Daily Archives: November 11, 2013

Statement by H.E. Mr. Edward NALBANDIAN Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, 37th session of UNESCO General Conference

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Էդուարդ Նալբանդյան,ՅՈՒՆԵՍԿՕ

 

Mr. President, 

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all I would like to join the previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Hao Ping, Vice Minister for Education of China on his election as the President of the 37th Session of the UNESCO General Conference and extend our thanks to the outgoing President Ms. Katalin Bogyay.

Mr. President,

Every two years we come together to reaffirm the founding vision of this institution: the pursuit of the ideas of peace and humanity through the education, science and sustainable development, intercultural and interreligious dialogues.

Last year Armenia marked 20th anniversary of its UNESCO membership. Since then Armenia, as a dedicated member, has been increasingly engaged in the Organization’s activities and programs, promoting its principles and values.

Mr. President,

 

Armenia expresses its support to the initiative of the UN Secretary General “Education first”, in which the UNESCO plays a key role. In this regard it has been both an honor and a responsibility for us to be in the Council of the International Bureau of Education.

 

We welcome UNESCO’s focus on inclusive social development and intercultural dialogue reflected in its new Mid Term strategy objectives. It is difficult to imagine modern development without international cooperation in the fields of education, science, technology and culture. UNESCO plays a crucial role in promoting such cooperation through global networks, including the UNESCO Chairs and the “Associated schools networks”, in which Armenia is actively involved. We consider the programs mutually beneficial for UNESCO and its member countries and we would encourage enhancement of the programs by further improvement of communication and cooperation with the networks on the ground and better utilization of their potential.

 

Mr. President,

 

The past year was memorable for Armenia as Yerevan became the twelfth World Book Capital. Throughout the year Yerevan was a meeting place for several well-known writers, journalists, publishers, librarians and booklovers from all over the world.

 

This significant event coincided with another major celebration – 500th anniversary of the Armenian book-printing. Armenians were among the first in the world to make use of Guttenberg’s invention and starting from 1512 founded Armenian printing houses around the world. The first Armenian book was printed in Venice in 1512, and the first Armenian printed magazine – in Madras in 1794.

 

The year-long events presenting Armenia’s rich cultural heritage to the world was truly “crowned” by inscription of over thousand-year-old Armenian epic “David of Sassoun” on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

 

The celebrations of the 300th anniversary of great Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova were included in the UNESCO list of anniversaries for 2012-2013. Sayat-Nova made a considerable contribution not only to the Armenian, but also to the cultural heritage of our region.

 

Inscription of Aram Khachaturian’s compositions on the Memory of the World International Register this June was a wonderful tribute to the composer’s legacy on the occasion of his 110th anniversary in 2013.

 

Mr. President,

 

We highly appreciate UNESCO’s goal of promoting intercultural dialogue, understanding and tolerance in the world.

 

Since last May Armenia has assumed the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe making fight against xenophobia, hate-speech and intolerance its key priorities.

In an era when the protection and promotion of human rights are considered to be the underpinning concept for the civilized world, intolerance towards the values of civilization belonging to others, damaging or destroying cultural or religious heritage intentionally, consistently, repeatedly, must be condemned with the same resolve and determination as violence against people.

The destruction by Azerbaijanis in Nakhijevan of thousands of delicately carved cross stones by the Armenian masters, dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries, is a vivid manifestation of such crime.

Several thousands of these giant medieval sculptures were bulldozed under the Azerbaijani government’s watchful eyes and this area was turned into a military ground in a government sanctioned operation. The 16th International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) General Assembly resolution regretfully stated with regard to this vandalism: “this heritage that once enjoyed its worthy place among the treasures of the world’s heritage can no longer be transmitted today to future generations.”

Our numerous calls for sending international fact-finding missions to Nakhijevan, as well as attempts by a number of international organizations and countries have been either ignored or rejected by the Azerbaijani side.

 

Mr. President,

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education state that “Education shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups”. Taking into consideration UNESCO’s unique role in the sphere of education, we call upon the Organization to create within its educational programs some sort of an overview mechanism that will examine and evaluate the textbooks of the member-states, especially history and social sciences textbooks, with a special emphasis on exclusion of racism or xenophobia. The Armenian heritage, culture and history, after lasting continuously for more than thirty centuries are nowadays being distorted and altered in Azerbaijan. In this country the rewriting of its history is continued by means of misappropriation or annihilation of the traces of other cultures on their territory, or even more, by privatizing the cultural heritage of the neighboring nations. A country that appeared on the political map of the world less than a hundred years ago has territorial and cultural claims towards a country and a people the several millenniums’ history of which is recorded from the ancient times.

