Author: Andres-Papazian

MEDVEDEV DID NOT ATTEND ALIYEV MONUMENT UNVEILING CEREMONY

Aysor.am
Friday,October 29, 2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not the attend the ceremony for
unveiling a monument to Heydar Aliyev, and media reports asserting the
opposite are far away from reality, RPA Spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov
told a press briefing.

Note that a monument to Heydar Aliyev was unveiled in Astrakhan on
the day of the tripartite meeting of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani
Presidents.

Sharmazanov repeated that “everybody pays tribute to what he has.”

“The Armenian people has a history of thousands of years and as much
old scientific, historical and cultural heritage while Azerbaijan
only has idol worship which never lasts long,” parliamentarian said.

From: A. Papazian

EDWARD NALBANDYAN HOSTS NEWLY APPOINTED AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE

Aysor.am
Friday,October 29, 2010

On October 29, newly appointed Ambassador of France to Armenia Henri
Renault handed a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan, MFA press office reported.

Minister Nalbandyan congratulating H. Renault on his appointment as
Ambassador of France to Armenia said that Armenian-French political,
economic and humanitarian relations are high level and expressed
hope that Ambassador Renault will make a significant contribution to
further strengthening Armenian-French traditional friendly ties.

Ambassador Renault thanked for kind words and said that France
treats warmly the Armenian people and Armenia attaching importance to
development of relations between France and Armenia. The Ambassador
said he will do his utmost to further deepen and expand bilateral
cooperation.

From: A. Papazian

ORANGE LAUNCHES IPAD SALES IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
29.10.10

Orange started selling iPads in its shops as of today, becoming the
first telecommunication company in Armenia offering tablet computers.

The multi-functional gadget from Apple is for browsing the web,
reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening
to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more.

iPad includes a lot of new innovative apps designed especially for
the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the
App Store.

Orange offers a wide portfolio of iPad, starting from iPad Wi-Fi +
16GB and till iPad Wi-Fi + 3G 64GB for the following prices:

– iPad Wi-Fi 16GB 290,000 AMD – iPad Wi-Fi + 3G 16GB 365,000 AMD –
iPad Wi-Fi + 3G 32GB 415,000 AMD – iPad Wi-Fi + 3G 64GB 470,000 AMD

iPad can be purchased with any of Internet Now tariff plans
subscription, with special micro-SIM card designed for iPad or without
internet subscription. It is available on Orange e-shop as well as
in 6 Orange shops at following addresses:

– Northern Avenue, NORD Business center – Yerevan, 8, Komitas Ave.

– Yerevan, 5a/50, Mashtots Ave.

– Yerevan, 105/1, Teryan Str. (Citadel b/c) – Yerevan, 71,
Hanrapetutyan Str.

-Yerevan, 29a/93, Tigran-Metsi Ave.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH PARTY LEADER CROSSING ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER ARRESTED IN YEREVAN

Tert.am
29.10.10

Head of Powerful Turkey Party Tuna Beklevic, who is currently in
Yerevan, Armenia, together with a delegation mainly comprising of
his party members, has been reportedly arrested.

Citing Beklevic’s advisor Murad Aksu, Turkish news agency Ankara
informs that Mr Beklevic and the delegation he was accompanied by
have been arrested by Armenia’s National Security Service.

It comes after Mr Beklevic and a few party members crossed the
Armenian-Turkey border earliy this October.

In a press conference today in Yerevan Mr Beklevich confirmed the
news about having crossed the border, and even went so far as to
mention the exact location they crossed the border.

“We crossed [the border] via a three-flight bridge located in the
ruins of Ani,” Beklevic had said, adding that their move was aimed
at contributing to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border.

Armenia’s National Security Service confirmed the news about Mr
Beklevic’s arrest, adding he is now being interrogated over today’s
statements about crossing the Armenia-Turkey border.

A source close to Mr Beklevic also confirmed the news about the
arrest. But it would not elaborate any other detals.

From: A. Papazian

MEDVEDEV SUCCEEDED IN EASING THE TENSION, SAYS GIRO MANOYAN

Tert.am
29.10.10

The main objective of the recent trilateral meeting of Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents initiated by their Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev was to some extent “ease the atmosphere,” Head of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs
Office Kiro Manoyan told a press conference today.

According to him the atmosphere between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
relations had reached a high level of tension due to the statements by
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and some of the statements Armenia’s
president Serzh Sargsyan made in response, as well as due to the
ceasefire violations that frequently take place in the recent months.

“Medvedev succeeded in doing so,” said Mr Manoyan, adding that
the meeting in Astrakhan gave nothing else. Even more, there are no
grounds to have any expectations from the December meeting to be held
in Astana, Kazakhstan.

According to Mr Manoyan, in a best-case scenario, the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) may at the end of the
year come up with a statement over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
by reaffirming the principles of the settlement of the conflict.

In an October 27 meeting brokered by Russia in Astrakhan Mr Sargsyan
and Mr Aliyev reaffirmed the provisions of the declaration adopted on
November 2, 2008 in Meiendorf, Russia, and underscored that additional
steps are necessary to be taken to strengthen the ceasefire regime
and mutual trust in the military sphere.

The two presidents also signed a declaration to exchange prisoners
of war and return the corpses of soldiers and civilians killed on
the line of contact.

Further Mr Manoyan said that Turkey continues linking the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict to the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey
relations – something that is “clear for all, including the US.”

According to him, this is another reason Armenia should withdraw its
signature from the Armenia-Turkey Protocols.

Speaking about the agreement reached between Serzh Sargsyan and
Ilham Aliyev to swap prisoners of war and repatriated the bodies
of all those killed on the line of contact, Giro Manoyan said that
Azerbaijan will perhaps be committed to its pledge only to show to
the world that there is some progress in the talks process.

