Maria Mehranian to Speak on California High Speed Rail

GLENDALE – Building sustainable transportation infrastructure in California, “ The California High Speed Rail” is the topic of the lecture hosted by the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA). The guest speaker is Maria Mehranian, who will provide an update of the current status of the California High Speed Rail, a statewide rail transportation system consisting of 700 miles of rail tracks connecting Sacramento to San Diego with a speed of approximately two hundred and ten miles per hour and a travel time of approximately two hours with an initial estimated cost at 53 billion dollars.

The discussion will also include the design, construction, and measures adopted to safeguard air and water quality during the construction and operations of the system. It will cover the financing mechanisms and prioritization of alignments in the initial Operating Segment and the Blended Approach. The lecture will be held on Thursday, October 23, 2014, at 7:30 pm at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles – Library, 117 South Louise Street, Glendale, California 91205. The lecture is free and open to the public .

Maria Mehranian i s the Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer for Cordoba Corporation – a premier civil engineering and construction management consulting firm based in Los Angeles. For over 25 years, she has dedicated her career to buil d Cordoba into one of the top engineering consulting firms in the nation. As the Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Mehranian manages and reviews a wide variety of company programs and directives.

Prior to serving as the Managing Partner and Chief Fina ncial Officer, she managed the company’s successful urban and transportation planning division. Ms. Mehranian’s portfolio includes a number of landmark projects that have shaped California’s current infrastructure.

As an urban planner, she played a key role in the development of the downtown strategic plan, a blue print for development in downtown Los Angeles that planned for housing in the area. This plan was strategically used to preserve and protect the industrial zones in downtown and convert existing unused office spaces to attract 100,000 residential units to the downtown. For her commitment and accomplishments in public service, Ms. Mehranian was appointed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to serve on the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Board after being reappointed to her seat by Governor Jerry Brown.

Ms. Mehranian has also been heavily involved within the Armenian community by serving as Chairperson of the Armenia Fund between 2004 and 2008. During those four years, the fund raised a record $83.2 million. She was also instrumental in organizing a California Delegation to visit Armenia that resulted in the signing of an unprecedented MOU between the State of California and Armenia to open a trade office in Yerevan.

Ms. Mehranian received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the American College in Tehran in 1980 and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1986 with a Master Degree in Urban Planning. In 2008, Ms. Mehranian was awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her vast accomplishments to her community as an Armenian immigrant.

“AESA is proud and happy to have Ms. Mehranian a highly accomplished and a successful senior executive as our guest speaker, as part of AESA lecture series” said AESA President Vasken Yardemian. “Ms. Mehranian will share her extensive knowledge on the California’s future bullet train project, which would be America’s fastest high – speed rail system.”

Established in 1983 in Glendale, California, AESA is a non-partisan and non-sectarian philanthropic organization focused primarily on addressing the professional, technical and scientific needs of fellow Armenian engineers, scientists, industrialists, and architects throughout the world. For more information, check AESA’s website at www.aesa.org, or contact them by phone (818) 547-3372, or e-mail: contact@aesa.org.

Maria Mehranian to Speak on California High Speed Rail

Kurdistan National Congress: ISIS Gangs Financed by Turkey

Urget Call: ISIS gangs prepares for Grand Genocide in Kobane!

On the evening of 1 October 2014, ISIS gangs have launched an intense attack, aiming to take over the city center of Kobane, in Western Kurdistan (Syria) from west, south and east fronts. With the help of heavy artillery and tanks, ISIS gangs have advanced their way near Kobane city, especially from South front. The attacks, started 15th September, are now at most dangerous stage!

The ISIS gangs, have been financed mainly by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, providing them with logistics, weapons, ammunition and thousands of members. Their main aim to attack Kurdish people and Kurdish land, starting with Kobane, has now reached to a critical point!

Kurdish People Protection Units, YPG and YPJ, are fighting a heroically historic battle against ISIS gangs, the enemy of humanity. Western countries, who also see ISIS as an enemy of humanity and who have set up an anti ISIS coalition are yet failing to help Kurds fighting against ISIS.

Chairman of Kobane Canton, Mr. Enver Muslim calls the international Powers to break their silence! He said; ” If ISIS enters Kobane and commits a massacre all international powers will be held responsible.”

Supporting the Kurdish People Protection Units, YPG and YPJ, resistance against ISIS gangs in Kobane, would only mean supporting the humanity and peace!