 

Mr. President,

 

Only through coordinated efforts the international community can pursue the ideas of peace and humanity through education, science and sustainable development, intercultural and interreligious dialogues.

Armenia is strongly committed to the ideals and goals of UNESCO and will continue expanding its involvement in the UNESCO initiatives and programs.   

Thank you.

 

President Serzh Sargsyan received the Secretary General of CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha

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Նախագահ Սերժ Սարգսյան, ՀԱՊԿ,Նիկոլայ Բորդյուժա

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha who has arrived to Armenia on a working visit.

At the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to the cooperation in the framework of CSTO. In this context, they spoke about the issues pertinent to the works conducted since the adoption of the decision to open the CSTO Academy in Yerevan. The President of Armenia and Secretary General of CSTO discussed also the course of implementation of the agreements reached during the CSTO session held on September 23 in Sochi.

 

Clashes between police, foreign workers leave 2 dead in Saudi Arabia

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Սաուդյան Արաբիա

 

Two people were killed and 68 others injured in clashes between police and foreign workers following a visa crackdown in Saudi Arabia, the official news agency reported.

Police arrested 561 people Saturday in the capital of Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The arrests came after “unidentified” people barricaded themselves in narrow streets, where they threw stones at residents and vandalized shops and cars, according to a police statement posted on the news agency’s website.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s clashes, a police spokesman urged workers without proper documents to surrender at a shelter in the capital until they could be deported.

Most of the workers impacted by recent police raids are African migrants.

Saudi Arabia launched a “security campaign” this month to crack down on workers violating visa rules.

 

Despicable: Sheep used to graze in church GRAVEYARD to keep grass cut

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A church is using Sheep to graze in its GRAVEYARD as a cheap way to keep the grass cut.

The move has sparked fury among families who have relatives buried there with the animals being allowed to roam over graves and destroy mementoes which are left.

They say the graveyard looks like it has been “vandalised” but leaders at Holy Trinity Church in Grazeley say there is no money to pay for gardeners and grazing sheep is a traditional and cheap way of keeping the grass short.

Nicola Millard, 39, from Woodley, discovered the sheep when she went to visit the graves of her grandparents.

She said: “The area they have put the sheep is where people still tend the graves.

“There is a little turnstile I go in rather than the main gates and I arrived to see four of them stood on my nan’s grave. I was so heartbroken.”

Report: 3 Russians Get Life for Airport Attack

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A Russian court on Monday jailed for life three men from Ingushetia over their role in the 2011 bombing of a Moscow airport that killed 37 people, a news agency reported.

The court found the men guilty of facilitating the bomber’s travel to Moscow and providing him with explosives, the Interfax news agency said. The bomber’s brother, who said he knew nothing about the attack, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, it said.

The January 2011 attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport also wounded 180 people. Doku Umarov, the rebel leader from the Muslim-dominated region of Chechnya, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Russia has bolstered its security efforts ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in the southern city of Sochi. Umarov has urged militants to target the Games.

Russian performance artist nails himself to Red Square cobblestone by his TESTICLES in protest at Kremlin’s crackdown on rights

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A Russian performance artist stripped naked and nailed his testicles to a Red Square cobblestone in protest against the Kremlin’s crackdown on political rights.

Eye-watering footage shows artist Pyotr Pavlensky sitting naked outside Lenin’s Mausoleum in Moscow, Russia, before police covered him with a blanket.

The state-run RIA Novosti news agency said Pavlensky was taken to a police station after being treated in a central Moscow clinic.

The Saint Petersburg-based artist said in a statement posted on the Grani.ru website that he was trying to draw attention to Russian society’s development into a ‘police state’.

Russia marked its annual Police Day holiday on Sunday.

It is not the first time the 29-year-old has resorted to dramatic methods of protest.

He has previously sewn his lips together to demonstrate against the jailing of two female members of the Pussy Riot punk band who staged an anti-Kremlin performance inside Moscow’s main cathedral in 2011.

He was also arrested after wrapping his naked body in barbed wire outside a Saint Petersburg government building in May.

