Month: November 2009

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER VISITS STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Aysor
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Paying a visit to U.S. Armenia’s President Tigran Sarkisyan visited
Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Sequoia
Capitals Company, .S. Venture Partners and discussed items of
development of venture capital.

Cabinet’s press-office reports that the parties have agreements on
retraining programs for staff of Armenian Ministry of Economy.

Armenia’s Prime Minister has also attended University of Berkeley in
California and met with Dean of Faculty of Informatics and University
staff. Then Tigran Sarkisyan returned to San Jose where Armenian
high-tech industry Conference (ArmTech) gets underway.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RAPPROCHEMENT WITH ARMENIA TO HELP END OCCUPATION OF AZERI LAND – TURKISH OFFICIAL

news.az
Nov 6 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkey is seeking reconciliation with Armenia in order to facilitate
the end of Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani land, an official from
Turkey’s embassy in Baku said today.

For many years Turkey was the only independent Turkic state and
suffered great hardship, but even during tough times in 1933, the
father of the Turkish republic Kemal Ataturk said the Soviet empire
would collapse and fraternal Azerbaijan would become independent.

Ataturk asked Turks to love Azerbaijan, Gazi Bilkin, an economic
adviser to Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, said on Friday.

Speaking at a round table on the impact on Azerbaijan of the signing
of the Turkish-Armenian accords, Bilkin said Turkey is heir to the
empire whose collapse left Turkic nations and lands beyond Turkey.

"Turkey is settling this issue now and the processes between Armenia
and Turkey should be approached from these positions."

Bilkin said: "Turkey closed the border with Armenia due to the
occupation of Azerbaijani land and will not open the border until
the occupation ends. Our aim is to be reconciled with Armenia to
facilitate this process."

ARMENIA’S EDUCATION SYSTEMS TURN TO EUROPEAN BENCHMARK

Aysor
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Armenian educational system will experience large-scale changes in
the framework of EU-Armenia cooperation, secretary of the National
Security Council, Artur Baghdasaryan, announced today at session. Plan
for reforms will be developed in four-month term. These reforms
will provide turn of Armenian system of secondary vocational, higher
education and post-graduate education to European benchmark.

Stressing the importance of these reforms, Artur Baghdasaryan said
that education systems should go with European norms and mentioned
the notability of developing Armenia-EU inter-college relations and
cooperation as well as establishing the basis for retraining and
skill conversion and link between sectors of economy and education.

Reforming will also provide promotion of cooperation in science,
design of overall strategy, involvement of Armenian scientists and
organizations in EU programs, and growth of number of colleges with
a European orientation.

OSCE MEDIATORS COORDINATING BASIC PRINCIPLES OF A KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

news.az
Nov 6 2009
Azerbaijan

Bernard Fassier The co-chairmen of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation’s Minsk Group, the main international body negotiating
a settlement to the Karabakh conflict, are holding the latest round
of talks in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"We continue work on coordinating the basic principles. I hope that
after the visit to Yerevan we will be able to specify the date and
venue of the next meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,"
the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov,
told ATV after meetings with the Azerbaijani leadership on Thursday.

"As for new proposals on the basis of the Madrid principles, they
are not written once and for all time but change in the process of
negotiations and new proposals may also emerge," Merzlyakov said.

He said the co-chairs would not have time to visit Nagorno-Karabakh
on this occasion.

In turn, French mediator Bernard Fassier said the co-chairs are
working on strengthening the basic principles.

"We have been working with the parties on the proposals that are
called the ‘basic principles’ for two years now and we try to achieve
progress. We want to strengthen these principles and make additions to
them if needed. We will continue this work until we make the presidents
agree on the documents or until they empower us to prepare the text
of the agreement," Fassier said.

The Minsk Group co-chairmen are having meetings in Yerevan on Friday
and will return to Baku in the evening

NATO HOPES FOR MORE ACTIVE COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA

news.am
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Early next year Armenia will dispatch 30 servicemen to Afghanistan,
Robert Simmons, NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and
Central Asia, stated in Yerevan. He made high appraisal of Armenia’s
participation in peace-making operations, particularly in Kosovo.

