Author: Andres-Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Chief of Staff of Armenian Health Ministry resigns

November 11, 2010 | 10:53

On November 11, Chief of Staff of Armenian Health Ministry Grigor
Sayadyan voluntarily handed in resignation.

As NEWS.am reported previously, according to Armenian Prime Minister’s
decision, on November 9, Tatul Hakobyan and Abraham Manukyan were
relieved of the posts of Armenian Deputy Health Ministers.

At the Nov. 4 governmental session, Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan
sharply criticized those responsible for educational and health
spheres, stressing corruption has gone deep in these fields. `We have
been receiving alarming complaints from citizens concerning education
and healthcare. The Minister of Health is hereby directed to come up
with corresponding proposals concerning personnel changes, including
the head of the ministry staff and those deputy ministers who have
fulfilled the target functions,’ Sargsyan stated.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Gagik Tsarukyan’s bodyguard dies in car accident (video, photo)

November 11, 2010 | 09:56

On November 11, at 3:00 a.m. a car accident occurred on Myasnikyan
highway, near the Water World complex. The driver of Mercedes SUV
exceeded the speed limit and lost control of the car, which crashed
into a fence and flipped. The driver and passenger were taken to Surb
Grigor Lusavorich medical centre. The officers of Yerevan Traffic
Police and Armenian Emergency Situations Ministry, as well as rescuers
arrived at the accident site.

The driver, 37-year-old Karen Matrisrosyan died in hospital. The
passenger, RF citizen, 21-year-old Alsu Fattakhova is in intensive
care department, a photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan told NEWS.am.

According to witnesses, Martirosyan was a resident of Abovyan city, a
bodyguard of Leader of Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Frozen conflicts focus of Turkey’s attention

November 11, 2010 | 10:28

As Chairman of CE Ministers’ Council, Turkey will focus its attention
on `frozen conflicts,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a
press conference held jointly with CE Secretary General Thorbjørn
Jagland and Foreign Minister of Macedonia Antonio Milososki. The CE
policy and activities will embrace the conflicts as well, Minister
Davutoglu said, speaking of Turkey’s possible contribution to the
settlement of `frozen conflicts.’

Turkey wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their problem by means
of negotiations and on the basis of mutual respect.

Turkey is taking over the chairmanship of the CE Ministers’ Committee
from Macedonia on Nov. 10.

From: A. Papazian

BIAnet.org, Turkey
Nov 11 2010

“Freedom of Speech” still Fuels Concern

The Progress Report of the European Union Commission criticized the
numerous trials opened against journalists for reporting about the
“Ergenekon” case and warned Turkey on procedures that result in
auto-censorship of the press.

Erol Ã-NDEROÄ?LU [email protected] Brussels – BÄ°A News Center11 November
2010, Thursday In the Turkey 2010 Progress Report issued on 9
November, the European Union Commission warned Turkey on the
legislations regarding freedom of expression, the prosecution and
conviction of journalists and pressure on the media.

The commission concluded that Turkey progressed towards meeting the
criteria of the EU accession process, especially due to the
constitutional reform package. The Commission pointed out the need for
further improvement of fundamental rights, particularly in
implementing freedom of expression in practice.

EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle stated: “Despite overall
progress in 2009, we are concerned that Turkey’s accession process is
losing its momentum. The key to changing this is primarily with
Turkey, which is expected to fully implement its current contractual
relations with the EU – the Customs Union – before it can gear up to
full membership of the Union “.

“If Turkey proceeds to full implementation of its Customs Union
obligations with the EU, and makes progress towards normalisation of
relations with Cyprus, it will be able to accelerate the pace of
negotiations”, the report emphazised.

Criticism on trials against journalists
The report mentioned that a total of 4091 cases have been opened under
charges of “violating the secrecy of an investigation” (Turkish
Criminal Law TCK Art. 285) and “attempting to influence a fair trial”
(TCK Art. 288) since 2007 in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation
and other trials. The report underlines that restrictions of freedom
of expression are continually being restricted under Article 301 of
the TCK and other provisions.