 

President received the world famous conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov

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սարգսյան-սպիվակով

 President Serzh Sargsyan received today the world famous conductor and violin player, artistic director and chief conductor of Russia’s National Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Spivakov. On November 10, the renowned conductor and his orchestra gave a concert in the framework of the A. Khatchatrian international festival. Today, the orchestra will perform in Gyumri thus concluding the series of the “Gyumri 2013 – Cultural Capital of CIS” events. The concerts are organized through the assistance of the RA and RF Ministries of Culture and CIS Interstate Fund on Humanitarian Cooperation.

At the meeting, the President of Armenia thanked the renowned musician for the marvelous concert in Yerevan which, according to the President, received numerous rave notices. Serzh Sargsyan underscored that V. Spivakov for a long time now is not received as a guest in Armenia but as a dear and considerate person who stood by our nation in our direst moments and through his regular visits continues to inspire us with spiritual impulses and optimistic mood. With this regard, the President stressed the importance of the concert in Gyumri. Serzh Sargsyan noted with appreciation the high mission of V. Spivakov Fund in assisting young and talented Armenian children.

V. Spivakov underlined that he is always happy to visit Armenia and is touched by the warm reception extended to him which he feels not only in the concert halls but also by conversing with the people on the streets. The maestro expressed readiness to conduct in the coming years among other countries of the world a festival of music in Armenia as well.

Falling European satellite burns up upon re-entry

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A 2,000-pound European satellite burned up as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere early Monday, controllers reported.

“As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported,” the European Space Agency said.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer — a European Space Agency satellite known shorthand as GOCE — crossed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica upon its re-entry.

The 5-meter (16-foot) satellite was launched in 2009 to map variations in the Earth’s gravity in 3-D, provide ocean circulation patterns and make other measurements.

Powered by solar panels and not-your-average lithium-ion battery, it lasted more than three times its expected lifespan before running out of juice on October 21.

In March 2011, the ESA added another role — as the “first seismometer in orbit” — when GOCE detected sound waves from the massive earthquake that struck Japan.

 

Iran’s deputy trade minister assassinated in Tehran

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Iran’s deputy trade minister was assassinated in his car in Tehran Sunday night, the government’s news agency said.

Safdar Rahmatabadi was shot in the chest and head by an unidentified assailant in Sabalan Square, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The IRNA quoted a police officer at the scene as saying two shell casings were found inside the car, so “the terrorist had most probably been talking with Mr. Rahmatabadi.”

Rahmatabadi was deputy minister of industries, mines and trade.

Born with 12 fingers, he rattles out more than 100 words a minute.

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But Vijay Singh, who also has 12 toes, is planning a move to Britain after he failed to get a job typing despite applying for 50 jobs.

The 48-year-old, from Agra in northern India, said: ‘They want pretty women, not some guy who has 12 fingers.’

Polydactyly sufferers are seen as lucky in India, with Mr Singh especially fortunate as he is able to use all his digits whereas most sufferers of the condition are not.

But despite this gift, which makes him a self-proclaimed ‘whizz on the computer’, he has yet to secure employment and now wants to travel to the UK in the hope there will be something for him here.

We like his chances – having 12 fingers is certainly an unusual entry on your CV…

President visited the V. Hambardzumian Observatory of the RA National Academy of Sciences in Byurakan

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Today, President Serzh Sargsyan visited the V. Hambardzumian Observatory of the RA National Academy of Sciences in Byurakan. The President of Armenia familiarized with the reconstruction and modernization works conducted recently in the Observatory and observed the working conditions at the administrative building. Serzh Sargsyan visited the vacuum station and the V. Hambardzumian Observatory. In the course of the tour, the President was informed that taking into consideration a significant role of the astrophysics in the fundamental research and importance of having the largest telescope for the development of this discipline, the Presidium of the RA NAS in July 2012 adopted a decision on the modernization of the mentioned telescope. It includes renovation of the aluminum covered surface of the mirror, conversion to the analogous digital system, and works aimed at the acquisition of new light absorbers.

 

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According to those responsible, at the beginning of this year by the suggestion of the RA NAS and decision of the Government of Armenia, the Byurakan Observatory was included in the list of national treasures. As a result, the allocated means allowed to carry out throughout this year considerable works aimed at the maintenance of the infrastructure and its modernization, as well as to update the administrative structure. It was noted that the main portion of the works has already been concluded.