Author: admin

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: ARMENIAN AND TURKISH RELATIONS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
Robert A. Wood

LRAGIR.AM
14:08:49 – 23/04/2009

The United States welcomes the statement made by Armenia and Turkey
on normalization of their bilateral relations. It has long been
and remains the position of the United States that normalization
should take place without preconditions and within a reasonable
timeframe. We urge Armenia and Turkey to proceed according to the
agreed framework and roadmap. We look forward to working with both
governments in support of normalization, and thus promote peace,
security and stability in the whole region.

ACA CALLS UPON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO REAFFIRM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

armradio.am
23.04.2009 14:20

On April 23, the Armenian Council of America (ACA) sent United States
President Barack Obama a letter. In the letter, the ACA addressed the
upcoming anticipated annual April 24th presidential statement on the
Armenian Genocide issue.

President Obama on numerous occasions during his recent visit to
the Republic of Turkey made references to the Armenian Genocide,
including stating that "my views are on the record and I have not
changed views." Previously Barack Obama has said, "I believe that
the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation and America deserves a
leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. I intend
to be that President."

The full text of the letter is below.

"Dear President Obama:

Victims of genocides and advocates of humanity throughout the world are
waiting to hear your words this upcoming April 24th as you remember
and commemorate the deaths of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and
children during the period of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire.

As recently as April 6th during your visit to the Republic of Turkey,
you stated that "my views are on the record and I have not changed
views" when asked about your current position on the Armenian Genocide.

In your official address to the Turkish Parliament, you directly called
upon the Turkish government to rectify its past and history on the
Armenian Genocide. It is vital that Turkey itself fully acknowledges
the 20th Century in order to be a nation of the 21st Century.

We are aware that you are treading your words on your record of the
Armenian Genocide, because the Turkish government continues to threaten
repercussions and disturbances of the U.S.-Turkish relationship should
you now as America’s president restate your position. "I believe that
the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation and America deserves a
leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. I intend
to be that President".

Our neighbor to the north Canada, is a fellow NATO ally of both the
United States and the Republic of Turkey. Five years ago, the Canadian
Parliament by an all-party effort, recognized the Armenian Genocide. As
recently as April 21st, the Canadian government continues to endorse
and accept the recognition of the historical reality of the Armenian
Genocide through Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s courageous statements.

Prime Minister Harper’s office maintains that Turkey is a friend and
an ally, that there is a difference of opinion around the issue of
the Armenian Genocide, but that the Canadian government stands by
their position of supporting historical truth.

Mr. President, you have been distinguished in upholding the pledges you
have made and have truly brought change in many policy areas. Will the

Armenian Genocide issue continue in your pattern of successful
achievements or will it be the exception? The Armenian Council
of America and the Armenian American community look forward to you
fulfilling your pledge in your statement on April 24th as you reaffirm
the American as well as your own record on the Armenian Genocide."

ARMENIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY MEETS MEMBERS OF THE EU ADVISORY GROUP

armradio.am
23.04.2009 12:59

Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia Arthur
Baghdasaryan received the Head of the European Commission Delegation to
Armenia, Raul de Luzenberger and the members of the EU Advisory Group.

The parties discussed issues connected with the 2209-2011 program of
arrangements to ensure the implementation of the EU-Armenia Action
Plan of the European Neighborhood Policy. Arthur Baghdasaryan informed
that the program of arrangements had already been confirmed by the
Interdepartmental Commission coordinating Armenia’s cooperation with
European structures.

The program of arrangements and the schedule will be presented to the
President of the Republic. Interdepartmental working groups have been
established to implement the program.

Arthur Baghdasaryan underlined that Armenia anticipated an active
involvement of the members of the EU Advisory Group in the activity
of the working groups.

Raul de Luzenberger appreciated the work done and emphasized the
necessity of cooperation between Armenian and European specialists
while implementing the program of arrangements.

The parties stressed the importance of transparency of the process
of program implementation and agreed to sum up the work done towards
its accomplishment once in three months and present the results to
mass media.

ARMENIANS EYE MOVES WITH DEEP SKEPTICISM

Hurriyet
April 20 2009
Turkey

YEREVAN – High expectations in Yerevan of sealing the deal with Turkey
to establish diplomatic ties and reopen the border have yielded to
concerns that bilateral relations have been besieged once again by
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The Armenian side no longer talks about the possibility of rapid
progress before April 24, the day that commemorates the mass-killing
of Armenians in 1915, but maintains cautious optimism about opening
the border within 2009. Meanwhile, the U.S. administration dispatched
Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza to the region.

