ARMENIAN PM HAD PHONE CONVERSATION WITH RUSSIA’S PUTIN
Tert.am
21.04.11
The Armenian premier had a phone conversation with his Russian
counterpart on Wednesday.
According to the Government’s press service, Tigran Sargsyan and
Vladimir Putin discussed issues related to the current economic
situation and bilateral trade-economic collaboration.
From: A. Papazian
AZERBAIJAN DEMANDS CLOSURE OF METSAMOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Vestnik Kavkaza
April 20 2011
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is
developing a resolution project due to the threat coming from the
Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia, APA reports.
Samed Seidov, chairman of the Committee for International Links of
the Azerbaijani Parliament and head of the Azerbaijani delegation
to PACE, said that the document states that Azerbaijan and other
countries recognize the nuclear power plant as a threat, inspired by
the tragedy in Japan.
The deputy said that the power plant was built using old Soviet
technology in a zone with high seismological risks and that Armenia
cannot maintain the nuclear power plant due to its economic problems.
From: A. Papazian
KARABAKH PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO JOIN NEGOTIATION PROCESS – BARONESS COX
Tert.am
21.04.11
The people of Nagorno Karabakh should have the right to take part
in the current negotiation process over the conflict settlement,
the Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords has said.
Baroness Caroline Cox made the statement on Monday, at a news
conference in Armenia’s parliament.
She said the delegation of British parliamentarians which is on a
three-day visit to Armenia has been to Nagorno Karabakh and met with
the country’s president and National Assembly speaker.
Baroness Cox told reporters that they are aware of the progress in the
current talks over the Karabakh conflict settlement and had learned
during their visit that the Armenians made the most significant
concessions in the framework of the Minsk Group process.
From: A. Papazian
ANTI-RACISM GROUP TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN TURKEY
Tert.am
21.04.11
An anti-racism initiative in Turkey is going to organize a series of
protests and marches on April 24 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide
According to Hurriyet Daily News, the commemoration march organized
by the “Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism!” initiative will begin
in Istanbul, while simultaneous demonstrations will also be held in
the cities of Ankara, Bodrum, Bursa, Diyarbakır and İzmir.
Marchers will rally behind the slogan, “This pain belongs to all
of us.”
The initiative was jointly founded by Turkish intellectuals and
civil-society representatives from Istanbul’s Armenian community
immediately after the assassination of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief
of of the Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos.
In an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review,
prominent Turkish journalist and academic Cengiz Aktar described the
initiative as “a citizens’ enterprise”
“Such commemorations are now publicly staged; that is crucially
important. The people of Turkey will face the painful chapters of
history one step at a time. Many new names have now been added to the
participants in last year’s commemoration, and the circle is growing,”
the Turkish journalist was quoted as saying.
From: A. Papazian
ARMENIA DEBATES REASONS FOR MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CANCELLATION
by Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet.org
APril 20 2011
NY
The decision to drop Armenia from the US-financed Millennium Challenge
development program has renewed debate about the status of democratic
reform in Armenia. The opposition, predictably, blames the government
for the decision; the government is keeping quiet, but some ruling
party representatives scoff that the decision is unjust.
US Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch on April 15 indicated
that Armenia’s failure to show progress in such “good governance”
areas as freedom of the press and assembly as among the reasons why
its Millennium Challenge compact would not be renewed when the $235.6
million, five-year program ends this September.
“I think this will encourage Armenia to boost the required indicators,
particularly, in terms of good governance,” Ambassador Yovanovitch
told RFE/RL on a visit with Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian to two
irrigation canals repaired under the Millennium Challenge program.
The government has not yet issued an official response to the decision
to cancel Armenia’s Millennium Challenge program, which focused on
the renovation of irrigation systems and reconstruction of rural roads.
Some observers believe, though, that Ambassador Yovanovitch’s
assessment reflects the domestic political situation in Armenia, where
protests calling for greater civil liberties, led by ex-President
Levon Ter Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress, started up again in
February; others – namely, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia —
consider the ambassador’s evaluation wide of the mark.
