Armenian Demographics, Metzamor Nuclear Power Plant Refuelling

THIRTEEN PERCENT OF ARMENIANS ARE SENIOR CITIZENS>ARMENPRESS>Oct 02 2007>>YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS: Almost 13 percent of Armenia's>population or 400,000 people are senior citizens. According to Jemma>Baghdasarian, head of a department of the employment and social>affairs ministry, dealing with senior citizens and disabled people,>35,000 of them live alone and 12,700 have no heirs.>>Sona Arakelian, a program coordinator of the Mission Armenia>non-governmental organization, said an old-people house (Social House)>is being built in Yerevan's Kanaker-Zeytoon district. It will give>shelter to 30 old-aged people and 2 insecure families living now in>a hostel in a Yerevan suburb.>>The Social House will have a charity canteen, a free medical point,>a laundry, a barber's shop, a dentist, a cafe, a gym and even a>computer room.>>This project is being carried out in cooperation with the Swiss>Development and Cooperation Agency, Germany's embassy in Yerevan, UNHCR>and the Norwegian Refugee Council in concert with Mission Armenia NGO.>>>312 ARMENIANS ARE OVER 100>AZG Armenian Daily>02/10/2007>>UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has delivered his address in>connection with October 1, the International Day of Elderly.>>In his address the Secretary General has spoken about issues of social>state, pensions and healthcare of elderly people.>>It's worth to mention that in Armenia 12,7 percent or 408 thousand>of the population are over 65, and 312 - over 100, and two of them>are 112 years old.>>>Ter-Petrosian, Dashnaks Agree On `Civilized Struggle' In Historic Talks>By Ruzanna Stepanian>>Levon Ter-Petrosian and top leaders of the Armenian Revolutionary>Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) agreed to make their long-running bitter>feud more `civilized' during a sensational weekend meeting initiated by>Armenia's former president.>>The meeting, held at the Dashnaktsutyun headquarters in Yerevan on>Saturday, came as a further indication that Ter-Petrosian is leaning>towards contesting the approaching presidential election. It was the>first time that he set foot in the offices of a party which he had>accused of terrorist activity and banned during his rule.>>Ter-Petrosian was accompanied by Aleksandr Arzumanian, a former foreign>minister and his longtime close associate. They were received by Hrant>Markarian, the top member of Dashnaktsutyun's worldwide governing>Bureau, and Armen Rustamian, the nominal head of the nationalist party's>organization in Armenia.>>Participants of the talks, which lasted for less than an hour, told>RFE/RL that they focused on the political situation in Armenia and, in>particular, the unfolding preparations for next year's crucial>presidential election.>>`We agreed, among other things, to stay within the bounds of a>political, ideological struggle and not to descend to a lower level,'>said Markarian. They also stressed the need to create an `atmosphere of>tolerance and solidarity in the country,' he said.>>`It is important for the two parties that the pre-election debate be>civilized and political in nature,' said Arzumanian. In his words, the>meeting was part of Ter-Petrosian's ongoing pre-election consultations>with `important political forces.'>>The very fact of such an encounter is quite extraordinary given the>extent of mutual animosity which Dashnaktsutyun and Armenia's>first-Communist government headed by Ter-Petrosian developed even before>the Soviet collapse. The two sides strongly disagreed on Armenia's>geopolitical priorities, with Dashnaktsutyun insisting on continued>reliance on Russia and a firm Armenian stand on the Nagorno-Karabakh>conflict and relations with Turkey. The Ter-Petrosian administration, by>contrast, embraced a more pro-Western agenda and did not regard>recognition of the 1915 genocide as a precondition for normalizing>Turkish-Armenian ties.>>Their feud culminated in Ter-Petrosian's decision in December 1994 to>ban Dashnaktsutyun on the grounds that it violated Armenia's law on>political parties and allegedly harbored a death squad. Markarian and>Rustamian were among dozens of party activities arrested and imprisoned>in 1994 and 1995 on murder and coup charges denied by the nationalist>party as politically motivated. Most of them were set free shortly after>Ter-Petrosian resigned and was replaced by Robert Kocharian in early>1998.>>`We deliberately avoided talking about the past because I think all of>us should worry more about the future of our country and our people,'>said Markarian.>>`Today is not the time to talk about that,' Spartak Seyranian, a>Dashnaktsutyun parliamentarian, agreed on Monday. `But I have a very>good memory and think that nobody in our organization suffers from a>loss of memory.'>>`We are not forgetting or departing from our ideological differences,>but will try to concentrate our debate during the entire electoral>process exclusively on ideas, programs and proposals,' he explained.>>Despite being part of Armenia's governing coalition, Dashnaktsutyun has>pointedly refused to help Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian become>Armenia's next president and has decided to field its own presidential>candidate instead. The party has repeatedly deplored Sarkisian's and>Kocharian's reliance on wealthy government-connected individuals, many>of them with dubious reputations. While reaffirming their highly>negative attitude towards Ter-Petrosian, its leaders say they would>welcome his participation in the presidential election as it would>reduce the role of what they call `apolitical elements' in the country's>political life.>>`I think he should run so that the political landscape has a more>natural structure and every person, every force has its right place>there,' Markarian told RFE/RL. He said Ter-Petrosian told the>Dashnaktsutyun leaders that `he is seriously intent no nominating his>candidacy but has not yet made a final decision.'>>Markarian also said Ter-Petrosian's possible presidential run would not>lose the Dashnaktsutyun candidate any votes, arguing that the two>political camps appeal to voters with diametrically opposite views on>key issues facing Armenia. `His supporters won't vote for us and our>supporters won't vote for him,' he said.>>Arzumanian, meanwhile, insisted that Ter-Petrosian's return to active>politics is not a forgone conclusion. `He is continuing to examine the>political field and will make a decision after ending his consultations>and weighing up the political situation,' he said.>>>ARMENPRESS>NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TO BE HALTED FOR REFUELING>> YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian nuclear>power plant in Metzamor will be halted on October 15>for a recurrent refueling and maintenance.> Aram Gevorkian, head of the atomic energy>department of the energy ministry, said the refueling>and maintenance are expected to take 45 days.> In January-August this year the nuclear power plant>produced almost 2 billion kilowatt/hour electricity or>48 percent of all power generated by Armenian power>plants.