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AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENTARY VICE-SPEAKER URGES TURKEY TO USE PRESSURE LEVERAGES IN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Trend News Agency
Oct 20 2009
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Parliamentary Vice-Speaker urged Turkey to use pressure
leverages in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

"One of key tasks of the OSCE Minsk Group is the solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The participation of the foreign ministers
of the co-chair countries in the signing ceremony of the Protocols in
Zurich said that they were not interested in a quick solution. The
signing of the protocols has proved that the co-chairs can exert
pressure on Armenia, if necessary. And there is an opportunity to
impact on Turkey. However, we do not see the mechanism of pressure in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament,
Ziyafat Asgarov said at the meeting on Oct. 20.

Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocol in Zurich on Oct. 10.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia’s
claims of an alleged genocide, and the country’s occupation of 20
percent of Azerbaijani lands.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Azerbaijani Parliamentarian, Iqbal Aghazade suggested to discuss
in closed session of Parliament the current situation related to
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and processes in
the region.

"During a private meeting, the relevant agencies should submit a
report on the current situation", said Aghazade.

Azerbaijan is not conducted the anti-Turkish campaign, said Ali
Ahmadov, deputy chairman of ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP).

"This campaign is launched against the signing of the protocols. The
Azerbaijani-Turkish relations – this is not the relations between
governments. These relationships can never be destroyed," said the
deputy chairman of the NAP.

INTERNATIONAL TELETHON WILL TAKE PLACE IN NOVEMBER BY THE INITIATIVE OF ALL-ARMENIAN FUND "HAYASTAN"

ARKA
OCTOBER 21, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 21. /ARKA/. In November International Telethon
will take place by the initiative of All-Armenian Fund "Hayastan",
informed the agency "Novosti Armenia" on Wednesday.

International Telethon will be broadcasted on November 26 and will be
devoted to rehabilitation of Shushi which suffered during Artsakh war.

Armenian organizations of West coast of USA called all Armenians to
support the initiative of the Fund and participate in telethon and
make generous donations for the above mentioned goal. Prosperity and
security of borders of Armenia depends on every Armenian. All-Armenian
Fund "Hayastan" was founded in 1992.

Its main task is to implement national projects. The head of the
Fund is the President of Armenia and many well-known Armenians from
Diaspora are the members of the Board of Trustees.

‘SERZH SARGSYAN INITIATED THIS DANGEROUS GAME WITH ONLY ONE PURPOSE,’: ANC REPRESENTATIVE ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

Tert
Oct 22 2009
Armenia

While speaking with journalists today, representative of the foreign
relations commission of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Vladimir
Karapetyan referred to challenges the country faces, which, according
to him, are the internal political crisis, the existence of political
prisoners, regress in democracy, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and
Armenian-Turkish relations.

Initiating the Armenian-Turkish process on the background of existing
problems, according to the ANC representative, is full of challenges
and pursues a different purpose.

"I have come to the conclusion that Serzh Sargsyan initiated this
dangerous game with only one purpose, to divert the public’s attention
from the intensifying unlawful actions and tyranny within the country,
to divert the international community’s attention from the issue of
political prisoners in the country and particularly from the charge
brought against Nikol Pashinyan, and the measures to imprison him,
which is beyond common sense," Karapetyan said.

Referring to the signed Armenian-Turkish Protocols, Karapetyan stated
they weren’t created diplomatically. "These are poorly developed
documents resulted from poor negotiations."

UNLOCKING ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER TO RAISE INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS IN ARMENIA IMMEDIATELY

/ARKA/
October 21, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 21. / ARKA /. Unlocking the Armenian-Turkish border
will just increase the investment attractiveness of Armenia, and in
fact not only for Turkish investors, the head of OSCE Yerevan office
Sergey Kapinos said in an interview with ARKA News Agency.

"The opening of the border is a fairly lengthy process of harmonization
of procedures, monitoring mechanisms, involving different services,
such as security, customs, taxation and others, and this time should
be used to maximum benefit," the ambassador said.

Head of OSCE Yerevan Office believes that Armenia has no reason to
worry about competition from Turkey.

