Local Armenian News

[Hovik]

400TH ANNIVERSARY OF IRANIAN ARMENIANS' CULTURE TO BE CELEBRATED IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 07. ARMINFO. "Call of Nostalgie" concert of
singer-potes will take place at Aram Khachatrian Concert Hall on
December 9. The concert is dedicated to 400th anniversary of the
Iranian Armenians' culture (1604-2004). In 1604, 30 thousand Armenians
moved to Ispahan from Jugha and established the large community
of Nor Jugha. They built here Armenian churches, many cultural and
educational centres.

Masis Baghdasarian, head of the American Armenian Cultural
Foundation, said that such concerts have alredy taken place twice
in Los Angeles. He said that 24 pieces by 14 singer-poets will be
performed at the concert. The fund also issued 8 CDs of the singer
poets' music.Baghdasarian said that they are going to hold the
presentation of "Call of Nostalgie-9" CD on the very day of the
concert. He added that their organization is going to carry out
various cultural arrangements in Armenia, Iran and USA in 2010.

[Hovik]

YEREVAN OFFICE OF "AUSTRIAN AIRLINES" AIRCOMPANY TO OPEN NEW ROUTS IN 2006

YEREVAN OFFICE OF "AUSTRIAN AIRLINES" AIRCOMPANY TO OPEN NEW ROUTS IN 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 07. ARMINFO. The Yerevan Office of "Austrian
Airlines" is going to open new routes to the Hungarian city Pecs,
to the Italian city Brindisi, to Donetsk. Odessa and Yekaterinburg,
in 2006.

The first flight to Pecs will take place on March 27, 2006. The
flights will take place four days a week on OS 725 planes. The flights
to Brindisi are also envisaged to take place four days a week on OS
8071 planes. The first flight to Donetsk will take place on March 26,
2006, three times a week with transit landing in Vienne.

The flights to Donetsk will be carried out on OS 639 plane. Besides,
the flights envisaged on Monday, Thursdays and Fridays will be carried
out on Boeing 737.

The aircompany suggests air tickets to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels,
Jeneva, London, Paris, New York, Washington, Tornonto at the price
of $559.

[Hovik]

Armenian Parliament Extends Peacekeepers' Stay In Iraq

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT EXTENDS PEACEKEEPERS' STAY IN IRAQ

Mediamax news agency
8 Dec 05

Yerevan, 8 December: The Armenian parliament today adopted a decision
to extend the stay of Armenian peacekeepers in Iraq for one more year.

Only the Dashnaktsutyun faction voted against this decision, our
Mediamax parliamentary correspondent reports.

Mediamax recalls that the Armenian National Assembly ratified a
memorandum on the dispatch of 46 Armenian military doctors, drivers
and sappers to Iraq on 24 December 2004. At that time, 91 MPs voted
for and 23 voted against ratification.

[passage omitted: background information on memorandum].

[Hovik]

Amended Armenian Constitution Enters Into Force

AMENDED ARMENIAN CONSTITUTION ENTERS INTO FORCE

AP Worldstream
Dec 07, 2005

An amended constitution approved overwhemingly last month in the
former Soviet nation of Armenia has entered into force, officials
said Wednesday.

The text of the new charter was published Wednesday in the government
gazette.

Deputy chairman of the Constitutional Court, Volodya Ovannisyan,
said that since a seven-day period had elapsed since the Nov. 27
referendum without any challenges to the results, the constitutional
amendments were now legally in force.

The amendments, aimed at imposing a more strict separation of
powers between the judicial, executive and legislative branches,
were supported by 93 percent of the 1.5 million people who cast
ballots in Sunday's vote, according to official results.

The amendments also included the removal of a clause barring Armenians
from holding dual citizenship _ an important change for the small
country of about 3.3 million that has a massive ethnic diaspora
worldwide.

The opposition, which boycotted the vote, alleged major fraud.

A Western-led observer mission by the Council of Europe criticized
"serious abuse" in several polling stations, including ballot stuffing
and forged additional signatures on the voters' register that it said
cast doubt over the officially announced turnout of 65 percent.

However, the observers did not contest the referendum's validity.

[Hovik]

Screen Version Of Bellini's Famous 'norma' To Be Presented In Armenia

SCREEN VERSION OF BELLINI'S FAMOUS 'NORMA' TO BE PRESENTED IN ARMENIA
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily #224
08/12/2005

The Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs of Armenia in concert
with RosAr Russian-Armenian Center for Interregional Cooperation is
organizing today the presentation of screen version of Vincenzo
Bellini's "Norma" opera at "Moscow" cinema. Philosopher and
scriptwriter Boris Hayrapetian is the author of the film who tried to
confront opera with cinematography reviving the genre of film-opera
after a 20 years' interval. Hasmik Papian, Gegham Grigorian and
Varduhi Khachatrian took part in the creation of the film.

At the meeting with journalists yesterday, Boris Hayrapetian said that
the 2 hours long "Norma" is not boring and can be considered a success.

Davit Ghazarian, president of All-Armenian League of Culture Workers,
said that the movie was shown at the Cinema House of Moscow on 12
November where it won acclaim.

The shooting started in 2003 with the participation of the Federal
Agency of Culture and Cinematography of Russia and ABA studio. It's
noteworthy that film director Boris Hayrapetian was invited to Yerevan
in 2001 where he staged "Norma" opera. Interestingly, the film that
is shot in Armenian historic places is a Russian brand (meanwhile US
Universal Pictures is the only right holder of DVD distribution).

The filmmaker could not answer how much they spent on the movie but
said that they still need money for technical upgrading and for making
movie's television version and DVD format.

[Hovik]

Tariffs For City Telephone Conversation To Increase From January 1, 2006

TARIFFS FOR CITY TELEPHONE CONVERSATION TO INCREASE FROM JANUARY 1, 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 08. ARMINFO. The tariffs for city telephone
conversations will increase in Armenia from January 1, 2006.

The new tariffs of "ArmenTel"CJSC were approved by RA Transport and
Communication Ministry, today.The Press Service of RA Transport and
Communication Ministry informed that the monthly tariff will amount
to AMD 1100, with 360 minutes of chargeless conversation limit.The
tariff for a minute will make AMD 5 from 361st minute and AMD 9 from
1601st minute.The experts think that the increase in the traiffs will
not make great impact on the subscribers, as they have calculated that
the average converation lasts not more than 1100 minutes per month.At
the same time, the tariffs for unlimited conversations will decrease
to AMD 5160, while the international calls will cheapen by 20%.

The telephone tariff for economic entities will increase to AMD 4800,
with 360 minutes of chargeless conversation limit. Beginning from the
361st minute, the tariff per a minute will increase to AMD 5, while
after the 1601 st minute it will amount to AMD 9. At the same time,
the monthly fee for the economic entities will decrease to AMD 7500.

All tariffs are defined taking into account the added value tax.

Andranik Mamoukian, RA Transport and Communication Minister informed
earlier, that "ArmenTel" is going to invest AMD 80 bln in the
development of the telephone network of Armenia in 2005-2009.In this
connection, the company applied to the relevant body with the request
to increase the tariffs, so that they could use the additional profits
in the investment porjects.In case they refused the appeal for the
company, the monlpoly of "ArmenTel" might be prolonged till 2012,
according to monopoly licence of "ArmenTel" CJSC.

[Hovik]

Vivacell Allows Its Subscribers To Use Roaming Service In 50 Countries

VIVACELL ALLOWS ITS SUBSCRIBERS TO USE ROAMING SERVICE IN 50 COUNTRIES

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8. ARMINFO. VivaCell telecom company has concluded
115 contracts with international companies, says the company's director
general Ralph Yirikian.

This will allow to use the services of almost 75 international roaming
operators in 50 countries.

By the end of this year VivaCell is going to install mobile
communication all over Armenia. The company started its activities
in Armenia July 1 thereby lifting ArmenTel's monopoly over the country.

In the first half of the year VivaCell had 257,700 subscribers with
85,000 of them contractual (Sim-card).

[Hovik]

Special Trip From Gyumri To Yerevan

SPECIAL TRIP FROM GYUMRI TO YEREVAN

A1+
| 14:40:12 | 09-12-2005 | Social |

The "Shirak" airport of Gyumri continues to accept the international
flights of "Armavia" because of the thick fog which has paralyzed
the work of the "Zvartnots" airport.

