Month: November 2009

LILIT MKRTCHYAN WINS 3RD PLACE IN ETCC 2009 INDIVIDUAL EVENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
31.10.2009 18:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian chess player Lilit Lazarian representing
Armenia at European Team Chess Championship 2009, won the 3rd place in
ETCC individual event and was awarded a medal and a prize of 500 euro.

After the 9th tour, Armenian chess player had 6,5 to her score, coming
second to Georgia’s Bela Khotenashvili. Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia,
showed the best results, gaining 8 points in 9 tours.

Lilit Lazarian’s results:

1st tour: Lazarian Lilit-Zimina Olga -1:0

2nd tour: Lazarian Lilit-Krivec Jana-0,5:0,5

3rd tour: Lazarian Lilit-Rajlich Iweta-1:0

4th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Khukhashvili Sopiko-0,5:0,5

5th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Kazimova Narmin-0,5:0,5

6th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Milliet Sophie-1:0

7th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Peptan Corina-Isabela-1:0

8th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Zhukova Natalia-0,5:0,5

9th tour: Lazarian Lilit-Kosintseva Tatiana-0,5:0,5

Prize fund for individual event victory is: 1st place: 1000 euro,
2nd place: 700 euro and 3rd place: 500 euro.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ATAMANS COUNCIL FORMED IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 10:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On October 31, Yerevan hosted the first council of
leaders of Cossack organizations operating in Armenia. A resolution
was taken to form Atamans Council to coordinate further activities
of Cossacks in Armenia.

"The council aims at more effective solution of major issues:
strengthening of RA defense capacity, prevention of ethnic conflicts,
strengthening and development of collaboration with Cossack
organizations abroad," Cossack Major General Artur Maksapetyan stated
at the council.

It was also resolved at the meeting to convene the First Grand circle
(General assembly) of Armenian Cossacks to be held on December 17
in Yerevan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN FM: WHY DID WE SIGN TWO PROTOCOLS IF WE ARE NOT GOING TO RATIFY AND IMPLEMENT THEM?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 10:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s foreign minister has rejected Turkish
calls for concessions in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange
for the historic rapprochement between Yerevan and Ankara.

Speaking to Reuters late on Friday, Edward Nalbandian said negotiations
between Turkey and Armenia were over and both sides were obliged to
move quickly to establish diplomatic relations and open their border
under accords signed this month.

"Why did we sign two protocols if we are not going to ratify and
implement them?" Nalbandian, 53, said in an interview in the Armenian
capital, Yerevan.

"I think the whole international community is waiting for quick
ratification and implementation and respect for the agreements which
are in the protocols," he said.

"If one of the sides will delay and create some obstacles in the
way of ratification and implementation, I think it could bear all
the responsibility for the negative consequences." Nalbandian said
the Armenian-Turkish thaw and the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations were
"two separate processes."

"This is not only the Armenian approach but the approach of the
international community," he said, adding that negotiations between
Turkey and Armenia were over. "Negotiations were finalised at the
beginning of February."

Mediators from the United States, Russia and France say they are making
progress towards a peace deal on Nagorno-Karabakh in talks between
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev.

But Nalbandian played down talk of an imminent breakthrough. There
is a "positive dynamic", he said. "But to say that tomorrow or in
one month’s time or in a very short period of time we will come to
the agreement, I don’t think this is very serious."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU: CURRENT SITUATION WITH ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS CAN’T LAST FOREVER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 11:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Current situation with Armenia-Turkey relations
can’t last forever, so the perspective of rapprochement and border
opening should be accepted. Scenarios of protecting regional interests
should be developed, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
Ambassador Peter Semneby stated. According to him, the war in Georgia
has shown everybody there are major risks related to continuation of
territorial conflicts in the region. "This has given certain dynamics
to Armenia-Turkey relations. Turkey has been long ago implementing
steps, suggesting the country expects a change of situation at South
Caucasus."

"Russia is making investments in RA infrastructure, constructing
railroads. The investments will be compensated only in case of border
opening. Armenia was not the only one to start off the rapprochement.

In-depth discussions are held in Turkey, where many believe the
country can enhance its presence in the region should the issue be
resolved. Conflict with Armenia restricted Turkey’s possibilities
in South Caucasus to a great extent. Armenia-Turkey relations must
not be linked to Karabakh conflict, otherwise, the possibilities for
rapprochement will once again be lost."

Semneby also noted that Armenian government is facing a number of
challenges. According to him, Diaspora has taken ambiguous attitude
towards rapprochement. "This is a serious issue with RA government,
which has to provide Diaspora’s support and consider Armenian citizens’
interests."

Commenting on protocols’ ratification, Semneby stated: "100%
ratification guarantee can’t be given. Yet I’m confident the documents
will be ratified, which is equitable to both Armenia’s and Turkey’s
interests. Personal benefit and not kind disposition towards Armenia
drove Turkey to start this process. The rapprochement will open new
possibilities, positively affect regional security and economics,"
Vremya Novostey newspaper cited Semneby as saying.

SONA DANIELYAN: WE HARDLY PERSUADED GEORGE BENSON TO PERFORM IN ARMENIA HE NEVER HEARD ABOUT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 12:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Legendary George Benson will give a concert in
Yerevan on November 12 in the framework of Perspectives of the 21st
century music festival held with the assistance of RA Ministry of
Culture and under the patronage of the Armenian President.

It’s a present Ameriabank gives jazz-lovers on occasion of opening
of its head office.

"It took us a lot of trouble to persuade Mr. Benson to perform in
Armenia he has never heard about," festival manager Sona Danielyan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

She said the organizers did not experience financial hardships since
many companies expressed willingness to sponsor the event.

The tickets cost from AMD 5 to 100 thousand and are sold in Sharm
Holding office.

IRANIAN CAPITAL MAY BE MOVED FROM TEHRAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 12:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Teheran’s days as the Iranian capital may be numbered
after a powerful government body approved a plan for a new principal
city in an attempt to protect residents from a dangerous earthquake.

It has witnessed some of Iran’s most tumultuous events: the fall of
the shah, the return of Ayatollah Khomeini and the transformation
from pro-western monarchy to revolutionary Islamic republic.

Now Tehran’s days as the Iranian capital appear numbered after a
powerful state body approved a plan for a new principal city. The idea
was proposed by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
and rubber-stamped by the expediency council.

Seismologists have warned that Tehran is liable to be struck by a
catastrophic earthquake in the foreseeable future. It is not clear
whether a new capital will be built from scratch or sited in an
existing city.

Iran has had numerous capitals during its history, including Isfahan,
Qazvin, Shiraz, Mashhad and Hamedan. Since the Qajar king Agha
Mohammad Khan declared it capital in 1795, Tehran has become the
country’s political, social, economic and cultural centre.

Its infrastructure has been left creaking by rapid population growth
that has seen it become home to 12 million people, up from 250,000
at the start of the 20th century.

A mass influx from the countryside under the last shah, Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi, fed the social discontent unleashed by the 1979 Islamic
revolution. The population has continued to spiral since then, with
unregulated development creating a traffic-clogged and polluted
urban sprawl.

Most recently, Tehran was the centre of mass street protests triggered
by the disputed re-election of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
which opponents insist was achieved through fraud.

Plans for a new capital were first drawn up 20 years ago, but officials
only gave them serious consideration after the 2003 earthquake that
devastated the south-eastern city of Bam and killed an estimated 40,000
people. Experts warn that Tehran sits on at least 100 faultlines –
including one nearly 60 miles long – and that many of its buildings
would not survive a major quake.

Professor Bahram Akasheh, a seismologist and dean of the faculty of
basic sciences at Tehran Azad University, said the city had been
chosen as capital "by mistake" and its north-eastern suburbs were
vulnerable to an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale.

"I warned of this 40 to 50 years ago and if they had listened to me
then, Tehran wouldn’t have grown into a macro-city, but now control
is lost over it. The city is growing bigger and bigger every day and
so are the poor suburbs around it," he said.

He said a new capital should be built between Qom – home to the
country’s clerical establishment – and Delijan, in Markazi province,
an area that has not seen an earthquake in 2,000 years, The Guardian
reported.

ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT OPENS NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR NKR CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 12:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "EU is confident Armenia-Turkey rapprochement will
open new possibilities for NKR settlement. RA-Turkey normalization
creates positive dynamics. In a situation where Armenian government has
to face a number of issues simultaneously, the normalization provides a
possibility to focus on further issues. I believe Armenian authorities
understand that status-quo on NKR can’t last forever," EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Ambassador Peter Semneby stated.

According to him, specific concessions are not to be discussed at
the moment. " Madrid principles specify solutions for both parties.

Concessions are made on both sides, and the most complicated issues,
such as Karabakh status, are put off. Still, both parties progressed
along the way of discussing solution mechanisms. Should a positive
atmosphere be created other issues will also be detailed on," Swiss
diplomat emphasized, Vremya Novostey reported.

TURKEY HAS NEVER BEEN SO ACTIVE IN NKR CONFLICT SETTLEMENT ISSUE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 13:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Current stage of Armenia-Turkey relations proves the
truth of every statement ARF Dashnaktsutyun made before protocols’
signing, head of parliamentary committee for defense, security
and internal affairs, Hrayr Karapetyan stated. According to him,
Turkey keeps setting preconditions and it was never so active in NKR
settlement issue as it is now, which is a consequence of protocols
signed.

"Dashnaktsutyun believes, Protocols can’t be ratified the way they
are. Edward Nalbandian has to state normalization of relations between
two countries being subordinated to the third country’s interests
is unacceptable. We do not criticize Turkey’s position. To us it
is a passive diplomatic approach," ARFD representative emphasized,
noting that all reasonable terms for normalization are expired, and
sanctions for holding Armenia in blockade should be imposed on Turkey.

As for further activities of Dashnaktsutyun, Karapetyan noted that
anti- ratification signature campaign will be continued. "We’ll submit
signatures collected when protocols are presented at Constitutional
court," he said adding that ratification in RA NA won’t go as easy
as some politicians might imagine.

TURKISH PM ERDOGAN DISMISSES REPORTS ON EARLY ELECTION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 14:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday
ruled out holding a general election before its scheduled date in
2011, dismissing media reports this week that he might bring the vote
forward by one year.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for new terminal of the
International Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Erdogan said
his ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party was committed to hold
parliamentary elections on time.

"From now on, elections will be held on the announced date. They may
be pulled forward by one or two months, that’s different," Erdogan
told reporters, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency.

Erdogan’s ruling AK Party swept to power in 2002, becoming the first
single-party government in more than a decade. It was re-elected in
2007 by the biggest margin of votes in 40 years.

Media reports circulating over the past few days claimed that he
talked to main opposition leader Deniz Baykal about an early election.

Erdogan denied reports and said, "it is against my principles."

"Why would I share such a thing with the main opposition (Republican
People’s Party)?" he said. "All these reports are lies."

Erdogan also said that "early election talk" would give harm to
Turkey. He said such a talk caused a negative effect on the stock
market over the past two days.

In recent months the AK Party has faced hostility from opposition
parties over its policy on Kurdish inititive to help end a 25-year
war with PKK separatists.

It has also been criticised for agreeing to open diplomatic relations
with its arch rival and neighbour Armenia, plans to draft a more
liberal constitution and for other European Union-inspired measures
the government hopes will bring it closer to membership of the bloc.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 1 2009

Armenian media talks to Turkey in Turkish

It is not unusual to see English and Russian versions of Armenian news
sites. But something unusual has started to occur recently, as some
news sites in Armenia have added a Turkish language section to their
pages.

On the front page of Tert.am, the words, `Å?imdi Türkçe’ or `Now in
Turkish’ appear brightly colored in fuchsia. Just a click away, it is
possible to see the headline story on the Turkish page, which was
launched only a couple of weeks ago: `Prosperous Armenia Party Will
Vote against Protocol Ratification Only in Case of Preconditions.’ Two
advertisements also appear on Tert.am’s Turkish front page.

Sonya Apresova, an editor from Tert.am, said they have 12 percent
growth each day in page views of the Turkish section of the site and
that their visitors are not only from Turkey, but also from Armenia,
the United States and Europe, especially in Germany, where about 2.5
million people of Turkish decent live.

When it comes to their visitors from Turkey, Apresova said that they
are mostly from Ä°stanbul, but overall visitors from 16 cities have
checked out their Turkish portal, including Ankara, Adana, Bursa,
İzmir, Manisa, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Erzurum and Samsun. `Our readers
— mostly Armenians living in Turkey — used to send us letters,
asking if it was possible to translate some news into Turkish. And now
that the Turkish version exists, we’re getting a lot of feedback. It’s
always interesting for people living in Turkey to get opinions from
Armenia,’ said Apresova.

Another news site with Turkish pages in addition to its Armenian,
English and Russian-language pages is News.am. `News.am is a
relatively new online news resource. It started this year. Tert.am
started last year. Both News.am and Tert.am are competing for the same
market,’ said Artur Papyan from the Yerevan Press Club.

The pioneer in Turkish-language Web sites in Armenia is Azg.am, which
is the Web arm of the Azg Daily newspaper.

Hagob Avedikian, editor-in-chief of Azg, said they have been
publishing a Turkish site along with their Armenian, English and
Russian portals since the establishment of their Web page six years
ago.

He said when they started, they received various responses from their
readers, from `sound comments’ to `curses.’

`It was an adventure for us then. Now, Turkish-Armenian relations have
become a major topic, so we should enlarge the Turkish section,’ he
said, adding that they have only about 10 news stories and articles
translated from Armenian to Turkish because they cannot afford to do
more. Avedikian also said they have been encouraged to expand their
Turkish site since they’ve received an advertisement from a Turkish
fragrance company which is seeking partners in Armenia.

Developments regarding Turkey-Armenia relations have helped to
increase Azg.com’s Turkish readership, he said. Their daily number of
hits on the Turkish site was about 180 before the Oct. 14 soccer match
between Turkey and Armenia in the northwestern Turkish town of Bursa.
But a day after the game, they received about 350 hits.

`This is a good development, that people want to know what Armenians
think,’ he added.

After months of furious diplomacy, the two countries took a
significant step on Oct. 10 as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan signed
protocols in Zurich to improve relations. Both countries should have
the protocols ratified in their parliaments within a `reasonable time
frame.’

Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Armenia and closed its border in
1993 in protest over the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh region. There has been optimism following both
countries’ gestures in September of last year, when Turkish President
Abdullah Gül accepted Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s invitation
to watch a game between the national soccer teams of both countries.
Sarksyan was in Bursa on Oct. 14 to watch the second-leg match between
Turkey and Armenia. Journalists from both Turkey and Armenia have been
kept busy by the tense nature of relations between the two countries,
and they increasingly feel the need to know what goes on in each
other’s countries as opposition in both sides fights the protocols.

`When there is a development in Turkey related to relations with
Armenia, I would like to know how it was reflected in Armenia,’ said
Demet Bilge Ergün, the news editor from Radikal daily. `I found out
that Tert.am had started publishing news in Turkish, and now I go to
that site every morning after reading the Turkish newspapers.’

Erdinç Ergenç, an editor with Sabah, said as a journalist, he feels
obligated to know what the other side `says and does’ and that a good
way to do it is to go to the Turkish-language sites in Armenia.

`It would be important for journalists at least to know what the other
side is doing in this process,’ he said. However, he added, it is `sad
to see’ that the Turkish side is not involved in a similar effort to
publish news from Turkey in Armenian.

There are, however, growing efforts in that regard. The
Turkish-Armenian community’s weekly Agos has started to post Armenian
news in Turkish as a part of the project `Neighbors about each other,’
made available for public use by the Civilitas Foundation, based in
Armenia, with support from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) through the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF).

Artak Shakaryan, Armenia-Turkey project manager for the EPF, said
every day over the last few weeks an article from the Turkish media
has been translated into Armenian and posted online at

01 November 2009, Sunday
YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ?AN Ä°STANBUL