Simmons pointed out the efficient Armenia-NATO cooperation. He said
that the aim of his visits to Yerevan is to find out Armenia’s position
on regional problems, NATO’s activities and international security.

Simmons pointed out NATO’s close cooperation with the RA National
Security Service in ensuring border security and assisting frontier
troops. Specifically, it is technical assistance to frontier troops at
the Armenian-Georgian border, he said. As regards the Armenian-Turkish
border, NATO is not launching any activities there.

Regular incidents between Armenian and Georgian frontier guards have
recently been registered.

NATO is also closely cooperating with the RA Ministry of Defense in
implementing reforms – the involvement of civil servants in the system,
elaboration of documents, etc.. NATO is also closely cooperating with
the RA Ministry of Emergencies. Next year NTO will hold an emergency
planning training in Armenia.

Simmons also expressed hope for Armenia’s participation in the
elaboration of NATO’s new strategy. A large meeting will soon be held
in Oslo, Norway, to discuss the issue, and NATO hopes for Armenia’s
participation in it, Simmons said.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS TO BE PROPOSED

news.am
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Major reforms in Armenian educational system will be implemented
in the frames of cooperation with EU. RA National Security Council
Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan stated at Nov. 6 session of working
group on approval and realization of EU educational system’s expansion
program in Armenia.

The decision to propose reforms’ package for four months aimed at
bringing Armenian educational system into compliance with European
standards, Baghdasaryan press service informed NEWS.am.

Under the reforms, the acceleration of cooperation in science,
elaboration of common strategy, more active participation of
Armenia’s research centers and scholars in the EU programs, as well
as development of educational institutions of European orientation
is foreseen.

ETHIOPIAN DANCE BAND CALLS JP HOME
By Sandra Storey

Jamaica Plain Gazette

N ov 6 2009

Performs Nov. 8 at Midway Cafe

Jamaica Plain’s local Ethiopian dance group Debo Band will perform
on Nov. 8 at the Midway Cafe.

Sunday’s show will be the first time 11-member Debo Band plays in
its home base since the group took a month-long tour of Ethiopia and
Tanzania this summer.

"We’ve been itching to play in our own neighborhood again," said
Debo’s founder, Danny Mekonnen, who is an Ethiopian-American and Ph.D.

candidate in ethnomusicology at Harvard. The JP resident, who plays
saxophones, communicated with the Gazette mostly by e-mail last week.

Other JP resident band members are Stacey Cordeiro (accordion);
Jonah Rapino (electric violin); Brendon Wood (guitar); Arik Grier
(sousaphone); and PJ Goodwin (bass, sound engineer). Kaethe Hostetter
(violina, aka 5-string violin) lives in Roxbury.The group rehearses
on Green St.

Mekonnen said the group got its "big break" in JP at the Milky Way,
playing three successful concerts in 2008. "In two of these occasions
the line for entry extended all the way around the corner towards
the Hi Lo market," Mekonnen said.

He said in an e-mail that Debo re-creates the urban dance club scene
of 1960s Addis Ababa. "In the 1920s, Emperor Haile Selassie fell in
love with a brass band from Armenia and invited them home to become
the national band of Ethiopia," Mekonnen wrote.

In the decades that followed, the relationship developed into a
"sound unlike any other, combining brass band instrumentation with
the groove of American jazz and funk, all while preserving the
traditional rhythms, modes, and indigenous dance of the fiercely
independent Ethiopian people," he added.

Internationally known band Ansambl Mastika will be on the same bill.

Led by clarinetist Greg Squared, Matiska plays original tunes in
the style of village folk dance music of Eastern Europe, the Balkan
Peninsula and Caucus Mountains. Squared has traveled and studied with
some well-known Balkan folk musicians.

"We’re so excited that Mastika is coming to our local bar," Mekonnen
said.

Debo Band with Ansambl Mastika will perform Nov. 8 at 10 p.m. with
doors open at 9 p.m. at the Midway Cafe at 3496 Washington
St. Admission is $10.

AZERBAIJAN IN UN DISTORTS STATEMENTS, CRIES FOR HELP

HULIQ
Nov 6 2009
SC

A number of media outlets report that the Permanent Mission of
Azerbaijan to the United Nations organized a panel discussion on the
"Situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan".

