Month: August 2008

GREEK LOBBY’S JOY AT OBAMA CHOICE FOR RUNNING MATE
By Marcos Charalambides

Cyprus Mail
26 Aug 08

BARACK Obama’s choice of Senator Joseph Biden as his vice presidential
running mate has sparked hopes among Greek lobbyists in the United
States that the promotion of the Cyprus problem will take on a more
substantial profile.

Leaders of the Greek American community as well as deputies in
Washington who deal with promoting Greek national issues praised
Biden’s consistent philhellenic views throughout his 35 years in the
Senate and considered his selection the best thing that Greece and
Cyprus could hope for.

As far back as 1997, the Athens News Agency reported, Biden had firmly
asserted, speaking to the then newly appointed US ambassador to Ankara,
that the Turkish government had violated international law by invading
Cyprus in 1974 and continued to violate international law by keeping
its troops there.

"Our policy is that [the Turkish invasion and occupation] was illegal,"
he had stated.

More recently, according to yesterday’s Phileleftheros, he appeared
with his fellow Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, during the
23rd conference of the International Co-ordinating Committee Justice
for Cyprus (PSEKA) in 2007, where he expressed the view that, while
he supported Turkey’s EU accession, the United States’ position should
depend on Turkey’s adherence to improving20its citizens’ human rights
and religious freedom and its attitude regarding its differences with
Greece over the Aegean dispute and the Cyprus problem. He went on
to comment that the United States should demand and make perfectly
clear that the foundations of their relations with Turkey would
depend directly on the way the Cyprus problem would be resolved,
on the complete withdrawal of Turkish forces and on whether Turkey
would continue its claims regarding its right to the oil that had
been discovered two years ago in the waters between Cyprus and Egypt.

During this year’s PSEKA conference, he announced his satisfaction
with Demetris Christofias’ election as President and stated that
he was hopeful about the possibility of a resolution to the Cyprus
problem since the two sides’ interests were now beginning to converge.

Biden cautioned his audience not to expect much from George W. Bush
and further expressed his hopes that, in this year’s presidential
elections, the United States would elect a truly committed president
who would be willing to take on some risks so that the procedure can
actually progress.

Biden, who heads the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, is also
known to have voiced positions against Turkey with regards to both
the Armenian and Kurdish disputes, according to Phileleftheros.

Unsurprisingly, the Democrats’ choice of Senator Joseph Biden was
met unfavourably by the Turkish press.

According to the English-speaking version of Zaman, a leading deputy
of the ruling Justice and Development Party commented that "it is
not easy to be happy with this selection when looking from Turkey
and considering Biden’s almost two-decade-long firm support of the
Armenian diaspora’s efforts for recognition of their allegations of a
genocide," and further asserted that he believes the Turkish public
opinion will follow McCain’s strategies "more closely than before
given the disappointment over Biden’s selection."

The daily also pointed to the front page of the leading Turkish
newspaper, Hurriyet, which criticised Biden’s selection and labelled
him as "inconsiderate" following a 1999 conversation between Biden and
the then prime minister of Turkey, Bulent Ecevit, when the senator
had reportedly told Ecevit, "if you do not solve the Cyprus problem
then I will not approve the financial aid package of $5 billion which
you expect from us, from the Congress" in a bid to put pressure on
the Turkish government.

Despite the overall contentment with Biden’s selection prevalent among
the Cypriot media, some have expressed worries that the senator may
now decide to loosen his firm positions regarding Turkey following
his newly-appointed role as Barack Obama’s right hand man.

Furthermore, as reported by the Washington Post=2 0earlier this year,
although Obama doesn’t reject their advice, he is not a big fan of
lobbies, declaring, "they won’t run my White House, and they won’t set
the agenda in Washington." Nonetheless, according to a recent ABC News
article, although Obama may decry taking cash from federal lobbyists,
Biden doesn’t seem to share this opinion and has taken $344,400 from
lobbyists since 1997, indicating he may be more open to lobbies,
including ones favouring Greek and Cypriot national interests.

NO CITIZENS OF ARMENIA WERE AMONG PASSENGERS OF BOEING 737 CRASH NEAR BISHKEK

arminfo
2008-08-25 16:09:00

ArmInfo. ‘By official data, no citizens of Armenia were on board
of Boeing 737-200 that crashed yesterday’, Head of Armenian Foreign
Ministry Press Service Department for Media Tigran Balayan said.

Boeing airliner crashed during takeoff from the airport of Kyrgyzstan’s
capital Bishkek Sunday night. For some failures on board, pilots
tried to return to the airport but failed. 22 people survived and 65
were killed.

ARMENIAN TRANSPORT MINISTRY: GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES AGREED TO USE AN ALTERNATIVE RAILWAY BRIDGE TO SHIP CARGO TO ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-08-26 14:29:00

ArmInfo. Georgian authorities agreed to use an alternative railway
bridge to ship cargo to Armenia, press-secretary of Armenian Transport
and Communication Ministry Susanna Tonoyan told ArmInfo correspondent.