“Back in 2008 [following the deaths of 10 people in a police crackdown
on protests against presidential election results – ed], the US side
spoke about these indicators, but we’ve recorded much progress in
the past three years and have demonstrated a serious political will
[for reform],” asserted Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson
Eduard Sharmazanov. “We have had progress rather than regress during
the past few years. I don’t think that sanctions promote democracy.”
Sharmazanov described the government’s anti-corruption campaign as
“notable” and underlined that “several high officials” have left their
posts; resignations for which, at the time, official reasons were
not given. “Steps” were also taken “in dialogue with the opposition,”
he added.
Some analysts, though, believe the decision is a wake-up call for the
government. After the “warning” in 2008, Armenia saw its Millennium
Challenge compact in 2009 reduced by roughly $68 million, a decrease
that cut into its road construction plans.
“This is a signal indicating that we are being excluded from the
cooperation framework,” political scientist Anush Sedrakian argued
in reference to the decision to drop Armenia out of the Millennium
Challenge program. “This is a serious message for our authorities
— a sign saying that you are becoming an outsider, you do not meet
our standards and cannot be a part of a new, big, global network of
full-fledged cooperation.”
Armenia, however, still has recourse to other financial assistance
networks. The International Monetary Fund last week dispatched a
team to Yerevan to evaluate the status of economic reforms as part
of its review for a possible $58 million loan to Armenia. A loan of
$55 million was made in December 2010; the country can receive up to
$392 million by 2013.
Government officials and members of the ruling Republican Party have
not addressed the degree to which the loss of the Millennium Challenge
program might hamper Armenia’s economic development goals. But
one senior Republican Party parliamentarian cautioned that the
program’s loss could undermine public trust in the government and
its preparations for the 2012 parliamentary elections.
“[The ambassador’s statement can have a negative impact on the people’s
trust towards the authorities while we are doing our best to strengthen
this trust,” argued Hovhannes Sahakian.
One political analyst takes that notion a step further, arguing that
the US government sees canceling the Millennium Challenge program
amidst opposition protests as a way to pressure President Serzh
Sargsyan’s government for further democratic change.
“This means that the Armenian authorities know that the US has been
their partner so far, and if they think this will continue in the
future as well, the US is signaling it is no longer like that,”
claimed Ruben Mehrabian, a political analyst at Yerevan’s Armenian
Center for National and International Studies.
The US has given no indication that the protests factored into the
Millennium Challenge decision, but has made clear that it sees the
2012 vote and the 2013 presidential election as a chance for Armenia
to improve its performance on “good governance.”
“As Armenia enters into an election cycle, with parliamentary elections
next year and presidential elections the year after, there is an
opportunity to boost these indicators,” said Ambassador Yovanovitch.
Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
From: A. Papazian
TURKISH FM: TURKS AND ARMENIANS NEED TO ADDRESS PAINFUL PARTS OF THEIR COMMON HISTORY BY DIALOGUE
Trend
April 20 2011
Azerbaijan
Turks and Armenians need to address the painful parts of their common
history by dialogue, Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
“Through dialogue both sides can empathize and begin to properly
respect the memory of so many lost lives on both sides,” he said in
an interview with Apminfo.
But for this to happen, we need a reliable factual basis, he said.
National memories are always partial and do not overlap in many
cases,” he said. That is where the Protocols will help by starting a
dialogue on the historical dimension including an impartial scientific
examination. We can move away from the clash of memories towards
a just memory through such a dialogue. Yet, there is a continuous
effort to have the Armenian memory accepted as uncontested truth in
third countries”.
“This campaign often assumes anti-Turkish zeal and rhetoric,” he said.
Such a perspective reflects a zero-sum game mentality”.
We understand that Armenia cannot ignore the Diaspora. But that
interaction should not always result in pleasing the hardliners and
those who fail to see the historic opportunity before us, he said.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of Turkey –
Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians
living in Anadolu. The Armenians, willing the recognition of this
fact in the world, achieved recognition of the “Armenian genocide”
by the parliaments of some countrues, by strengthening the propaganda
of the so-called “genocide” in the world countries.