The panel was presided over by the organizer of the event – the
Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan Agshin Mehdiyev, who speaking
about the topic of the panel discussions made selective quotations
from the different statements of the OSCE Minsk Group distorting
their essence. He also complained about the Memorandum circulated in
the United Nations by Armenia, labeling it as "disorienting."

The key speaker of the event was invited from London – Professor
Malcolm Shaw, Legal Adviser of Azerbaijan. He presented his report
regarding the issue, which fully defends Azerbaijan’s position.

Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN, Ambassador Karen
Nazarian took the floor and commenting on the statement of the
Ambassador of Azerbaijan spoke about the inadmissibility of his claims
from the viewpoint of international law. He particularly aimed his
criticism at the distortions and unacceptable formulations present
in the Professor Shaw’s report in regard to Nagorno Karabakh and the
region of South Caucasus.

In his remarks the Permanent Representative of Armenia spoke about
ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan against Armenians and the
real story behind the all out war against the people of Artsakh. He
also reflected on the legal aspect of Nagorno Karabakh’s separation
from Azerbaijan. Commenting on the report concocted by the "Legal
Adviser of Azerbaijan", Ambassador Nazarian expressed disbelief that a
professor of international law could claim that the right of people for
self-determination had been reserved for a particular span of time –
the period of decolonization, or that that right can be subordinated
to territorial integrity.

Afterward, at the request of the Azerbaijani Ambassador, Professor Shaw
provided comments on the issues raised by the Armenian Ambassador and
noted that he was not a diplomat and couldn’t argue with the Permanent
Representative of Armenia on that level. He added that the purpose
of his reports was not to confuse the international community and he
personally didn’t believe that those reports were biased.

Professor Shaw didn’t respond to the question regarding the legal
parity of the international norms. He also provided no answer to the
question raised by the Armenian Ambassador regarding the responsibility
of the government of Azerbaijan for violating international and
humanitarian laws.

Sources Mission of Armenia to the United Nations News.am (in Russian)

1,300 ANTI-ARMENIAN VIDEOS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE

Aysor
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Director of Information and PR Center of Armenian President’s
Administration, Ara Saghatelyan, presented activities and functions
of the Center he leads.

"We have developed effective system to provide information support of
state policy of Armenia," he said pointing in particular activities
in social network systems and establishment of common platform for
staff, responsible for Public Relations.

"Earlier we used to point that some PR departments and staff do not
work or work poorly. Meanwhile now we have a closed group focused on
specific tasks and you can now see how in a timely way they respond,
or how they plan activities and all, and you can learn whether any
positive changes appear," he said.

Ara Saghatelyan told that there is a list of all scheduled conferences
providing effectiveness of their working. Communication between staff
and partners developed keeping information support of state policy of
Armenia. Through these works, communications and activities for about
1,300 anti-Armenian videos were removed from YouTube. Information and
PR Center of Armenian President’s Administration monitors anti-Armenian
activities and doings: "We focus on that stuff, and we prevent them,"
he said stressing that Center does not replace the functions of any
official body.

"When any official structure is in need of consultation, we provide
conditions and solving," he added.

ADB TO EXTEND FUNDS TO IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY

news.am
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

Special Committee on realization of Iran-Armenia railway construction
headed by Ashot Shahnazaryan, former head of the RA State Commission
for the Protection of Economic Competition is set up. The RA Transport
and Communication Minister Gurgen Sargsyan stated in RA National
Assembly.

"Funds from international donor organizations for the project
implementation will be obtained. In particular, the talks with
Iran are underway and already take effect. Deputy ministerial
Armenia-Iran-Russia commission is already established," said Sargsyan,
adding that the first commission session was held this July and the
next might be in November if case of Iranian side accord. Besides,
the agreement with Asian Bank on extension of funds for the
implementation of industrial research is reached. According to the
Minister, preliminary research was conducted that enables to preplan
financial part, workload and financial institutions to negotiate with.

Unlike Iran-Armenia railway project, Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia project
is more realistic. The amount of financing is estimated at $7-8
bln. The matter is that the most part of the route is already railed,
and certain roads need to be constructed.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress