Month: December 2008

GEORGIAN GROUP URGES ARMENIA NOT TO GIVE INTO "PROVOCATION" OVER DISPUTED CHURCH

Georgian Public Television Channel 1
Dec 11 2008
Georgia

[Presenter] The National Christian Movement is demanding that
Orthodox churches in Armenia be handed over to the Georgian
side. Representatives of the movement claim that Georgian churches in
Armenia are in deplorable condition and say Orthodox Christians should
be allowed to take care of them. Members of the movement gathered at
the Armenian embassy in Tbilisi. They sent the Armenian government a
list of their demands. There are about a dozen Orthodox churches in
northern Armenia.

[Giorgi Andriadze, National Christian Movement leader] Dear Armenian
brothers, do not succumb to provocation and let us avoid violent
actions of the kind that took place a few days ago at the Norashen
church [in Tbilisi, which is claimed by both the Georgian Orthodox
and Armenian Apostolic Churches] – the church was broken into by
citizens of Armenian ethnicity.

We think that the return of both Orthodox churches in Armenia and
churches [in Georgia] that Armenia regards as disputed should be
discussed in a peaceful atmosphere.

SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS – MANAGER OF THE ARMENIA-IRAN RAILWAY
by Gayane Sahakyan

Aravot
Dec 6 2008
Armenia

Statements of state leaders about the construction of the Iran-Armenia
railway are attempts to mislead the people. Some economists argue
that up to now, the government has not pointed out specific financial
sources for the construction of this project.

No budget earmarked for project

Besides, analysts believe that the construction of the railway
requires quite a big amount of money, and the next year’s budget has
no corresponding provisions. They believe that although statements
alleging Russia’s readiness to support the construction of the railway,
the Russian state budget does not envisage this either. Besides,
Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin has said quite recently
that they will not carry out such a policy.

We tried to clarify from Minister of Transport and Communications
Gurgen Sargsyan how realistic this project is and at what stage the
design work of the Iran-Armenia railway is. Sargsyan said: "All big
and good projects have been stalled at the initial stage. It is true
that it is quite expensive for our republic, but the global experience
shows that such projects are not implemented alone, not a single
state deals with such an issue on its own. The construction of the
railway has fundamental regional importance and aims at connecting
Asian countries with Europe. One of its importance is that Armenia
will become a transit country for cargo and passenger transit and
will ensure transport from Asia to Europe via Armenia. There is no
other route that would ensure such a transit at present."

Financial institutions ready to fund project

In a reply to a question on funding the railway construction, Sargsyan
said: "Naturally, our state cannot implement such a project on its own;
however, taking into consideration its significance, fortunately, there
are states and finance organizations, which are ready to co-finance the
construction. At present, the Asian Development Bank shows interest in
financing a feasibility study of the project and also participation in
the construction in the future. Discussions have been held with the
World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
as well."

As for that Russia does not have a real desire to take part in the
project, Sargsyan said: "There is no point to speculate on this issue,
there is a fact recorded. This issue was discussed during the meeting
between the Armenian and Russian presidents, and [Russian President]
Dmitriy Medvedev clearly said in this regard that let’s clarify what
amount of money is needed so that we are able to elaborate the degree
of our participation in the project. According to Sargsyan, Iran is
also interested in implementation of this project.

[Passage omitted: Sargsyan said Armenia and Iran will have discussions
on the design of the railway]

Construction of railway would stimulate economy

Sargsyan is sure that our economy will essentially develop due to the
construction of the railway: "The railway is of strategic significance
for the development of economy. If we are a transit country, everyone
will use this route, as there is no other alternative route. At
present a railway line, which goes from China via Middle East and
connects to Iran’s railway network, is being constructed and we have
an opportunity to become a corridor – from the Black Sea, Europe to
China – via the railway line. This is a very serious transport route."

[Passage omitted: Sargsyan puts the construction of the China-Iran
railway at about 1.5-2bn dollars]

The minister said that by the end of 2009, we will have some solution
regarding the construction of the railway. As for the issue who will
operate the new railway, Sargsyan said: "The South Caucasus Railways
[a Russian railway company]. It will be logical if this is done by
this concessionaire, which operates our railways. I do not think that
there will be two operators for a few kilometres of the line. However,
the final decision will be made at a political level." Sargsyan did
not wish to speak about disagreements regarding the operation of the
South Caucasus Railways and the activities of the company.

While answering our question how realistic he himself considers the
implementation of the project, Sargsyan said: "As a citizen, minister
of transport and communications, I am personally quite enthusiastic
about this project and will do my best so that it comes true by
all means."