Bryza arrives in Ankara today after a round of talks in Baku and
Yerevan in search of a breakthrough on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

While Ankara now points to the meeting of Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on May 6 as a new
critical juncture, it was learned that Bryza hoped for a breakthrough
on the Karabakh issue in June. Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian, who witnessed a failure of talks with then-Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul, argued that what was happening today was a repetition
of history. Speaking exclusively to Hurriyet Daily News & Economic
Review on Saturday, Oskanian recalled his own experience with the
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government.

"I remember my first meeting with Gul. The AKP had just come to power
then and he told me they wanted to normalize relations and added that
Turkey did not benefit from linking the Turkey-Armenia problem to third
countries and Nagorno-Karabakh. And I told him that this was music
to my ears because we have been advocating for this for so long,"
he said. "But then they realized that the Azeri pressure cannot be
dismissed or ignored. Karabakh again became part of our discussions
and after a while it became clear that the Karabakh issue was the
main obstacle between the two countries."

Ankara`s efforts for an international push toward rapid progress
on Karabakh, meanwhile, have other implications for the U.S. in
terms of the power struggle in the Caucasus. Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in
Yerevan last week, raised eyebrows in Washington, adding to the
existing discontent over Russian-Azerbaijani negotiations over
gas. Third-country diplomats, meanwhile, are worried that Armenia’s
cautious optimism might be lost, leading to a walk-out from the
negotiation table if Turkey squanders too much time with the Karabakh
problem. Assertive public statements similar to Erdogan`s on Karabakh
to please Azerbaijan need to be particularly avoided in these days,
according to diplomatic observers who follow the process closely.

"Nagorno-Karabakh may play some role over Turkish-Armenian
relations. But I think the problem is much deeper than this. Turkey
is not ready now," said Hovhannes Igityan, one of the leading names
of the National Armenia Party, led by the country’s first president,
Levon Ter-Petrossian. "When Turkey is ready to establish relations,
it would not wait for a declaration from Azerbaijan," he said.

Tevan Poghosyan, executive director of the International Center for
Human Development, joins veteran politician Igityan in disregarding
the Karabakh question as the threshold of a Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement. "I believe that Nagorno-Karabakh is just a fake,
artificial reason not to take a real step. Internal problems in
Turkey do not allow Turkey’s decision-makers to take the big step,"
he told to the Daily News.

While skepticism of Turkey’s sincerity still exists as an important
element of public opinion in Armenia, businessmen stand out among the
primary actors ready to reverse suspicion into interaction. Arsen
Ghazaryan, president of Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of
Armenia (equivalent of TUSIAD) noted that because of the border
closure, the two nations that have lived together for 600 years are
losing the chance to culturally and economically reintegrate.

ARMENIA MAKES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION SPHERE

PanArmenian News
April 20 2009
Armenia

On March 19, the RA National Assembly introduced amendments to the
law on "Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues". According
to Ara Babloyan, Chairman of Standing Parliamentary Committee for
Health Issues, the amendments will contribute to the development of
transplantation medicine in Armenia.

Under the amended law, the future transplants will be extracted
either from the dead bodies of individuals who, while alive, gave
consent for their organs to be used transplants after their death and
those who didn’t disagree to it. The latter method is applied in most
European states.

"The transplantation of organs should not purse commercial goals;
the expenses for the delivery of the transplant are in no way related
to the organ itself."

Donor organs and tissues are in high demand in Armenia, and any person
is a potential donor, provided he hasn’t given an official notice
expressing his/her disagreement to use his organs as transplants after
his/her death. As noted by Mr. Babloyan, the organs in highest demand
are kidneys, heart and liver come next.

Kidney transplantation has been the only form of transplantation
carried out in Armenia so far. However, the amended law on
"Transplantation of Organs and Tissues" will enable Armenian physicians
to perform pancreas and lungs transplantations as well.

HAKOBYAN’S FIRST VICTORY

A1+
April 20, 2009

FIDE’s series of Grand Prix qualifying tournaments continue in Nalchik.

Armenian GM Levon Aronian played a tie with Evgeny Alexseev in round
five. In the fourth round Levon outplayed the Russian GM Alexander
Grishchuk gaining 0.5 point. Presently, Aronian takes 2-5 places with
three points.

Sergey Karyakin (Ukraine), Peter Leko (Hungary) and Evgeny Alexseev
(Russia) also gained three points. Alexander Grishchuk tops the
tournament list with 3.5 points.

Another Armenian GM, Vladimir Hakobyan, enjoyed his first victory at
the tournament after beating Gatta Kamski of the USA. Hakobyan moved
on to the 12th place with two points.

In the next sixth round Levon Aronian is to compete with Vassily
Ivanchuk and Vladimir Hakobyan with Sergey Karyakin

President.am, Armenia
April 19 2009

President Serzh Sargsyan received Foreign Ministers of the CSTO member
states

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received participants to the meeting
of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization member states and the Secretary General of the
CSTO, Nikolay Bordjuzha.

The President of Armenia expressed confidence that the Yerevan session
would contribute to the strengthening of the Organization and higher
efficiency of cooperation of its member states. He also said that
recently held numerous events made the CSTO more dynamic.

Presenting the agenda of the session, Secretary General N. Bordjuzha
noted that the discussions were conducted in the atmosphere of
understanding and mainly related to the pressing issues of
international security, coordination of the member-states’ foreign
policy and principle directions of the Organization’s cooperation with
international and regional structures. The package of prepared
documents will be presented to the Heads of state for approval at the
June summit of the CSTO.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CSTO highly praised Armenia’s
efficient work during her presidency in the Organization.

The President of Armenia noted with satisfaction that works conducted
for the coordination of foreign policy in the framework of the CSTO
have already yielded positive results.

Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
April 18, 2009 Saturday

Sts. Vartanantz Church service to mark Armenian genocide

CHELMSFORD — A Requiem Service and Prayer for Peace, an interfaith
memorial to the Armenian martyrs of 1915, will be held at
St. Vartanantz Armenian Church, 180 Old Westford Road, on Friday,
April 24, at 7 p.m. April 24 is the date traditionally held to mark
the onset of the Armenian genocide. A video presentation and
discussion will follow the the service. For information, call (978)
256-7234 or go to

AAP Newsfeed, Australia
April 18, 2009 Saturday 5:20 PM AEST

Box: Darchinyan back in town and ready to take on the world

by Adrian Warren
SYDNEY April 18

Vic Darchinyan declared his desire to unify the boxing bantamweight
division after returning from an overseas trip where he rubbed
shoulders with statesmen, entertainers and Australia’s other great
eastern European-born boxer Kostya Tszyu.

Undisputed super flyweight world champion Darchinyan, who will move up
to challenge IBF bantamweight title holder Joseph Agbeko in Florida on
July 7, returned from eastern Europe on Friday.
The Armenian-born boxer met the President of that country and also
spent time in Russia.
In Moscow, he attended a concert featuring Armenian entertainers
and was introduced to the crowd by former undisputed junior
welterweight world champion Tszyu, who was born in Russia, but
relocated to Australia.
His world title-winning feats have attracted corporate support
overseas, with Darchinyan estimating almost 95 per cent of his
earnings in that area coming from offshore.
After conquering the flyweight and super flyweight divisions, the
33-year-old Sydneysider is determined to do likewise at the
bantamweight.
"I want to unify the bantamweight division," Darchinyan said.
"I want to stay at bantamweight for six to nine months and unify the
title."
Darchinyan said if he beat Agbeko, but couldn’t attract the other
champion into a unification bout in that time frame he would move up
to super bantamweight.
He had no fears moving up in the weights would diminish the famed
punching power which has brought 26 knockouts in 32 wins.
"I will be even stronger at bantamweight," Darchinyan said.
"I know when I have been sparring at bantamweight I punch much more
stronger than a super flyweight."
New York-based Ghanaian Agbeko also has a formidable KO percentage,
registering 22 in his 26 wins.
"I don’t know much about him, but he’s a good fighter and a good
puncher and he’s beaten a few good fighters," Darchinyan said.
"He beat Luis Alberto Peres and he lost to Wladimir Sidorenko, who
I know and used to spar with. I will be ready for him."
Darchinyan will start sparring Australian boxers eight weeks before
the fight before heading to a Los Vegas training camp in early June.
It will be his second fight in Florida and his first since winning
the first of his world titles against Irene Pacheco in December 2004.

