NEWS ON ARMENIATV

2007-10-29 Robert Kocharian visited Meghri

The construction of the 91 km long road from scratch took 2.5 years and 15 billion Drams (46 million 153 thousand 850 dollars). The new road will facilitate communication between Armenia and Iran. Previously the only road connecting Armenia to Iran went through the Meghri pass (2,563 meters above sea level) and it was often blocked by snowfalls in winter. During the ceremony Armenian president Robert Kocharian reminded that the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is currently being extended and next year Armenia and Iran will launch the construction of the third high-voltage power line for seasonal electricity swaps between the two countries. Kocharian said that they also have the intention to build an oil refinery and a railway. After the event while referring to Armenian first president Levon Ter-Petrossian’s presidential ambitions, President Robert Kocharian question Ter-Petrossian’s chances to become the next president of Armenia. According to him there are at least 2-3 other opposition leaders, who enjoy a higher popularity rating. He reminded that after 1999 the Armenian National Movement of Levon Ter-Petrosian participated in all elections and received from 0.6 to 1.3 percent of the vote. Kocharian said to think that people have forgotten the period when their country was ruled by Armenian National Movement will be naive. He said that the party has left a very bad legacy, as there is no doubt that it bears the responsibility for the collapse of Armenian economy. According to him now that leaders of the party see the country has recovered, their appetite has whetted, adding that he sees no other explanation for their willingness to participate in the upcoming presidential elections. He expressed confidence that those who lived in Armenia during the energy crises will never want to return to what they had back in 1995-96. President Robert Kocharian also said that he does not intend to waist his political experience, but when or how will he return to politics after his term in office expires, he has not yet decided.

2007-10-29 110 Ukraine-made passenger busses will be brought to Armenia

Head of Yerevan-Trans Company Karen Yedigarian said that some 700 mini-buses, which are still the main public transport means in Yerevan will be withdrawn until the end of the year. According to him the authorities plan to have 650 passenger buses in the city and reduce the number of mini-buses from 3,300 to 1,800 by 2010. Yedigarian also said that Yerevan authorities promise to put a big bus especially made for disabled people in circulation in the near future.

2007-10-29 Armenian community of Romania

According to the Armenian ambassador to Romania Yeghishe Sarkissian Armenia can learn a lot from Romania’s EU membership experience, which is why a year ago a document on exchange of experiences was signed between to two countries. Two Armenian newspapers are periodically published in Romania, the “Ararat publication house” annually publishes 15 books dedicated to Armenian topics, a number of Armenian Apostolic churches function throughout the county and as an ethnic minority, the Armenian community has the right to nominate its own parliamentarian candidate. Currently the community has two representatives in parliament and the Romanian finance and economic minister is an Armenian.

2007-10-29 Commemoration of victims of the October 27 1999 parliament attack

“Eight years have passed since the tragedy, when we lost our best friends, but I think the pain and the sorrow have not reduced over these years. We have only one consolation: the goals we cherished together are being materialized, the problems are being solved, and the country we wished to have is being built step-by-step. Only this can somewhat relieve the pain,” told Armenian National Assembly speaker Tigran Torossian after paying tribute to victims of the October 27 1999 parliament attack. During the day commemoration ceremonies were also held at Yerablur cemetery, Komitas Pantheon and the Municipal Pantheon by the relatives, friends of the victims and public and political figures. The Armenian National Assembly was attacked on October 27, 1999 by a group of armed men led by former journalist Nairi Hunanian. They sprayed the assembly with bullets in front of TV cameras killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament chairman Karen Demirchian and six other government and parliament members. The gunmen took dozens of government members and parliamentarians hostage before surrendering to law-enforcement agencies the next morning. They were sentenced to life imprisonment following a lengthy trial in December 2003.

2007-10-29 21 year after the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Over 145 square km territory of Ukraine; Belarus and Russia underwent radioactive pollution, more than 5mln people suffered and 2.600 square km of Ukrainian land is to this day isolated as still radiated land as a result of the largest technical disaster in the history of humanity. The consequences of the disaster were also felt in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Great Britain and other countries. Those Armenians who participated in the elimination activities currently face serious health issues. In order to support those who jeopardized their health for a humanitarian mission, the “Armenia-Chernobyl” association requested support from Moscow Municipality. 2 months after the request each of the 70 men, , who were present in Chernobyl in 1986, received 2000 rubles ($155) in the Moscow House in Yerevan.