Month: November 2009

NKR MFA S ISSUES A STATEMENT

armradio.am
18.11.2009 18:09

"Azerbaijani MFA Press Secretary Elkhan Polukhov made regular
attempts to introduce negatively the Karabakh party, stating this
time about Armenians’ destruction of the Azerbaijani cemeteries,"
the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"We should note that unlike our neighbors, who are barbarously
destructing the Armenian monuments in the territories under their
control so far, the NKR authorities took under their own protection all
the Muslim monuments over the NKR territory, including the Azerbaijani
cemeteries, from the first days of the war imposed by Azerbaijan,
which could be witnessed by numerous international and Azerbaijani
delegations visiting Nagorno Karabakh.

As of the photo-materials allegedly testifying to the destruction of
the Azerbaijani cemeteries by Armenians, it is obvious that certain
destructions at the noted cemetery were caused by the military
activities during the war unleashed just by Azerbaijan. Polukhov
tries to gamble just on this.

Unfortunately, such fabrications and forgeries have been practiced by
the Azerbaijani propaganda machine since long ago. Everybody still
remember the attempts of the Heydar Aliyev Fund, which is under the
top patronage of the Aliyevs family, to introduce the pictures taken
in Kosovo as those of the Khojalu events.

Polukhov’s statements can be evaluated as a regular attempt to cast
a shade on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and draw the international
community’s attention away from the vandalism organized systematically
by the Baku authorities, in particular, the destruction of the
primarily Armenian Narimanov cemetery in Baku on the pretext of
building a highway, or the recent destruction of khachkars (cross
stones) in Old Jugha in Nakhichevan where no military activities
took place.

To confirm the abovementioned, let’s give an extract from the recently
published international report on religious freedoms of the USA
Department of State’s Bureau on Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor:
"The hatred towards the ethic Armenians made the majority of them
to leave the country in the period between 1988 and 1990, and all
the Armenian churches, the majority of which were destroyed during
the ethnic-base mass riots (over ten years ago), are still closed,"
reads the statement of the NKR MFA.

ASHOT GRIGORIAN PARTICIPATES IN EUROPEAN ENERGY FORUM HELD IN BUDAPEST

Noyan Tapan
Nov 18, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The European
Energy Forum under the high patronage of Hungarian President Laszlo
Solyom is being held in Budapest. Among the issues under dicussion
are Europe’s energy security, the transit supply of gas and oil
from Central Asia and Azerbaijan to Europe, as well as Nabuko, South
Stream and some other projects. Delegations of European countries,
Russia, Turkey are taking an active part in the forum. The Chairman
of the Forum of Armenian Unions in Europe Ashot Grigorian is also
participating in the event. He informed Noyan Tapan that in case
of the Armenian-Turkish border’s opening, he intends to attend the
discussion of the issue of making Armenia a transit country for
power-bearing substances. A. Grigorian expressed an opinion that
the Budapest forum may produce some results in terms of settling the
Europe-Russia energy dispute.

AZERI LOBBYIST FUNDRAISES FOR KREKORIAN OPPONENT
By Ara Khachatourian

Christine Essel (L) and Paul Krekorian (R)
Nov 18th, 2009

LOS ANGELES-With less than three weeks left to the Los Angeles City
Council run-off elections between Paul Krekorian and Christine Essel,
Asbarez has obtained an email from a leading Azeri lobbyist asking
for support and donations for the Essel campaign.

Jason Katz, who is the principal of The Tool Shed Group, a strategic
communications, business development and public affairs company,
has received $35,000 to lobby for the government of Azerbaijan and
shows the Consulate General of Azerbaijan as a client in documents
filed in the US Justice Department.

In his Nov. 13 email, which is signed by him and clearly states
his affiliation with The Tool Shed Group, Katz urges recipients to
contribute to the Essel campaign.

"I can tell you with no reservation that Chris Essel understands the
needs of the business community and the public and navigates these
communities and issues, often at odds with one another, with a smart,
fair and pragmatic approach," said Katz in his email.

"I can also tell you from direct and personal experience that none
of these things can be said of her opponent in this race," added Katz.

This past February, Katz drafted a letter, which was circulated to
California State Assembly and Senate members and signed by only one
member, expressing sympathy to Azeri president Ilham Aliyev for "the
victims of the Khojali tragedy." Azerbaijan claims Armenian soldiers
massacred Azeri citizens in Khojaly during its war in the early 90s
against the newly independent Armenian Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Essel’s opponent Assemblyman Paul Krekorian worked to prevent
legislators from signing the Azeri letter by alerting his colleagues
about the falsehoods contained in it. The lone signatory, Assemblyman
Felipe Fuentes, by Fuentes was hailed by the Azeri Consulate as a
hero and victory for Azerbiajan.

In October, Katz authored an opinion piece in Turkey’s Today’s Zaman,
in which he painted Armenia as an aggressor and called on the US to
focus its alliances with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Last month, Essel issued an appeal to the Armenian-American community
after the Azeri press reported that she attended a fund-raiser by
"Turkic-Americans."

"While it is true that I was a guest at a gathering hosted by a
Turkish-American, my stance on the Armenian Genocide is unwavering. It
is, and always has been, my position that the genocide of the Armenians
from 1915 to 1918, like other atrocities, must be recognized as
historical fact," Essel said in her appeal.

On October 17, LA-based millionaire and Turkish community leader Mike
Mustafoglu and his wife, Demetra George hosted a champagne brunch at
their Beverly Hills home. News reports following the event indicated
that it was sponsored by a "Pax Turcica," an umbrella organization
for Turkish groups that includes the Assembly of Turkish-American
Associations, the Azerbaijani-American Council and Turkish Coalition
of America, among others.

An invitation letter authored by Dr. Javid Huseynov of Pax Turcica
read: "Turkic-American support for Chris Essel is of greatest
importance, especially due to her runoff election against Assemblyman
Paul Krekorian."

"As a community, we must stand up in support of Chris Essel and not
let the ethnophobic policies poison the Los Angeles City Council,"
continued Huseynov in his letter, at the end of which he urges
individuals who could not attend the event to contribute to Essel’s
campaign.

Essel’s campaign manager Tom Berman stressed to Asbarez at the time
that he event was a campaign "meet and greet," adding that there were
no funds raised at the event.

During a meeting with Armenian-American community leaders earlier this
month, Essel was asked to return any donations she may have received
from Turkish or Azeri Americans.

The most recent financial report filed by the Essel camp showed the
receipt of donations from – Ergun Kirkolavi, president of the Assembly
of Turkish American Associations, as well as from Katz and his wife.

NATO SHOULD COOPERATE WITH PARTNER STATES TO COMBAT CYBER ATTACKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2009 18:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 13-17, Heritage faction leader Stepan
Safaryan, Republican Party MPs Karen Avagyan and Artak Zakaryan, as
well as NA Secretary Zabela Kazaryan attended NATO General Assembly’s
55th session in Edinburgh.

On November 14, Stepan Safaryan delivered a speech in committee
session which focused on the report on "NATO and Cyber-protection."

"Armenia was this year twice subjected to cyber-attacks. Our society
has already perceived and realized the importance of cyberspace,
as well as the threats of cyber attacks," Safaryan said, adding that
several government Web sites and Armenian news portals recently fell
victim to such attacks. "Hackers posted Azerbaijani state and national
symbols on some official sites," he stressed.

Armenian representative highly assessed reports submitted by NATO
delegation, Sverre Myrli, representative of the sub-committee on the
Future Security and Defence Capabilities, and Rex Hughes, Director of
Cyber-Protection Programs at Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He also noted that NATO partner states are already involved in
initiatives like "Cooperation for Peace" or "Knowledge for Peace"
and it’s now time for Alliance to cooperate with member states in
combating cyber attacks.

"Such initiative will help resist new wars," Heritage faction’s press
service quotes Safaryan as saying.

ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION WILL BE CLOSED ONLY AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NUCLEAR POWER BLOCK

ARKA
November 18, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, November 18. /ARKA/. "Armenian Nuclear Power Station will be
closed only after the construction of new nuclear power block", said
Armen Movsisyan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia.

He said that two reactors will be functioning in Armenia for a certain
period of time. Maximum capacities of the functioning energy block
will be used. Recently Armen Movsisyan met with the management of
Ukrainian holding on production of turbines "Turboatom" in Yerevan.

"Viktor Subotin, General Director of "Turboatom announced about their
willingness of investing 200 million dollars for modernization of
Armenian Nuclear Power Station which will allow to prolong the dates
of exploitation of the functioning station.

Ukrainian party suggested us to discuss such an opportunity and see
whether it is advantageous for us. Currently we are discussing this
proposal. But prolongation of exploitation date of Armenian Nuclear
Power Station can only allow the Committee of International Experts",
said Movsisyan. In 2016 it is planned to perform global expertise of
the station and its technical state, after which decision will be made
whether to continue exploitation or not. "It is early to speak about
prolongation of exploitation dates of the station," said the Minister.

Armenian Nuclear Power Station is located near the city Metsamor
(about 30 km to the South from Yerevan).

It starts functioning in 1980 and terminated in March 1989 after the
earthquake in Spitak in December 1988 which took lives of 25 thousand
people. Second time it started functioning in November 1995 due to
strong energy crisis in the country. Two power blocks of the station
are equipped by Russian reactor ÷÷uò-440 of first generation. At
present functioning of the first block is terminated. The second
block with the capacity of 407.5 MVt produces in average from 40% to
50% energy in Armenia. According to the assessments of the experts,
the station can function till 2016.

Armenian Nuclear Power Station is under trust management of Open JSC
"INTER RAO ES" since September 2003 till 2013, the owner of which is
Russian state corporation "Rosatom". The date of license of Armenian
Nuclear Power Station for the production of energy was prolonged on
November 3, 2009 till June 10, 2014. Armenia plans to build new block
of Armenian Nuclear Power Station with the capacity of about 1000 MVt.

This project can cost about 5 billion dollars. With the aim of
involving foreign capital for the implementation of the project, in
2006 the Parliament of Armenia cancelled the monopoly of the right of
possessing new nuclear blocks. Construction works are planned to start
from 2011 and the new block will function till 2017. Till that time
the functioning energy block will be closed. Armenia and international
consortium Worley Parsons signed a contract on management of the
process of construction and montage of new energy block in the country
on May 28, 2009 which will cost of 459.7 million dollars. Worley
Parsons was recognized a winner of the relevant tender on May 12, 2009.

CONSTRUCTION OF MEGHRI HYDROPOWER PLANT MAY KICK OFF IN EARLY 2010: MINISTER

ARKA
November 18, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, November 18, /ARKA/. In interview with Russian RIA Novosti
news agency Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen
Movsisyan said construction of a hydro power plant near the town of
Meghri, on the River of Arax, separating Armenia from Iran, could be
started in early 2010.

He said the final documents to this end are expected to be signed
later this year during a recurrent meeting of Armenian-Iranian
intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

In 2007 Armenia and Iran agreed to build two hydropower plants on
the border river of Arax each with 140 megawatt capacity. The cost
of the Armenian plant is estimated at $240 million.

On the Armenian side the plant will be near the town of Meghri and
on the Iranian side near the town of Karachilar. Each will have the
capacity to produce 800 million KWh of power annually.

The minister said construction of the hydropower plant is one of
three major energy projects envisaged by an agreement signed by both
countries during Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Iran.

According to the minister, construction of the plant will be funded
by the Iranian side, while the Armenian side will repay by supplying
electrical power to Iran. He said construction of the plant, originally
planned for mid 2009, was postponed because of the political situation
in Iran following its presidential election.

The projected capacity of the hydropower plant is 130-140 megawatt
which will allow to produce annually about 850 million kWh electricity.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY CAUGHT ELHAN POLUKHOV IN MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2009 18:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elkhan
Polukhov has made his successive attempt to represent Karabakh in
the negative light. This time he accused Armenians of destroying of
Azerbaijani cemeteries, NKR Foreign Ministry says in a comment.

"It should be noted that unlike our neighbors who are to date
barbarously destroying Armenian monuments on territories under
their control, from the very first days of Azeri-imposed war, NKR
authorities took under their own protection all NKR-based Muslim
monuments, including Azerbaijani cemeteries, as can be witnessed by
several international and Azerbaijani delegations visiting Nagorno
Karabakh," says the statement. "This is what Polukhov is trying to
speculate. Unfortunately, such falsifications have been practiced
by Azerbaijani propaganda machine for a long time. Everybody still
remembers how Heydar Aliyev Fund, which is under the high patronage
of the Aliyev family, attempted to represent photos taken in Kosovo
as pictures depicting Khojalu events.

Polukhov’s statements can be assessed as a regular attempt to cast
a shadow on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and distract international
community’s attention from Azeri-provoked vandalism against Armenian
monuments, particularly, destruction of Narimanov cemetery in Baku
under the pretext of building a highway, or the recent destruction
of khachkars (cross stones) in Old Jugha, Nakhichevan, which saw no
military operations.

To confirm the abovementioned, let’s quote an excerpt from U.S. State
Department’s recent report on religious freedoms. "Animosity toward
ethnic Armenians in the country forced most of them to depart between
1988 and 1990, and all Armenian churches, many of which were damaged in
ethnic riots that took place more than a decade ago, remained closed."

LABOR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS MINISTER RESIGNS

ARKA
November 18, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, November 18, /ARKA/. Armenian labor and social affairs
minister Gevork Petrosian has confirmed today that he has handed in
his resignation. Speaking to journalists he said his move was prompted
by his health condition.

Gevork Petrosian, a member of the Prosperous Armenia party, was
appointed labor and social affairs minister on May 12, 2009 after
his predecessor from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation resigned
following his party’s departure from the ruling coalition.

Naira Zohrabian, a member of the Prosperous Armenia party’s
parliamentary faction, told journalists the most hopeful candidate to
take up the vacated position is Mkhitar Mnatsakanian, whose candidacy
is supported by party chairman Gagik Tsarukian.

Mkhitar Mnatsakanian was elected chairman of the Armenian Red Cross
Society in 2001. He was elected to parliament in 2007 parliamentary
election on the Prosperous Armenia party’s ticket.

BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER: EASTERN PARTNERSHIP IS ENTERING INTO A NEW PHASE

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 15:34:00

ArmInfo. The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum convened in
Brussels on 17 November 2009.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner EU Commissioner for External Relations and
European Neighbourhood Policy said in her speech that "the community
of civil society groups supporting the Eastern Partnership is growing
and becoming more diverse. This not only proves the success of our
initiative but is a testament to the dynamism and engagement of civil
society actors in your countries. It shows too, that the Forum is
the right answer to your need for more contact, dialogue and sharing
of experience. It is less than a year since the Commission presented
its proposals for an Eastern Partnership and only a few months since
the EU and 6 partner countries adopted the Prague Declaration. Today
the Partnership is entering into a new phase, thanks to you. You
are now active partners in a debate which too often in the past has
been dominated by governments: the discussion of how to strengthen
democracy, good governance, economic reform, and energy security. Your
voice will be heard and taken into account. You will influence decision
making and contribute to the success of our Partnership, sharing in
the responsibility we all have to bring the Eastern Partner countries
closer to the EU."

"The presence here today of Minister Carl Bildt, President Mario
Sepi and myself is more than just symbolic. As representatives of
the European institutions we are truly convinced that the Eastern
Partnership cooperation cannot be achieved without the representatives
of grass roots organizations, trade unions, business and professional
associations, NGOs, think-tanks, non-profit foundations, national
and international networks – all the diverse actors of Civil
Society. The EU is committed to supporting civil society development
in our partner countries and I am sure this Forum has provided many
valuable ideas, views and recommendations for Ministers to work on,"
Benita Ferrero-Waldner declared.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT WILL FULFILL ITS COMMITMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2009 18:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At 2010 budget project parliament hearings, RA
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan touched upon the problems accumulated
and governmental projects implemented during the year 2009.

In the first place, RA Premier dwelled on joint anti-crisis measures
implemented by RA Government and National Assembly. "Our anti-crisis
policy is simple, it consists in increase of infrastructure support
-related expenditures, improvement of operation conditions for small
& medium businesses and assistance to crisis-affected enterprises,"
he said.

"Despite the 2009 economic downfall, we are ready fulfill our
commitments," the Premier stressed.