
Published on April 11, 2008
UP AND AWAY ARMENIA!: HOT AIR BLAST BETTER FOR BALLOONING THAN FOR POLITICS OR PROTEST ON INAUGURATION DAY
- Inauguration Day in the Armenian capital began with a Technicolor display of optimism as Yerevan skies were splashed with the spectacle of about 15 giant hot air balloons. The skilled balloonists barely cleared rooftops and power lines in what was surely an attempt by authorities here to lift spirits from the dark mood produced by the election results that today see Serzh Azat Sargsyan become independent Armenia’s third president. The parade of balloons launched a day that is planned to be full of pomp and pageantry under tight security that has put police on nearly every meter of the city center. And, as the teardrop-shaped balloons gave way to Mother Nature’s raindrops, minibus drivers tortured by the closedown of streets already were parodying the event. Favored among the new jokes was speculation that the hot air balloons were “the government’s new system for spying on protestors”. Prime Minister Sargsyan becomes President Sargsyan today at 2 p.m., Yerevan time in ceremonies at the Opera House.

Headlines for April 11, 2008
SORROWFUL SUNDAY: CHURCH PRAYS FOR MARCH 1 VICTIMS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF DEFYING RITUAL
Gayane AbrahamyanLeading churches of the Armenian Apostolic Church on Sunday performed requiem services in remembrance of the deaths of March 1 – a day of riots that ended in bloody clashes between protesters and police. ...TACTIC OR NECESSITY?: DELAY IN MAYORAL ELECTION RAISES CLAIMS AGAINST GOVERNMENT REGIME
Gayane Abrahamyan
Yesterday the National Assembly postponed the second reading of the draft law on local self-administration and territorial administration in Yerevan for three months. The law would give the residents ...PRESIDENT SARGSYAN NAMES PRIME MINISTER SARGSYAN: PM SLOT GOES TO CENTRAL BANK CHAIRMAN
Armenia’s President-elect Serzh Sargsyan, who is due to assume office tomorrow (April 9), has named current Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sargsyan (no relation) as the next Prime Minister of Armenia. ...UP AND AWAY ARMENIA!: HOT AIR BLAST BETTER FOR BALLOONING THAN FOR POLITICS OR PROTEST ON INAUGURATION DAY
Inauguration Day in the Armenian capital began with a Technicolor display of optimism as Yerevan skies were splashed with the spectacle of about 15 giant hot air balloons. The skilled balloonists barely ...NEW PRESIDENT, OLD MOOD: SARGSYAN TAKES OATH AS CAPITAL CENTER IS UNDER LOCKDOWN
Serzh Sargsyan is officially the President of Armenia and with his wife, Rita, bid farewell from the Presidential Mansion to outgoing First Couple, Robert and Bella Kocharyan. As rain began soon after ...DAY OF PROMISES AND PROTEST: PRESIDENT SARGSYAN SAYS “LOOK AHEAD”; SOME NOT READY TO FORGET
Gayane Abrahamyan
With a red carpet and tricolors, in heavy police presence Serzh Sargsyan today was sworn in as Armenia’s third president, taking an oath on the original Constitution, a seventh century Our Lady New Testament ...SOLO PERFORMANCE: PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TAKES A STAND ON HIS FIRST DAY IN POWER
John Hughes
I wanna be back On the inside with you Little Anthony – On the Outside Looking In He looked lonely. Standing on the Opera House steps with his people kept at a safe distance and ...SOLO PERFORMANCE: PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TAKES A STAND ON HIS FIRST DAY IN POWER
John Hughes
I wanna be back On the inside with you Little Anthony – ...FARE TREATMENT: NEW TAXI LAWS NOT YET READY FOR TRAFFIC
Sara Khojoyan
Taxis on Yerevan streets without chauffer license plates and without meters have been outlawed since April 1. According to Armenia’s Law on Automobile Transport, adopted in early 2007 and a subject ...LAW OR POLITICS?: ANM BRANCH CHAIRMAN FACES SERVING SARGSYAN’S TERM IN PRISON
Naira Bulghadaryan
The chairman of the Vanadzor’s council of the Armenian All-National Movement (HHsh) arrested in the morning on March 1 in Yerevan may face 5 years imprisonment for “organizing illegal public events and ...WHITHER NKR?: WHERE WILL THE NEW PRESIDENT LEAD KARABAKH?
