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HOLLANDE TO STAND BY BAN ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

Chicago Tribune

July 9 2012

Reuters, 10:20 a.m. CDT, July 9, 2012

* France reopens question of Armenia genocide ban

* Move throws into doubt renewed Franco-Turkish ties

PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande will

stand by a campaign pledge to make it illegal to deny that the killing

of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide, his office said,

days after his foreign minister said the law had been abandoned.

Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision

in February by France's constitutional court to strike down the

genocide denial law as contrary to free speech.

Turkey had cancelled all economic, political and military meetings

with France in December after the French parliament voted in favour

of the draft law.

At a joint news conference last week, French Foreign Minister Laurent

Fabius said the law was unlikely to be resurrected and Turkish Foreign

Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the opening of a warmer phase in

relations with France.

But Hollande's office said on Monday the president would stand by his

pledge, made to French Armenians while on the campaign trail ahead

of his election in May.

"The position is very clear, the commitment will be met," a source

at Hollande's office said.

Asked about Hollande's decision, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said

Ankara was not prepared to act on unconfirmed reports and said recent

meetings in Paris had been positive.

"We will follow it and let's see what the result will be," he said.

Given the likelihood that the constitutional court would reject a

new law, weekly newspaper JDD reported that Hollande's government

was examining alternative legal means, including penalising denial

via official decree.

Armenia, backed by many historians, says about 1.5 million Christian

Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World

War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman

government.

Turkey says there was heavy loss of life on both sides during the

fighting in which Armenian partisans supported invading Russian

forces. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after the war. Successive Turkish

governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide

is an insult to their nation.

Turkey hopes Hollande's election might mean France is more open to its

joining the European Union than under his conservative predecessor

Nicolas Sarkozy, but has so far received no public support for its

EU bid from Paris.

(Reporting By Julien Ponthus, additional reporting by Jonathon Burch

in Ankara, writing by Nick Vinocur; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Azerbaijani sniper shots dead Armenian contract serviceman

tert.am

18:29 - 07.07.12

Contract serviceman born in 1973 Levon Tamrazyan has been shot dead on

July 7 at about 12.15 pm by an Azerbaijani sniper, press officer of

the Defense Ministry Mary Sargsyan told Tert.am.

The killed serviceman is reported to be from Vanadzor. The incident

happened in defense positions of Berd region.

Criminal case has opened, investigation is under way.

Artsrun Hovhannissyan, spokesman for the Armenian defense minister,

said the serviceman is killed by an Azerbaijani sniper.

The OSCE Minsk group is periodically calling upon sides to withdraw

snipers from the line of contact but Azerbaijan always rejects it.

EIGHT ARMENIANS KILLED IN RUSSIA FLOOD

news.am

July 10, 2012 | 13:40

The number of Armenians killed in Russian flood has reached eight.

The list issued by the administration of Krymsk region of Krasnodar

Krai contains five Armenian names: Susanna Boghokiyan, Zaven Dovdyan

(born in 1968), Nina Ishoyeva, Kapustyan (name is not available)

and Tatyana Medloyan.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, 19-year-old Shumiti

Galstyan, Lydia Shahbazyan and Hovhannes Shahbazyan were listed among

the victims. Thus, the flood claimed lives of eight Armenians.

The July 7 flood inundated close to 5,000 homes in the Krai's three

cities and several villages. The natural disaster claimed almost 180

lives and affected more than 12,000 people.

Armenians in Turkey return to their religion

 13:08, 7 July, 2012

YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS: Armenians from Turkey more and more often

restore their Christian identity. Armenpress reports that Armenian

patriarchal vicar Aram Archbishop Ateshyan informed Ermenihaber.am

that each year 60-70 Armenians restore their identity of Christian.

`Those Armenians who can introduce facts that they have Armenian

origin, their root is Armenian are immediately accepted  and they pass

a six-month course on Christianity, being Armenian. Then he is

officially mentioned as a Christian, baptized and becomes a member of

Armenian Church' mentioned Ateshyan.

The latter informed that before 1914 in Ottoman Empire had been around

2170 Churches and 2000 schools under the control of the Patriarchy.

But then during the Republican turkey the number of Churches decreased

to 45, schools to 13. Acting churches are considered those which open

their doors at least once a year for mass. Speaking about the bad

state of the Churches Ateshyan mentioned that Armenian Patriarchy does

not have money to reconstruct them. He also informed that the number

of Armenian clergies in the Patriarchy is 22-23

STATE-OF-THE-ART GREENHOUSE TO BE BUILT IN ARMENIA

news.am

July 09, 2012 | 12:03

YEREVAN. - An agreement is reached, with the Dutch "Groch Holland"

Company, to construct a 50-hectare very modern greenhouse in Armenia,

Agrarian Peasant Union of Armenia Chairman Hrach Berberyan said during

a press conference on Monday.

The Dutch company and Armenia will provide 75 and 25 percent,

respectively, of the total investments.

As per Berberyan, the most modern technologies will be used in the

greenhouse, and this will secure 2-3 times more harvest than those

from the current greenhouses.

And "Groch Holland" will sell the new greenhouse's produce to European

and Arab markets.

IT ARMENIA'S BRAND - EXPERT

tert.am

09.07.12

Armenia is positioning itself as not only an IT, but also as an R&D

center, Bagrat Yengibaryan, Director of the Enterprise Incubator

Foundation (EIF), told journalists on Monday.

"IT is Armenia's brand now. I wish Armenia's IT brand developed

along with its cognac and apricot brands. We hope that Armenia's

representation in the Silicon Valley will give serious impetus to the

industry's development," Yengibaryan said. More than 300 IT companies

are operating in Armenia now, he added.

Also, a number of new companies have been established in the past

three years. If the current rate is maintained, 10% annual growth

may be recorded, he said.

He noted that the monthly salary in Armenia's IT sector exceeds US

$1,000 now.

As regards international companies cooperating with Armenia, he

singled out the Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia, which is among

the world's top ten centers.

With respect to Mobile research Armenia is the second after Poland.

Yengibaryan also recalled the establishment of Nokia laboratories,

which is to get extra financing this year.

"The Armenian-Indian training center is training around 300 specialists

in developing high-speed software," Yengibaryan said.

Armenia is also negotiating IT development with South Korea and

China, and South Korean IT specialists are to arrive in Armenia late

this week.

IT development centers have been opened in Armenia's second largest

city, Gyumri, and in Nagorno-Karabakh. Not only local, but also

foreign investments have been made in the centers.

"The construction of the Gyumri industrial park is most inspiring, and

60 specialists are taking retraining courses, and four IT development

laboratories are working, there. Similar centers will also be opened

in Vanadzor and Charentsavan," Yengibaryan said. Armenia is also

managing Black Sea countries' IT projects, he added.

Yengibaryan is proud of the fact that "made in Armenia" can now be

read on Synopsys-made tools. Referring to well-known IT experts,

he said that Armenia is now a European-Asian coordination center.

Speaking of brain drain, Yengibaryan said that about 7% of IT

specialists leave Armenia.

"More specialists are now trained in Armenia than leave the country.

They do not go to find jobs. Young people do not any more have such

a strong desire to leave Armenia," he said.

'FASTEST MAN ON EARTH' AND HIS ARMENIAN WIFE - TELEGRAPH

tert.am

10.07.12

The Daily Telegraph has prepared a report on retired American

sprinter and four times world champion Michael Johnson, elaborating

his victories and achievements, as well as his family life with his

second his wife, who is an ethnic Armenian.

The British publication describes Johnosn as a multimedia superstar,

"a sort of Tiger Woods of athletics, bringing it into the mainstream".

"I'm proud of being remembered as someone who changed the sport

in terms of what's possible," the sportsman was quoted as telling

the paper.

Johnson's second wife, Armine Shamiryan, is a chef - whom the he said

he met "randomly" through friends in Los Angeles nine years ago.

She is described as a "petite, dark-haired Armenian, in the kitchen,

making Greek salad for lunch." She has told the Telegraph that

her husband makes work out in the gym every day, which she doesn't

much like.

"But I think he's changed a lot. As he's got older he's realized that

he can't make everything perfect and once you realize that, you can

either accept it or be miserable about it. He's accepted it," she said.

The Telegraph reporter notes that their secluded house, looking like

a high-end show home, hardly has a hint of anything personal. "A bar

with a wine refrigerator dominates the living room but there is none

of the usual paraphernalia of family life," she says.