Month: September 2009

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO INDIA ENDS HIS TENURE

ARMENPRESS
Aug 31, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Armenian ambassador to India Ashot
Kocharyan, who is ending his mission in India, had a farewell meetings
with the high-ranked officials of the country.

Foreign Ministry Media and Information Department told Armenpress
that the Armenian ambassador said that he returns to Armenia with
warm feelings and Armenia highly underscores India as a state having
great potential.

The ambassador noted that during the recent years a number of programs
have been carried out in agricultural, high technology, educational,
chemical industry and other spheres, a number of mutual visits of
high-ranked officials have taken place, the volume of trade turnover
essentially increased.

As a result of close and friendly relations weeks of Armenian art have
been conducted in Delhi, Armenian-Indian inter-governmental session,
Armenian-Indian business forum took place. He expressed hope that in
future as well the dynamic and successful cooperation in different
spheres will continue.

Underscoring the role of the Armenian community of India in
consolidation of bilateral relations, Ashot Kocharyan highly assessed
the attention and care of Indian authorities toward Armenian community.

Chairman of Indian parliament Meyra Kumar pointed out the ancient-long
Armenian-Indian friendship and noted that Armenia is a country with
rich culture and underscored the necessity of cultural and educational
exchanges. Kumar highly underscored the high level of higher education
in Armenia pointing out the studying of Indian students in Yerevan
State Medical University.

During the meetings the Indian side noted that Ashot Kocharyan during
his tenure contributed to the development of Armenian-Indian relations.

At the reception in the residence of the President of India Pratibha
Patili the ambassador had a short conversation with Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singhi.

FOREIGN MINISTER OF GEORGIA TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
Aug 31, 2009

TBILISI, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Foreign Minister of Georgia Grigol
Vashadze will pay a two-day working visit Armenia September 4, press
service of the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

"The visit will take place in the format of political dialogue
between Armenia and Georgia," deputy foreign minister of Georgia
David Jalagania said.

During the visit the Georgian foreign minister will meet with his
Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan, representatives of the
country’s legislative and executive bodies. "During the meetings in
Yerevan issues on bilateral relations between the two countries and
issues of regional importance will be discussed," David Jalagania said.

AZERBEIDJANI INCURSION ON WIKIPEDIA
by Shahan Kandaharian

Aztag Daily
Aug 25 2009
Lebanon

There is a remarkable over-crowdedness on the "The history of the
truth-Armenian allegations" website on the Internet. The rings of
an unending chain of misinformation about topics related to purely
Armenian issues are being posted with a noteworthy quickness of
pace. Those who receive Armenian news through Google-Alert in their
e-mail inboxes clearly can see the extent of the matter being talked
about here in this article. This seems to be the latest means adopted
by the Turks in their information war, which should not be ignored
by the representatives of the information field on the Armenian
side. This literally is an incursion of misinformation which although
not officially announced but carries all the convincing ingredients
that it enjoys the auspices and support of the Turkish state if not
its initiative.

Yesterday evening parallel to the Turkish information incursion
the Azerbeidjani "Today Az" issued a political propaganda concern
in cyberspace. We are referring to "Today Az"’s known website which
posted an article that called the Azeri public opinion to war. The
issue is the following: The article titled "The Azerbeidjan-Armenia
war continues on Wikipedia" is protesting that the word search for
"Armenia", "Artsakh", "Gharapagh", "Artsakh Conflict" is yielding
"false" information to the person searching. The issue is clear:
Artsakh is mentioned as being part of the Armenian Republic knowing
that it had been included in the borders of ancient Armenia.

Those who visit Wikipedia know that this open version of Internet
encyclopedia also accepts inputs by visitor-readers about a certain
topic. "Today Az" is calling for the influx of the "right" information
in this open encyclopedia and for the "correction" of the "falsehood"
represented as information until now. In reality the call is for the
perversion of realities!

The close follow up is necessary to see what results would the searches
of the above mentioned terms yield. Of course just following is not
enough; if "Today Az" has called for a war following wouldn’t be enough
on the Armenian side. Armenian visitors of Wikipedia must take part in
the information-misinformation war announced on Wikipedia. Wikipedia or
any self-respecting open encyclopedia website must finally realize that
there’s the need of maintaining a certain level of credibility. And
no matter how active the Azeri information incursion would be,
information must not be replaced by mis-information.

If we cannot have an impact on the intrigues of the so called "The
History of the truth-Armenian allegations" website, we can take part
in the maintenance of the Wikipedia credibility.

This, too, is a unique version of information war waged on
cyberspace. This time, too, we are not the aggressor. We would
be guilty, though, if we stand still in the face of the unleashed
incursion. Meanwhile the authors of Wikipedia must understand that
this incursion is as much against them as against the Armenians.

SERZH SARGSYAN: WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO FORGET THE PAST

armradio.am
31.08.2009 12:00

The term "football diplomacy" was put into circulation a year
ago, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Yerevan at the
invitation of the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, to watch the
match between the national football teams of the two countries. It
raised hopes that the Armenian-Turkish border could be opened and
the two countries would start the process of reconciliation. However,
official Yerevan accuses Turkey of freezing the process.

BBC correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse visited Yerevan one of these days
to figure out whether President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia was going
to attend the return match in Turkey.

"The question has two answers," said President Sargsyan and added:
"The fist answer is as follows. It’s not important whether I’ll visit
Turkey or not." "I’d like to say that my visit to Turkey should not
be linked to the relations between the two countries. Let’s assume
that Armenia freezes the negotiation process with Turkey and I leave
for that country to watch the football match. The second option is as
follows: the two countries continue negotiating, but I don’t attend
the match. Which is more important? This is my answer if you ask the
question in the context of our talks with Turkey."

