Month: September 2013

ARMENIA REITERATES WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE COOPERATION WITH THE EU

10:35 13.09.2013

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met
Å tefan Fule, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighborhood Policy.

The sides continued the discussions which started in Brussels on
September 5 this year and stressed the importance of the non-official
meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Ministers of Education
of the Eastern Partnership countries before Vilnius summit.

Minister Nalbandian reaffirmed the intention of Armenia to continue
the cooperation with the European Union by all possible directions.

ARMENIA TO TOUGHEN PENALTIES FOR INEFFICIENT USE OF WATER RESOURCES
by Karina Manukyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, September 12, 21:37

On September 12, the National Assembly of Armenia introduced amendments
in the Code of Administrative Violations in the first reading.

Armenian Minister of Nature Protection Aram Haroutyunyan said that
the document aims to enhance the efficiency of the use of water
resources and to prevent violations. The individuals violating the
service rules will pay a penalty 100 times as much as their wages
(instead of the current penalty, which is 80 times as much as their
wages), and officials will pay a penalty 300 times as much their
wages (instead of the current penalty which is 150 times as much as
their wages). As soon as the amendments are adopted, nearly 1,000
artesian boreholes in Ararat Valley will be decommissioned and this
will lead to more effective use of the surface water resources. The
settlement of this problem needs financial resources, part of which
will be raised due to the toughened penalties. For this purpose,
a special Fund will be set up at the Finance Ministry.

Since 2009, the Ministry has been conducting a monitoring on efficient
use of water resources. Nearly 30 cases are annually submitted to
the law-enforcement structures.

PRESS CONFERENCE IN THE PARLIAMENT

13.09.2013

On September 13 the press conference of the member of the FRG Bundestag
Jurgen Klimke was held in the National Assembly, who is in Armenia
at the invitation of the Head of Armenia-Germany Friendship Group
Artak Davtyan.

The deputy of Bundestag Jurgen Klimke informed the attendees that he
had already visited Armenia for the third time. The visit is cognitive:
the deputy has a goal to get acquainted with the inner-political
situation and external political perspectives of our country.

Meetings have been held in the NA Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations, in Armenia-Germany Freindship Group, the spheres of possible
cooperation have also been discussed for that purpose.

Jurgen Klimke informed those present that he had also visited the
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and had a number of meetings. In October
he will also be in the Republic of Azerbaijan as an observer, and
after that he can have an opinion on the NKR conflict.

Sharing his impressions Mr Klimke said that there is desire and
opportunity between the two countries to deepen the cooperation in
different spheres.

MEETING AT THE RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE ON EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

13.09.2013

On September 13 the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on European
Integration Naira Zohrabyan met with Canan Atilgan,Regional Head
of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung/Foundation “Political Dialogue: South
Caucasus.”

The Committee Chair has highlighted the work that Konrad Adenauer
Foundation implements for many years, promoting the spreading of
democracy, human rights, freedom and justice and the process of
European integration. The sides discussed the situation created in the
country after the decision of Armenia’s joining to the Customs Union.

To Ms Zohrabyan’s conviction, it is important not to endanger the
dialogue with the European Union and the cooperation with the European
structures, underlining that the European direction continues to
remain one of the external political priorities of Armenia. The
sides discussed how the Foundation can assist the structures of the
parliament and first of all, for effectively continuing the process
of European integration of the Committee on European Integration.

In the course of the meeting a series of issues of bilateral interest
were discussed.

MEETING AT THE RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

13.09.2013

On September 13 the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations of the National Assembly Artak Zakaryan met with the member
of the FRG Bundestag Jurgen Klimke and the Editor of the political
section of Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper Christian Unger.

Welcoming the guests the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations highlighted Jurgan Klimke’s visit to Nagorno Karabakh and
noted that it was a good opportunity for getting familiarized with
the problems of the region on the spot.

In the course of the meeting the sides touched upon the Armenian-German
relations, discussed issues relating to inter-parliamentary
cooperation, particularly the close work between the parliamentary
friendship groups was emphasized.

Highlighting the deepening of bilateral ties, the Chairman of the
Standing Committee on Foreign Relations deemed necessary to activate
the cooperation between the committees on Foreign Relations of the
two countries. Particularly, the circumstance that in the Bundestag
of Germany would be real and distinct information and pictures about
the external political problems and their peculiarities of Armenia
during the current period for future was highlighted. Artak Zakaryan
also emphasized the role of Germany as the EU leading state in the
processes of the further development of the RA-EU dialogue. Touching
upon the problem of Armenia’s joining to the Customs Union, the
Chairman of the NA Standing Committee substantiated the factors
decision and answered the guests’ question in detail.

The MPs also touched upon the foreign policy of Armenia and the
regional problems. Talking about the problem of Nagorno Karabakh
the member of the FRG Bundestag Jurgen Klimke has noted that Germany
highlights and supports the efforts aimed at the peaceful settlement
of the Karabakh conflict made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

KARABAKH CONFLICT SOLUTION CAN ONLY BE POLITICAL: NATO

16:11, 13 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. The NATO would like to see the
swift resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As reports
“Armenpress” the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai stated this in a
conversation with the Azerbaijani media.

Among other things the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai underscored;
“A solution to the conflict is urgent, but such a solution can only
be political. NATO fully supports the efforts of the Minsk Group.”

Talking about the NATO’s possible role in solution of NagornoKarabakh
conflict, Appathurai emphasized that at this stage, where the sides
have not yet come to a full agreement on the basic principles
of a settlement, it is too early to speculate on the role of an
organization.

HRANT DINK’S MURDER CASE SOLUTION IS A KEY TO OTHER POLITICAL CRIMES: FETHIYE CETIN

15:17, 13 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish state makes effort to
consign Hrant Dink’s murder to oblivion, notwithstanding the Turkish
society will never forget this crime and refuses to be involved in
it. As reports “Armenpress”, Fethiye Cetin, Hrant Dink’s family lawyer,
stated this in her new book titled “I am Ashamed:

Trials on Hrant Dink’s Murder Trial”. Turkish Radikal periodical
published some parts of the aforesaid books.

Fethiye Cetin emphasized that a man called Ramazan, who introduced
himself as a worker of the Chief Department of the National Security
Service of Eastern Anatolia region, called Cetin in March 2010 and said
that he has important documents regarding Hrant Dink’s murder. She
got in touch with Ramazan via Skype, who showed her secret documents
with the emblem of the National Intelligence Service on it. The
unknown person told her that secret cryptograms are used in all the
documents. Dink’s lawyer tells how they managed to read Dink’s name
via Cyrillic alphabet in the aforesaid documents.

Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogun
Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. This was shortly after
the premiere of the genocide documentary Screamers, in which he is
interviewed about Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and
the case against him under Article 301. While Samast has since been
taken into custody, photographs of the assassin flanked by smiling
Turkish police and gendarmerie, posing with the killer side by side
in front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced. The photos created
a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the
removal from office of those involved.

At his funeral, two hundred thousand mourners marched in protest of the
assassination, chanting “We are all Armenians” and “We are all Hrant
Dink”. Criticism of Article 301 became increasingly vocal after his
death, leading to parliamentary proposals for repeal. The 2007-2008
academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT PAYS 32 VISITS TO MOSCOW SINCE 2008

10:54 13.09.13

According to Armenia’s foreign office, President Serzh Sargsyan has
paid thirty-two working and official visits to Moscow since his first
tenure of office in 2008.

His visits to other states – the United States, China, European
countries, as well as Iran and Georgia – do not even make up half
the number of his visits to Russia’s capital.

STEFAN FULE: EU RESPECTS ARMENIA’S SOVEREIGN RIGHT AND DOES NOT ACCEPT PRESSURE

September 13, 2013 | 15:44

YEREVAN. – EU respects Armenia’s sovereign right to join the Customs
Union but does not accept any possible pressure on the country,
the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Å tefan
Fule said.

Fule said he was assured that no pressure had been exerted on Armenia.

“Who am I to question that?” he said in Yerevan on the margins of
informal meeting of Eastern Partnership FMs.

At the same time, the EU offiical noted that such complaints were
heard in the European Parliament.

He also recalled the statement of the EU delegation about violence
against civic activists who expressed concern about the foreign policy
of Armenia.

“We are calling upon the Armenian authorities to bring the perpetrators
to justice,” he said.

EU COMMISSIONER SKEPTICAL ABOUT MANAGING NEW DOCUMENT WITH ARMENIA BY VILNIUS SUMMIT

September 13, 2013 | 16:05

YEREVAN. – EU Commissioner said he is skeptical that a serious legal
document will be managed with Armenia by the time of the Vilnius
summit.

Å tefan Fule noted that Association Agreement and DCFTA is one treaty.

You cannot separate one from another, he added.

“I came to listen to Armenian colleagues. They wish to offer a
new legal framework that will enable to move us beyond the existing
framework of cooperation agreements. We would be very happy to engage
in that process. I am skeptical about the serious legal document,”
the EU official said, adding that he is hopeful there will be concrete
formats.

Armenia is still in the discussions and negotiations, he added.