Coutry profile: Armenia
Facts and statistics on Armenia including history, population,
politics, geography, economy, religion and climate

The Guardian,
Saturday 18 April 2009

Map of Armenia. Source: Graphic

Potted history of the country: In AD301 Armenia became the first
country to adopt Christianity. In the middle ages it was absorbed into
powerful empires: Byzantine, Seljuk and Mongol. Under Ottoman rule
Armenians were persecuted: Armenia claims up to 1.5 million people died
in the mass killings of 1915-17, often referred to in the west as the
Armenian genocide. Turkey blames inter-ethnic clashes and disputes the
toll. From 1922 to independence in 1991 Armenia was part of the USSR.

At a glance Location: West Asia Neighbours: Georgia, Iran, Turkey Size:
11,484 square miles Population: 2,967,004 (137) Density: 258.4 people
per square mile Capital city: Yerevan (population 1,249,202) Head of
state: President Serge Sarkissian
Head of government: Prime minister Tigran Sarkissian
Currency: Dram Time zone: Armenia standard time (+4 hours)
International dialling code: +374 Website: gov.am/en Data correct on
Saturday 18 April 2009 Political pressure points: Ten people died in
riots following the election of the prime minister, Serge Sarkisian, in
2008, after claims of vote-rigging. There are no diplomatic ties with
Turkey over Ankara’s refusal to recognise the 1915 killings as
genocide. Relations are also antagonistic with neighbouring Azerbaijan =0
D
over status of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Population mix: Armenian 97.89%, Yazidi 1.26%, unspecified 0.84%

Religious makeup: Armenian Apostolic 94.7%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi
(monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3%

Main languages: Armenian, Russian, Yezidi

Living national icons: Hakob Meliq-Hakobian (Raffi) (writer, deceased),
Vakhtang Darchinyan (boxing) Levon Aronian (chess)

Armenia on a map. Source: Graphic Landscape and climate: Armenia is a
landlocked, highland country with peaks rising to 4,000 metres, swift
rivers and little forest. At about 1,900 metres above sea level, Lake
Sevan is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world. Climate
is continental with hot, dry summers, cold winters and overall low
humidity.

Highest point: Mount Aragats 4,090 metres

Area covered by water: 498 square miles

Healthcare and disease: Maternal and child healthcare have improved,
but general mortality rates have risen alarmingly since the fall of the
Soviet Union. TB is a scourge and tobacco consumption is increasing,
with nearly 70% of men in the 24-65 age group smoking. Unofficial
payments, including bribes, account for almost two-thirds of health
funding.

Average life expectancy (m/f): 68/75

Average number of children per mother: 1.3

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births: 76

Infant deaths per 1,000 births: 24

Adults HIV/Aids rate: 0.1%

Doctors per 1,000 head of population: 3.7

Adult literacy rate: 99.5% (m 99.7%/f 99.3%)

Economic outlook: Remittances from Armenia’s large worldwide diaspora
have shrunk in the global economic downturn. The country will be
relying heavily on its close ties with Russia, which invested £1.3bn
last year.

Main industries: Diamond-processing, machinery, car components,
fabrics, chemical, food processing, brandy

Key crops/livestock: Fruit, primarily grapes, potatoes, vegetables,
cereals

Key exports: Pearls, precious stones and metals, prepared foodstuffs,
beverages, tobacco, mineral products, textiles

GDP: £3,262m (117th)

GDP per head: £1,084

Unemployment rate: 8.2%

Proportion of global carbon emissions: 0.04%

Most popular tourist attractions: Unesco world heritage listed Haghpat
and Sanahin monasteries, lake Sevan

Local recommendation: Tatev monastery, situated on a rock bluff on the
edge of Vorotan canyon near Armenia’s border with Iran. Its churches
date to the 9th century and were once home to 600 monks

Traditional dish: Harissa (chicken and wheat porridge) and Lavash (flat
bread)

Foreign tourist visitors per year: 318,563

Media freedom index (ranked out of 173): 102

Did you know … Armenia claims to be "motherland of the apricot", and
its apricots are considered to be the best in the world.

National anthem:
Death is everywhere the same
Man is born just once to die
But blest is he who gives his life
To defend his nation’s freedom
But blest is he who gives his life
To defend his nation’s freedom

Information correct on date of first publication, Saturday 18 April 2009.