[Passage omitted: Armenia is optimistic about the project]

ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS CALL ON TURKISH LEADER TO RECOGNIZE "GENOCIDE"

Aravot
Dec 9 2008
Armenia

The following is an excerpt from an open letter by Armenian newspaper
Aravot on 9 December headlined "An open letter to President of the
Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gul"

Dear Mr President,

Following the recent events, the new situation in the South Caucasus,
the courageous step by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to invite
you to Armenia and the ensuing meeting have again proved that
normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations requires brave and
realistic solutions. First of all, we face the thorny issue of the
Armenian genocide.

Let’s admit that this issue has been separating the two nations since
1915. It has been disturbing the collective awareness of Armenians
and Turks and has been conditioning our steps regardless of many
imperatives of everyday life.

Mr President,

We deal with a horrible crime against humanity, something that
knows no time limitations. This is not only the Armenian people’s
collective demand but also a fair expectation of the world. The
Armenian genocide is a crime against humanity and the modern civil
values, and no individual or an organization or a government can
question what happened.

We all have to face the fact that the Ottoman Turkey is guilty of the
genocide against the Armenian people, and the present Turkish state
has inherited the responsibility for that act. The present diplomacy
and the propaganda machine of Turkey cannot shut the sad page of our
common history. The collective memory of our two nations is very deep
and confused; there are no easy solutions.

Your generation of Turkish leadership should admit the undeniable fact
and recognize the Armenian genocide. We think the Turkish people need
this in the first place. By doing so, they will get rid of the historic
burden and will stand next to other nations with an open face. This
is the only way to turn over this page and take a courageous step
towards future. This is the only way for our nations to engage in
sincere dialogue and for the desirable reconciliation process.

Your visit to Armenia and the Turkish initiative to contribute to
stability in the Caucasus give us some hope that a realistic political
trend is gradually emerging in Turkey, but those efforts may vaporize
easily unless the state takes decisive steps and stop its current
policy of denying the Armenian genocide once and for all.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PAPER ACCUSES UK EMBASSY OF INSTRUCTING OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS

Hayots Ashkharh
Dec 4 2008
Armenia

An unattributed report in the paper says that two embassy officials
on 26 November visited the head of the opposition Miatsum initiative,
a group that supports making Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagornyy
Karabakh part of Armenia and the release of "political prisoners". The
report said that after the meeting Zhirayr Seyfilyan, the coordinator
of the Miatsum initiative, and other activists started a hunger strike
in central Yerevan, demanding that the government reject making any
concessions to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

The newspaper asks whether the embassy is guiding the actions of
the Miatsum, saying that the major goal of this organization is
"struggle against the government". The paper concludes that "strange
masters-mentors have gathered" in the UK embassy because "instead
of teaching teenagers not to behave badly, they are teaching them
to misbehave".

WITH A CHANGED MODEL OF YEREVAN’S GOVERNANCE, REVENUES OF THE CITY BUDGET WILL INCREASE, VATCHE TERTERIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The bill on local self-government
and territorial administration in Yerevan will be soon submitted to
the RA National Assembly for discussion in the second reading. By the
bill, Yerevan will have a budget envisaged for implementation of the
city development program. Decisions on the budget to be submitted by
Yerevan mayor and decision on changes in it will be made by the council
of aldermen. "It is obvious that the measures on solution of all-city
problems in Yerevan can be efficiently managed only from one center,
while their financing can be carried out from a united budget formed
with this aim," the Head of the Budget Process Management Department
of the Staff of the RA Ministry of Finance David Hambartsumian said
at the December 11 enlarged hearing of the bill at the parliament.

Accoridng to him, the budget of Yerevan will form from the same sources
of revenues as the budgets of the current district communities. The
deficit will be financed with funds borrowed in order envisaged
by law, the balance of Yerevan budget’s resources available at the
beginning of a year, funds received from repayment of budgetary loans,
as well as resources received from the privatization of state share
in authorized capital of legal entities and from the sale of real
estate representing state property.

D. Hambartsumian said that several considerations on ensuring some
conditions in the revenues of the budget were taken into account:
in particular, "the revenues must be efficient, that is, they must
ensure more stable and regular revenues, ensure enough incomes to
cover considerable part of the expenditures of a community, they
must be neutral, that is, as independent as possible of private
economic decisions and the direct impact of economic changes in the
country, they must be simple and understandable for communities from
the administrative point of view, while the revenues received must
be predictable and fair, that is, the tax burden must be equally
distributed on all taxpayers within a community".