"Armenia has open customs borders with more developed economic states.

In addition, within the World Trade Organization and outside of
it there is always the possibility of preventing and countering
the actions that go beyond the concept of "healthy competition","
Kapinos said.

He believes that the vigorous implementation of the Turkish capital in
the Armenian economy can only play a positive role with a reasonable
approach.

However, according to the ambassador, "it will have to compete not
only with Armenian companies, but the business structures of developed
countries."

Head of OSCE Office in Yerevan is sure that opening of the border will
have a positive impact on the economic situation in Armenia and will
open up new markets for export of electricity, building materials,
foil and other products, and contribute to clearing the field of
competition in the country.

Armenia and Turkey signed protocols on the normalization of bilateral
relations on October 10 in Zurich.

The complex relationship between the two countries is caused by,
inter alia, Ankara’s position of support for Azerbaijan in the
Karabakh issue, as well as an acute reaction to Turkey’s process
of international recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.

AZERI PRESIDENT ON VISIT IN SWITZERLAND

Yerkir
19.10.2009 13:14
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is on an official
visit in Switzerland. Aliyev will meet with his Swiss counterpart
Hans-Rudolf Merz, other officials. The bilateral relations, trade,
economic and energy cooperation will be discussed at the meetings.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY NOT YET RESOLVED DOCUMENT FORMALITIES

Tert
Oct 21 2009
Armenia

The draft law on ratifying the Armenian-Turkish Protocols will be
submitted to Turkey’s parliament today.

As informed by Tert.am’s Turkish sources, presently Turkey’s Foreign
Ministry has not yet completely resolved issues connected with document
formalities. In any case, it is expected that Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu will make a speech and provide some information on
the issue today.

MANTEE IN STUDIO CITY: LEBANESE-ARMENIAN CUISINE WITH A FAMILY PEDIGREE
By Linda Burum

Los Angeles Times
ind21-2009oct21,0,6062600.story
Oct 21 2009

Chef Jonathan Darakjian, whose mother’s family owns renowned Al Mayass
in Beirut, offers lightened-up versions of traditional dishes.

Like a classic storybook bistro, with smart burgundy awnings, lacy
curtains and flower boxes at the windows, Mantee exudes a warm and
welcoming aura. So why is the small dining room so empty?

Because most diners at this diminutive Lebanese-Armenian restaurant
are eating out back in the impossibly romantic leaf-shaded patio with
its lush potted plants massed in every corner under the golden light
of Parisian-style iron street lamps. And the guests? They’re partying
like there’s no tomorrow.

Laughter floats through the air. Tables are spread edge to edge with
mezes and other small plates: the best hummus you’ve ever tasted
scattered with sautéed pine nuts; stuffed grape leaves with garlicky
yogurt sauce; muhammara, the spicy dip of crushed walnuts, pomegranate
and Aleppo pepper; and plates of bubbling feta baked in tomato coulis.

It turns out Mantee has a bit of a pedigree. The proprietor’s family
owns several internationally known eating places in the Near East. The
family’s Beirut restaurant, Al Mayass (they are proud to tell you) made
it onto Food & Wine magazine’s prestigious "Go List" of outstanding
recommended restaurants worldwide.

Childhood talent

This kitchen is headed by young chef Jonathan Darakjian, whose
mother’s family owns Al Mayass. Before opening Mantee he trained
in the kitchens of the Lebanese restaurant. But he’s been cooking
from the age of 7 or 8, according to his mom, Sylvia Gabrielian. "We
would come to breakfast and he had already laid out the table with
the dishes he’d prepared himself."

Since then, Darakjian, 30, has honed his kitchen skills. At Mantee,
his food is a somewhat lightened version of classic dishes. (His
kafta kebab, made with lean, hand-ground Angus beef, may not be greasy
enough for some traditionalists.)

But there’s nothing "lite" about the house namesake dish, mantee. The
tiny agnolotti-like dumplings of Turkish origin (sometimes spelled
manti) are about as addictive as buttered popcorn. Inside the al
dente pasta, nuggets of lemony vegetarian spinach filling or of subtly
seasoned house ground beef make ideal canvases for the creamy sharp
yogurt-garlic sauce that blankets them.

