Author: admin

NATO looks for new strategic approaches
06.06.2009 18:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Titled "Redefining the Security and Transatlantic
Diplomacy Role of NATO For the 21st Century," the conference was
organized in Istanbul by Arý Movement, a civil society
organization. It focused on NATO enlargement, the alliance’s relations
with the European Union and its new missions outside of the European
geography.
While participants praised NATO’s role during the course of its past
60 years, they also emphasized the significance of shaping a strategic
concept, particularly in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New
York.
"During the past 10 years, the strategic landscape has changed," said
Stefanie Babst, NATO’s deputy assistant secretary general for public
diplomacy, adding that the organization "has moved from being into
doing." The new strategic concept should take into account two main
events, the Sept. 11 attacks and the existing situation in
Afghanistan, she added.
"The new strategic concept also should be a political one as well,"
Babst said. "It should have a renewed clearer vision about core tasks,
and it should prioritize main tasks." In this respect, the new concept
has to address military and political issues together, according to
Babst.
In an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Babst
also underscored the significance of the political process over the
determination of NATO’s new strategic concept, which will involve the
participation of civil society organizations, universities and think
tanks. Babst said that the new strategic concept is not just a NATO
document: "It is a joint vision of NATO countries that would like to
develop the alliance both politically and militarily."
But Solomon Passy, from Bulgaria, drew attention to NATO’s image. A
member of parliament and a former foreign minister, Passy highlighted
the need to improve the alliance’s image. "If we succeed in winning
public opinion, we can make a huge impact."
NATO-EU relations was another major topic discussed throughout the
conference. Passy said relations between the two entities needed to
improve and be deepened. "The relations between these two
organizations are very poor," he said.

ABC30, Fresno, CA
June 7 2009

Fresno Hye Fest

Saturday, June 06, 2009 | 6:41 PM

Fresno, CA (KFSN) — Hundreds enjoyed the day on the Fulton Mall in
Downtown Fresno, celebrating Armenian culture during the first Hye
fest.
Dancers provided crowds with a glimpse of the rich and ancient
traditions of the Armenian people. The barbecue was hot all day,
dishing out lots of authentic Armenian food.
When the kids weren’t eating, they also had the opportunity to play
games and win prizes.

Watch video at
local&id=6851990

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sunday’s Zaman
June 7 2009

Bishop Chuljyan, potential replacement for Patriarch Mesrob II, talks
of peace

Tall trees, a peaceful stream and picturesque mountains in the
province of Vanadzor, Armenia, present the perfect serenity for a
religious leader to think and reflect, and that is what Bishop Sebouh
Chuljyan does.

`Please help us be in contact with civil society organizations in
Turkey — be they cultural, environmental or children’s — so we can
have them over here either to do things together, maybe to plant trees
or give concerts. I value civil initiatives more than the opening of
the Turkish-Armenian border,’ he said, looking sharply into the eyes
of the curious Turkish journalists in his compound.
He was behind his busy desk filled not only with a variety of office
documents, but also some Turkish history books, Turkish novels,
Turkish television program scripts and a poem starting with the line,
`A Human Being Should Be Aware¦" (Farkında Olmalı
İnsan) by Turkish poet Can Yücel. On his windowsill,
there was a framed photograph of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian
editor of the Ä°stanbul-based Agos daily who was assassinated in
2007. The two had become close friends when Dink visited Chuljyan in
Armenia.

Bishop Chuljyan was speaking to the Turkish journalists who are in
Armenia for the Turkey-Armenia Journalist Dialogue Project of the
International Hrant Dink Foundation, funded by the Heinrich
Böll Stiftung Association. This tall, impressive and determined
religious leader was direct in his statements.

`The important thing is to establish close ties between the Turkish
and Armenian peoples. Once they get to know and love each other,
political leaders would race to open the doors,’ he said, referring to
the closed border between Turkey and Armenia, which Turkey shut in
1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijani territory.