We urgently call to the international public to show their support to the Kurdish people, by calling their governments and institutions, to act now and support Kurdish people in this urgent situation of a possible massacre!

Kurdistan National Congress, KNK

Kurdistan National Congress: ISIS Gangs Financed by Turkey

Armenian Soldier Returns Home After Azeri Captivity

YEREVAN — After spending more than a year in Azerbaijani captivity and having been transferred to a third country, released Armenian prisoner of war Hakob Injighulian returned to Armenia early on Thursday.

Injighulian received a hero’s welcome from his relatives and friends at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport. The 23-year-old appeared in good health and high spirits. He claimed, though, to have been tortured and intimidated during his yearlong captivity in Azerbaijan.

“It’s great to be back in Armenia,” Injighulian told the press.

Injighulian mistakenly crossed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory east of Karabakh in August 2013. Shortly afterwards he was paraded on Azerbaijani television saying that he surrendered to Azerbaijani forces because of being ill-treated by one of his commanders.

The Armenian military said that the soldier was forced to make such statements under duress. It insisted that he crossed the “line of contact” around Karabakh by accident.

“In Azerbaijan, I stayed locked in a cell in a five-storey military prison. They were asking me about my service, politics. I said whatever they told me to say, I did it for my life, that’s why I am here now,” said Injighulian, adding that in the military prison where he was kept he also saw other Armenians, but said he would speak about it later on.

Injighulian said he was forced to put on an Azerbaijani army uniform and allege abuse at the hands of his Armenian commanders in his televised appearance.

Hakob Injighulian at Zvartnotz airport

“There were beatings, humiliation, and verbal abuse. They said that ‘if you don’t do what we want you’ll meet the fate of that shepherd,’” Injighulian said, referring to Manvel Saribekian, a 20-year-old resident of an Armenian border village who was found hanged in an Azerbaijani prison in 2010 just weeks after wandering into Azerbaijan.

According to Injighulian, Azerbaijani military authorities also warned him beforehand against disclosing key details of his treatment to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who repeatedly visited him in custody. He claimed that Azerbaijani officials also threatened to kill him if he asks to be repatriated, rather than sent to a third a country.

“They threatened to shoot me,” the soldier said. “I did all that for the sake of my life. That’s why I’m standing here right now,” he added.

Injighulian was flown from Azerbaijan to Romania in late August. He was reportedly kept in a Romanian refugee camp until returning home.

Just days after Injighulian crossed the Karabakh “line of contact” the Armenian military offered to exchange him for Firuz Farajev, an Azerbaijani soldier detained by Armenian troops on the border with Azerbaijan in July 2012. Farajev was unexpectedly freed and deported to a third country later in August 2013, after the Azerbaijani side turned down the offer.

Throughout Injighulian’s captivity the Armenian authorities repeatedly assured his family that he will not be prosecuted in case of returning home. The former prisoner of war confirmed that he was informed about these assurances.

Injighulian’s current legal status was not immediately clear. There were no uniformed military officials at Zvartnots during his arrival on a transit flight from Moscow.

The freed conscript expressed readiness to complete his two-year military service after undergoing a thorough medical examination. “There were nine months remaining until the end of my military service,” he said. “I want to continue it.”

Armenian Soldier Returns Home After Azeri Captivity

Armenia Chosen to Host World Congress on Information Technology in 2019

YEREVAN (ARKA) — In 2019 Armenia will host for the first time the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), Hayk Chobanyan, the deputy executive director of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) said on his Facebook page.

The decision to hold WCIT 2019 in the capital of Armenia was adopted at WCIT-14, which was held in Mexico City on 29th of September – October 1.

According to Chobanyan, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) had announced a competition to hold WCIT 2019 in one of WITSA- member countries. As a member of the alliance UITE had sent an application.

“For us it is very important that such a conference is to be held in Armenia. In the first place, it is very important from the point of view of increasing the technological rating of the country, “says Chobanyan.

According to him, in order to achieve this goal it is necessary to begin actively to cooperate with WITSA.

The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of associations from the information and communications technology (ICT) industry around the world. The group claims that it represents over 90% of the world ICT market through its global membership, and has a goal of advancing the growth and development of the ICT industry.

WITSA was founded in 1978 as the World Computing Services Industry Association, and participates in advocacy in international public policy that affects the “global information infrastructure”.

