Month: December 2008

GEORGY PETROSIAN: OFFICIAL BAKU’S POLICY AIMED AT ENDANGERING REGIONAL PEACE BECOMES SERIOUS THREAT FOR WHOLE REGION’S SECURITY

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Azeri side’s attempts aimed
at thrusting upon the mediators and international community their
own views of both Nagorno Karabakh problem and its settlement ways
through various international forums is not news for us. NKR Foreign
Minister Georgy Petrosian stated this in response to journalists’
questions. According to him, within the framework of this policy
official Baku makes various tricks, in particular, presents itself
as a victim in the aggression it started against the NKR people and
veils its goals with slogans of European values and democracy. While
Azeri leadership’s latest statements, according to G. Petrosian, in
particular, Ilham Aliyev’s unique commentary upon Moscow Declaration’s
points, that is, denial of conflict settlement in a peaceful way,
as well as Azeri settlement principles show the whole hypocricy of
Azeri democracy and reduce to zero international community’s all
attempts to look for problem settlement ways.

As the NKR Foreign Minister affirmed, at all stages of Nagorno Karabakh
problem development the Azeri side has always been the main bearer of
force solution. The calculation on force resulted in ethnic slaughters
and deportation of Armenians from Sumgayit, Baku, Kirovabad, and other
former Azeri SSR populated areas, which was followed by the Koltso
(Circle) operation aimed at forcible deportation of Armenian villages
of Nagorno Karabakh’s Shahumian, Hadrut, and Shoushi regions. According
to G. Petrosian, during the conflict military stage Baku repeatedly
avoided to limit and to stop military operations, failed ceasefire
agreements, was the first and repeated violator of UN Security Council
four resolutions, did not completely and in time fulfill their demand
and appeal. After concluding a truce the Azeri leadership actively
purchased a great number of attacking ammunition by strengthening the
arms race and continued threatening to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
to resume military operations. Official Baku’s policy to endanger
regional peace being the main precondition for implementation of
international investment programs and socio-economic development
becomes a serious threat for stability and security of not only NKR,
but also the whole region.

The NKR Foreign Minister affirmed that the current status quo is the
result of Azerbaijan’s aggression against NKR and its people and its
further military operations and as the war initiator Azerbaijan bears
the whole responsibility for its consequences. The created status
quo is the minimum that permitted to ensure NKR and its people’s
security and independence under the circumstance of Azerbaijan’s
aggression. "The change of that status quo, in our opinion, inevitably
will result in situation’s destabilization, strengthening of tension
with possible resumption of military operations. In the years of Soviet
power Azeri SSR’s leadership, including with "national leader" Heydar
Aliyev’s hands, tried to make Nagorno Karabakh not self-sufficient
and dependent on Baku first of all trying to change population’s
demographic staff. It was also expressed during the determination of
the borders of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh. Now they
try to return Nagorno Karabakh to the past. However, all attempts
are doomed to failure," the NKR Foreign Minister said.

The Minister also said that the NKR authorities have received no
document (he meant the "technical document" that according to OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairman Bernard Fassier’s information, was given to the
conflict sides within the framework of Ministers’ meeting in Helsinki)
yet. However, according to the Foreign Minister, as a conflict side,
which has been recognized as such according to OSCE basic documents
on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the NKR authorities expect to receive
that document from Minsk Group Co-chairs in the near future.

PROCREDIT BANK ARMENIA INCREASES ITS CAPITAL BY 300 MILLION DRAMS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. ProCredit Bank
() has increased its capital by 300 million drams
to 6 billion 90 million drams (about 20 million USD). According to
information of the bank, the additional capital will allow the bank
to expand and continue developing next year. As a result of the
capital increase, the share of ProCredit Holding AG makes 67.49%,
that of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
– 16.67%, and KfW Bank (Germany) – 15.84% in the authorized capital
of ProCredit Bank.

ProCredit Bank is going to remain faithful to its main direction
of activity: crediting of very small, small and medium business
and establishing long-term cooperation with customers. Besides, the
bank will continue developing the tradition of savings in Armenia –
based on the conviction that savings give long-term stability to
households. The purpose of the bank is to increase the share of its
customers’ money by laying stress on savings of private persons.

To recap, Procredit Bank started operating in Armenia on February
5, 2008.

It is a bank with 100% foreign capital and provides a comprehensive
package of banking and financial services in Armenia. ProCredit Bank
in Armenia is a member of ProCredit group composed of 22 financial
structures operating in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. These
structures are headed and controlled by ProCredit Holding in Frankfurt
(Germany).

In Armenia ProCredit Bank has over 4,000 customers, including users
of savings services, as well as a credit portfolio of about 24 million
USD and a deposit portfolio of 7 million USD.

"ARMAVIA" AIRLINE PLANS TO ORGANIZE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Armavia airline is carrying
out work for organization of direct flights to Los Angeles and New
York. The deputy director general for production and technical issues
of the airline Aram Yeghoyan said at the December 17 press conference
that this issue will be solved in the near future. According to him,
the airline employs 51 pilots.

It has 4 Airbus planes and will purchase another one in March.

The head of Armavia’s aviation security service Rafael Avetikian said
that based on the ICAO requirements, security problems-related audits
have been conducted at the company for about a year. He announced
that Armavia has successfully passed the first stage of the audit:
according to experts, more than 900 criteria of the airline’s security
are in line with international standards.

R. Avetikian noted that the number of undisciplined passengers grows
year by year, which gives cause for concern as some of them try to
smoke or take alcoholic drinks aboard.

TODAY CNNTURK TO SHOW DOCUMENTARY ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

ISTANBUL, DECEMBER 17, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. This evening the
CNNTurk TV company will show a documentary under the title Society’s
Sorrow: 1915: Turks and Armenians.

According to the Marmara daily of Istanbul, the film shows an
all-embracing package of Armenian-Turkish relations from the past
up to the present and tries to look for answers to the following
questions: how did Armenian and Turkish peoples living together in
the lands of Anatolu for many centuries become enemies and why, how
was the decision of deportation made, which became the cornerstone
of breaking off the contacts.

Opinions of renowned intellectuals, historians, artists, and
researchers on these issues are presented in the film.

EVENT DEDICATED TO CENTENARY OF WILLIAN SAROYAN’S BIRTH HELD IN ROMANIA

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

BUCHAREST, DECEMBER 17, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. An event
dedicated to the centenary of William Saroyan’s birth was held at the
Hall of the Union of Writers of Romania on December 12. The event was
organized by the Armenian embassy in Romania, the Union of Writers of
Romania, the UNESCO Office in that country, and the Union of Armenians
of Romania.

Speeches on life and works of the great writer were made by the deputy
chairman of the Union of Writers of Romania, the chairman of the
Union of Armenians of Romania, the Romanian minister of economy and
finance Varujan Vosganian, the Armenian ambassador to Romania Yeghishe
Sargsyan, lecturer of Bucharest University of Theatrical and Cinema
Art Titus Vijue, journalist and translator Madeleine Karakasian,
the secretary of the Union of Writers of Romania Irina Horea, and
the film maker and actor Florin Kevorkian.

Episodes of the films about William Saroyan, including the film made
during the writer’s visits to Armenia were demonstrated, and literary
performances were given during the event.

According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, the event
was attended by representatives of literary and social circles,
diplomats, reporters, and members of the Armenian community.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMAVIA LOWERS TICKET PRICES BY 8%-31%

ARKA
Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. Armenia’s national air carrier Armavia
has reduced ticket prices by 8%-31%, reported Rafael Avetikyan,
head of Armavia’se aviation security department.

The reason for price reduction is the drop in aviation fuel prices,
he said, adding from January 28 to February 23 Armavia offers 20%
discount for men 25%above 20 and women serving in the RA Armed
Forces. The company also offers a disocut of 25% for its female
customers from March 8 to April 7.

"Armavia does not plan New Year discounts, as there are no such
campaigns anywhere," Avetikyan said.

Leader in Armenia’s aviation market, Armavia was established by Aviafin
Ltd and Mika Armenia Trading LLC in 1996. President of MIKA Armenia
Trading Mikhail Baghdasarov is the absolute shareholder of the company.

Armavia currently operates flights to the CIS and Russia, as well
as Middle East and Europe, organizing over 70 flights weekly to 35
destinations in the CIS and Europe.

Armavia’s fleet consists of nine aircrafts, including two A319
airbuses, two A320 airbuses, one Boeing 737, one CJR-100ER, one Yak-42,
one Tu134 and one IL-86.

TURKISH PM SCORNS ARMENIA APOLOGY

BBC NEWS
urope/7788486.stm
2008/12/17 17:24:34 GMT

Turkey’s prime minister has criticised a Turkish internet petition
which apologises for the "great catastrophe" of 1915 when Armenians
were massacred.

The petition was launched by more than 200 Turkish academics and
newspaper columnists earlier this week.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "I find it unreasonable to
apologise when there is no reason".

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks
in 1915. Turkey denies that it was "genocide".

Mr Erdogan said the petition risked stirring trouble. He called it
"irrational" and "wrong".

Many international historians say the massacres and deaths of Armenians
during their forced removal from what is now eastern Turkey were
"genocide".

Turkey vehemently denies that, arguing that those who died were just
victims of the turmoil of World War I, in which many innocent Muslim
Turks also died.

The intellectuals behind the petition say they want to challenge the
official denial and provoke discussion in Turkish society about what
happened, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports from Istanbul.

The petition is entitled "I apologise".

A short statement at the top reads: "My conscience cannot accept
the ignorance and denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman
Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and –
on my own behalf – I share the feelings and pain of my Armenian
brothers – and I apologise to them."

The petition was condemned on Tuesday by some 60 Turkish former
ambassadors, who called it an act of betrayal.

The Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink was killed last year for openly
saying that the events of 1915 were genocide.

Previously he had been tried for "insulting Turkishness" for his
comments on 1915 – as was Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel prize-winning author,
who said that a million Armenians were killed "in these lands" and
no-one dared talk about it.

TURKISH PM SAYS HE WON’T APOLOGY TO ARMENIANS
By Selcan Hacaoglu

AP
17 Dec 08

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister on Wednesday said he
will not join a group of Turkish intellectuals who issued an apology on
the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

"If there is a crime, then those who committed it can offer an
apology. My nation, my country has no such issue," Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said. "I personally do not support this campaign."

The Turkish prime minister’s reaction, echoed by nationalists and even
members of opposition parties, was a setback for the intellectuals’
hopes to nurture reconciliation by shattering a taboo against
acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Several Turkish diplomats and lawmakers have condemned the apology
and hundreds of Turks joined groups that popped up on Facebook with
titles such as "I am not apologizing."

Erdogan said the apology issued Monday threatens to damage improved
relations and is not binding.

"This initiative jeopardizes Turkey’s Armenia policy because it could
trigger public pressure and polarization within Turkey," Erdal Safak,
a columnist for daily Sabah newspaper, wrote in Wednesday editions.

Turkey has opened an air corridor to the landlocked country and
renovated a historic Armenian church. The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
said Turkey’s archives were open to researchers studying a chapter
of history that has pois oned relations between the two countries.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul visited Armenia in September to watch
a World Cup qualifying match as a goodwill gesture.

Despite diplomatic overtures, the two countries have failed to
establish a commission of historians to examine Turkish and Armenian
archives and to share their findings with the public.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations because of
the dispute over the killings of Armenians during World War I,
which Armenians claim was genocide. Their shared border has been
closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia’s occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan’s claims to the disputed
region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is
located within Azerbaijan’s borders.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey,
however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the
toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil
war and unrest.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LIEUTENANT COLONEL COVERS SOLDIER WITH HIS OWN BODY WHEN LATTER DROPS GRENADE

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian president Serzh
Sargsyan has signed a decree on awarding a Medal for Valour to the
deputy commander of military unit No 25836 of the RA defence ministry,
Lieutenant Colonel Samvel Martirosian for bravery and devotion in
performing his official duties.

During practical exercises on combat grenade throwing at the
shooting-range of the military unit on December 12, a sergeant dropped
a grenade which exploded. At that moment Lieutenant Colonel Martirosian
covered the sergeant with his own body, saving his life.

Serzh Sargsyan handed the high state award to Samvel Martirosian on
December 17. Thanking him for his service, the Supreme Commander of
the RA Armed Forces stated: "I am glad and proud that the number
of officers ready to display an example of valour and bravery if
necessary is growing in our army. The profession of a serviceman is
such that his life may be endangered even in the peaceful time".

S. Sargsyan considered it especially praiseworthy that a serviceman
endangers his own life in order to save a subordinate person –
a soldier.

"This is how a commander should behave," he underlined.

PROGRAM OF MOVING RESIDENTS OF 4TH-DEGREE ACCIDENT-PRONE BUILDINGS TO NEW APARTMENTS COMPLETED

Noyan Tapan

Dec 17, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The residents of two newly-built
10-story apartment buildings on 14th Street in Yerevan’s Kanaker
district had their house-warming party with the participation of
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan on December 17. They had been moved
to their new apartments from 4-degree accident-prone buildings in
Ajapniak community.

According to information of Yerevan municipality, under the Armenian
government’s decision No 682 of October 25, 2005, the issues of moving
the residents of accident-prone buildings subject to demolition
in Yerevan were regulated, and the order of their demolition was
decided. In pursuance of the government decision of December 20,
2007, Yerevan municipality made a decision to allocate a land plot
adjacent to the above mentioned streets and Tbilisi Hayway to Yerevan
Development Investment Program Implementation Office state non-profit
organization for construction of two buildings. The design estimate
work was done by Yerrepairproject CJSC, the winner of the respective
tender, while construction work was done by Yerevan House-Building
Enterprise CJSC. The total usable area of two buildings is 8,784 suare
meters, there are 100 apartments. The interior design work has been
completed, the internal and outdoor communications have been installed.

The total cost of the buildings’ construction and improvement of the
adjacent area made 1.5 billion drams (about 5 million USD).

As Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakarian said at the house-warming ceremony,
543 families of 4th-degree accident-prone buildings in Ajapniak
community were moved to 9 newly-built apartment buildings in recent
years, by which the respective program was completed. He announced
that it is also envisaged to construct new buildings with a total
of 227 apartments for residents of three 4th-degree accident-prone
dormitories in Yerevan. Half of this state budget-financed program
will be implemented in 2009, while the other half in 2010.