Asked what signals Armenia is expe cting from Turkey in order to
defreeze the talks, Serzh Sargsyan stressed once again that he
would leave for Turkey only in case of opening of the border or at
the threshold of the event. "We have an agreement. I think that it’s
normal and correct for the parties to implement the agreement reached
earlier," President Sargsyan said, noting that so far he has not seen a
great desire and aspiration to implement those agreements. "Our wish
remains the same – to establish relations without preconditions,"
the President stressed.

Asked whether Armenia is ready to make concessions as regards the
events of 1915 and whether he believes Turkey will call them genocide,
President Serzh Sargsyan stated: "Of course, it’s very important
for our people, for Turkey and the whole world. It’s important to
restore historical justice. It’s important for our nations to be able
to establish normal relations. At last, it’s important that it never
reoccurs in the future.

But we do not see the recognition of genocide as a precondition for
the establishment of relations."

Is there an opportunity of compromise? "It cannot be called compromise.

This is not the case to speak about compromises. We say, yes, there
was genocide, and irrespective of the fact whether Turkey recognizes
it or not, there is a fact established by all genocide scholars in the
world and recognized by many countries of the world. However, today
we do not view it as a precondition for normalization of relations,"
President Sargsyan stated.

"We should look into future, but we do not have the right to forget
the past," Serzh Sargsyan concluded.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CAMP "LET’S LEARN TOLERANCE THROUGH ENGLISH" AT THE US EMBASSY

armradio.am
31.08.2009 14:31

On July 31 teenagers and teachers who participated in the international
camp "Let’s Learn Tolerance through English" met with Her Excellency
Marie L. Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. The Camp, in which
15 Armenian, 19 Turkish and 10 American students age 14-17 took part,
was implemented July 19-31 in Canakkale with the support of the US
Embassies in Armenia and Turkey.

The participation of the 15 Armenian students (plus 3 Armenian
teachers) was organized by "The Future is Yours" NGO. The aim of
the camp was to help the students and teachers to communicate across
cultural boundaries and understand each other better. For that purpose,
they engaged in interactive programs using multi-cultural literature
from the United States to teach English.

Students were given opportunities to learn English and learn about
each other’s respective cultures. Different interactive events,
English language courses, and intercultural meetings were organized
for the students. The Armenian participants presented their Armenian
culture through dances, a performance and a presentation. They had
an opportunity to visit Troy, Asos and Gelibolu (Edirne) during their
stay in Turkey.

HEADS OF ARMENIA’S DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIONS TO MEET IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
31.08.2009 14:42

The annual meeting of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the heads of Armenian diplomatic representations will
take place in Yerevan from September 1st to 3rd. The meeting will be
opened by President Serzh Sargsyan’s speech.

Participants of the meeting will meet the Speaker of the National
Assembly, Hovik Abrahamyan, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Secretary
of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan, Minister of
Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan and Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan.

On September 3 the heads of Armenian diplomatic representations will
leave for Artsakh to meet NKR authorities.

On September 1 the Armenian diplomats will deliver a lecture on
"Armenia and the outer world" at higher educational establishments
of Yerevan.

NA VICE-SPEAKER EXTENDS CONDOLENCES ON EDWARD KENNEDY DEATH

armradio.am
31.08.2009 16:40

On October 31 a Condolence Book was opened at the US Embassy in Yerevan
connected with the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. Vice-Speaker
of the National Assembly Arevik Petrosyan visited the US Embassy to
leave a note in the Condolence Book.

"On behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, we
extend our deep condolences to the American people and the Kennedy
family on the death of an outstanding representative of the Democratic
Party, experienced Senator an a sincere friend of the Armenian people
Edward Kennedy. His memory will remain bright in our hearts."

KARABAKH ISSUE TOUCHED UPON IN TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN TALKS

armradio.am
31.08.2009 17:43

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and visiting top Turkish diplomats
had talks in Baku over the weekend on recent developments in the
Caucasus, the Anatolia news agency reported. The meeting among Aliyev,
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu and
Ambassador Unal Ceviköz, the deputy undersecretary for the Caucasus
and Central Asia, was held on Saturday following a Friday telephone
conversation between Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.

During Friday’s conversation Erdogan briefed Aliyev on normalization
efforts between Turkey and Armenia, while Aliyev informed Erdogan
about developments regarding the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Erdogan’s
office said in a written statement.

Ahead of their departure from Baku later on Saturday, Sinirlioglu told
reporters that they explained Turkey’s views to Aliyev concerning
both the normalization efforts between Turkey and Armenia and the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, without elaborating further, Today’s Zaman reported.

WB REGISTERS GROWTH IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
31.08.2009 17:58

According to the forecasts of the World Bank, economic decline in
Armenia following the results of the year will make 12-14%.

As the Head of WB Yerevan Office Aristomene Varoudakis stated at a news
conference today, in July, as compared to June, growth was registered
in a number of spheres, particularly, the fields of construction,
industry, power generation.

"One gets the impression that decline in Armenian economy is
stopping and the growth of world prices for copper and molybdenum
also contributes to this", Aristomene Varoudakis stated.

According to WB forecasts, inflation in Armenia will make 6% following
the results of the year.

GEORGIAN FM DUE IN ARMENIA FOR AN OFFICIAL VISIT

armradio.am
31.08.2009 18:06

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze will pay an official visit
to Armenia, September 4-5, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David
Jalagania informed.

"The visit will take place in the political dialogue format between
Armenia and Georgia," Jalagania said at a briefing.

Within the framework of the visit, Vashadze will meet with Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan and representatives of executive
and legislative bodies of Armenia.

According to the source, teh parties will discuss bilateral relations
between the two countries and regional issues.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress