Month: November 2009

IN ARMENIA THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM H1N1 FLU HAS REACHED TO 11

ARMENPRESS
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: In Armenia the number of patients
suffering from A/ H1N1 flu or "Swine Flu" has reached to 11. Armenian
Health Care Minister’s Assistant Shushan Hunanyan told Armenpress
that the number of ill people has increased in 5 over yesterday. One
of the latter is a taxi-driver, the other four are the members of the
same family; one of them has arrived lately in Armenia from Omsk and
has infected the others. Currently the mentioned 5 patients are in
Nork Infection Hospital. Their state is assessed as satisfactory.

Sh. Hunanyan said that the treatment of all the patients is organized
for free within the frameworks of state order. According to her,
the two patients received a treatment for this infection, have been
discharged from the hospital. Currently 8 patients receive a treatment
for H1N1 flu.

ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN RECEIVES O. HANNTING

ARMENPRESS
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Secretary for National Security
Council Arthur Baghdasaryan received today Netherlands’ Foreign
Affairs Ministry Special Representative on "Eastern Partnership"
issues Onno Hannting and Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia
Peter Jan Lantenberg.

Press Secretary for Armenian National Security Council Gayane Gasparyan
told Armenpress that the interlocutors discussed the prospects of
cooperation within the frameworks of "Eastern Partnership". Arthur
Baghdasaryan noted that Armenia seeks to deepen its relations with
European Union, and the signing of the associated agreement is a good
basis for the further deepening of Armenia-European Union relations.

The project on Armenia-European Union activities was referred as
well, with the request of the guests Arthur Baghdasaryan presented
the process of reforms implemented in Armenia in different directions.

Onno Hannting welcomed Armenian efforts extended toward the direction
of implementation of extensive reforms.

The interlocutors referred also to the issue of regulation of
Armenian-Turkish relations, attached importance to establishment
of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as well as to
the opening of the border from the viewpoint of regional peace and
stability strengthening.

UN DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, "OSCE SHOULD MAINTAIN THE LEADING ROLE IN PEACEFUL REGULATION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

ARMENPRESS
Nov 13, 2009

WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: UN Deputy Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs John Holms is of opinion that OSCE should
maintain the leading role in South Caucasus, particularly in peaceful
regulation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"Recently certain activation is noted in the negotiation process of
Karabakh conflict, which inspires hope", Holms said. He expressed
readiness to support the tactics and principles adopted by OSCE
Minsk Group.

According to UN Deputy Secretary-General, the process of OSCE Minsk
Group must become more efficient, "Despite the thing that the process
will be difficult both for Azerbaijan and Armenia, Karabakh conflict
regulation corresponds to the profits of the two sides", Holms added.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GERMAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA SAYS THERE IS A CLOSE POLITICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND GERMANY

ARMENPRESS
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Armenian-German relations have
developed quite efficiently in all directions since 1992; there is a
close political dialogue between the two states, German Ambassador
to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt said at today’s press conference
underscoring that trade and economic ties are among the most important
ingredients of bilateral relations.

"We work in the direction that favorable investment environment is
created in Armenian economy on purpose of involving German investors.

Our foreign affairs minister has always stressed the importance of
German relations with Armenia, but we also attach great importance to
relations with South Caucasian countries in trilateral-quadrilateral
format. It is necessary to make use of political dialogue for reaching
a stability", the ambassador said.

Referring to the clash of opinions in the current phase of extension
of European Union, Hans-Jochen Schmidt noted that to the institution
are not affiliated those states, which do not correspond to EU
standards. As an example of complicatedness in affiliation process
he pointed out Turkey’s negotiations. "Germany and France already do
not speak about privileged partnership, but only about the running
negotiations", he said.

In regard to the solution of issues of Armenian studies in Germany, he
expressed gratification that the Armenian side is ready to co-finance
the development of Armenian studies and to maintain the Chair of
Armenian Studies of Berlin Open University. The ambassador said
that Armenian Education and Science Minister will leave for Germany
at the beginning of December to discuss issues on inter-university
cooperation with German partners. The issue of Armenian studies will
be discussed during this visit, too.

OSCE MEDIA FREEDOM REPRESENTATIVE PROTESTS SENTENCE HANDED DOWN TO INTERNET JOURNALISTS IN AZERBAIJAN

AZG DAILY
14-11-2009

Media freedom

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,
described November 11 sentencing of two Azerbaijani bloggers to prison
terms on charges of alleged hooliganism and infliction of light bodily
injuries as political.

"These new imprisonments cement Azerbaijan’s image as the pre-eminent
jailer of journalists in the OSCE region. Five journalists are
currently in prison, several of them on clearly trumped-up charges
following organized provocations and unfair trials," Haraszti wrote
in a letter to Elmar Mammadyarov, the country’s Foreign Minister.

A court sentenced Emin Milli, an ANTV Online TV blogger and
Co-ordinator in the youth organization Alumni Network, to two and a
half years in prison, while video blogger Adnan Hajizade was sentenced
to two years in prison.

"The severity of the sentences for these young bloggers and other
journalists who have criticized the authorities, including the
President and the Interior Minister, is self-revealingly political,"
Haraszti said.

Among journalists imprisoned in Azerbaijan are Eynulla Fatullayev
and Ganimat Zahidov, the two best known chief editors who are serving
prolonged prison sentences on charges observers argue are fabricated.

"I hope that the appeals court will reverse the decision and
release Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade as soon as possible. This
will demonstrate to the international community that Azerbaijan takes
seriously the OSCE media freedom commitments it has taken upon itself,"
Haraszti said, according to the OSCE official website.

SYNOPSIS OF THE PANEL "ARMENIANS AND ISLAM" AT THE 10TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE CENTRAL EURASIAN STUDIES SOCIETY, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, CANADA, OCTOBER 8-11, 2009

AZG DAILY
14-11-2009

Science

On October 10, 2009, Mushegh Asatryan and Khachik Gevorgyan, the
founding members of the Armenian Association for Academic Partnership
and Support (ARMACAD) took part in the panel "Armenians and Islam",
organized by them, which was part at the Central Eurasian Studies
Society’s 10th annual Conference at the University of Toronto, Canada.

In late January a call for papers was distributed by Mushegh Asatryan
to invite all interested parties to participate in the panel. From
more than 15 applications 8 were accepted to constitute 2 different
panels on "Armenians and Islam", one on the medieval, and the other
on the modern periods. The organizers of the conference accepted the
panel on modern issues concerning the Armenians and Islam. After
negotiations with the organizers the panels were merged and 3
participants registered for the mentioned panel.

On October 10 in the room N 023 at the Munk centre for international
studies at the University of Toronto the panel on "Armenians and
Islam" started.

The organizer of panel Mr. Mushegh Asatryan introduced to participants
of the panel the idea and the reason of organizing such a panel. Since
Armenian history and culture are viewed as part of the Christian
heritage, Armenian studies is traditionally viewed as part of the
study of the Christian Middle East, with little attention to the
Islamic milieu in which Armenians have always lived. A second point
worth mentioning is the popular view among Armenians of the Islamic
world at best as "foreign", and at worst as an "enemy". This view is
sometimes shared by Armenian academics working on Armenian history,
which makes them view the history of Armenian interactions with
the Muslim world as a series of battles and massacres (due to some
historical events, such as the Genocide), completely ignoring the rich
cultural interaction between the Armenians and the Muslim world. Thus,
this panel is a symbolic step in urging future historians to view
Armenian history in a more complex manner.

As a discussant of the panel Dr. Khachik Gevorgyan mainly focused on
the following:

So far the discipline of Armenian Studies has been introduced either
via separate conferences devoted only to Armenian Studies, or this
discipline was introduced as a panel at international conferences
mainly devoted to Middle Eastern Studies, Christian Studies, Bible
Studies, etc.

He mentioned that one of the main ideas of this panel within this
conference is to introduce the Armenian Studies in a broader concept of
Eurasian Studies, which, of course, in some cases do overlap with the
Middle Eastern Studies. But still taking into consideration the modern
socio-political realities as well as the historical events through
centuries it is important to view Armenian realities in the context
of Eurasian Studies and more specifically in the context of Central
Asian and Caucasian studies, which in their turn are main geographical
areas to be studied within the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Thus
this society and this conference were chosen by the organizers of
this panel the Armenian Studies to be introduced in a new perspective.

As the programs of many conferences on Armenian Studies show, the main
bulk of participants are from different countries but not Armenia. Dr.

Gevorgyan mentioned that this situation has been changed by the active
involvement of the Armenian Studies program at Michigan, Ann Arbor,
which strives to always have representatives of Armenian academic
circles during the events organized on Armenian Studies at Ann Arbor.

>From this point, Dr. Gevorgyan particularly mentioned that the
importance of this panel can be viewed also from the perspective that
it is organized by those who have their academic background from the
Republic of Armenia and are bearers of Armenian Academic culture.

Then Dr. Gevorgyan discussed two papers presented at the panel
by Alyson Wharton (SOAS, University of London), "The Rise and
Eventual Fall of the Balyan Family: The Phenomenon of a Family of
Armenian-Ottoman Architects in 19th Century Istanbul" and Roubina
Shnorhokian (Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada),
"A Medieval Trans-imperial Chronicle: Preliminary Remarks on the
Examples of Het’um of Korykos and Rashid al-Din". Sona Tajiryan from
the Republic of Armenia who was to present a paper was unable to
attend this conference.

CONTRADICTIONS ON THE SWISS STAGE
by Shahan Kandaharian

Aztag Daily
Nov 7 2009
Lebanon

The criticism of the prominent Swiss newspaper against its government
is characteristic. The "Neo Zuricher Zeitung" newspaper criticizes the
country’s foreign ministry, for mediating between Armenia and Turkey
in the process of normalization of their ties as well as signing of
the protocols. The main issue of the criticism is Turkish denialist
policy. In other words, official Bern shouldn’t have mediated such
a process as long as Turkey doesn’t recognize the Armenian Genocide.

We’re not talking of a casual phenomenon here where a media
representative would criticize Turkey for its denial of history.

First of all, we’re talking about the most popular newspaper in a
given country. Second, we’re talking about Switzerland; a country
that has been given a mediatory role by geopolitical powers for a long
time now. It’s true that the criticism didn’t come from a government
official, however, after all we’re talking about a major contradiction
between the state and the public opinion.

It shouldn’t be surprising to state that by taking up this mediatory
role Switzerland also manifested intra-state contradictions.

And the rationale is this: We all know that the then president of the
Turkish Historians’ Union Yousouf Haladjoghlu and after him historian
Doghou Perincek were taken to court one after the other for denying
the fact of Genocide based on Swiss Criminal Law. The judicial odessy
is familiar to our readers.

Let’s continue the attempt of developing the rationale.

The same Switzerland was mediating secret talks between the Armenian
and Turkish foreign ministry delegates which was developing in rounds.

Most probably during those secret talks the Turkish delegates must
have denied the Armenian Genocide several times.

The question about the contradiction doesn’t end here though. According
to media reports, on the day of the signing of the protocols it was
decided for the two ministers to address the reporters. The written
address of the Turkish foreign minister included a section which
to say the least doubted the Armenian Genocide and which even if
not presented, nevertheless was read and examined not so far from
the spotlights and the reporters’ cameras. In other words, a Swiss
law-countering step was taken in the courts of University of Zurich.

Still, the historic subcommittee mentioned in the Protocols opens doors
for Turkey to assure the examination of the facts of the Genocide. The
examination itself is the indirect denial of the truth; a unique way
of denial. So, there goes the third explicit violation of Swiss Law.

The issue, therefore, isn’t about state-public opinion contradiction,
but the screaming contradiction between Swiss judicial and
political sectors seen in the mediation of the for normalizing the
Armenian-Turkish relations. And that was seen in three occasions;
too many occasions.

This issue has no relation with the success or collapse of the
process. The Swiss foreign affairs high directorate must give an
explanation to the official judicial sector about the violations
committed until now if it’s really true that in countries like
Switzerland the judicial sector is independent of the political sector.

"HERITAGE" PARTY: 2010 DRAFT STATE BUDGET OF ARMENIA IS UNACCEPTABLE AND MYOPIC

Noyan Tapan
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The 2010 draft state budget of
Armenia is unacceptable and myopic, as it does not aim at implementing
an anticrisis policy, is said in the November 13 statement of
"Heritage" Party’s parliamentary faction.

"Heritage" notes that the burden of the state debt prevails in the
2010 state budget of the RA, and the share of mining industry as
well as the share of construction and service sectors in the economic
infrastructures are dominant. The budget serves the officials and the
oligarchical-monopolistic vicious system and shows the authorities’
inability to fight the shadow economy and force big business to
pay the full amount of taxes. The budget does not contribute to the
development of various branches of the Armenian economy, especially
the industry, the agrarian sector, and SMEs. It is not conducive to
the efficiency of agricultural produce sale and processing sector,
which makes the development of diversified production impossible.

Underlining that the 2010 state budget’s deficit exceeds 4.5folf the
2009 index, "Heritage" says the budget is unable to ensure solution
of social problems of the country’s population and to raise the living
standard of the poor and the vulnerable groups.

"Heritage" faction is deeply concerned about the negative and declining
nature of the 2010 state budget presented by the government and the
authorities’ incapacity to overcome the challanges facing the Republic
of Armenia," the statement reads.

UN PERMANENT COORDINATOR IN ARMENIA KONSUELO VIDAL AWARDED RA FOREIGN MINISTRY COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL

Noyan Tapan
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian received UN Permanent Coordinator in Armenia, UNDP Permanent
Representative Konsuelo Vidal on November 13, on the occasion of
completion of her mission in Armenia. E. Nalbandian highly evaluated
the work K. Vidal did in the four years of her tenure and thanked
her for supporting Armenia’s development programs. The RA Foreign
Minister attached importance to programs implemented by various UN
agencies in Armenia.

K. Vidal, in her turn, expressed gratitude for UNDP-Armenia excellent
partnership stressing that she leaves Armenia with warm memories.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
E. Nalbandian awarded K. Vidal Foreign Ministry commemorative medal on
the occasion of the completion of UN Permanent Coordinator’s mission
in Armenia.

KAREN NALBANDYAN A MEMBER OF REFEREE COMMITTEE

Aysor
Nov 13 2009
Armenia

One of the best referees of Armenia Karen Nalbandyan who is 45
years old and is the referee of FIFA ended his career. The Armenian
Football Federation has appreciated the services that he has served to
football. After the last meeting of "Pyunik" – "Mika" Ruben Hayrapetyan
the chairman of FFA passed him a special memorandum presenting him
also a TV set.

Leaving the position of the referee Karen Nalbandyan is not going to
leave the football as he is involved in the Referee Committee.