The report presented the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat as an
example: “Pressure on newspapers discussing the Kurdish question or
publishing in Kurdish increased.

In the course of the year, publication of the Azadiya Welat newspaper
in Diyarbakır was

banned several times and its journalists were sentenced in prison
under terrorism propaganda charges”.

The report furthermore stated, “Overall, open and free debate has
continued and expanded. However, the high number of legal sues against
journalists and undue pressure on the media undermine freedom of the
press in practice”.

It was said that the debate in public and in the media on sensitive
topics such as the Kurdish issue, minority rights, the Armenian issue
and the role of the military was increasigly open and free. “The high
number of cases initiated against journalists who have reported on the
Ergenekon case” was criticized on the other hand.

Moreover, the report touched upon the issue of frequent and
disproportionate access bans to websites.

Freedom of the press is still an area of concern according to the
report in terms of political attacks against the press, referring to
the DoÄ?an Media group as an example: “The court case on the tax fine
ordered in 2009 against Dogan Media Group, critical of the government,
continues. The press exercises self restraint when reporting following
the initiation of this case. Court cases have been opened against
journalists about their work by politicians and highlevel authorities,
including military authorities”.

Beware of hate speech and intolerance
The Progress Report saw further room for improvement regarding hate
speech and intolerance the targeting of minorities, criticizing hate
speech in the pro-Islamist and ultra-national media.

The report highlighted an improvement in cultural rights in relation
with broadcasts in languages other than Turkish: the Regulation on the
Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) was amended in November,
removing all restrictions on broadcasting in Kurdish and other
languages by private and public channels at local level. Fourteen
radio stations and TV channels have been given permission to broadcast
in Kurdish and Arabic. Restrictions have been lifted”. (EÃ-/VK)

Click here to view the full report:

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Armenia’s wheat imports up

November 11, 2010 | 03:01

The RA Statistical Committee reports that Armenia imported a total of
314,000 tons of wheat this January-September – a decrease of 65,000
tons or 26% as compared with the corresponding period last year.

Armenia’s annual consumption of wheat totals 700-800 thousand tons,
with imports totaling 500,000 tons.

This year, wheat has been imported to Armenia at a customs value of
U.S. $250 per ton. However, the wheat was imported at a higher price,
but the Armenian Government made a political decision allowing the RA
State Revenues Committee to get customs clearance for the wheat at a
value of U.S. $250, for importers to pay lower VAT.

Thus, the Government granted them tax benefits.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Russian military base in Armenia part of southern military district

November 11, 2010 | 08:06

Russian Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov announced successful
completion of reforms of Russia’s military administrative division.

RF President Dmitry Medvedev signed a relevant decree. Four military
districts have been formed instead of the previous six districts.

Specifically, the Southern military district comprises the North
Caucasian military districts, Black Sea and Caspian fleets, as well as
the military bases in Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

From: A. Papazian

news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2010

Current state of Karabakh diplomacy ‘risks resumption of war’
Thu 11 November 2010 08:13 GMT | 10:13 Local Time
Text size:

Manvel Sargsyan News.Az interviews Manvel Sargsyan, an expert at the
Armenian Centre of Strategic and National Studies.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have exchanged prisoners of war following an
agreement signed at the Astrakhan meeting of the presidents of Russia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia. How do you assess this step in terms of the
overall resolution of the Karabakh conflict?

The exchange of bodies and prisoners of war is an act that improves
discipline in relations in the conflict zone. This sphere of relations
allows a move away from excessive formality in favour of a humane
approach to the victims of the conflict. Azerbaijan’s tacit agreement
to contact (admittedly indirectly) the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh
to exchange bodies on the front line can be seen as an example. This
may influence the overall atmosphere of the negotiations and the
readiness for more serious discussion on the positions of the conflict
parties. Consequently, the negotiating process can be expected to
become more constructive and stereotypes on some aspects of the
conflict situation to be overcome, since it must be clear that a firm
refusal to review most positions is just hampering the negotiating
process.

During the OSCE Minsk Group field assessment in and around
Nagorno-Karabakh, the co-chairs visited all the regions for the first
time. What is your view of the mission?

Every conflicting party has its expectations of these missions.
Undoubtedly, Azerbaijan hopes for the closer involvement of
international instances in the conflict area as well as for
international recognition of most of its claims on the problems
related to the territory controlled by the NKR [the self-proclaimed
Nagorno Karabakh republic – Ed.]. In particular, it is obvious that
Azerbaijan wants to raise the political problem of Azerbaijani
refugees from the area of military actions. They probably hope to
stimulate the involvement of international powers in the conflict
area. Meanwhile, the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh hopes that similar
missions will be held in other war-hit areas, in particular Shaumyan
District [Goranboy District, to the north of Karabakh] which was
settled by Armenians before the war and some other
Azerbaijani-controlled lands.

Anyway, the transparency of the actions of the conflict parties in all
aspects is useful. This may be the driver for the international
mediators to carry out these missions. It is hard to say whether this
will have a positive effect on the negotiating process.

Will the December OSCE summit change anything in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process or the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations?

Judging by the statements of officials, the Minsk Group co-chairs hope
to make a breakthrough in the negotiating process at the summit in
Astana. The Azerbaijani leadership also hopes for the signing of a
roadmap at the summit. However, it is difficult to see the basis of
these hopes. In fact, any agreement is possible only provided that
Azerbaijan agrees to Armenia’s main provision – recognition of the
right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination – or, to
be more exact, agrees to an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh, as
required by the Madrid principles. It doesn’t look as though there are
major differences on the other issues.

It’s not easy to imagine that Azerbaijan is ready to take this step.
Azerbaijan’s government is well aware that its agreement to interim
status could cause a chain reaction of international recognition of
NKR independence. In the modern world no-one’s likely to wait for the
results of the referendum if Azerbaijan itself has recognized the
Karabakh people’s right to self-determination and the conflict zone
passes under the control of international peacekeeping troops. This
concern stops Azerbaijan from agreeing to the key paragraph of the
Madrid principles, since Azerbaijan says the independence of Nagorno
Karabakh independence is unacceptable for it.

In turn, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh do not accept the inclusion of
the NKR under the control of Azerbaijan and have no intention of
changing their position. Theoretically, only concern at a possible
preventive war by Armenia and at the threat of Armenia’s recognition
of NKR independence may force Azerbaijan to agree to this paragraph.
But this possibility seems low. Therefore, it is possible to say that
the OSCE member-states in Astana will go no further than a declaration
on the political readiness of the parties to settle the conflict
peacefully or something of this kind.

The possible recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh is
widely discussed in Armenia. The latest bill on this is to be
discussed in the Armenian parliament in late December. Do you think
Yerevan will actually recognize Karabakh?

It is not the first time that the recognition of the NKR’s
independence has been put on the Armenian agenda. Periodically, each
new delay in the negotiating process raises this problem and now all
political forces in Armenia say there is no alternative to the
recognition of the independence of the NKR. There are differences only
on the terms of recognition. Many say there is no sense in creating
obstacles to the peace talks within the framework of the OSCE Minsk
Group and that we should wait for the results of the negotiations. But
some think that the current state of diplomacy on a settlement risks
the resumption of war and action should be taken against this. It is
believed that Azerbaijan does not intend to settle the issue through
negotiations. The recognition of Karabakh’s independence is seen as a
step that will move the political process in a different direction.
The recent opinions are based on the increasingly frequent statements
of Azerbaijan about its readiness to settle the problem through war
and about the inadmissibility of creating an independent state in
Nagorno-Karabakh. It is clear that Armenia cannot allow the unilateral
development of this prospect and is obliged to correct its policy. The
way Armenia’s parliamentary forces behave depends largely on the
actions of Azerbaijan – an escalation of its efforts towards war will
certainly leave Armenia no alternative.