Aris Ghazinyan
The Karabakh issue features prominently among the issues that the Republic’s third President Serzh Sargsyan will inherit from his predecessors. It is this issue that stood at the sources of new Armenian ...WHAT WOMEN WANT: WIVES OF ARRESTED LOBBY FOR HUSBANDS
Gayane Mkrtchyan
The wives of opposition members kept in detention on coup d’etat charges continue to demand the release of their husbands, who, they claim, are being persecuted for their political views. Melissa Brown, ...THE OTHER SARGSYAN: PM TIGRAN IN, POLITICAL "INDEPENDENT" TO LEAD GOVERNMENT
Marianna Grigoryan
On April 9 soon after being sworn in, President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree according to which the coveted post of Prime Minister went to Tigran Sargsyan, the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia. ...COMMENTARY OF THE TIMES: AZERBAIJAN IS FLEXING ITS POLITICAL MUSCLE AS ARMENIA DEALS WITH TENSION AT HOME
The regime of Ilham Aliyev is flexing its political muscle unashamedly these days while political tensions continue in Armenia. Baku claims a historic victory following the vote in the United Nations ...HEARTH HOLDERS, PLUS . . . : KARABAKH WOMEN DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS FOR “GENDER SELF-DETERMINATION”
Naira Hayrumyan
At the beginning of this school year principles in Stepanakert received a very strange order from Minister of Education Vadik Khachatryan forbidding female teachers from wearing trousers to work. The ...NEW BUZZ IN MOBILE SERVICE: ARMENTEL BECOMES BEELINE
Sara Khojoyan
A new brand name emerged on Armenia's telecom market this week to replace that of ArmenTel, Armenia's second mobile phone operator and monopolist in fixed line telephony. Large- and small-sized banners ...RESEARCH IN RUINS: TIGRANAKERT PROJECT THREATENED BY LACK OF FINANCES
Arpi Harutyunyan 1
The expedition group excavating the city of Tigranakert built by Armenian King Tigran the Great (1st century) in Karabakh faces financial problems that threaten continuing the project started in 2005. ...MFA TO STEP ASIDE: VARTAN OSKANIAN ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SERVE OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT
John Hughes
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian has announced his resignation from official government work, ending speculation on whether the veteran diplomat would hold a place in the Serzh Sargsyan/Tigran ...SPORT: TOP-FLIGHT FC’S KICK OFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Suren Musayelyan
Football Losing a number of key players during the winter break, Armenia’s longtime champions FC Pyunik Yerevan started the new season with a modest win over FC Ulis Yerevan – 1-0. Matches of the other ...DANGEROUS PASSAGES: UNDERGROUND WATER CHANNELS IN GYUMRI BLAMED FOR SERIES OF COLLAPSES
Ani Hakobyan
The underground water channels in Gyumri that once were of vital importance now threaten residents. Over the past 20 days five houses and parts of streets have collapsed in the historic Gyumri district. ...
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DAY OF PROMISES AND PROTEST: PRESIDENT SARGSYAN SAYS “LOOK AHEAD”; SOME NOT READY TO FORGET
Gayane AbrahamyanSOLO PERFORMANCE: PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TAKES A STAND ON HIS FIRST DAY IN POWER
John HughesLET THE LEGAL BATTLE BEGIN: 13 COMMITTED FOR TRIAL, SOME OF THE REST GO ON HUNGER-STRIKE
Suren MusayelyanWHAT WOMEN WANT: WIVES OF ARRESTED LOBBY FOR HUSBANDS
Gayane MkrtchyanTAXING TIMES: NEWSPAPERS NOT FRIENDLY TO GOVERNMENT GET VISITS FROM INSPECTORS
Marianna GrigoryanTARGETED: HUNTING COMPANY IN CROSSHAIRS OF CONTROVERSY OVER BIRDS
Sara KhojoyanUP AND AWAY ARMENIA!: HOT AIR BLAST BETTER FOR BALLOONING THAN FOR POLITICS OR PROTEST ON INAUGURATION DAY
SPORT: UNBEATEN KING ARTHUR READY TO MEET “THE GHOST”
Suren MusayelyanEUROPEAN DISPATCH: AGO GROUP BRINGS IN PROPOSALS TO DEFUSE TENSIONS
Aris Ghazinyan
© AUA
Today in Armenian history- 1806 Birth of educator and literary figure Ruben Papazyan in Constantinople. He died in 1857 in Smyrna.
- 1865 Birth of poet, translator Alexander Tsatooryan.
- 1879 The Azgaser Union is created in Constantinople.
- 1915 Start of the 11-day defense of the Armenian town of Taron (Western Armenia).
- 1919 Having been found guilty of serious crimes in the Genocide of the Armenians of Yozghat, Kemal Bay was hung in Constantinople's Sultan Bayazet square. He was the deputy governor of Yozgat.
- 2001 Armenian Genocide Heirs Settle New York Life Insurance Company Class-Action Lawsuit concerning policy holders who were victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
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