Saturday 26 November 2016

Armenian News... A Topalian... Russian Language ruled out... November 24, 2016


Video highlighting the UK funded project just completed in 

Armenia part of the work of the Hayasdan All-Armenian Fund 

Dear All

Please take a look at the short video clip below regarding Shengavit 
kindergarten. So nice to see the outcome of this wonderful project 
we took on...

«Հայաստան» հիմնադրամի ֆինանսավորմամբ գիշերօթիկ 
մսուր-մանկապարտեզ է նորոգվել
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OaT-bspCdc 


RFE/RL Report
Armenian Minister Rules Out Official Status For Russian Language
November 24, 2016
Artak Hambardzumian
The Russian language will not be given an official status in Armenia,
Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian said on Thursday, responding to a
controversial statement made by a senior Russian diplomat.

The Russian ambassador to UNESCO, Eleonora Mitrofanova, declared last
week that Russian should have a "special status" in former Soviet
republics.

The statement prompted concern from Armenian opposition politicians,
intellectuals and media outlets wary of their country's dealings with
Russia. Some of them have speculated that Moscow may put pressure on
the Armenian government to amend domestic legislation accordingly.

Armenian has been the country's sole official language ever since the
break-up of the Soviet Union. A law enacted in 1991 also made it the
principal language of instruction in public schools.

"Armenian is the official language of the Republic of Armenia,"
Mkrtchian said when asked by journalists to comment on Mitrofanova's
remarks. "Our law on the language is one of the fundamental values of
our independence and it cannot be changed."

While ruling out an official status for the Russian language, Mktchian
said that good knowledge of it is "necessary" given Armenia's alliance
with Russia and membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic
Union. "Russian is certainly the most commonly spoken foreign language
in Armenia and we are interested in strengthening that language," he
said.

The minister stressed at the same time the importance of other foreign
languages. "There is also another major foreign language: English," he
said. "As an education minister, I am also very, very worried that we
are gradually losing our culture of the German language and that there
are now only a few schools specializing in the French language."

Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh insisted on Wednesday that
Mitrofanova's remarks did not apply to Armenia because Russian is a
mandatory subject in Armenian public schools where students study it
for ten years. "And that is absolutely enough," he told a news
conference.

Kocharian also argued that ethnic Russians make up a tiny proportion
of Armenia's population. "Our biggest ethnic minority is Yazidis, not
Russians," he said.

Armenian officials gave similar assurances in 2014 after Russia's most
famous television journalist backed by the Kremlin called for Russian
to be granted an official status in the South Caucasus
country. Visiting Yerevan, Dmitry Kiselyov said failure to do so would
jeopardize Yerevan's close security ties to Moscow.

Then Education Minister Armen Ashotian hit out at Kiselyov, saying
that the controversial Russian TV anchor behaved "like a bear in a
china shop."


RFE/RL Report
Yerevan Insists On Safeguards Against Karabakh Fighting
November 23, 2016
Artak Hambardzumian
The Nagorno-Karabakh peace process will remain essentially deadlocked
until Azerbaijan agrees to confidence-building measures aimed at
minimizing ceasefire violations in the conflict zone, a senior
Armenian official said on Wednesday.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents reportedly agreed on such
measures when they met in Vienna in May shortly after the worst
fighting around Karabakh since 1994. Those included international
investigations of armed incidents, an idea that has long been advanced
by the U.S., Russian and French mediators.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said last
week that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev objected to such
investigations at a follow-up meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sarkisian held in Saint Petersburg in June.

Still, Aliyev and Sarkisian again pledged to bolster the ceasefire
regime in a joint statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that
was issued after that meeting. They also hinted at progress towards a
peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenian officials say there has been no further progress in the peace
process since the Saint Petersburg summit because of Baku's refusal to
comply with the confidence-building agreements.

"There is still no progress in the negotiation process," Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian told reporters. "Furthermore, at
this stage it's not possible to expect progress until the agreements #
reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg are implemented."

"It's not possible to expect progress in the negotiation process as
long as there is a threat of renewed war and no trust between the
parties, as long as they shoot and organize provocations on the Line
of Contact [around Karabakh,]" he said.

Kocharian also said in that regard that it is "not yet" clear whether
the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will hold a
face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the OSCE's annual ministerial
conference that will take place in Hamburg on December 8-9.

The U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group
have so far scheduled only separate talks in the German city between
Edward Nalbandian an Elmar Mammadyarov. They said on October 26 that
they will discuss with Mammadyarov and Nalbandian the possibility of
arranging another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit "at the earliest
opportunity"

The two ministers traded accusations when they received Italy's
Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Yerevan and Baku earlier this
month. Nalbandian pointed to Baku's reluctance to accept the
safeguards against truce violations, while Mammadyarov claimed that
the Armenian side is keen to preserve the Karabakh status quo.
panarmenian.net


sputniknews.com
Legendary Russian-Armenian aircraft designer dies in Moscow
25.11.16

Hovhannes (Ivan) Mikoyan, a prominent Russian-Armenian aircraft designer best known for his MIG-29 fighters, has died in Moscow at age 89, Vesti.ru reports.

The legendary master devoted his career to an aircraft designing bureau founded by Artem Mikoyan, his uncle, starting as a leading engineer and later being promoted to the rank of design manager.

For his fourth-generation fighter jet’s design, Mikoyan was honored with the USSR state award. Until his late days, he served as an advisor for the Russian aircraft corporation MIG.


panarmenian.net
FIFA World Ranking: Armenia climbs record 38 spots to place 87th
November 24, 2016  

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia ’s 3-2 win over Montenegro has helped the national football team jump the largest number of spots in this month's FIFA World Ranking

As the new list shows, the country has registered the biggest move by ranks, bouncing a total of 38 places to secure the 87th spot among 205 teams included in the report.

In Thursday, November 24's list, Armenia has a score of 412, up from last month's 270.

In the ranking, Iran are 30th (-3), Turkey climbed a spot to 24th place, Georgia moved up three positions to 113th, while Azerbaijan dropped 2 spots to 90th. Argentina top the standings, with Brazil swapping places with Germany to come in at second, while Tonga, Somalia and Gibraltar have the worst record this month.


armradio.am
Mourinho praises Mkhitaryan after Europa League win
25 Nov 2016

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has challenged Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce in the Premier League as he did in the 4-0 Europa League defeat of Feyenoord on Thursday, ESPN FC reports.

Mourinho handed Mkhitaryan just his second start of the season, while leaving out Anthony Martial. Mkhitaryan’s previous start came in the 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City on Sept. 10.

The Armenian had only made one further appearance since then, as a sub in the 2-1 defeat at Fenerbahce on Nov. 3, before being selected to face Feyenoord.

Discussing Mkhitaryan’s display, Mourinho said: “He just needs now to try to replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League. The Premier League is different. He needs one more step.

“Obviously now the confidence level is higher. This performance gives him the right to believe that he can play the next match.

“The Premier League has more physicality, more aggression. He needs a bit more of that. But, with the quality, we know why we bought him. He has a high level of technical quality. He’s very intelligent, very bright, with how he reads the game.”

“The reception [from the fans] he deserved because he played very well. Always improving, improving, improving, improving until the moment he was really tired and I felt it was the right moment to take him off and to let him come off with a very good performance. It was important for his confidence and he will try to keep adapting and trying to replicate this kind of quality performance in the Premier League which is a competition with different difficulties,” Mourinho.

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