Order the pita bread salad, fattoush, and you will instantly understand
this chef’s philosophy. Pristinely fresh ingredients are tossed to
order in a dressing of just-squeezed lemon juice and a few drops of
extra-virgin olive oil. Instead of commonly seen lettuce, Darakjian
uses purslane, a leafy succulent. Just to be sure every guest’s
taste is satisfied, the salad may be ordered either with toasted or
fried bread.

A meal of mezes

If you can forgo kebabs, a collection of mezes makes a lusty
substantial meal with wide-ranging flavors. Basturma, the Armenian
answer to bresaola or bundnerfleisch, comes thinly sliced on five
baguette rounds, each topped with a sunny-side-up quail egg. Showier
still, the Armenian soujouk sausage gets flamed with brandy-like arak
at your table. If all this seems pretty fancy, the prices are not.

Most shareable mezes average $6. And the ways to amuse your palate
are seemingly endless.

For the dolmades, Asian eggplants are hollowed out and stuffed with
a rice- tomato-garlic mix. Or go for the bamieh, tiny almond-size
okra stewed in an onion-tomato Provencal-style sauce, or the layered
cheese pastry, su borek. Meatier mezes include sautéed filet mignon
slices atop a mound of hummus or simply napped with a meat reduction.

Lunchtime brings juicy kebab sandwiches — moist grilled marinated
chicken breast with thick garlic paste in pita bread or one of the
California-esque panini made with soujouk or Cypriot-style fresh
white cheese.

Desserts aren’t made in-house, and, while that’s understandable, it’s a
pity. This young (and small) kitchen has its hands full concentrating
on the mezes and entrees. Still, though the fancy (and expensive)
purchased little cakes such as key lime white chocolate mousse do add
a festive ending to any meal, they don’t reflect the passion evident
in the rest of this wonderful food.

RA PRESIDENT VISITS KARABAKH

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 21 2009
Armenia

RA President Serzh Sargsyan and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and
Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) President Bako Sahakyan participated in the
house-warming ceremony of the officers in NKR Hadrut region.

NKR President’s Press Secretary David Babayan refused to disclose
details of RA President’s visit, however did not rule out the
possibility that Serzh Sargsyan might deliver a speech. According
to RFE/RL Armenian service, NKR and Armenian Presidents will hold
tete-a-tete meeting and visit Martuni region.

NICKOLAY VALUEV: GOOD FOR ARTHUR FOR DEMONSTRATING WILLINGNESS TO WIN

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.10.2009 17:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the first fight of Super Six World Boxing
Classic tournament, Armenian boxer Arthur Abraham knocked out his
American rival Jermain Taylor. The single fight was attended by
Russian boxer Nikolay Valuev and his coach Alexander Zimin who are
currently conducting a training session in a sports base in Kinbaum,
an area on the outskirts of Berlin.

At the start of single combat, Jermain Taylor was more active. After
first rounds, it was clear Abraham was striving for one decisive blow.

Abraham is a kind-hearted boxer with great willingness to win. He
resorted to defense in the first round, but then became active,
eventually knocking out his rival," Zimin’s official Web site quotes
Valuev as saying.

Russian sportsmen noted in turn that Arthur had really deserved his
victory, and wished him success in his future endeavors.

"Arthur demonstrated willingness to win. Just 10-15 seconds before the
12th round he managed to strike the decisive blow. Good for Arthur. In
the fight against the experienced rival, he gained three points. I
wish him success in future competitions," Valuev said.

ARARATBANK TO OPERATE A MINI SALE CENTERS IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.10.2009 18:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Araratbank which, over the past 2 years, increased
the number of its branches from 2 to 27, is now planning to broaden
its network by operating mini sale centers in Yerevan communities
and Armenian regions, the bank’s press service reports.

"Establishment of mini sales centers is aimed at making bank services
accessible to all groups of population, exempting them from visiting
Araratbank’s central office or large branch," says the bank release.

Mini centers will be equipped with high quality banking technologies,
facilitating client operations, including money transfers, utility
payments, plastic card operations etc.