Author: Andres-Papazian

news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2010

Baku-Washington relations to change for better with envoy appointment
Thu 11 November 2010 08:31 GMT | 10:31 Local Time
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Tod Lindberg News.Az interviews Tod Lindberg, research fellow, Hoover
Institution, Stanford University.
What are your impressions of the recent visit to Azerbaijan? What can
you say about the role of the country in the region?

I am just studying the region, I have spent some time in Georgia, I
visited Armenia. I have recently visited Azerbaijan and I can already
say for sure that Azerbaijan is a regional leader. I think the recent
Baku forum of international experts in the South Caucasus showed that
the decisions are taken in Baku which is gaining importance not only
for the republic but also the whole region.

What should be done to make the Karabakh conflict more famous abroad
and in the West, in particular?

Frankly speaking, I think Azerbaijan must really conduct a good work
in this direction to present about interpretation of this story to the
world. As you know, Armenian diaspora has very good relations with the
world centers and it has done a huge and effective work to present its
own version of what happened. I do not see the signs of that the
demonstration of Azerbaijan’s interpretation today was quite
effective. At the same time, my words are applicable not only to the
western but also to Russian audience that is in a wider scale.

Some believe after August 2008 Russia is unable to play a role of an
impartial arbiter in the resolution of conflicts in the South
Caucasus. What do you think about it?

I think some steps related to neighbors to persuade them about
Moscow’s intention to settle problems peacefully in coordination with
the world community depend on Russia itself.

Do you think the US may apply the Kosovo script related to Karabakh or
you think these cases are unique?

Frankly speaking, here it is difficult to make forecasts.

Do you agree with the opinion that the United States have recently
reduced its activeness in the region especially after the
Russian-Georgian war and is there a chance to renew this activeness?

I agree that the United States is already not so active, like it was
earlier. It is very important to appoint the US ambassador in
Azerbaijan and I regret that the resolution of this issue is put off.
I think the situation will start improving as soon as the US envoy
starts activity.

Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Armenian FM gives interview to Indian public TV

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan had a meeting
Wednesday with the director of India’s cultural relations committee
Suresh Goel.

According to MFA press and information department, the sides have
discussed bilateral humanitarian cooperation.
Edward Nalbandyan gave interview in New Delhi to `Asian Age’
authoritative publication.

Armenian FM is supposed to meet his Indian counterpart, deliver a
speech at Indian Council of International Relations as well as
interview to Indian public TV station.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian government approves new concept designed to reform s state
real estate cadastre system

YEREVAN, November 11, /ARKA/. The Armenian government has approved
today a new concept designed to reform the country’s state real estate
cadastre system. Head of the agency, Yervand Zakharian, said the goal
of the reform is to ensure the transparency of the system’s
performance, reduce corruption risks, increase the quality of services
provided to individual and legal entities. Yervand Zakharian said also
the reform will embrace institutional changes, automation of services
and legal amendments.

He said preparatory work is to be over by quarter fourth 2011 while
the agency will shift to working in new regime from January 1, 2012 in
the capital Yerevan and in regions from January 1, 2013.

Khazhak Karayan, an aide to chief of the state real estate cadastre,
said some preliminary 140-150 million Drams will be needed for
installment of a new information database.

Arman Poghosian, head of a department in charge of cadastre
evaluation, said an online information system will be created to allow
receiving online information and performing online operations. ($1 –
365.29 Drams). -0-

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Human Rights Defender of Armenia to speak at the European Parliament

Armen Harutyunyan, the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia,
will be in Brussels from November 15 to November 18, 2010, in order to
meet with European Institutions. The visit is organized by AGBU
Europe.

On the occasion of his visit, Mr Harutyunyan will address a special
meeting of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia. The meeting, which is open to observers, will
be held on 15th November at 5:30pm to 6:30pm in the European
Parliament.