From: A. Papazian
HIGH PRICES AT ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT DUE TO HIGH QUALITY OF SERVICE – OFFICIAL
Tert.am
21.04.11
The prices at the Zvartnots International Airport are high because
the service is of high quality, a senior aviation official has said.
In an interview with Tert.am, Artyom Movsesyan, the head of the
Government’s General Department of Civil Aviation , said the services
at the Zvartnots airport are of a higher quality compared to other
world airports.
“They may also be high because Zvartnots renders better services than
the airports usually indicated in conversations. After opening its
passenger complex in September, our airport will enhance the quality
of its services for passengers and air companies. Those services and
investments will be naturally expensive, but not beyond reasonable
limits,” he said.
Movsesyan added that an interagency commission periodically studies the
airport’s activity to find out whether its price policies is justified.
“I don’t think we have had any gaps so far. The interagency
commission is represented by several ministries, and we are conducting
comprehensive studies. There are no problems so far,” he noted.
He further spoke of the achievements in Armenia’s civil aviation
sector, particularly in terms of passenger transport which has grown
16% compared to last year.
“That’s because foreign air companies have also been given a chance
to join the market, in addition to local companies” he stressed,
adding that the department is now negotiating with small aircraft
producing companies to develop small aircraft aviation in Armenia.
There are also plans to launch direct flights to the United States.
“The documents have been submitted. We are working with the American
side but it takes time,” Movsesyan said.
From: A. Papazian
GEORGIA’S MOVE WON’T CHANGE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT IN ARMENIA
Tert.am
21.04.11
Georgia’s refusal to allow Russia using its territory for its military
cargo will not change the security environment in Armenia, a Defense
Ministry spokesperson has said.
“I refrain from commenting on the decision by Georgia’s parliament. As
what concerns the geography of the military cargo, I would like to
mention that the decision will not lead to any change in Armenia’s
security environment,” Davit Karapetyan told News.am.
“And in now can it affect the fighting capabilities of Armenia’s
Armed Forces,” he added.
It comes after the Georgian parliament voted against the extension
of an agreement that allows Russia to use the Georgian territory for
its military cargo.
Russia has a military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri and last
year signed an agreement with Armenia to extend the duration of the
lease of that base.
From: A. Papazian
GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT’S DECISION TO HAVE NO IMPACT ON ARMENIA’S DEFENSE
Itar-Tass
April 20 2011
Russia
YEREVAN, April 20 (Itar-Tass) – Georgian parliament’s decision to
refrain from prolonging an agreement with Russia on the transits
of Russian military cargoes and troops via the Georgian territory
to Armenia will not affect this country’s security and defense,
an official spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
“This decision won’t exert any impact on the Armenian Armed Forces’
combat readiness,” said Dabid Karapetian, the Defense Minister’s
press secretary.
He stressed his unwillingness to make any comments on the Georgian MP’
s resolution as such.
Under the Armenian-Russian bilateral agreements, a Russian military
base and border guard units are deployed in this country.
The Armenian Armed Forces are getting weaponry and defense technologies
from Russia. So far, they have been delivered here by transit via
Georgia.
From: A. Papazian
1400TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCIENTIST ANANIA SHIRAKATSI INCLUDED IN UNESCO HONORARY LIST OF ANNIVERSARIES FOR 2012
arminfo
Wednesday, April 20, 15:57
The 1400th anniversary of scientist Anania Shirakatsi has been included
in UNESCO’s honorary list of anniversaries for 2012.
The application for marking Shirakatsi’s anniversary was submitted
by the Burakan Observatory. This is not accidental, as the famous
scientist was the author of Cosmography and the Calendar, a 48 chapter
work that discusses astronomy, meteorology, and physical geography.
Anania Shirakatsi had progressive views for his time and left huge
legacy; he is considered the founder of the study of the natural
sciences in Armenia. For centuries, his works were used at schools
in Armenia as textbooks.
In this connection, it is envisaged to hold an international scientific
conference dedicated to Anania Shirakatsi and to the study of tangible
and non-tangible monuments.
From: A. Papazian