Kamala Mammadova
News.Az

From: A. Papazian

news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2010

US Azerbaijani diaspora outraged with “Karabakh” leader’s visit to California
Thu 11 November 2010 08:15 GMT | 10:15 Local Time
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US Azerbaijani Diaspora expresses discontent for the event hosting
Nagorno Karabakh separatists’ leader in California.
The Azerbaijani Diaspora in US sent a letter to the California based
World Affairs Council (WAC) to express their deep regrets and
discontent for the event hosting Mr. Bako Sahakyan by the WAC, next
week.

According to the organization’s website, the conference called
‘Turmoil in the Caucasus – A Nations’ Right for Self Determination and
Prospects for Regional Stability’ will hold on November 19th.

‘Bako Sahakyan is not a “president” of any republic, but a leader of a
separatist puppet regime installed by the Armenian authorities in
occupied Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of
Azerbaijan Republic. He is travelling and getting a US visa into his
Armenian passport, not some ‘Artsakh – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’
nonexistent passport. No one, including US government, recognize this
regime, and everyone in the world recognizes Karabakh region as de
jure part of Azerbaijan’ – says US Azeris Network’s (USAN) letter to
WAC Chairman Timor Rafig.

The Diaspora members also remind that, the war between Armenia and
Azerbaijan was not fought as ‘liberation from Azerbaijan’, but an
outright aggression against sovereign Azerbaijan and its population,
who were forcibly expelled from their homes before and throughout the
war. It was a war resulting in ethnic cleansing and crimes against
humanity, with Khojaly Massacre of 1992 being the most infamous.

‘Azerbaijan is a strategic U.S. ally in the War on Terror and a
reliable partner in energy sector, with an independent and flourishing
economy several times the size and potential of Armenia. Meanwhile,
Armenia and its separatist regime in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan
experience arrested development, stalled economy, large emigration and
high debts, all because the military occupation of a part of
Azerbaijan taxes its economy’, -the letter says.

Diaspora calls on WAC to cancel the event as it is an insult to the
memories of those massacred by the Armenian armed forces during the
war, as well as not identify Mr Sahakyan as ‘president’ of a
non-existent pseudo-nation of ‘Artsakh – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’:

‘This event adds nothing to the conflict resolution efforts brokered
by U.S. Government, and in its current form contradicts US
Government’s official policy’.

APA

From: A. Papazian

Cherry Hill Courier Post
Nov 11 2010

Wrapped Bible shuts GCC campus down
November 11, 2010

DEPTFORD – The “Good Book” shut down Gloucester County College on
Wednesday afternoon.

Officers were called to the Tanyard Road campus after school security
officials spotted a suspicious package, said Deptford Police Detective
Sgt. George Johnson. The brown-paper-wrapped package with Armenian
text had arrived at the school earlier in the week addressed to a
department head.

The school was evacuated as the Camden County Sheriff’s Department’s
Bomb Unit examined the item. At 2 p.m. a portable X-ray machine
revealed the package’s contents — a Bible.

Johnson said the man who sent the package, identified only as a Camden
County resident, didn’t intend to cause an alarm.
Classes will resume today.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Aravot: Pzo had ties with Armenian high-ranking police officials?

November 11, 2010 | 11:22

The Armenian mass media disseminated comprehensive information on
Medical Fraud by Armenian criminal network under the protection of
Armenian crime boss Armen Kazaraian nicknamed `Pzo’.

A source close to the U.S. Embassy in Armenia told the Aravot daily
that Americans are not in a hurry as Armenian mass media actively
assisted them in `obtaining evidence’ and they only need to verify its
reliability. According to the daily, the FBI group, engaged in the
investigation of criminal network’s activities, consists of 10
officers.

As reported previously, Armenian white collar criminals and their
associates used phantom health care clinics and other means to try to
cheat Medicare out of $163 million, the largest fraud by one criminal
enterprise in the program’s history. The operation was under the
protection of an Armenian crime boss Armen Kazarian.

From: A. Papazian