Month: June 2009

NA SPEAKER CONGRATULATES THE NEWLY ELECTED SPEAKER OF ICELAND

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

National Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan sent today a congratulatory
message to the newly elected speaker of the Icelandic parliament
Mrs. Asta Rugnheidur Yohannesdotir.

NA public relations department told Armenpress that in the message
the NA speaker congratulated Mrs. Asta Rugnheidur Yohannesdotir on
behalf of the Armenian parliament and himself, expressing assurance
that during her office the cooperation between the two countries as
well as the inter-parliamentary relations will develop and consolidate.

T. BALAYAN SAYS STATEMENT OF TURKISH FM ABOUT COMING MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FMs IN ITALY IS BASED ON INFORMATION WHICH DOES NOT CORRESPOND TO REALITY

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

The statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davudoghli
about the coming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers in Italy is made on the basis of information which does not
correspond to reality, spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry
Tigran Balayan told Armenpress, commenting on the statement of Turkish
foreign minister.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: RUSSIA IS COMMITTED TO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.06.2009

/PanARMENIA N.Net/ Frequent meetings among country leaders help
overcome difficulties in different spheres of life, RF President
Dmitry Medvedev said before a meeting with his Armenian colleague
Serzh Sargsyan. "To overcome current difficulties, we need to organize
meetings more frequently. And this is actually what we do," Medvedev
said, adding that frequent meeting also "help adopt specific decisions
on specific issues." Russian President expressed hope for discussing
"the most important topics" during the meeting with Mr. Sargsyan. In
the meantime, Russia is committed to further development of partnership
with Armenia, RIA Novosti quotes Medvedev as saying.

MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS PASSES IN CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met today with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Saint Petersburg.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that this is the fifth
meeting of Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev. The meeting started with
the participation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov, OSCE Minsk group
co-chairs and personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office
Andrzej Kasprzyk. Afterwards the president continued the meeting
in the face-to-face format which lasted for 2.5 hours and then the
extended negotiations continued.

The meeting of the presidents passed in a constructive atmosphere, the
sides agreed to go forth with the negotiations process. The foreign
ministers of the two countries were tasked to continue works towards
making the positions of the sides closer to each other and towards
organization of new possible meeting of the two presidents. President
Serzh Sargsyan will meet today with his Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev. Tomorrow the president will participate in the works of
13th international economic forum.

The delegation headed by Serzh Sargsyan will arrive back to Yerevan
tomorrow.

SH. SHAYDULIN SAYS NO ISSUES WILL RISE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RAILWAY TRANSPORTATIONS IN CASE OF THE OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

The Armenian railways are fully ready for the opening of
Armenian-Turkish border.

During today’s press conference chief director of "South Caucasian
Railways" company which took up the accredited management of Armenian
railways Shevket Shaydulin informed that works of modernization of
infrastructures are being implemented in this direction. "We are ready
to restore the railway communication between Armenia and Turkey. Today
there already exists a definite program according to which the works
will be conducted; a business plan is being worked out. Corresponding
steps are undertaken towards the modernization of bordering Akhurian
railway station," he said.

Sh. Shaydulin assured that there will rise no railway transportation
issues in case the border opens. The company intends to make an
investment of nearly 900 million rubles in this direction.

HORIZON TV COMES TO THE IPHONE
Allen Yekikan

-tv-comes-to-the-iphone/
Jun 4th, 2009

Little Armenia-Horizon Armenian Television has partnered with Meridian
Studios to launch an iPhone application that delivers Armenian news,
music and views straight to the palm of your hand.

The application, titled "MClub Radio," is now available on the iPhone
App store for $8.99 and provides the user access to 24 hours of live
streaming Horizon Programming, including the recently launched Horizon
180 segment, which airs Monday through Friday from 7-10pm.

Horizon 180 is a news and information show covering Armenian,
international, and community news, featuring CNN-style commentary
and discussion on the political, social and cultural issues of the
day. It can be heard live through the Horizon iPhone App.

The applicationalso features Armenian and Russian Music Videos from
M-Club, and live audio streams from Armenian Public Radio and ARTN TV.

Users also have the capability of not only purchasing the music they
are listening to through the application, but also event tickets
featured as advertisements in the application.

The application can be purchased by clicking here or by searching
the Itunes store for "Horizon TV" or "MClub." Positive comments on
the application page will make it more visible in searches.

