON DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS IN THE COUNTRY FOR >MORE ACTIVITY>>ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia>Sept 28 2007>>ArmInfo. Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met with Foreign>Minister of Armenia and the heads of diplomatic missions in the>country.>>The governmental press-service told ArmInfo that Serzh Sargsyan>attracted the attention of Ambassadors at the fulfillment of two key>tasks: protection of Armenian citizens' rights and the interests>of Armenian companies abroad, as well as more active work in the>economic issues, Serzh Sargsyan stressed the necessity for the>embassies elaborating definite programs and making new initiatives.>>He mentioned that one of the most important conditions of the>country's economic development is involvement of a great number of>foreign companies into the country's economy in order to study their>experience, create new jobs and raise the interest to Armenia. Serzh>Sargsyan assured the diplomats that the Armenian Government does>its best to create favorable conditions for the work of embassies>and the draft budget of Armenia for 2008 takes into account all the>proposals of the Foreign Ministry. However, the government has great>expectations also from your activity, the premier said. In their turn,>minister Oskanyan and the diplomats thanked the prime minister and>the government for attention and assistance.NEW HOTEL WITH 124 BEDS OPENS >IN YEREVAN WITH PARTICIPATION OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT>Author: Editor: Eghian Robert>Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia>Sept 28 2007>>YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenia Royal Palace Hotel>opened on September 28 with the participation of the Armenian president>Robert Kocharian. The hotel offers 59 rooms with 124 beds in it. It>belongs to Azat Safarian's family business.>>According to the RA minister of trade and economic development Nerses>Yeritsian, the hotel's owner submitted a bid for receiving a 4-star>category to the ministry's commission on hotel qualification.>>In his words, demand for hotel rooms is still great in Armenia,>particularly in Yerevan. He said that by late 2007, the new concept>of tourism development will be prepared. It will envisage the annual>number of tourists that Armenia can receive in five years. In the>minister's opinion, it is realistic for this index to make one million>tourists. He noted that the achievement of this goal will take much>effort of state and private sector in the marketing sector.>>The head of the tourism development department of the RA ministry of>trade and economic development Mekhak Apresian said that there are>about 70 hotels with nearly 15 thousand beds in Armenia. According to>official statistics, 181,239 tourists visited Armenia in the first>half of 2007 against 132,937 in the same period of 2006. The number>of tourists in 2006 made 381,136 against 318,563 in 2007.