Society:

Opening of foreign language schools in Armenia: one question settled, ten pending

A real fight has begun for the mother tongue and for the preservation of national identity; intellectuals and ordinary Armenians have “unsheathed their swords”.

June 13, 2010
Opening of foreign-language schools in Armenia has been one of the most discussed issues of the current month. And the more prospective the permission of opening such schools becomes, the more enthusiastically its opponents sound the alarm. Since the discussions on the project of introducing amendments to the Law on Language and the Law on General Education have initiated, activists of the grouping “We are against reopening of foreign-language schools in Armenia” have gathered in front of the Parliament building to stage protest actions.
Sport:

3 Armenian boxers break through to European Championships semifinal

Review of June 3-10 sports events.

June 13, 2010
Boxing: 3 Armenian boxers – Hovhannes Davtyan, Hrachik Javakhyan and Arthur Khachatryan – broke through to the semifinal of the European Championships going on in Moscow, Russia. Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17KOs) won the battle of the unbeaten junior middleweights with a unanimous ten round decision over Joe Greene (22-1, 14KOs) to retain the NABF/NABO super welterweight titles. The official scores were 96-93, 96-93 and 98-91.
Politics:

Bill envisaging opening of foreign language schools caused hot debates in Armenia

Review of June 5 -7 political events.

June 12, 2010
Traditionally, the political week in Armenia started with discussions on the Karabakh conflict settlement. Chairman of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan said that Nagorno Karabakh can never be an article of commerce. “We should detect problems and solve them. Our basic principle is the achievement of goals and implementation of programs. Specifically, we aim to stir up activity for the international recognition of NKR,” he said. Tsarukyan also remarked that Russia has always been Armenia’s ally, thus his party will always be adherent to development and boosting of strategic, friendly and economic ties between the two countries.
Economy:

Armenia overcame crisis with minimal losses

The government believes that the 2010 indices will exceed expectations.

June 12, 2010
With a single vote against, the Armenian National Assembly approved June 10 the report on 2009 national budget execution. “The year 2009 was a serious challenge for our economic and financial system,” Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said in his remarks during the discussion of the 2009 national budget execution.
Culture:

Oldest shoe in the world found in Armenian cave

The discovery came in a cave in the Vayotz Dzor region of Armenia, near the settlement of Areni which is known for its wine industry.

June 11, 2010
Oldest shoe in the world found in Armenian cave
Archeologists have found the oldest shoe in the world. The discovery came in a cave in the Vayotz Dzor region of Armenia, near the settlement of Areni which is known for its wine industry.
IT & Telecom:

National Statistical Service issues results for IT sector in January-April 2010

Review of June 1-7 telecommunications and IT events.

June 11, 2010
The Armenian National Statistical Service issued the results for IT sector in January-April 2010. According to the data provided, the revenue increased by 6.2% as compared with the 2009 index and totaled AMD 52.9 bln. During the reporting period, 459 computers were assembled, what is 3.4% more than last year (475). 2% drop was recorded in tariffs for communication services.
Armenia and world:

“Greater Middle East” gradually becoming a reality

No matter how strongly the Government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan may support the current administration of Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran simply does not believe it and would not admit even the thought of Turkey being representative of the Muslim world.

June 11, 2010
“Greater Middle East” is gradually becoming a reality. The struggle for the place of a regional power between Turkey and Iran, both bordering with Armenia, has slipped “under the carpet”, and let no one be caught at the support that Erdogan gives to the nuclear program of Iran. Armenia, in this case, must build relations with its neighbors, based on the belief “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”. And though this system sometimes fails, it works in general, and it will work in case of Armenia, especially since the relations were unruffled, and became even better after certain incidents. Similarly, the Israeli-Turkish relations may smoothly grow into Armenian-Israeli. But in the latter case there is still a long way to go.
 
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