Author: Andres-Papazian

KIM KARDASHIAN ADMIRES ARMENIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM’S VICTORY

10:13, 12 June, 2013

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. Ethnic Armenian Kim Kardashianexpressed
her admiration with the triumph of Armenia’s national football team
in the match against Denmark in her Twitter page.

As reports “Armenpress” in particular Kim Kardashian stated: “Let’s
go Armenia!!! RT @phubbu05: @KimKardashian did you watch Armenia beat
Denmark 4 nothing in a soccer game? World cup dream is still alive.”

In framework of World Cup qualifying campaign in Group B of European
zone Armenian national football team defeated national team of Denmark
in Copenhagen. At the first minute the score was opened by best striker
of Russian championship of this season Yura Movisiyan. 18 minutes
later another footballer playing in Russia Aras Ozbilis scored the
second goal.

In the second half Yura Movsisyan became author of double and the last
goal scored best striker of Ukrainian championship Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

In group B the leader is Italy with 14 points, Armenia and Denmark
have 6 points sharing 4-5 position

From: A. Papazian

NO LISKA, NO PASTURES

When Suren Khachatryan left the position of the governor of Syunik, the
issue of Iranian sheep is again urgent. Today the Iranian ambassador
Mohammad Raesi stated that Iran is interested in cooperation with
Armenia in the field of cattle breeding. He noted that Armenia is
able to breed several millions of head of sheep and can export sheep
to Iran, while the civil society organizations are exaggerating the
issue of pastures of Syunik.

The head of the veterinary department of the Ministry of Agriculture
Ashot Hovhannisyan said the ministry is against leasing pastures of
Syunik to foreign farmers.

Apparently, the lease agreement has been signed. The wave of civil
protest did not allow implementing the agreement, especially that
the past year was electoral, and the government preferred refraining
from such steps. The electoral passions were about to abate when the
governor of Syunik who signed the agreement was involved in a bloody
accident and removed from his position.

Now Iran is presenting a bill to Armenia. Any news about pastures, the
Iranian ambassador asks, sounding like the U.S. ambassador who twitted,
“Any news about Carrefour issue?” Carrefour issue was clarified,
how about pastures?

The difference between these two is huge. The odious oligarchs hindered
Carrefour while the civil society generally welcomed it. In Syunik
the authorities will encounter tough resistance of civil protest.

Not only the environmental activists of Yerevan but also the people
of Syunik will protest who are no longer under the rule of the odious
governor.

The ambassador of Iran tried to attract Armenians with profit but
stepped on the environmental issue. What will the Armenian government
answer? Will they say that the agreement was signed by Liska who has
resigned, and there is no Liska, there is no agreement? Or will they
tell the public that teasing Iran is dangerous, and the Iranian sheep
will meliorate land?

Naira Hayrumyan 10:41 12/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

SOCCER-ARMENIA DRUB DANES 4-0 IN COPENHAGEN

Yahoo! Sports
June 11 2013

June 11 (Reuters) – Armenia’s Yura Movsisyan scored twice as his
unfancied side handed Denmark a shock 4-0 home defeat in their
World Cup Group B qualifier, leaving the hosts with little chance of
qualifying for Brazil.

The Danish nightmare in Copenhagen started after 27 seconds, Movsisyan
firing home following a mistake by defender Simon Kjaer.

Kjaer was again the villain as Armenia doubled their lead in the 19th
minute, keeping the Armenians onside as Aras Ozbiliz fired home.

Spartak Moscow striker Movsisyan netted his second on the hour mark and
the Danes looked down and out, failing to create and looking vulnerable
on the break as their normally slick passing touch deserted them.

With the Danes pouring aimlessly forward in search of a goal, Armenia’s
Henrikh Mkhitaryan added a late fourth – his goal ironically applauded
by the Danish fans.

The heavy home defeat leaves Denmark in fifth place on six points,
level with Armenia in fourth.

Italy lead the group on 14 points, with Bulgaria in the playoff spot
in second on 10 points and the Czech Republic a point further back
in third after six of 10 matches. (Reporting by Philip O’Connor in
Stockholm; Editing by Mark Meadows;

From: A. Papazian

LIVE COMMENTARY: DENMARK 0-4 ARMENIA – AS IT HAPPENED

Sports Mole
June 11 2013

By Matt Cotton, Reporter

Denmark will look to move themselves back into World Cup qualifying
contention in Group B when they host Armenia in Copenhagen.

The Danes are currently fourth in the group with six points from five
matches, but have played a game less than those above them.

Armenia have lost all bar one of their group fixtures, after they
earned a victory over Malta in their opening match of qualifying.

The match kicks off at 7.15pm

Sort:NewestOldest 6.52pmGood evening, and welcome to Sports Mole’s
live coverage from Copenhagen, where Denmark host Armenia.

6.55pmTonight’s clash is a big match for both sides in Group B of the
World Cup qualifiers. Denmark can move to joint third and a point
behind second place with a victory, while a win for the Armenians
will move them clear of the bottom spot.

6.56pmTwo teams can progress to Brazil from this group. The automatic
top spot looks likely to be taken by Italy, who are still unbeaten
and four points ahead of Bulgaria in second. The country who finishes
second will also have a shot at earning a flight to South America, but
only after they have played a playoff tie against another runner-up.

7.01pmDenmark go into this match having drawn their last outing with
Bulgaria, which came after beating third-place Czech Republic.

Armenia, however, have lost their last three qualifying matches,
including a 1-0 defeat to basement side Malta last week.

7.03pmThe team news is in…

7.05pmDENMARK XI: Andersen, Zimling, Kjaer, Bjelland, Poulsen,
Jacobsen, Kvist, Eriksen, Krohn-Dehli, Rommedahl, Cornelius

7.06pmSo the familiar names you will probably recognise from the
Danes starting lineup would be Ajax’s Christian Eriksen, who is one
of the most sought-after talents in European football at the moment,
as well as former Charlton Athletic speedster Dennis Rommedahl.

7.07pmRight, let’s see who lines up for Armenia tonight.

7.09pmARMENIA XI: Berezovski, Haroyan, Arzumanyan, Lazarian,
Edigaryan, Ghazaryan, Hovhannisyan, Movsisyan, Aleksanyan, Mkhitaryan,
Ozbiliz

7.12pmI’ll pass on the names that you will recognise from that lot.

7.13pmThe two sides are out and are exchanging national anthems.

Armenia have done theirs, so now it is Denmark’s turn.

7.15pmThere is no Daniel Agger or Nicklas Bendtner for the Danes
tonight who are both injured, but Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel
is on the bench.

7.16pmThe pressure is no doubt on the Danes tonight, with the home
crowd expecting a win.

0 minWE’RE OFF!

1 minGOAL! Denmark 0-1 Armenia (Yura Movsisyan)

1 minWow! I wasn’t expecting that. Just 25 seconds into the match, and
Armenia are in front. The ball was terribly given away by Poulsen, and
Movsisyan was played in on the left of the box before half-volleying
past Andersen. What a shock!

2 minCHANCE! Denmark nearly have an instant equaliser as Rommedahl
bombs onto a through ball on the right of the box. The keeper
Berezovski comes to meet him, and the winger chips it over his head.

However, it is cleared off the line by a retreating defender.

5 minYELLOW CARD! Controversial moment here as the referee Aleksei
Nikolaev has adjudged Krohn-Dehli to have dived after a clash with a
defender. He then puts the forward into the book. It was a close one,
but Krohn-Dehli made too much of a meal about the challenge.

7 minRommedahl completely loses his marker again as he runs in from
the right to meet the ball on the penalty spot. It’s a brilliant
opportunity for him, but his control is awful and the ball runs out
of play.

8 minDenmark have been on top since going a goal down early on,
but they have been sloppy so far.

9 minGreat defending from Arzumanyan, who shields the ball from
Eriksen in the corner to win a goal kick.

11 minCHANCE! How has Dennis Rommedahl not scored yet? That’s the
third chance he has had, and with finishing like that you can tell
why he hasn’t scored an international goal in nearly two years. He is
played in on the left side of the box and just has the keeper to beat.

He should be rolling this ball into the bottom right corner, but
instead he drags it miles wide.

13 minCHANCE! My word Armenia are fractions away from doubling their
lead. The ball is played in from low the right, and Simon Kjaer makes
contact with his shin. The ball then spurs up and into the sidenetting
for an Armenia corner. Massive let off there for Kjaer.

16 minOFF THE POST! Armenia again come very close against a very
ordinary Denmark defence. It’s Movsisyan who takes the shot on from
the edge of the box and it flies towards the bottom corner. Andersen
flings himself to his right, and touches the ball onto the post before
Jacobsen can hack the ball clear. This is unreal.

17 minGOAL! Denmark 0-2 Armenia (Ara Ozbilliz)

18 minWhat an earth is going on? Armenia have now doubled their lead
and it is once again another terrible display of defending from the
Danes. Kjaer is guilty once more of playing his marker onside, and
Ozbilliz fires an effort past Andersen and into the back of the net.

21 minDenmark could be watching their hopes of a place in Brazil
slipping away.

24 minRommedahl is the target again once more with his lightning pace,
but this time he is flagged offside.

26 minMorten Olsen, the Denmark boss, looks like he may make a couple
of early changes. The substitutes are vigorously warming up.

26 minDenmark have a chance from the corner, but the delivery fails
to beat the first man, who headers it away.

28 minAnd they are about to make a change, Nicklas Pedersen is kitted
out and ready to come on.

28 minDENMARK CHANGE Pedersen comes on in place of defensive midfielder
Niki Zimling. Bold move that has been forced on Denmark to bring on
the forward.

31 minCHANCE! Denmark are presented with another chance and it falls
to the substitute Pedersen. He comes into this strike at such a weird
angle, almost running away from goal, and swings a boot on the turn
only for the shot to curve wide.

34 minArmenia have bodies behind the ball at the moment as they
manage to clear away another dangerous cross. Denmark need to speed
up the tempo and make the most of these decent positions they are
getting into.

36 minYELLOW CARD Varazdat Haroyan goes into the book for a challenge
that didn’t even look as if he touched Jacobsen.

37 minCHANCE! Simon Kjaer, who was at fault for both goals, nearly
pulls one back for Denmark when he meets the free kick at the far post,
but his header bounces wide across the face of goal.

38 minCHANCE! A ruckus has just unfolded in the Denmark penalty area.

Initially it is wonderful approach play from the Armenians, and
Ozbiliz founds himself one-on-one with Andersen. However, the keeper
makes himself big and meets the ball in mid-air. Denmark can then
hack away the danger.

41 minWithout Agger, Denmark are a shambles at the back.

42 minPedersen gets a telling off after yanking down Aleksanyan in
the corner. Pure frustration being shown by the Danes here.

42 minYELLOW CARD Robert Arzumanyan is given a yellow for wasting time.

43 minCHANCE! This is crazy. Despite leading, Armenia look the side
more likely to score next. Movsisyan plays a lovely pass through to
Aleksanyan, who takes on his marker but fires a shot over the bar
with his left boot from just inside the box.

45 minTwo minutes of added time to come.

47 minDenmark have a free kick 30 yards out. Eriksen step forward.

45+2 minThat’s into the wall, and that sums up Denmark.

8.04pmHALF TIME: Denmark 0-2 Armenia

8.05pmWow, who would have thought that. Denmark have been awful,
Rommedahl wasteful and Movsisyan and Orbiliz have given Armenia a
2-0 lead at the break. They deserve it.

8.15pmWe’re just moments away from the second half, and boy do Denmark
have work to do.

8.17pmDenmark have made their way up the steps and are now back on
the field.

8.18pmAre Armenia shortly follow.

8.20pmDenmark have made a change at the break and taken off Andreas
Bjelland and brought on Jores Okore.

45 minWE’RE BACK UNDERWAY IN COPENHAGEN

46 minDenmark are now playing a 4-1-3-2 formation following that
change.

46 minCHANCE! Kjaer rises up to meet a long throw, and he forces a
decent save from Berezovski.

48 minDenmark already look better in this second half. Seem more
fluid and have more room to attack in the final third.

49 minHalf a chance for Cornelius, who then throws himself to the
ground under a challenge in the box. But nothing is given.

50 minCHANCE! Cornelius shows brilliant control to take Kjaer’s
header on the chest before overhead kicking the ball over the ball
marginally. The move started from a Kvist long throw, which they seem
to be favouring.

52 minNicklas Pedersen, who only came on in the 28th minute, is
signalling that he has to come off.

53 minDENMARK CHANGE Off comes Pedersen then with the help of the
physio, and Simon Makienok makes his fourth appearance for the Danes.

54 minCHANCE! Ozbiliz has a crack on goal from the edge of the box
with a very wobbly effort. Andersen can palm the ball away though.

56 minOzbiliz has a half-chance as the ball is free on the left,
but his shot is pretty much a pass back to Andersen.

58 minArmenia are still comfortable here. Denmark need a goal badly.

59 minCHANCE! Great opportunity for the Danes, as the ball drops
to Okore, who tries to hit the ball on the turn, but his shot is
well saved.

60 minGOAL! Denmark 0-3 Armenia (Yura Movsisyan)

60 minThis is unreal, Armenia have a third and what a good finish
this is from Movsisyan. He is poked through on the left of the box,
and from a very acute angle, he guides the ball into the far corner.

Brilliant finish.

62 minDenmark have a free kick literally right on the edge of the box.

It’s almost too close for them, as Eriksen slams the ball into the
wall. Armenia can break, and Movsisyan hammers a ball towards the
far corner, but there is a great block in there.

66 minJacobsen wastes a good chance for Denmark, who has two players
free at the back post, and chips the ball out for a goal kick. Poor.

70 min20 minutes to go, and this looks like as if it is all over.

Denmark struggling, Armenia comfortable.

71 minCHANCE! It is very nearly four! Andersen makes a great save at
first to deny Movsisyan, before Kvist denies the second effort with
a block on the line.

74 minGhazaryan hobbles off the field temporarily after a clash with
Rommedahl. The Dane fouled him initially before what looked like a
rake down the Armenian’s leg. Naughty.

77 minOFF THE POST! Denmark come close and strike the frame of the
goal following a deflected shot from Makienok.

78 minCHANCE! It’s another great chance for Makienok but he is
brilliantly stopped at close range by Berezovski following a deflected
free kick that fell at the feet of the forward.

82 minGOAL! Denmark 0-4 Armenia (Henrikh Mkhitaryan)

83 minThis is humiliating for Denmark, it’s unbelievable! Danish fans
applaud Shakhtar forward Herikh Mkhitaryan for this. He holds the ball
up after good play down the right, and waits for the distraction from
the onrushing defender. The chance opens up, and he slams the ball in
the corner. That’s why Liverpool are rumoured to be interested in him.

86 minARMENIA CHANGES Sarkisov and Pizzelli comes on for Movsisya
Edigaryan.

90 minThree minutes to go here.

90+1 minARMENIA CHANGE Sargis Adamyan comes on as Denmark fans provide
Ozbiliz with a standing ovation as he leaves the field.

90+3 minFULL TIME: Denmark 0-4 Armenia

9.09pmWow what a shock, Denmark are stunned in their own back yard.

Armenia equal their-biggest ever win, and surely their best-ever win.

9.10pmDenmark were awful, Armenia were class and the two sides are
now level on six points in Group B.

9.10pmThat’s all from me. Good luck getting your head around that
result. Until next time, goodbye.

From: A. Papazian

$2M GIFT TO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES COTSEN INSTITUTE ESTABLISHES PROGRAM IN ARMENIAN ARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOGRAPHY

US Fed News / Newsroom UCLA, California
June 10, 2013 Monday 2:10 PM EST

LOS ANGELES, June 10 — The University of California at Los Angeles
issued the following press release:

The UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology has received a $2 million
gift from UCLA alumna Zaruhy Sara Chitjian to establish the first
permanent research program in Armenian archaeology and ethnography
at a major American university.

Chitjian also donated a significant collection of artifacts, documents
and books related to the history and material culture of Armenia and
to the Armenian diaspora after the Armenian genocide of 1915-23.

The Hampartzoum and Ovsanna Chitjian Collection and Archive of Armenian
Ethnographic Artifacts and Documents, named in honor of Chitjian’s
parents, will be housed at the Cotsen Institute and digitized, giving
scholars around the world access to this important resource.

Gregory E. Areshian, assistant director of the Cotsen Institute,
has been appointed director of the new Chitjian Collection and
Research Program.

The gift will enable an expansion of research projects in Armenian
archaeology and ethnography, the establishment of a public lecture
series, and the publication of scholarly works on the Web and in
print. It will also fund seminars and graduate-student conferences
devoted to topics in Armenian archaeology, anthropology, ethnography
and history and to the preservation of the cultural heritage of
historic Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.

“The collection represents a set of objects and letters that will
provide an invaluable insight into the Armenian diaspora,” said Charles
Stanish, director of the Cotsen Institute. “Each acquisition not only
provides insight into a small portion of this tragic but heroic drama
but also provides a window into dozens of new questions and areas of
inquiry. We hope that the Hampartzoum and Ovsanna Chitjian Collection
will be a model for others to emulate.”

A retired schoolteacher, Chitjian earned her bachelor’s degree in child
psychology and her teaching credential from UCLA. She has received
numerous awards and honors for her work and for her dedication to
Armenian issues, past and present.

She continues to fund research and student scholarships throughout the
world. In 2003, she published a memoir of her father’s experiences
as an Armenian genocide survivor and his journey to safety on foot
through eastern Turkey.

More than 1 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed
during and after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire systematically
exterminated and removed Armenian subjects from their historic homeland
in territory that constitutes part of the present-day Republic of
Turkey. The majority of Armenian diaspora communities were founded
as a result of this genocide.

Chitjian also funded the establishment of Aramazd, The Armenian Journal
of Near Eastern Studies, the first Armenia-based, English-language,
peer-reviewed international journal on the archaeology, ancient and
medieval history, and linguistics of Armenia, the Caucasus, Iran,
Turkey and the broader Near East.

“With the work at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, the Armenian
identity and Armenian people – past and present – can be respected
and appreciated for the contributions of their 3,000 year history,”
Chitjian said. “Studying the ethnographic artifacts of recent age is
an important means of understanding the past of this still thriving
culture.”

From: A. Papazian

GENOCIDE, RELIGION AND POLITICS: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

The Economist
June 11 2013

IN THE days to come, we may be hearing a lot more about the question
of genocide, for at least two reasons. A row has broken out between
the Turkish government and Pope Francis over his use of the word
“genocide” to describe the slaughter of Ottoman Armenians in 1915.

Given that the holy see is an agency in global diplomacy as well as
a religious body, this could be the start of an escalating public
dispute between the world’s largest Christian group and one of the
most important Muslim-majority nations.

Meanwhile Barack Obama has nominated as his ambassador to the United
Nations a courageous scholar and journalist, Samantha Power, who has
devoted much of her life to analysing and decrying the phenomenon of
genocide, and to arguing that stopping it should be a higher priority
in American foreign policy.

Genocide is a word whose very use has vast moral and political
consequences. What exactly is it? The UN Convention on Genocide,
agreed in 1948, offers a range of actions (killing, harming, imposing
harsh conditions, restricting birth, forcible adoption) which are
genocidal if committed with intent to “destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

As an attempt to ring-fence a particular category of mass annihilation,
this presents huge problems. How big a proportion of the “group” does
the perpetrator have to intend destroying to merit the g-word? Is
it less bad to massacre 100,000 members of a numerous group (because
the group’s survival is not in question) than to take an equal toll
from a small group? Is the mass murder of an economic class, like the
“wealthy” peasants annihilated by Stalin, marginally more tolerable,
because the group’s definition is not religious or “ethnical”?

Still, the fact is that we know genocide when we see it. I would argue,
though, that there is a big difference between the enunciation of
the g-word by spiritual leaders, whose authority is mainly moral,
and its use by governments, especially very strong ones.

Religious leaders surely have a basic duty to grapple with the question
of genocide, partly because they are seen as moral compasses by many
people…but also because of the depressing fact that religion, at
its darkest, has often fomented genocidal acts. It is true that in
modern history, religion has inspired brave foes of totalitarianism,
from the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Maria Skobtsova, a nun
based in Paris who died in the gas chambers. But religious rhetoric
has also provided cover for many acts of multiple slaughter. During
Rwanda’s genocide, there were doubtless priests or nuns who protected
the targets of mass murder; but there were also priests and nuns who
participated. The Serbian warlord Arkan, one of the most ruthless
characters to emerge from the post-Yugoslav wars, used to say that
his only boss was the Serbian patriarch. While this loyalty was
unsolicited, it was not publicly rejected either.

So religious leaders must be concerned with genocide: not just with
denouncing it, but being careful not to foment it. One does not have
to be an atheist to agree with the scientist Steven Weinberg’s dictum
that religion has a unique capacity to make good people do bad things.

For political leaders with the awesome responsibilities that go with
wielding huge firepower and geopolitical heft, the calculus can be
different. A policy whose declared principles include a huge stress
on stopping genocide can have perverse effects; it can actually make
genocide more likely. Such a policy signals to a local warring faction
that all it needs to do, to trigger outside intervention, is provoke
an act of genocidal proportions by the other side. “Get some of your
people slaughtered and we will come fight your nasty little war,
which otherwise wouldn’t interest us…”

Nobody is suggesting that mighty governments should not be concerned
by genocide. But in a messy world, powerful governments may have to
pull punches or make agonising choices between several courses of
action which would all cost innocent lives. Religious leaders, on
the other hand, are at their best when they speak truth to power-and
that is probably a reason why they should avoid building up too much
earthly power for themselves.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN SARSANG RESERVOIR DAM THREATENS TO BURST

E&T magazine
June 11 2013

The dilapidated Sarsang Reservoir in Armenia-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
territory poses an immediate threat to lives of 400,000 people,
a conference in Vienna has heard.

The 125m-high dam, that holds back a 12km long lake, was built under
Azerbaijani authority in 1976. However, it hasn’t been given essential
maintenance since the Armenian occupation started two decades ago
and is now, according to local engineers and hydrologists, in an
’emergency condition’ prone to structural failure or malicious attack.

“Sarsang reservoir has currently become a serious source of threat,”
said Azerbaijan MP Elkhan Suleymanov at a conference in Vienna entitled
The Geopolitics of Azerbaijan and European Energy Security.

“Obviously, any accident will result in both ecological crisis and
mass casualties of civilians and humanitarian crisis.”

According to Italy’s former vice-minister of trade and industry
Adolfo Urso, the situation bears certain resemblance to that of the
Vajont Dam, some 100km north of Venice, Italy, which resulted in a
terrible disaster in 1963 after the dam over-topped, killing more
than 2,000 people.

“With insufficient maintenance and repairs it will become a threat
to mankind and the international community must turn its attention
to these problems,” Urso said.

The situation is further complicated by the ongoing aggression of
Armenia who, despite resolutions of the UN, the Council of Europe
and the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
continues to occupy 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory.

During the conference, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev
spoke also about the pending decision that a consortium of energy
companies will have to make in the near future regarding which one
of the two proposed pipelines will be built to bring natural gas to
Europe from the Shah Deniz II natural-gas field.

Shah Deniz, the largest natural gas field in Azerbaijan situated in
the South Caspian Sea might be connected with Europe either through
the Nabucco pipeline that is designed to run through the Balkans to
Austria or the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) via Greece and Italy.The
project now faces completion date as late as 2018.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS PREPARATIONS FOR PRESIDENTS’ MEETING

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 10, 2013 Monday 01:24 PM GMT+4

– Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said he will meet his
Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian at the end of June to discuss
preparations for the upcoming round of talks between the presidents
of both countries.

Speaking at a news briefing on Monday, Mamedyarov said the meeting
with the Armenian colleague would focus on the issues related to the
regular round of talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents
on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“I’m going to discuss with my Armenian colleague preparations for
the meeting between both presidents. Their meeting will touch on
serious issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,” the Azerbaijani
minister said.

He stressed that the upcoming meeting between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents was in the focus of Mamedyarov’s talks with the
mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group in London on June 7.

The place of the presidents’ talks has not been specified yet,
Mamedyarov added.

From: A. Papazian

PUTIN: WEST FIGHTS IN MALI SAME FORCES WHICH THEY SUPPORT IN SYRIA

Jun 12, 2013

MOSCOW, (SANA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his
country’s firm stance on the crisis in Syria, which supports the
Syrian people in determining their government’s future, taking into
consideration the rights and security of the Syrian citizens, and
then shifting into institutional changes.

In an interview with the Russian Channel network (RT), Putin stressed
that the western countries are fighting in Mali the same forces
which they are supporting in Syria, which affirmed the western
double-standards policy.

Putin said “Jabhat al-Nusra is a major component of the Syrian armed
opposition, which is blacklisted by the U.S….is this front going
to be a part of the Syrian government.”

He pointed out that Russia is concerned over the future of the ethnic
denominations in Syria, adding that Russia wants peace to prevail
in Syria.

Russian President affirmed his country’s rejection to intervene in
the Islamic sectarian conflicts, adding that Russia has good relations
with the Islamic World.

He stressed that the current developments in the Middle East concerns
his country, warning of repeating the Libyan scenario in Syria.

B. Mousa / F. Allafi

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA SHOULD TREAT WITH HUMOR SOCAR STATEMENT: POLITICAL ANALYST SAYS

YEREVAN, June 12. / ARKA /. An Armenian political analyst laughed off
today a statement by Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company (SOCAR)
that it could consider supplying gas to Armenia but only after the
restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

“If Armenia changes its position on the occupied territories, stands
for resolving the conflict peacefully, through talks and within the
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, it may be involved in regional
and global energy projects,” SOCAR said.

Speaking at a news conference, Alexander Iskandarian, head of
Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute, said that ahead of next presidential
election in Azerbaijan, scheduled for October, its government needs
to demonstrate both toughness and ability to seek compromises in
relations with Armenia, and the proposal for the supply of gas is a
trick to advertise its non-existing policy of tolerance.

However, according to Iskandarian, the proposal may not be
only an election publicity stunt but indicate also Baku’s
problems with foreign policy decision-making. -0- – See more at:

From: A. Papazian