She also added that at present 29 wagons loaded with wheat are in
Armenian town Gyumri, 21 wagons loaded with various cargo are in
Georgian town Sadakhlo approaching Armenia. Moreover, 10 wagons with
petrol, 62 wagons with grain and 28 wagons with various cargo are in
Khashuri. These wagons maybe delivered to Armenia today. A total of
319 wagons are on the way to Armenia. A total of 3 thsd of grain and
2800 tonnes of petrol for Armenia are in Poti, she said.

At present there is shortage of motor fuel at the Armenian market. The
alternative railway bridge between Georgia and Armenia was restored
because of explosion of the main one, which is expected to be repaired
over 10 days.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER BELIEVES TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY PRINCIPLE PRIOR IN SETTLEMENT OF REGIONAL CONFLICTS

arminfo
2008-08-26 14:24:00

ArmInfo. Principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of
internationally recognized borders must become prior in settlement of
regional conflicts, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadryarov
said at a meeting with Mike Hancock, Vice- Chairman of Political
Affairs Committee of the Assembly of WEU Monday, Novosti- Azerbaijan
reports.

He said Nagorny Karabakh conflict is the key problem of Azerbaijan
that is interested in good neighbored relations with the states in
the region.

In their turn, the foreign delegation expressed willingness of the
Assembly of WEU delegation to visit Azerbaijan on 14-17 September
to prepare a report on the topic ‘Caspian Sea and European Security’
to raise public awareness of the problems of the Caspian Sea states.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS CRITICIZES AUTHORITIES FOR MISTAKES IN MANAGING FUEL RESOURCES

arminfo
2008-08-25 19:49:00

ArmInfo. All companies wishing to import petrol must be allowed to do
it, the Armenian National Congress (an assembly of supporters of the
first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossyan) says in a statement
commenting on the delays in the import of fuel into Armenia caused
by the Georgian-South Ossetin conflict.

The Congress says that as a result of the delays the shadow price of
one liter of petrol in Armenia has hit 1,000 AMD.

The Georgian-South Ossetian conflict continues having negative
consequences on Armenia as it is not clear when the Armenian goods
that are presently in Georgia will arrive in Armenia. The Armenian
authorities have made a number of mistakes in their fuel resource
management strategy. Particularly, it was a big mistake to zero
Armenia’s fuel reserves. One more mistake is that the authorities
have not developed alternative fuel import schemes, particularly,
fuel might be imported from Iran. Besides, it is necessary to abolish
the monopoly over the import of liquid fuel into Armenia as monopoly
may result in energy crisis in the country.

AMERIABANK PURPOSEFULLY PULLS AHEAD

arminfo
2008-08-26 14:37:00

ArmInfo. TDA Holdings Limited, the affiliated company of the
largest investment company in Russian Troika Dialog, the owner of
AMERIABANK, has purposefully capitalized the bank and propelled
it to the top. Hereby, it gave an opportunity to the bank to take
leading positions in the market of investment banking and universal
bank services.

He said that in August the bank held the second closed issue of shares
for 10.6 bln drams ($35.3 mln), in particular, 265 thousand ordinary
nominal shares with 40,000 drams face values each. The majority
shareholder of the bank acquired the whole package increasing its
stake to 99.6 percent. At preset, the authorized capital of the bank
is divided into 425,000 ordinary nominal shares with 40,000 drams face
values each. Total capital after the second issue was up to 18.6 bln
drams ($62 mln). Due to it, the bank rose from top ten to top five
leaders by the given indicator.

A. Anesyan said the third issue of shares for 1.2 bln drams ($4 mln)
is planned for October 2008, in particular, 30,000 ordinary nominal
shares with 40,000 drams face values each. Due to it, the bank
will increase the authorized capital to 18.2 bln drams ($61 mln)
which will fortify its leading positions in the banking market of
Armenia. Total capital will be increased due to replenishment of the
authorized capital and the expected growth of profit. Thus, the bank
will overfulfill the plan of strategic development for 2008. In future,
the bank will raise capital at the expense of profit for it envisages
over $5 million net profit for 2009.

He mentioned that the first 4.4 bln drams issue of shares was in
February 2008, which raised the authorized capital of the bank to 6.4
bln drams. As of June 1 2008, total capital of the bank was 7.9 bln
drams ($25 mln – 10th position), authorized capital was 6.4 bln drams
($20 mln- 6th position). The share of majority shareholder rose to
99.06%. Total number of the bank’s shareholders was 8 as of June 1
2008 including 4 legal entities and 5 individuals.

In September 2007 TDA Holdings Limited, the affiliated company of
the largest investment company in Russian Troika Dialog, acquired
96.15pct stake in Armimpexbank. In June 2008 Armimpexbank was renamed
into AMERIABANK. The new brand is based on a new concept of the bank’s
activity in the investment banking. AMERIABANK Director General Artak
Anesyan told ArmInfo the bank started providing factoring services
in mid August 2008 and financial leasing operations in June 2008
(leasing portfolio of the bank is 200 million drams). He said a
leasing company may be established when the is developed enough.

ANGELA MERKEL CALL FOR A SUMMIT OF GEORGIA’S NEIGHBORS

armradio.am
26.08.2008 13:07

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a summit of Georgia’s
neighbors following the country’s recent conflict with Russia,
independent French correspondent Jean Eckian informed referring to
the Deutsche Welle.

Russia itself was not on the list of countries envisaged by Merkel –
which included Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan – but no country
should be excluded from participation, the spokesman said.

"It’s up to the French presidency of the EU to decide if this
conference will take place, as well as when and who will be invited,"
spokesman Thomas Steg said.

Berlin reckons the theme of the summit should be "reconstruction
and stability in Georgia and the region," the German government
spokesman said.

AMERICAN LEARN PLAYING ARMENIAN DUDUK

A1+
[01:50 pm] 26 August, 2008

37-year-old musician John is known in the world as JHNO-the inventor of
electronic music. He has been in Armenia since March of 2008. During
an interview with A1+ he said he had come to learn playing duduk
(Armenian national pipe).

"I first heard the tones of duduk in Martin Scorsese’s film "Passion
of the Christ" which immediately appealed to me," tells the musician.

Although the music is performed by Armenian duduk-player Vache
Hovsepian John wasn’t keen on Armenian duduks at first.

"I bought a duduk from an organisation importing duduks from every
corner of the world. But it was not an Armenian duduk, it was a
Turkish one."

At first the musician couldn’t play the instrument. As he says
it is rather difficult to master the skills. "Duduk is a unique
instrument. Though in comparison with a piano duduk is very small and
has only a few holes it makes wonderful sounds", says the American
musician who has played the piano since the age of 4.

Then he moved to France and bought an Armenian duduk from an Armenian
prominent duduk-player Ara Papikian. "He gave me lessons and taught me
to breathe correctly using lungs and stomach. But even after taking
lessons from a professional the American was unable to "subdue"
the instrument.

"I finally realized that I must get acquainted with the homeland
of duduk and breathe Armenian air and drink Armenian water to play
the instrument.

Durink his visit to Armenia John went to Yerevan, Etchmiadzin,
Dilijan, Vanadzor and Teghut. He says he is warmly welcomed
everywhere. Armenians get surprised seeing a foreigner playing "Dle
jaman" so well.

ARABKIR RESIDENTS DO NOT EXPECT VITAL CHANGES

A1+
[02:40 pm] 26 August, 2008

Elections to self-government body are due in Yerevan’s Arabkir district
on September 7. The posters of two candidates, Hovhannes Shahinian
and Albert Eritsian, are already placed on building facades. Although
the acting district head Hovhannes Shahinian runs in the election one
can see the posters of non-partisan Albert Eritsian in the central
streets of the commune. Note, the latter runs "Father and Brother
Eritsians" Ltd.

Unlike the two candidates, the others, Zoya Tadevossian and Ashot
Mnatsakanian, members of the "Heritage" and "Progressive" parties
respectively, have no posters.

Residents of Arabkir district seem indifferent to the upcoming election
and the future district head.

"We have no expectations. It is a mere farce, a show. Nothing will
change after the election," 47-year-old Vardan said during a poll
conducted by A1+. Vardan says recently some guys looked in to collect
their passport data. "They had no programme and urged my family
members to vote for Eritsian."

"I know none of the candidates. During the election I shall make
a random choice after getting acquainted with the candidates’
booklets. Will the next district head do anything? So far I have seen
no work done," said 49-year-old Albert.

There were people who sounded content with the acting district
head. "Shahinian is our district head. I am much pleased with him. I
am a pensioner and have always received his attention. I am grateful
to Shahinian. I have nothing else to say," said grandma Gayane.

People mostly complain of garbage and street illumination. "The
district has turned into a real dump," said grandpa Jora.

Children want to have playgrounds and green areas. "The district
head can hardly do anything as people want to erect objects in the
territory," said a mother of two children.

Most residents don’t know the candidates. "I know only Eritsian. He
is a decent man, a businessman ad I have great expectations from him,"
said 44-year-old Hovhannes.

"Surely, I shall vote for the Heritage candidate," said 47-year-old
Vardan.

PROVOCATION ENDED IN STABBING

A1+
[03:15 pm] 26 August, 2008

Yesterday evening an elderly man showed up in Northern Avenue and
began railing at the presentees. He was shouting "Long live to Serzh!"

Members of the Pan-National Movement tried to call him to order but
all their efforts were in vain.

Volodia M., 1938, kicked up a row with them and stabbed David
Kiramijian, 199, harming the latter’s forearm.

Twenty minutes later an ambulance arrived on the scene. "Everything is
all right," David said to A1+ after receiving first medical aid. His
forearm was harmed. David was much concerned that he had been stabbed
in the eyes of his mother.

David was taken to hospital as the wound was rather deep. Presently,
he is in his place.

A1+ was told that Volodia M. keeps visiting the avenue, threatening
people and making provocative announcements.

Eye-witnesses say before provoking the incident Volodia M. had talked
to top-ranked police officers Aghasy Kirakossian and Valeri Osipian
at Liberty Square.

Yesterday evening David Kiramijian’s father Haikaz Kiramijian reported
the police department of Yerevan’s central Kentron district that his
son had been stabbed in Northern Avenue.

Preliminary investigation is underway.