From: A. Papazian

ROBERT KOCHARYAN HAS NO TIES WITH ‘LUZHKOV AND PZO,’ SAYS VIKTOR SOGHOMONYAN

Tert.am
29.10.10

Relations between former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan and
former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov have exclusively been formal, Head
of Mr Kocharyan’s office and his spokesperson during his presidential
term Viktor Soghomonyan has said.

“Robert Kocharyan’s and former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhov’s relations
have been exclusively formal. They have never had any joint business
program and nor do they have any now,” said he.

Mr Soghomonyan’s comments come amid widespread reports in the
Armenian media about Mr Kocharyan’s links with Yuri Luzhkov, as well
as reports that pointed to some links between the recent arrests of
an American-Armenian scam group to the current and former Armenian
authorities.

Viktor Soghomonyan also said that Armen Ghazaryan, an Armenian mafia
god father nicknamed Pzo, has had no relations with the Kocharyan
family.

From: A. Papazian

BOXERS MARTIROSYAN AND PAVLIK MAY FIGHT SOON, IF …

Tert.am
29.10.10

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) summit, currently taking place
in Columbia, discusses, inter alia, the possible meeting between
former middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik and Armenian boxer
Gennady Martirosyan.

According to Boxingscene.com, if that issue is settled and the
meeting takes place, the winner will have a chance to fight with WBO
middleweight world champion Dmitry Pirog (Russia).

Gennady Martirosyan is leading the WBO rating list, while Pavlik is
only the 3rd.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH POLITICIAN CONFIRMS CROSSING TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER

Tert.am
29.10.10

Head of Powerful Turkey Party Tuna Beklevic, who is currently in
Armenia together with his party deputy head, said they will not
pay a visit to the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan – the
Tsitsernakaberd.

Beklevic also said they don’t want the Genocide issue to be related
to the opening of the border.

“In the first stage we require the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border. Other topics will continue to be discussed in the course
of time, but we don’t want to discuss other issues at this stage,”
said Beklevic.

Asked by an Armenian journalist whether he shares the Turkish denialist
viewpoints about the Armenian Genocide, Mr Beklevic said that “the
1915 losses are big both for Armenians and for Turks.”

Further he confirmed having crossed the Armenia-Turkey border with
his supporters. Even more, Mr Beklevic also pinpointed the location
they crossed the border.

“We have crossed ed [the border] via a three-flight bridge located
in the ruins of Ani,” said he.

Tuna Beklevic and some of his party members crossed the
Armenian-Turkish border in early October in the vicinities of Akhurian
River flowing across Armenia’s north-western border with Turkey.

Russian front troops later denied any border crossing in the region.

Also Mr Beklevic said that instead of trying to find out the details
of their crossing of the border in an attempt to prove that they were
telling lies, the Armenians should be interested in other key issues.

“We did not flee. Nor did we do it with bad intentions. This was an
action with which we condemned the activities of the two states. We
don’t consider this an illegal action, but rather a call to the world
for the border to be opened,” said he.

In his words the closure of the border is a wound for both nations.

“I don’t know what the Russian front guards think, but the wound of our
societies is quite different,” explained Beklevic, adding that he can
show the journalist the exact place they entered Armenia, if need be.

From: A. Papazian

FRANCE WELCOMES DECLARATION ON POWS SWAP BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Tert.am
29.10.10

France has welcomed the joint statement over the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict made by Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents at
a recent meeting in the Russian city of Astrakhan, according to a
statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry.

Together with US and Russia France co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group
currently spearheads the peace talks over the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.

Paris has also welcomed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s “personal
efforts” in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“The measures coordinated between the parties in Astrakhan can help
ease tension and reduce the incidents of the ceasefire violation
that have become of frequent occurrence in the recent months. For
that reason France expects that those measures will be implemented
without any delay,” read the statement.

In a next round of peace talks on October 27 held in the Russian
southern city of Astrakhan Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents Serzh
Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed the provisions of the declaration
adopted on November 2, 2008 in Meiendorf, Russia.

They also underscored that additional steps are necessary to take
to strengthen the ceasefire regime and mutual trust in the military
sphere in an attempt to solve the conflict peacefully.

They two presidents also signed a declaration to exchange prisoners
of war and return the corpses of soldiers and civilians killed on
the line of contact.

The conflict between the two former Soviet countries over Nagorno
Karabakh started when Karabakhi Armenians voiced their intention
to live independently from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. It was
followed by pogroms against Armenians in Sumgait, Baku and Nagorno
Karabakh that turned into a bloody war, leaving around 30,000 killed
and more than a million displaced.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH PRESIDENT BAKO SAHAKYAN MET WITH EU MPS IN STEPANAKERT

Tert.am
29.10.10

On 28 October President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met
with a group of European Parliament MPs who arrived in Artsakh on
the same day, according to a release by the Artsakhi presidential
administration.

Issues related to widening ties between Artsakh and the European
community, the Azerbaijani-Karabakhi conflict settlement, as well as
regional developments were discussed during the meeting.

Mr Sahakyan underlined that a balanced and multi-faceted vectored
approach was the basis of Artsakh foreign policy, and within this
context our republic was interested in deepening relations with Europe
and its different structures.

The necessity of a peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk group was mutually
noted.

The guests highly appreciated the successes of Artsakh in building
a democratic state, emphasizing the importance of democracy for the
whole region.

Chairman of the Artsakh Republic National Assembly Ashot Ghoulyan,
Chairman of the European ~SHay Dat~T commission Hilda Choboyan,
deputies of the Armenian National Assembly Vahan Hovhannisyan and
Ara Babloyan also attended the meeting.

From: A. Papazian