He runs a diocese of the Gougark region in the Armenian Apostolic
Church. With this high qualification and having been born in Turkey,
Bishop Chuljyan, 50, is also a natural patriarchal candidate for the
post in Ä°stanbul if there are elections for a new patriarch, if
the frail Patriarch Mesrob II has to retire for health reasons. Asked
if he would like to enter the elections in such a situation, he said
he would if the Turkish-Armenian community supports him, even though
he doesn’t like to live in big cities.

`I don’t like traffic and the hustle and bustle of the cities. I like
to go and visit Anatolian towns and villages,’ he said, adding that he
has been to Turkey several times, but mostly to small towns.

When it comes to questions on the debate of whether Patriarch Mesrob
II should be replaced due to his health problems, Chuljyan said he
believes that the patriarch should be replaced. `This is the right
thing to do,’ he said.

`I am from Malatya’

`I am from central Malatya. I went to see the house we once lived in
there, but the new owners of the house did not allow me to see
it. They cursed at me,’ he said, telling some other stories from his
visits in which he sometimes had terrible experiences because he was
being ousted since some villagers disliked Armenians. In some cases,
he was warmly welcomed by people.

`I was able to see my grandparents’ house,’ he said as his expression
changed from a mix of angry and sad to a big smile. He showed the
pictures he had taken in a person’s house in Malatya where he was
sitting on the floor with a group of townspeople and having a friendly
chat. In another picture, he was enjoying the fresh figs from a tree
in a garden that once belonged to his grandfather.

Chuljyan moved to Armenia when he was 9. When asked why he and his
family left the province of Malatya where he was born, he said that
they were tired of being humiliated because they were Armenian.

`Sebouh is my religious name. The name my father gave me is
Hayk. Because my name was not an ethnic Turkish name, my father had to
go through a series of difficulties to obtain my identification card,’
he said in reference to the difficulties that minority communities
faced in Turkey.

As he pulled out the picture of the pink-painted house where Dink
lived in the past, he said that he met Dink in Armenia and they are
from the same district in Malatya.

`I shared his ideas about fake nationalism. Nationalism is good when
it is patriotic and not extreme or fake. Hrant believed that extreme
nationalism was hurting both Turkey and Armenia,’ he said.

Like Dink did, Chuljyan also has had a great sense of giving back to
the Armenian community that raised him.

`We are a big family, seven boys and two girls. I went to a boarding
school in Ä°stanbul in HalıcıoÄ?lu. The
school is not there anymore because it was demolished during the
construction of the bridge over the Golden Horn,’ he said, adding that
he established a summer camp in his compound for poor Armenian
children who can enjoy themselves and nature.

`Please send me books from Turkey. I read a lot,’ he said near the end
of his meeting with the Turkish journalists. `I get so excited when
Turks and Armenians talk to each other. Because if they don’t, others
will be winners and we will be losers. ¦ And thank you for being
aware of me.’

07 June 2009, Sunday
YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ?AN VANADZOR Ä°STANBUL

Norvik UCO wins in Best Content and High Accessibility nomination of
CB’s Best Information Booklet competition

2009-06-06 15:37:00

ArmInfo. Norvik Universal Credit Organization has won in the "Best
Content and High Accessibility" nomination of the Central Bank’s "The
Best Information Booklet 2009" competition.

The objective of the contest is to enhance the transparency of the
financial market and to provide the customers of financial
organizations with accessible and detailed information, reports the
press service of Norvik.

CEO of Norvik Tigran Bostanjyan says that his company gives high
priority to the transparency and accessibility of its information. "We
are glad that the jury has given a high assessment of the quality
and content of our information."

Norvik was established in Feb 2006 by Latvian-Icelandic Norvik Bank. In
early July 2006 the company was granted the CB’s license. For two years
already Norvik has been the leading credit organization of Armenia.

The CB’s contest has been held since 2008. The jury comprised employees
of the CB as well as representatives of public organizations, the Union
of Banks, the Association of Insurance Market Participants, credit
companies and mass media.

U.S. PRESIDENT TO VISIT RUSSIA JULY 6-8

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
06.06.2009 13:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. President Barack Obama will pay his first visit
to Russia as president on invitation of Dmitry Medvedev on July 6-8,
the Kremlin said on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov met in Washington last week to lay the groundwork for the
July summit between Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

Lavrov said at the time the two nations had obvious differences over
Georgia but progress in key areas such as arms control would not be
held hostage by such disagreements.

