When Karine Mkrtchyan, 30, came up with an idea six months ago to bring Armenia’s hidden problems to the surface, she placed her thoughts on the backburner, thinking it could take years to realize her dream.

Yerevan will host National Gallery VI International Music Festival from April 21 to June 2. “Musicians from Armenia, Russia, Sweden and Slovenia will be participating,” Festival founder Mariam Shahinyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. The Festival will open with a concert of Youth State Orchestra of Armenia and honored artist of Armenia, pianist Svetlana Navasardyan. Duo Claripiano from Sweden will perform Sen-Sans and Shubert’s works on April 29. Swedish violinist Hugo Tizziati and Armenian pianist Hayk Melikyan will present modern classical music, including Tigran Mansuryan’s works, on May 5. Armenian State Chamber Choir (conductor Robert Mlkeyan) will perform on May 14.

The meeting Sargsyan-Erdogan in Washington, as expected, gave no results, despite Obama’s obvious demands to come at least to some agreement. Nevertheless, in the Washington meeting there can be marked a few points which could play some role in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, and this role is both positive and negative.

Weightlifting: Armenia’s Smbat Margaryan, 17, (w/c 56kg) won the jerk gold at the European Weightlifting Championships going on in Minsk, Belarus. In snatch, clean and jerk combination, Margaryan won the silver medal, lifting 225 kg. The champion’s title went to Belarus’ Vitaly Derbenev. Arsen Tarmazyan, representing Russia, came 9th. On April 8, World Weightlifting Championships silver winner and Olympic Games bronze winner Tigran Martirosyan (w/c 77kg) entered the filed.

Main political events of last week started with April 5 interview of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Der Spiegel.

Concurrently to an increase in gas tariffs on April 1, 2010, prices at gas stations also went up, reaching AMD 200 per 1 kg instead of the previously established AMD 180. As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent was told at the transport department of Yerevan Mayor's Office and at the RA Ministry of Transport and Communication, transport workers have not requested price increase so far.

Saint Archangels (St Gevorg) Church was repaired and consecrated in the village of Tsira, Akhaltskha region. An Armenian church will be restored in Feodosia and one will be built in Malta. All three projects were initiated by Armenian communities. Meanwhile, both Armenian intellectual elite and ordinary people oppose the idea of building a church instead of Moscow cinema open-air hall.