It voices the concerns of the international IT industry in organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the G8. WITSA represents IT industry associations in over 80 countries or economies. WITSA’s motto is “Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age”.

The Union of Information Technology Enterprises of Armenia (UITE) was founded in 2000 to protect the interests of local IT companies, stimulate business development and encourage research in the field of IT.

Armenia Chosen to Host World Congress on Information Technology in 2019

Armenia, EU To Discuss New Formats Of Cooperation

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenian and European Union officials will meet soon to try to work out a new legal framework for bilateral relations that would not contradict Armenia’s upcoming membership in a Russian-led alliance, officials said on Wednesday.

According to Traian Hristea, the head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan, the two sides are planning “brainstorming” sessions on new formats of their cooperation in the new geopolitical environment.

“The discussions are in the preparatory stage, and we are working with our Armenian partners,” Hristea told reporters. “Very soon we will have a bilateral meeting aimed at preparing a new package of proposals.”

The EU official declined to give concrete dates for such talks. “I think the most important thing will be their substance, rather than the deadline,” he said.

Armenia’s First Deputy Economy Minister Garegin Melkonian confirmed that Yerevan and Brussels are trying to chart a new course one year after the collapse of an Association Agreement negotiated by them. He said they will open talks on the matter by the end of this year.

“Without going into details at this point, I will just note that we will work and hold discussions in this regard in the coming months,” Melkonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “I think we will clarify the areas where we will continue our joint work.”

The vice-minister, who was personally involved in three-year negotiations on the Association Agreement, did not deny that the Armenian government hopes to complete its accession to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) before proposing concrete deals to the EU.

“I would not link the two things so directly,” he said. “But in a sense it is possible to see a connection. Why? Because there are some areas and directions where we are trying to see what prospects and formats of future cooperation can be identified.”

A spokesman for the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told RFE/RL last week that Yerevan should detail its “new obligations stemming from membership” in the ex-Soviet bloc before it can negotiate new accords with the EU. “Whenever our [Armenian] partners are ready to give us ideas on how they want to proceed with us we will be ready to respond,” he said.

President Serzh Sarkisian precluded the signing of the wide-ranging association deal with the EU in September 2013 when he announced his unexpected decision to make Armenia part of the union comprising Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Armenia, EU To Discuss New Formats Of Cooperation

French FM Condemns Destruction of Armenian Church in Deir ez- Zor

PARIS — Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development of France Laurent Fabius has condemned the destruction of the Church of the Holy Martyrs in Deir ez-Zor.

His statement reads, in particular:

“I condemn the destruction of the Church of the Holy Martyrs in Deir Ez -Zor, a highly symbolic place for the Armenian community.

“France welcomes the commitment of religious leaders of all faiths, despite the attacks and threats, in their fight for tolerance and respect for places of worship.

“Syrian and Iraqi heritage, including religious, is at risk. The failure to protect cultural heritage constitutes a war crime, and those responsible are amenable to the international criminal court. In cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), France is mobilized to ensure that the conventions on the protection of cultural heritage are implemented, especially in situations of armed conflict.”

The St. Martyrs Armenian Church of Deir ez-Zor, holding the relics of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, was exploded by the terrorist group of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on September 21 at 11:30.

French FM Condemns Destruction of Armenian Church in Deir ez- Zor

World Press Freedom Index: Armenia Leader in the Region

PARIS — Armenia is ranked 78th among 180 reviewed nations in the World Press Freedom Index released by the Reporters without Borders. This ranking is higher than its neighbors Georgia (84th), Turkey (154th) Azerbaijan (160th) and Iran (173rd).

According to the report, the four best-placed countries in this year’s index in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Region are the same as last year. Although their positions in the index are fairly dispersed, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan all enjoy a significant degree of pluralism and relatively little state censorship.

“The 2013 elections in Georgia and Armenia were calmer than previous ones. Violence against journalists was rare. Armenia’s state broadcaster has progressed as regards impartiality but the electoral environment exacerbated the ongoing information war in the privately-owned media – a war in which the authorities have a clear advantage,” it says, in part.

Russia is placed 148th in the Index, Georgia is 84th, Turkey is 154th, Azerbaijan is 160th and Iran is 173rd.

The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information and its protagonists. The ranking of some countries has also been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies.

Finland tops the index for the fourth year running, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year. At the other end of the index, the last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, three countries where freedom of information is non-existent. This year’s index covers 180 countries.

World Press Freedom Index: Armenia Leader in the Region