U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated under the administration of George
W. Bush, sinking to post-Cold War lows after Moscow crushed Georgia
in a brief war last August and over differences on a missile defense
system planned by Washington in Europe, Reuters reported.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to pay a visit to Moscow
during the same period.

Besides, Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are reported to meet
in July.

EUFOA ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF EUROPE-ARMENIA ADVISORY COUNCIL

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.06.2009 20:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) announced today
the launch of the Europe-Armenia Advisory Council. Based in Brussels,
the Council will be a unique body to promote relations between Europe
and Armenia from the European side. Composed of leading representatives
from the political, business and cultural spheres from across Europe,
it will provide guidance on all major issues in this area, EuFoA
reported.

"I want to thank those who already agreed to join the Council, which
will be a key European platform for the Europe-Armenia debate and
have a significant impact. It is the first institution of its kind in
this field and largely non-Diaspora based. The Council underlines the
important role both partners play in furthering peace and prosperity in
Armenia and the South Caucasus region – the main goal of the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the new Eastern Partnership initiative",
says Secretary General Michael Kambeck.

Through the creation of the Council, EuFoA seeks to make use of the
knowledge and experience of the Council members in order to better
pursue its goals. The Council will also advise EuFoA on its long term
policies and become an integral part of its wider network. EuFoA is a
young NGO which uses its network to facilitate contacts between Europe
and Armenia, promoting good relations and understanding between the
two sides, an area which has become one of the top priorities on the
EU agenda.

CHAIRMAN OF POLLING STATION N 8/15 ARRESTED

Noyan Tapan
June 5, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Onik Alexanian, the Chairman of
commission of polling station N 8/15, was arrested on June 5 on the
criminal case examined by the RA Special Investigation Service on
the occasion of rigging the voting results at polling station N 8/15
in Yerevan Council of Elders elections. According to the Special
Investigation Service report, O.

Alexanian is suspected of an act envisaged by Article 150, RA Criminal
Code, rigging voting results.

ARMENIAN EXTERNAL DEBT RISES IN Q1

World Market Research Centre
Global Insight
June 3, 2009

Armenia’s external debt at the end of the first quarter of 2009
reached $1US.789 billion, ARKA News reports quoting figures published
by the country’s National Statistical Service. This result marks
an increase of 15.3% in annual terms. Government obligations made
up a share of some 78% of total foreign debt, rising by 1.3% in
annual comparison. Most of this is owed to international financial
organisations, with the World Bank the most important creditor,
followed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Among Armenia’s
bilateral creditors, Germany is the most important. In addition, it
was reported that, at the same time, Armenia’s domestic debt gained
around 12%, totalling 96.1 billion dram ($260US million) at the end of
the first quarter. Short-term government bonds contributed to around
28.5% of total internal debt.

Significance:As domestic financial markets remain relatively
undeveloped, and access to international credit markets also limited,
most Armenian debt consists of external obligations to multilateral
lenders, approved on concessionary terms. Armenia has been badly hit
by indirect effects of the global financial and economic crisis, as
availability of foreign investment and remittances has considerably
suffered, leading to rising financial and economic risks (seeArmenia:
24 March 2009:). To cover its wide external financing gap, Armenia
has sought credit from the IMF and Russia, and these provide for
important liquidity support (seeArmenia: 21 May 2009: andArmenia:
9 March 2009: ).

RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJAN LEADERS IN TALKS ON ENCLAVE

Agence France Presse
June 4 2009

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held talks Thursday with Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev on
economic and regional issues in the Caucasus.

They dealt principally with the search for a solution to the future
status of the disputed Nagorny Karabakh, a war-torn enclave of
Azerbaijan with a largely ethnic Armenian population.

"We are persistently seeking a way that would allow Nagorny Karabakh
to live safely on its traditional land and determine its fate,"
Sarkisian said ahead of talks with Medvedev.

Medvedev also discussed "regional problems and energy security issues"
with Aliyev, who voiced satisfaction "with the way our relations
develop in various directions."

Russia has been mediating talks between the two countries over
Nagorny Karabakh, the scene of a war in the early 1990s, reflecting
long-standing Russian interest in the region.

Nagorny Karabakh broke free of Baku’s control in the early 1990s in
a war that killed nearly 30,000 people and forced two million to flee
their homes.

Shootings between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the region remain
common despite a 1994 ceasefire.

TURKISH CONSULATE OFFICIAL INTERVENES AT IFEX PANEL IN OSLO

BIA Magazine
expression/115018-turkish-consulate-official-inter venes-at-ifex-panel-in-oslo
June 5 2009

At a panel discussing the denial of an Armenian "genocide", a Turkish
consulate official reiterated the argument that Armenians were deported
for treason.

Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Oslo – BÄ°A News Center 05 June
2009, Friday

At the general meeting of the International Freedom of Expression
eXchange (IFEX) in Oslo, a panel was discussing "Laws on Holocaust
Denial and Politics: Legal Limits".

Publisher Ragip Zarakolu from Turkey also spoke at the panel.

Official denial continues Following the presentations, a person
describing themselves as an offical at the Turkish consulate in Norway,
objected to the use of "genocide" that had been used by speakers
to describe both what happened to Jews in the Third Reich and what
happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

He added, "They were not deported because they were Armenians or
because of their race, but because they collaborated with the enemy."

Criticism of Turkish legislation Zarakolu, owner of Belge Publications,
had joined the panel instead of historian Taner Akcam, who was unable
to attend. Akcam’s book, entitled " A Shameful Act: The Armenian
Genocide and The Question of Turkish Responsibility", has caused
controversy in Turkey, and he is one of the first Turkish academics
to name what happened a genocide.

Zarakolu criticised Articles 301 and 305 of the Turkish Penal Code,
saying that they prevented people from discussing the Armenian
genocide. He himself has been convicted under Article 301 for
"denigrating the Turkish state or state organs", but was acquitted of
"inciting hatred and hostility." Zarakolu said, "The laws encourage
denial."

The consulate official said that, following international formulations,
what happened could not be called a "genocide". As for Article 301
and other laws, he said, "All countries make such laws to protect
the unity of their territory and security."

The audience was surprised at the interference of the consulate
official.

"Memories are erased" Yael Danieli, manager for the US-based
Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, said,
"If the judiciary and the media do not do their duty, they do not
only deprive genocide victims and avoid telling the truth, but they
also erase memories."

Anton Weiss-Wendt of Oslo’s Holocaust and Religious Minorities
Studies Centre, said, "I don’t believe that denial can be solved in
courts. Expectations are so high that expecting a court to define
and prove a genocide would cause disappointment."

New members Two organisations from Turkey are members of IFEX: bianet
and the Initiative against Crimes of Thought. The following are new
members, increasing the number of IFEX members to 88 worldwide:

* The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) helps to cover an
underrepresented area in IFEX, with 200 members in over 20 countries
in the Caribbean.

* Since 2003, the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) in Honduras
has circulated around 150 free expression alerts across various
networks.

* The Latin American Observatory for the Freedom of Expression (OLA)
based in Peru brings together free expression news from members in 10
countries, and covers some of the more untraditional communicators,
such as artists, cartoonists and TV and radio production staff.

* The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Malaysia is one of
the founding partners of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, focusing
on training, media defence and advocacy for journalists in Malaysia.

* Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) is a new network of mainly independent
media that covers 21 countries in the Pacific.

* The Exiled Journalists Network (EJN), based in the U.K., is run by
and for exiled journalists. It has recently announced plans to create
Press Freedom House, a safe house in London modelled after the Maison
des Journalistes in Paris, that will give new arrivals temporary
accommodation and training – and a chance to adapt to life in the U.K.

* London-based Privacy International has been around since 1990,
campaigning worldwide to protect people from surveillance and privacy
invasions by governments and corporations.

* Public Association of Journalists (PAJ) is IFEX’s first member in
Kyrgyzstan, and the second in the region.

* The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms
(MADA) is the first IFEX member located in the volatile Palestinian
Territories and the only group exclusively dedicated to free expression
there. (EO/AG)