Mr Harutyunyan will also speak at a round table of experts convened
jointly by AGBU Europe and European Friends of Armenia on November 16
at 1pm and hold a debate with the Armenian community in Brussels in
the evening of the 16th. These events will focus on the state of
democracy and human rights in Armenia, particularly in the context of
intensifying EU-Armenia relations, and on the role of the Human Rights
Defender. A number of other meetings with EU Member of Parliament and
officials have also been scheduled.

Armen Harutyunyan was elected first Human Rights Defender for 6 years
in a vote of the National Assembly held on February 17, 2006 , as
provided by article 83.1 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Armenia. The mission of the Human Rights Defender is to investigate
and formulate expert legal opinions on the actions of public
authorities in Armenia and on the conformity of new legislation with
the constitution and with human rights standards. His statements have
provided a much-needed anchor for public debate on matters relating to
democracy and the rule of law. The Ombudsman’s credibility and
influence depend on his ability to remain loyal to his mandate and
independent from political forces in Armenia.

The effective establishment institution of the Ombudsman in Armenia
has been praised by the European Union on a number of occasions. The
European Commission’s report on the European Neighbourhood Policy
implementation progress for Armenia for 2009, for instance, stated
that `the independence of the institution of the Human Rights Defender
(HRDO) in the political system and its role for the protection of
human rights was further strengthened. Overall, the trend in the
number of complaints received by the HRDO is increasing, confirming
the growing credibility of this institution’.

Mr Harutyunyan’s visit in Brussels is part of a series of events
organized by AGBU Europe in the context of its work with the European
institutions.

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Tal Memorial: Levon Aronyan’s rival is Aleksey Shirov

In the fifth round of Tal Memorial held in Russian capital city of
Moscow Armenian GM Levon Aronian shared his sores with Sergey
Karjakin. Though scoring half points, Aronian leads the ranking table.

Grishchuk ended his set with Mamedyarov in draw, Kramnik with Hao,
Nakamura with Shirov. The only set to finish with a victory was
Eljanov-Gelfand set, where Eljanov defeated his rival.

Levon Aronian-Sergey Karjakin 0,5:0,5

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ne4 7. Qd3
Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. Nb5 Nc6 10. Bg2 O-O 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bc1 b6 13. O-O
Bb7 14. Rd1 Na5 15. Bxb7 Nxb7 16. Qxd7 Nc5 17. Qxd8 Rfxd8 18. Be3 Rdc8
19. a4 Bf8 20. Rd5 Ne6 21. Rxe5 Rxc4 22. a5 bxa5 23. Rxa5 a6 24. Kg2
h6 25. h4 Rcc8 26. Nd4 Nc5 27. Ra2 Nb7 28. Bd2 Nd6 29. Nf5 Nc4 30.
Ne7+ Bxe7 31. Rxe7 h5 32. Bc1 a5 33. Rd7 a4 34. Ba3 Nxa3 35. Rxa3 Rab8
36. Rxa4 Rxc3 37. Raa7 Rf8 38. e4 Rcc8 39. e5 Rce8 40. f4 Rd8 41. e6
Rxd7 42. exd7 Rd8 43. g4 hxg4 44. f5 f6 45. Kg3 Kf7 46. Kxg4 Ke7 47.
Rc7 Kf7 48. h5 Ke7 49. Kh4 Kf7 50. Rb7 Ke7 51. h6 gxh6 52. Kh5 Kf7 53.
Rb6 Rxd7 54. Kxh6 Re7 55. Rb8 Rd7 56. Kh7 Re7 1/2:1/2:

Sixth round. 11.11.2010

Shahriyar Mamedyarov-Pavel Eljanov
Sergey Karjakin-Alexander Grishchuk
Aleksey Shirov-Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand-Vladimir Kramnik
Hicaru Nakamura-Wang Hao

From: A. Papazian

RAFFI HOVHANNISIAN AT CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010

Armenia’s first minister of foreign affairs and current chairman of
the Heritage Party, was on Parliament Hill to address the Ottawa
Conference on Combating Antisemitism. Convened by the Government of
Canada and the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating
Antisemitism between November 7 and 9, the international conclave
brought together political leaders, scholars, human rights advocates,
diplomats and members of parliament from around the world.

Delivering his keynote address to a plenary session on “The Role of
Governments and Parliaments in Combating Antisemitism,” Raffi
Hovannisian underscored the universal connections among all forms of
racism, genocide and its denial–from the Holocaust and the scourge of
antisemitism to the still-unrequited Armenian Genocide and xenophobia
aimed at Armenians and many minority groups across the globe. The
lessons to be drawn from the tragedies of history and applied to
prevent their recurrence are, he said, that reconciliation with past
and present perpetrators can be achieved solely on the basis of
accepting and accounting for the terrible truth, and that taking
courageous public stands in the political arena, at schools and on
campuses, and throughout societies must not be selective or exclusive
but rather must target equally all crimes against humanity and all
instances of hate speech. Only in this way will the civilized world
have a chance to reach the rule not only of law, but also of rights
and ethics.

Raffi Hovannisian, who dedicated his speech to the memory of his
grandparents who had survived the Genocide and Great Armenian
Dispossession nearly a century ago, was provided a further opportunity
to expand on the Armenian experience when a Turkish parliamentarian,
accompanied by a Turkish Embassy official, attempted to respond to the
keynote presentation by reading from an Embassy position paper that
relativized and trivialized the Genocide. In a dramatic exchange,
Hovannisian concluded the session by saying that it boggles the human
mind and borders on surrealism that an international meeting on
antisemitism should be bearing direct witness to the specter of active
denialism; that his grandmother owed her life to a righteous Turkish
family whose story has not been told because of the official Turkish
position; that Turkey must follow postwar Germany’s example in facing
history and taking responsibility for its crimes against humanity; and
that hope springs eternal that we will live to see the day when
distinguished Turkish delegates present themselves to condemn, not
deny all forms of racism including genocide and its denial, slaq.am
reports.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

Zhamanak : Armenian Parliament Speaker seeks for scapegoat

November 11, 2010

According to the information at the disposal of the Zhamanak (Time)
newspaper, the RA Control Chamber conducted inspection at the Armenian
Parliament and found out significant sums spent on Speaker Hovik
Abrahamyan’s `conveniences.’

Chairman of the Control Chamber Ishkhan Zakaryan was surprised and
told some of his acquaintances about the inspection results.

`Interestingly, after the incident, the Parliament leadership started
talking to the Control Chamber members to detect the leak. Since there
was no way of accusing the Chamber Chairman, Speaker Abrahamyan tried
to make a Chamber member a scapegoat,’ the newspaper writes.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Nov 11 2010

ANC leaders met with representatives of Human Rights Unit at European Commission

November 11, 2010 | 12:00

On November 10, coordinator of Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon
Zurabyan met with Head of the European Commission Delegation to
Armenia, Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger. Wojciech Wysocki, a policy
officer of Human Rights Unit at European Commission, also participated
in the meeting.
Zurabyan touched upon issues on the release of political prisoners in
Armenia, March 1 killings and re-launching of Ô±1+ TV Channel in
advance of the session of the bilateral human rights dialogue between
the EU and Armenia, to be held in December 2010, ANC press service
informed NEWS.am.

ANC representative Vladimir Karapetyan, Political Advisor to EU
Special Representative for the South Caucasus Andrei Didenko also
attended the meeting.

From: A. Papazian

SOUTH CAUCASIAN RAILWAY TO MAKE 13.5 BN AMD INVESTMENTS NEXT YEAR

AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010

South Caucasian Railway (SCR) plans to make a total of 13.5 bn AMD
investments next year, SCR Director General Shevket Shaydulin told
news.am correspondent, adding that it will be directed to construction
of Fioletovo-Vanadzor railway section.

“Being a national carrier and a company having social responsibility,
SCR realizes that construction of a railway will involve a number of
companies and create new jobs in Armenia. That is the reason we attach
major importance to construction of a new railway,” he said, noting
that amount of 315 m AMD will be granted to renovation of destroyed
railway stations.

Shaydulin also stressed that this year’s investments will total 13.7
bn AMD. Funds will be provided for infrastructure development.
Besides, speed of trains will reach 100 km/h at some railway sections.
Railway depots were reequipped as well. “Tangible results are seen as
we have received several orders on renovation of carriages from
neighboring states,” he concluded.

From: A. Papazian

EurasiaNet, NY
Nov 11 2010

Armenia: Yerevan Tight-Lipped on Uranium Smuggling Case
November 10, 2010 – 3:23pm, by Marianna Grigoryan

Earlier this year, Georgia’s successful sting operation to uncover a
weapons-grade uranium trafficking operation made headlines worldwide.
Armenia has reportedly worked closely with Georgia in the ongoing
investigation, but officials in Yerevan are reluctant to detail the
country’s connection to the case.

What is known is that three people in custody in the uranium
trafficking case are Armenian citizens. The provenance of the uranium
they were carrying remains unknown, but one Armenian ministry has been
quick to deny that it could be linked to Armenia’s 37-year-old nuclear
power station, Metsamor.

Businessman Smbat Tonoian, 63, and physicist Hrant Ohanian, 59, are
reportedly being tried now in Tbilisi for smuggling and attempting to
sell 18 grams of 89.4-percent enriched uranium to Georgian undercover
agents this past spring. Carrying the uranium in a lead-lined pack of
cigarettes, the men allegedly traveled to the Georgian capital by
train from Yerevan.

On November 8, the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) announced
that Gagik Dadaian, an Armenian citizen with a prior record for
uranium smuggling, had been detained in Armenia as the two men’s
suspected supplier.

In a report distributed by the Agence France Presse news agency,
Georgian Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili asserted that
the source of the uranium that Tonoian and Ohanian were attempting to
sell remains unknown.

For his prior arrest, in 2003, Dadaian was charged with stealing HEU
from a nuclear fuel processing plant in the Russian city of
Novosibirsk, according to a report published by the British newspaper
The Guardian. Georgia and Russia have no diplomatic relations, thus
Georgian law enforcement officials have been unable to check whether
the Novosibirsk plant was the HEU’s original source.

Expressing concern about the incident, Slavik Sargsian, chairperson of
the All-Armenian Association of Power Specialists, said the affair
raises questions about security at Metsamor, which is expected to
close within the next several years. Despite millions of dollars spent
by the United States and European Union on upgrading the plant, the
aging power station has long been dogged by fears about its
safeguards.

`This issue must be totally explored because smuggling highly enriched
uranium is not like drug smuggling. … This is a matter of security for
the country,’ Sargsian said. `This issue must be entirely disclosed
not to stain the country’s reputation.’

Armenian scientists who have worked with uranium issues assert that
the source in the Georgian trafficking case cannot lie in Armenia. `We
have no enriched uranium in Armenia, and I think linking this story to
Armenia is a provocation,’ declared geochemist Sergei Grigorian, a
member of the National Academy of Sciences who is running a geological
survey of uranium resources in Armenia. Metsamor gets its enriched
uranium from Russia, he continued.

`I don’t think one can get enriched uranium from the storehouse of the
nuclear power station. That’s virtually impossible,’ said Grigorian,
who described the station’s storage facilities as `safe.’

Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources spokesperson Lusine
Harutyunian similarly stressed that `[n]obody in the world could take
out something from the station.’

Representatives of Metsamor did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Citing the Service’s ongoing investigation, NSS spokesperson Artsvin
Baghramian declined to comment further on the case.

Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian