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Daily News UK
Vlasov denies Julfalakyan place in history as he takes gold in
Greco-Roman wrestling
By Sportsmail Reporter
Russia's Roman Vlasov won gold in the under-74kg Greco-Roman wrestling
to deny Arsen Julfalakyan a place in history.
Julfalakyan, from Armenia, was looking to become the first man to
follow in the footsteps of his father by winning gold in the
Greco-Roman discipline.
But the 25-year-old was unable to replicate the achievements of his
father and coach Levon, who won gold in Seoul in 1988, as he suffered
a 2-0 defeat to the 21-year-old reigning world champion in front of a
packed crowd at the ExCeL Arena in London.
Vlasov lifted Julfalakyan off the mat in the first period to earn a
point and then sealed victory by successfully fending off an attack
from his opponent after a second period par terre.
Earlier this evening Aleksandr Kazakevic of Lithuania and Azerbaijan's
Emin Ahmadov both won bronze medals after their respective wins over
Denmark's Mark Overgaard Madsen and Aliaksandr Kikinou in the
repechage.
Kikinou, from Belarus, was angry at missing out on bronze after he
disagreed with the judges' decision that his foot had left the mat
after being pushed by Ahmadov, although replays showed the officials
made the correct call.
People's Daily, China
Aug 6 2012
China's Zhou Lulu wins women's +75kg weightlifting Olympic gold
(Xinhua)08:21, August 06, 2012
LONDON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Lulu of China won the women's +75kg
weightlifting gold medal at the London Olympic Games on Sunday.
Zhou snatched 146kgs and jerked up an Olympic record of 187kgs for a
world record winning total of 333kgs for the top honor.
Russian Tatiana Kashirina got the silver medal by snatching a world
record of 151kgs and jerking up 181kgs for a total of 332kgs,
Armenia's Hripsime Khurshudyan got the bronze medal in 294kgs.
Erdogan invented regular lie: Olympic Flame has Turkish roots
16:20, 4 August, 2012
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS: Turkey has made regular attempts to
distort history: again discrediting itself in the international
community eye. And when Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
met with the IOC President Jacques Rogge in London recently he made it
clear that Turkey wants the flame back.
As Armenpress reports, Turkey's Minister for Youth and Sport Suat
Kilic spoke of his Prime Minister's meeting with the Olympic chief .
Olympic Flame traditionally burns from ancient Greek Olympia
settlement .Turkish journalist in his turn misleading the journalists
stated, torchlight roots go back to Turkey.
In the words of Suat Kilic Erdogan's request is `so honest and very
friendly' and "If I had been in Mr Rogge's chair I would have been
very impressed."
When asked about Rogge's reaction Kilic said the IOC President `was
very professional and didn't really give us any clue.'
"But Mr Erdogan made the point that Istanbul is the only city where
you can stage the Olympics on two continents.
The youthful minister and former journalist said his team was in
London `listening, watching and understanding'.
APA, Azerbaijan
Aug 4 2012
Armenia begins protective works on state border with Azerbaijan
[ 04 Aug 2012 13:10 ]
Baku. Rashad Suleymanov - APA. Armenia carries out protective works on
state border with Azerbaijan, APA reports quoting Armenian press.
According to information, new fortifications, different barriers are
created and the current defensive positions are being fortified. The
works are carried out at nights. The engineer units of the Armenian
Defense Ministry, staff of the Emergency Ministry, as well as workers
and equipments from neighboring villages are involved in the works.
The Defense Minister constantly arrives at the site: `According to the
servicemen, the mines, nets and signal systems are being set in the
danger zones. The incidents in June forced the Armenian Defense
Ministry to pay a lot of attention to this sphere.
The reportages of Armenian media outlets note that the residents of
villages neighboring with the state border with Azerbaijan are struck
with panic. According to military experts, if the military operations
start, Azerbaijan will strike from the state border and create a
threat for Armenia. After that Azerbaijan will split Armenian armed
forces and change the results of military operations in Karabakh for
its own benefit.
Panorama.am
Highway constructed with Lincy Foundation donation gets destroyed
11:01 04/08/2012 » Daily press
11-km long Voskepar-Kirants highway in Tavush region, bypassing border
territory, was constructed in 2001-2003 with a donation of Lincy
Foundation. The highway construction was implemented by Dorozhnik Ltd.
According to Aravot daily, the highway cost $7 million. However,
highway asphalt is getting destroyed in around 20 sections, making it
difficult for vehicles to drive. Experts say one of the causes for
this is a weak foundation of asphalt, and the road destruction is
largely to be blamed on the poor quality of construction, the paper
writes.
Yerevan Scrambles...Again
Keghart.com Editorial Board, 1 August 2012
One doesn’t need to be an expert in Middle Eastern politics to recognize the challenges the countries in the Middle East face, and what foreign powers have in store to subject the people of the region to their will. Syria’s dilemma today is not a solitary phenomenon nor will it be the last area conflagration. Armenians living in the Middle East have been cognizant of this simple fact for a long time. They have tried to adapt to unfolding situations to the best of their abilities. Not infrequently, and for the most part reluctantly, they have left their homes for safer lands far away.
Individuals, cultural associations, the Church and political organizations have time and again faced the question: “what next?”
They have thought and devised contingency plans, understandably on small scales. If nothing else, one would think the tragic events in Iraq would have alerted the government of Armenia to assess the geopolitics of the Middle East, draw the necessary conclusions and devise plans for the eventuality of various scenarios. Moreover, recent developments in and around Syria, which have acutely resurfaced for the past year or so and its implications for the Armenian community, should have not escaped the attention of the ruling elite in Yerevan.