The foreign citizens without a visa are brought to Yerevan by special
buses guarded by the police for the registrations. "This was the most
terrible trip of my life", a Frenchmen complained yesterday.

For the last five days the Shirak airport has accepted 64 flights
with about 5000 passengers.

[Hovik]

Armenia: Home From Home

Anyone want to do something amazing???: Find a way to help these people...

ARMENIA: HOME FROM HOME
By Narine Avetyan in Dyunashogh

Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
Dec. 9, 2005

Armenians who swapped villages - and countries - with an Azerbaijani
community still have fond memories of their homes 16 years later.

Perched close to Armenia's border with Georgia lies the small village
of Dyunashogh. It's a lonely place, whipped by bitter winds and often
cut off for weeks and months at a time when the one road leading to
the outside world is flooded by heavy rains.

This harsh life is made more difficult for people here by the
knowledge that Dyunashogh is not their original home. In fact, the
entire community used to live in Azerbaijan, in a village called
Kerkenj in northwestern Azerbaijan.

At the end of the Eighties, as the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh
began to unfold and relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan did a
nosedive, these Armenian villagers began to realise they were going
to have to get out of Azerbaijan, or be forced out.

At the time, large numbers of people of the "wrong" ethnicity were
joining a two-way exodus from Azerbaijan and Armenia.

But instead of fleeing and getting dispersed along the way, the
people Kerkenj sent a mission in early 1989 a mission to scout out
a village in Armenia whose Azerbaijani inhabitants were in a similar
predicament. They came to terms and hatched a fairly unique plan to
swap villages. At the time, the village now called Dyunashogh bore
the Azerbaijani name Kzylshafak.

"They looked at our village of Kerkenj, and then I went with them
to look at Kzylshafak. I had a look round and decided that it was
suitable," said Rafik Martirosyan, who said, at the time of his visit,
the village looked like a good bet with numerous cattle and good land.

The deal was struck, but things looked rather less rosy than
Martirosyan remembered when they arrived in their new home.

The Armenians of Kerkenj - a village of 220 homes to the conflict - say
they were able to bring very little with them, while the Azerbaijanis
of Kzylshafak took everything when they left. "Not a single head of
cattle was left behind," said Martirosyan.

Life has continued to be difficult to this day. Many of the Armenians
remember the orchards and fields of their former home as a paradise on
earth and complain of the harsh climate in Dyunashogh. The name means
"snow shine", which the refugees say is fitting.

Most work as farmers, producing milk, meat, wool and eggs and doing
a brisk trade across the Georgian border, exchanging their potatoes
for fruit and nuts. Weather, however, takes its toll on the crops
they produce, with 50-60 per cent sometimes falling victim to either
drought or heavy rain.

There is only one telephone in the village, at the post office, though
in the last couple of years villagers have been using a more accessible
and reliable Georgian mobile telephone service to communicate.

Thirteen-year-old Aram told IWPR his school hasn't been repaired
since Soviet days. He said the floors of the classrooms have missing
boards, the holes covered by desks to avoid accidents. Oil heaters
warm the classrooms, and teachers of Armenian language and literature,
chemistry and biology are in short supply.

Though they came to this inhospitable climate so as to stay together
as a community, lack of opportunities in the village means that anyone
goes on to higher education seldom returns to Dyunashogh.

An attempt by the villagers to instil a sense of community and
preserve their lost heritage by giving Dyunashogh the name of their
native Kerkenj was unsuccessful. Authorities turned down the proposal
because of the non-Armenian origin of the name.

In recent years, the village has had some new settlers, natives of
Armenia such as Alvard, who came here from the neighbouring village
of Metsavan.

"In Metsavan it would be impossible to have as many animals as
here. There's much more pastureland here," he said.

There are barriers between the Armenians who were born here and those
who came from Azerbaijan. They have different foods, customs and
dialects of Armenian. People originally from Kerkenj prefer their
sons to marry their old neighbours' daughters rather than local
Armenian girls.

Martirosyan says the Azerbaijanis now living in Kerkenj tell him
they too are not entirely accepted. He's heard that locals call them
"Yeraz", after an unreliable car that used to be made in Soviet
Armenia, but now a pejorative shortening of "Yerevan Azerbaijanis".

There has been contact between the two villages since they changed
places, and the Azerbaijanis who once lived in Dyunashogh/Kzylshafak
have even been back to visit.

"It's easy for them. They cross into Irganchai [in Georgia], and
from there we escort them to the village, taking them over the border
[into Armenia]," said villager Sashik Vardanyan. "They come to their
village, have a look around, quench their nostalgia and go back again."

However, none of the Armenians has yet been back to
Azerbaijan. Martirosyan, now 79, has many close friends there who've
offered to take him home again, but he has so far refused.

"Many people there know me, and what if something unpleasant?" he said,
adding he does not want to endanger his Azerbaijani friends.

Instead, the villagers of Dyunashogh maintain ties with their former
home with the help of the Azerbaijanis living in the Georgian border
village of Irganchai who pass on messages and requests.

"Last year, at our request, they took photographs of Kerkenj and our
cemetery there, and sent them to us," said Vardanyan, adding that in
return they sent photos of Dyunashogh.

Arsen Hakobyan, an expert on Armenian migrants from Azerbaijan, says
many people seek to keep some contact with their place of origin. He
said people often meet on neutral ground, such as in Russia, and
exchange videos of their former homes. "They refresh their memories
of their birthplace, and thus prevent the link with the places where
they were born and lived from being broken," he said.

Hakobyan's research has shown that "compact relocations" like
the one done by the villagers of Kerkenj happened in a few other
cases. The residents of Chardahlu in Azerbaijan swapped with Zorakan
in Armenia, for example. Armenians from Madrasa in Azerbaijan made
plans for an exchange with Shidlu in the Armenia's Ararat district,
but these were foiled by the 1988 earthquake. The Madrasa residents
eventually got together and founded a new village called Dprevan in
the Aragots region.

"The exchange was usually decided at community level, and the role
[played by officialdom] only ever went as high as district government
heads," said Hakobyan.

When they exchanged their land, Kerkenj and Kzylshafak signed an
agreement promising to look after the graves they were forced to
leave behind.

Though 16 years have now passed, that promise has been kept by both
sides, and in Dyunashogh, the Muslim cemetery is as well cared for
as the nearby Armenian Christian burial ground.

In the Azerbaijani graveyard, tombstones covered in Arabic script
sit alongside later Soviet-era ones with Cyrillic inscriptions and
a picture of the deceased.

"Last year, several stones from the outer wall of the cemetery were
dislodged," 74-year-old villager Nazik Arutyunyan told IWPR. "The
whole village got together and built the wall up again. And a portrait
on one of the gravestones had fallen off, so the [village] chairman
himself mixed the cement and stuck it back on again.

"If we don't look after their graves, they're not going to look
after ours."

Though returning home is a distant dream, Martirosyan knows where
his first stop will be if he ever find his way back to Kerkenj,
"The first thing I would do is to visit the graves of my family,
and then I would go and look at the memorial that I put up with my
own hands to the people of Kerkenj who died in the Second World War."

Narine Avetyan is a journalist with the newspaper 168 Hours in Yerevan.

[Hovik]

Japanese Government To Provide 34 Mln-dollar Credit For Repairs Of 33 Substations In

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE 34 MLN-DOLLAR CREDIT FOR REPAIRS OF 33 SUBSTATIONS IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Dec 14 2005

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The Japanese government approved
on December 14 the 34 mln-dollar credit program on repairs of 33
Armenian substations with a capacity of 110 kw. Evgeni Gladunchik,
director of the company Electric Networks of Armenia, announced it
at a press conference held on the same day. He noted that the credit
is repayable over 20 years and carries an interest rate of 1.8%.

E. Gladunchik said that according to their estimates, 52 mln dollars
is needed to carry out the work, that is why some substations will
not be included in the program.

To recap, in June 2005 the RA Energy Ministry Governance Board
invalidated the tender for repair of these substations under the
same credit program, because the bid of the German company Siemens
- the only tender participant exceeded the value envisaged by the
program. At that time the program envisaged the allocation of 30 mln
USD for the purpose of implementing the repair work, whereas Siemens'
bid amounted to 50 mln USD.