In response to NT correspondent’s question, the co-author of the
bill, the First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration Vatche
Terterian said that the budget of Yerevan will not be "a mechanical
sum of the budgets of the current district communities but it will
be greater". In his opionion, only as a result of the improvement
of administration, revenues will grow by at least 20-30%. Besides,
it is expected that with a changed model of Yerevan’s governance, the
amounts of target subsidies to be allocated from the state budget will
increase in the revenues of the city budget because, according to him,
"we will have politically elected mayor and council of aldermen who
will deal much more seriously with the issue of attitude of the state
to Yerevan than the current mayor who is an official appointed by the
government". V. Terterian also said that some taxes, which are not
compulsory for communities and will be used on a voluntary basis,
will be establshed soon, for example, hotel tax used in many big
European cities, which may also help increase budgetary revenues.

"ARTSAKH HERO" TITLE CONFERRED ON ARKADY GHUKASIAN

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. By the December 10 decree of
the president of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakian, the
title "Artsakh Hero" was conferred on the second president of the
NKR Arkady Ghukasian for his exceptional services to the NKR and on
the occasion of the anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of
the NKR, NT was informed by the Central Information Department of
the Office of the NKR President.

EXCISE STAMPS MARKED "2009" TO BE PUT IN USE IN ARMENIA FROM DECEMBER 10

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. At the December 11 sitting, the
Armenian government made a decision to put in use excise stamps marked
"2009" for marking alcoholic drinks and cigarettes made in Armenia
– starting from December 10, 2008. It was also decided to withdraw
from use the excise stamps marked "2004" and "2005" for marking some
goods made in Armenia and liable to excise tax – starting from January
1, 2009.

By the decision, starting from October 1, 2009, the sale of cigarettes
made in Armenia and marked with excise stamps with marking "2004"
as well as alcoholic drinks made in Armenia and marked with excise
stamps with marking "2005" will be prohibited in Armenia.

According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, the
chairman of the RA State Revenue Committee was instructed to approve
the order of withdrawal and destruction of unused and/or damaged
excise stamps marked "2004" and "2005" for marking goods made in
Armenia and to ensure the implementation of this work by April 1, 2009.

SHEVKET SHAYDULIN APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. During the December 9 meeting,
the Board of Directors of Russian Railways company took a decision to
relieve Alexander Kuznetsov of his post as director of South Caucasus
Railways company – the Armenian subsidiary of Russian railways and
to appoint Shevket Shaydulin to this post, the mass media reported.

To recap, South Caucasus Railways CJSC is 100% subsidiary of Russian
Railways OJSC. In February 2008, South Caucasus Railways assumed the
concession management of Armenian Railways for 30 years. Under the
agreement signed with the Armenian government, the company is obliged
to invest 572 million dollars in Armenian railway transport sector,
with 200 million dollars of this sum to be invested in the first
5 years.

ACADEMICIAN PARIS HERUNI DIES

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The prominent scientist, member of a
number of academies and international societies, Academician of the RA
National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor
Paris Heruni died at the age of 74 on December 5. He founded several
new scientific directions, which have been recognized in the world
and are now used in developed countries. Paris Heruni also conducted
serious studies in other fields: he discovered the Karahunj ancient
observatory and wrote "The Armenians and Ancient Armenia" monography
which was published in Armenian, English and Russian.

ARMENIAN AMERICANS DISPLEASED WITH CNN PROGRAM THAT MENTIONED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN PASSING

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 11, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. A CNN program
on genocides has caused discontent among Armenian Americans. They
complain that in this almost 2-hour program, the episode on the
Armenian Genocide lasted less than a minute. On the initiative of the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the Armenian community
has sent letters of protest to the CNN management, accusing it of
ignoring the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

According to Marmara, the program prepared by famous journalist
Christiane Amanpour presented such genocides as the Holocaust, the
genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and Darfur as well as that
organized by Saddam Hussein against the people in Iraq.

The Armenians were also mentioned in a short episode at the begging
of the program. It was said that from 1915, the Christian Armenians
were subjected to massacres and forced deportation for seven years
in the Ottoman Empire, as a result of which a million of Armenians,
including children, women and elderly people, died. It was also
mentioned that Turkey refuses to recognize these events as genocide.

Turkish newspaper Huriet in its turn reported that the above mentioned
program caused disconent of not only Armenians but also Turks due to
its comments on the 1915 events.