GENOCIDE AWARENESS ACT" CLEARS CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE

-awareness-act-clears-california-state-senate/
Jun 4th, 2009

SACRAMENTO, CA – Despite intense opposition from Turkish lobby groups,
the California State Senate unanimously passed the "Genocide Awareness
Act" (SB 234) on Tuesday.

The legislation, which seeks to explicitly include an oral history
component to the already mandated genocide education curriculum,
would expand the perspective through which California students learn
about this crime against humanity. Both the current legislation and
the current curriculum directly reference the Armenian Genocide as
well as several other 20th Century genocides.

"Survivor, witness and personal testimony represent powerful ways of
educating California’s students about the true horrors of genocide,
the ongoing cycle of mass atrocities that continue to plague our world,
and – of course – the urgent need for us, as Americans, to work with
each other and the international community in eradicating this crime
forever," said Aram Hamparian, ANCA Executive Director. "We value the
leadership of Senator Mark Wyland and are proud that the California
state Senate has remained at the vanguard of genocide education by
adopting this measure."

The Armenian National Committee of America led the Armenian American
community effort to support this legislation. ANCA activists traveled
to Sacramento and sent WebFaxes to their Senators earlier in the
year and throughout April to raise awareness about the importance of
the bill. The bill was introduced by California Senator Mark Wyland
(R-northern San Diego County).

On April 29, during a hearing in the California State Senate Education
Committee, Armenian American activist Harry Boghossian, a resident
of San Diego County traveled to Sacramento to testify before the
committee in support of the bill.

As part of his testimony, Boghossian referenced US Ambassador
Henry Morgenthau noting that the Ambassador had "the willingness
to record the atrocities as a credible, U.S. government document,
readily available in the U.S. archives. This document serves as a
legitimate itemization of the Genocide. In so doing, he kept the
remembrance of the Armenian Genocide alive in the face of today’s
Turkish government plot to cover up the truth and deny that the
Genocide ever existed. We must never live in the denial of the
truth." (Read more about Boghossian’s testimony)

Genocide denial lobbyist Bruce Fein was dispatched from Washington,
DC to testify at that same hearing in opposition to SB 234. Fein
is a Board Member of the Turkish Coalition of America and active
with the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, a front organization
promoting genocide denial through similar testimony and lawsuits
against prominent civil rights groups, including the Southern Poverty
Law Center (Read more about the lawsuits). During the hearing Senator
Joe Simitian was outspoken in confronting Fein’s denial the Armenian
and Cambodian genocides as well as ongoing genocide in Darfur. (Read
more about Fein’s efforts in Sacramento).

"Truth and our commitment to education won today. Having worked with
students in the classroom on this subject I know that oral histories
are fundamental in helping convey the lessons we need to learn in
order to prevent genocide and punish its perpetrators," remarked
Shant Hagopian, an ANCA Leo Sarkisian Internship alumnus and recent
graduate from the University of California, Berkeley where he also
volunteered with the Genocide Education Project.

Having cleared the California State Senate, SB 234 now moves to the
California State Assembly for consideration and approval. Should it
be approved by both chambers Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would
then have the opportunity to sign the legislation into law.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH KARABAKH TALKS

zerbaijan-agree-to-move-forward-with-karabakh-talk s/
Jun 4th, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG (RFE/RL)-Armenia and Azerbaijan reported further
progress towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
after a fresh meeting of their presidents held in Saint-Petersburg,
Russia on Thursday.

Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev spoke one on one for about
two and a half hours before and after being joined by their foreign
ministers and the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing
the OSCE Minsk Group. It was their fifth face-to-face encounter in
one year.

Neither president made any public statements after the
talks. Sarkisian’s office issued only a written statement saying that
the meeting took place "in a constructive atmosphere."

"The parties agreed to move forward in the negotiating process," the
statement said. It added that they instructed their top diplomats and
the mediators to continue their efforts to narrow Yerevan’s and Baku’s
disagreements and to prepare for yet another Armenian-Azerbaijani
summit.

"Although we cannot talk about a breakthrough or substantial
progress today, the parties are moving forward and have agreed
to continue negotiations," Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian told
journalists. Nalbandian’s Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov,
gave a similarly positive assessment of the talks.

"What we heard today [from the presidents] is creating a basis for
the continuation of our work," Mammadyarov told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service. He said he believes that the Saint-Petersburg talks were
more productive than the previous Aliyev-Sarkisian meeting held in
Prague a month ago.

According to the mediators, during that meeting Aliyev and
Sarkisian bridged some of their differences on basic principles of a
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by the troika. The Minsk Group’s
U.S. co-chair, Matthew Bryza, has repeatedly spoken of "significant
progress" made in Prague.

Bryza told RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week that the Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders are unlikely to iron out all of their disagreements
on "a handful of remaining principles" in Saint-Petersburg and will
therefore need to hold more talks "relatively quickly." "Based on
their conversation in Prague, I do believe that a breakthrough can
happen at Saint-Petersburg and/or shortly thereafter," he said.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS CONTINUE FIGHT TO SAVE LAKE SEVAN FROM TOXIC MINING VENTURE

mentalists-continue-fight-to-save-lake-sevan-from- toxic-mining-venture/
Jun 4th, 2009

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)-Growing environmental concerns over plans
by a Russian-owned mining company to build a gold processing plant
near Armenia’s legendary Lake Sevan are prompting opposition to
the project from some government officials, according to the head
of an environmental NGO working to save the lake from additional
contamination.

The proposed plant, to be situated about 10 kilometers away from
Sevan, would reportedly include a reservoir for cyanide and toxic
chemicals and a dump for cyanide waste. Those toxins could seep into
underground water conduits and enter the 1,200-square-meter body of
water, one of the world’s largest high-altitude lakes and the sole
source for 90 percent of Armenia’s fresh water supplies.

According to Inga Zarafyan, chairperson of Yerevan’s Ecolur information
center, warnings raised by her group and other concerned social
activists have led Armenia’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister,
Armen Movsisyan, and Economic Minister Nerses Yeritsyan to raise
concerns over the project. The President of the Lake Sevan Committee,
Vladimir Movsisyan, she added, has also expressed his opposition to
the building of the processing plant so close to Sevan.

The GeoProMining Company, headquartered in Moscow, and with copper,
gold and other mines in Armenia, Georgia and Russia, wants to
build the processing plant at its Sotk gold mine, 10 kilometers from
Sevan. Reducing transportation costs for ore processing is its reported
goal. Currently, Sotk’s ore must be transported 263 kilometers south
to another GeoProMining processing center.

Fresh hazards to Sevan could mean fresh damage to the Ararat Valley,
which provides about 70 percent of Armenia’s fruit and vegetables and
which takes needed irrigation waters from Sevan. "Armenia will cease
to exist, if the lake is contaminated," commented former environmental
protection minister Karine Danielian.

The government has not yet officially endorsed or opposed the project
but both the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry
of Regional Management confirm that they have discussed the proposed
processing center, Neither ministry, however, has yet received a
written project proposal from GeoProMining, ministry representatives
told EurasiaNet.

But the environmental protection ministry’s assurances of caution
will carry little weight in the face of a December 2008 pledge from
GeoProMining to invest $350 million into Armenia’s gold-mining sector
between 2009 and 2011. Precious and non-ferrous metals are among
Armenia’s top exports.

"They gave similar assurances regarding the [Armenian Copper Program’s]
copper-molybdenum mine exploitation and the plant mine’s construction
in Teghut," commented Zarafian told EurasiaNet in reference to the
ministry. "They promised they would not allow the logging of 670
hectares of forest, but they approved the plan and we lost the best
forests in Armenia."

President Serzh Sarkisian, for his part, has signaled that the
government is keeping its options open.

Speaking to residents of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province, where Sevan
is located, Sarkisian said the government’s decision to endorse or
oppose the project will be determined by a cost-benefit analysis.

Sarkisian said the government will back the venture if it believes
that the plant will be of economic benefit, and will drop support
for it if it proves to do more harm than good.

According to Zarifyan the President is waiting for more concrete
evidence on the Sotk plant’s economic benefit. She added that
GeoProMining is now conducting feasibility studies to that effect
and the studies should be completed by this October.

Environmentalists had initially looked to the Law on Lake Sevan
to stop GeoProMining’s plans. Article 10 of Armenia’s 2001 Law on
Lake Sevan bans the establishment of processing plants in the lake’s
basin. Despite that, activists contend that the parliament may soon
amend the law – under government instruction – to clear legal hurdles
for the gold-processing plant. Opposition Heritage Party members of
parliament echo that view.

Zarifyan echoed that concern, saying she believes the company will
most likely lobby the government to change the law to allow for the
plant’s construction.

Zarifyan also said that GeoProMining’s Executive Director, as well as
the Chairman of the Board of Directors of its subsidiary in Armenia,
GeoProMining Gold, have threatened to halt all operations in Armenia
if they are not granted the right to relocate the Sotk plant to
Sevan. Presently, the mineral ore extracted from Sotk is reprocessed
in Ararat.

GeoProGold Board Chairman Vardan Vardanian has declined interview
requests and has put an embargo on comments by company spokesperson.

Similarly, both Armenia’s environmental protection ministry and
GeoProMining have refused to discuss the project or to address
potential risks highlighted by environmental activists.

For its part, GeoProMining maintains that it shares the concern for
Lake Sevan’s environment. In an April 26 television interview with
Yerkir Media TV, GeoProGold Board Chairman Vardanian stated that the
company plans to use mining technologies that will eliminate the risk
of environmental damage to Sevan. "We will refuse to exploit the mine
and will stop work if there is the slightest [environmental] hazard,"
he said.

The former director of the Sevan National Park, however, argues
that the area’s landslides and seismic activity may trump any such
technologies. "No one can guarantee the [toxic waste] dump against
an earthquake.

The smallest crack is enough to have the toxins penetrate into
underground water," said Gagik Sukhudian. Fears of potential shelling
from nearby Azerbaijani army positions underline that danger, he added.

To identify potential environmental ramifications, GeoProMining has
commissioned research by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute
of Hydro-Ecology and Ichthyology. The Academy declined to discuss
the findings with EurasiaNet.

The amount of waste likely to be generated by the proposed
gold-processing plant has not yet been defined, but former
environmental protection minister Danielian estimates the total at
100 million tons over 10 years.

GeoProMining representatives did not provide a figure. It remains
uncertain whether GeoProMining-commissioned research can clarify the
environmental-impact picture.

The company’s reluctance to discuss the project has only fired
environmentalists’ criticisms.

SOS Sevan, an alliance of concerned environmental groups, is afraid
that if GeoProMining is allowed to set up shop on the shores of
Lake Sevan it will open the doors for other companies to follow. The
alliance has said it is preparing to expand its advocacy activities
to raise awareness about the dangers of the Sotk project.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VOTE RESULTS IN 3 YEREVAN PRECINCTS ANNULLED

esults-in-3-yerevan-precincts-annulled/
Jun 4th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Electoral authorities in Armenia have invalidated
the official results of Sunday’s municipal elections in three Yerevan
precincts and asked prosecutors to investigate what they said was
serious fraud committed there.

All of those polling stations are located in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia
district, from which the Armenian opposition, mass media and
independent observers reported the largest number of irregularities
on election day.

The decision to invalidate the polls held there was made late Wednesday
by two district election commissions covering Malatia-Sebastia. The
Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Thursday that it sent
the ballots, vote protocols and other documents from the precincts
to the MalaOffice of the Prosecutor-General, asking it to open a
criminal case.

The development means that elections in the three polling stations may
have to be re-run, something which would delay the announcement of
the final vote results by the CEC. Still, repeat polls would hardly
have a major impact on the CEC’s preliminary vote tally that gave a
landslide victory to President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of
Armenia. The Armenian opposition has rejected it as fraudulent.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS), a law-enforcement agency
subordinated to the prosecutors, has already launched criminal
proceedings into fraud reported by Armenian media in seven other
Malatia-Sebastia polling stations. A member of one of those precinct
commissions and another local resident supporting the Republican
Party were arrested by the SIS on Tuesday on charges of stuffing
"fake ballots" marked for the ruling party.

The SIS also supervised on Thursday recounts in two other
Malatia-Sebastia precincts conducted by CEC representatives. In one
of them, a sack of cast ballots, supposedly sealed and signed by
precinct commission members, was found to have been tampered with.

Malatia-Sebastia has been a major trouble spot in various elections
held in Armenia over the past decade. Samvel Aleksanian, one of the
country’s wealthiest men holding sway in the area, has been widely
linked with voter intimidation, vote buying and other irregularities
reported there. Aleksanian is also known as a longtime backer of
President Sarkisian and the Republican Party.