In the 11th hour we notice that the authorities of Armenia have taken much-needed first steps, and that only as a reaction to scandals and fiasco, rather than because of forethought and planning at state level. Armavia, the Armenian Airlines, maliciously increased the ticket price of the Yerevan-Aleppo flight sector, taking advantage of the tragic situation of Armenians trying to flee to Yerevan from Syria. Subsequently, under public pressure the "Armenian" airline was forced to reduce its prices. The profiteering should have never been allowed in the first place. It’s beyond comprehension why Syrian Armenians, as a matter of fact any Armenian, should wait for months to get an entry visa. Yet this inexplicable and ignoble practice was allowed throughout the Syrian crisis. Why? It was only recently that the matter was resolved and the Ministry of Diaspora proposed measures to streamline granting Armenian passports to Syrian-Armenians.
We thank the “National Association of Sinjar Yezidis” for their solidarity and concern, yet it is simply sad to see a non-Armenian organization telling us, Armenians, and the government of Armenia what should have been done with respect to fellow Armenians living outside Armenia. A recent statement of the association read, “As we see it in Armenia, they [the government.-ed.] were not too prepared to receive our Syrian-Armenian brothers and sisters on a state level.” It added, “We stand ready to support, to the extent of our capacity, our brothers and sisters who are emigrating from Syria to Armenia. Let us hope our assistance will be timely and appropriate.”
Let’s not single out the Armenian state, which by and large, if not insensitive to Diaspora concerns on major issues, has demonstrated a distinct disconnect in understanding the psychology and aspirations of Diaspora individuals and communities. Diasporans, too, have lacked a much-needed unified, cohesive and realistic plan(s) to handle major crises. This is not a judgmental statement but a record of the facts.
The Civil War in Lebanon that started in the mid-‘70s, in addition to the much praised “positive neutrality”, underlined two major trends that have chronically “afflicted” the Armenian communities in the Middle East.
AGBU was founded in 1906 ostensibly to take care of Armenian orphans, give them shelter and keep them close to their homeland Armenia. That mission became more important and was intensely implemented following the Genocide of Armenians. It prevailed for more than a half century.
Ironically, it was Louise Manoogian Simone (president of AGBU
1989-2002) and her circle that during and after the Lebanese Civil War advocated exodus of Armenians to the West from crises-prone Middle Eastern countries. Many individuals within AGBU and friendly organizations criticized this approach calling it “defeatist” and contrary to Armenian aspirations and interests.
The Catholicosate of Cilicia and supporting organizations, on the contrary, advocated resistance to exodus and promoted the preservation of the Middle Eastern Armenian communities. The lessons of Armenians leaving for the West following the Israeli-Arab wars, the Egyptian Revolution and the emigration of Middle East Armenians to America through the misguided efforts of the American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA) in the not so distant past were revealing. Nurturing Armenianness and Armenian communities in the West, away from the proximity of physical Armenia, were not easy and were fraught with dubious outcomes.
Don’t we face the same dilemma today? We do, and we know it as individuals and as collectives. The stakes are high without clear-cut solutions. No matter what stand we advocate, ultimately it falls upon individuals to make their choices: remain where they are resisting the temptation of exodus, repatriate to Armenia or leave for green pastures in the West with the uncertainty of preserving an Armenian identity in the future.
We hope and wish that recent developments in Syria and their ramifications on Armenian communities will serve as a wake-up call to authorities in Armenia and Armenian organizations in the Diaspora to collectively devise plans which would address similar calamities in the future. There should be more than one option, and clear description of what the outcome of each option could entail.
Advocating one solution as opposed to the others is simply unrealistic and at times may lead to disasters for individuals and families, not to mention recrimination and admonition.
Eurovision.tv
Aug 5 2012
A short but successful Armenian history
The next country we visit in our look back at the history of Europe's
Favourite TV Show is Armenia. They are a relative newcomer to the
competition, but have enjoyed top ten placings on all but one of their
attempts to date.
Armenia first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
Their debut entry in Athens was Without Your Love from André. He took
his nation to a very respectable 8th place finish in the Grand Final.
Armenia's record at a glance
-First participation - 2006 - André - Without Your Love
-Best result - 4th place in Final (2008) - Sirusho - Qele Qele
-Semi-Final record - 5/6 attempts successful - 83.3% qualification record
-Highest score in the Final - 199 (2008) - Sirusho- Qele Qele
You can see the full information about all of Armenia's participants
and entries here in the history section of Eurovision.tv
Armenia's most successful attempt to date was in Belgrade in 2008,
when Sirusho took the popular Qele Qele to the top four in the Final.
You can see Sirusho's official video for Qele Qele below.
Armenia facts and figures
-For their first five years of participation, Armenia were never
outside of the top 10 in the Grand Final
-The only artist not to have qualified from the Semi-Finals for
Armenia was Emmy in 2011 with Boom Boom
-Due to the fact that the 2012 contest was being held in Baku,
Azerbaijan, Armenia decided to withdraw from the competition for a
year but are set to return in 2013
-Over their six years of participation, Armenia has awarded Russia
the maximum 12 points on four occasions, each year from 2006 to 2009.
Georgia were awarded top marks in 2010 and Ukraine in 2011
-Armenia has been very successful in the Junior Eurovision Song
Contest, having won the competition in 2010 and been runner up in 2007
and 2009. They hosted the 2011 show from Yerevan
You can see the preview video clip for Aremnia's second most
successful entry, Apricot Stone from Eva Rivas in the video below.
About Sirusho
Sirusho was born in 1987 in Yerevan, Armenia. She was raised in a
family comprised of a father who is an accomplished actor and
director, and her mother a well-known and respected singer. She has
been singing all of her life and first performed on stage at the age
of seven. Since then she blossomed into being one of the most popular
and loved singers in Armenia.
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