Author: Antonian Lara

TURKEY SUFFERS FROM LOSS OF MEMORY WHILE CALLING FOR FAIR MEMORY

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 19 2009
Turkey

We have to congratulate those who have come up with the concept of
"fair memory."

These two words were meant to be uttered by Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu at a speech he was going to deliver at the historic signing
of protocols that will pave the way for the normalization of relations
between Armenian and Turkey. He could not deliver his speech because
the contents of both his and that of his Armenian colleague created
a crisis that risked delaying the signing ceremony. The crisis was
overcome by canceling the speeches. But according to the text made
available to the press, Davutoglu was going to call for the two
nations to set aside their conflict of memories and reach a fair
memory in order to find true historic facts. In other words, he was
going to call for an exercise for an objective reality of the past,
not an exaggerated or distorted one.

Whether he was the one to come up with the concept of "fair memory" or
whether it was the Foreign Ministry’s bureaucracy is not known to me.

Yet, as the head of the Turkish diplomacy, the ownership of the
concept belongs to him and to his government. Which means that the
concept of fair memory should not only be valid for the Armenian
question but for all foreign policy issues.

Fair memory on history of relations with Syria

In this respect, if we should make recourse to our memory, we should
remember that Syria, with which we enjoy "excellent relations,"
used to be one of our main enemies. That was barely 10 years ago,
not a long time span to forget about the realities. We can remember
the realities if, of course, we have "fair memory"!

Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, used
to live in Syria. We can obviously remember that, only if we do not
suffer from amnesia! PKK militants used to find safe haven in Syria.

No one is suggesting that Turkey should remain stuck in the past and
refrain from improving its relations with an old foe. On the contrary,
positive engagement – even with foes – is one of the main pillars of
Turkish foreign policy. Yet as Syria had not changed its policy of
providing a safe haven to the PKK despite Turkey’s positive engagement
policy, it was only the threat of using military force that finally led
the regime in Damascus to send Ocalan away. It was the right decision,
and the reward was increased cooperation with a NATO ally at a time
Syria when suffered isolation from Western powers.

>From the days where Turkish soldiers went to the Syrian border in
preparation for an armed conflict to the days where half a dozen
Turkish ministers crossed the Syrian border with their colleagues to
sign an agreement to abolish the visa regulation is an endeavor not
to be underestimated.

Suffering from amnesia on Israel

Yet let’s not forget how Turkey came to this point and those who have
directly or indirectly contributed to this process.

Turkey was able to threaten Syria that it would use military force
only after it gained political and economic confidence and became
self-sustaining in military and intelligence issues. One of the key
tools in the fight against terrorism is intelligence sharing. One of
Turkey’s main allies in this respect used to be (it is questionable
if it still is) Israel. It is a known secret that after Ocalan left
Syria under pressure from Ankara, Turkey was able to track him down
also thanks to the cooperation of Israeli intelligence. How else can
you explain the attacks by the PKK against Israeli diplomatic missions
in Europe after Ocalan was captured and brought back to Turkey? We
can only remember this if, of course, we are not suffering from a
loss of memory!

Turkish-Israeli cooperation on military fields have also contributed
to Turkey’s increasing military strength. This is not to say that
Israel has done all this without getting anything in return. Yet
when I recalled the contributions of Israel as far as intelligence
sharing is concerned to a member of the ruling Justice and Development
Party, or AKP, he told me that the PKK terrorism will soon end and
as Turkish intelligence is getting better and better Turkey will not
need Israel’s contribution anyway. I hope the shortsighted view of
this person who is dealing actually with foreign diplomacy is not
endorsed by the government.

No one can condone Israel’s policies. But perhaps it is the traditional
policy of positive engagement rather than contention that will convince
the Israeli government of changing its policies, which have reached
a point of committing crimes against humanity.

RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER ARMAN KIRAKOSIAN TO TAKE PART IN 21ST MEETING OF BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERS’ COUNCIL

Noyan Tapan
Oct 19, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia’s delegation will take part
in the 21st meeting of BSEC Foreign Ministers’ Council to take place
on October 22 in Baku.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
RA Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian will head Armenia’s
delegation at the meeting of Foreign Ministers’ Council.

BAKUR KARAPETYAN: AZERIS DO NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 16:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Intensive discussions of the origin of the
Azerbaijani people have been held recently in Azerbaijan, Bakur
Karapetyan head of the Shushi fund told a meeting with journalists
in Yerevan.

According to him, Armenia should not neglect this issue, because it
concerns the Nagorno-Karabakh, as well.

The situation became tense after the doctor of historical sciences
Farid Alakbarli presented his thesis, which states that the Azeris must
be called as the Turks. In return, the professor Suleiman Muradaliyev
made a contrary view, arguing that Turkism became outdated and Azeris
should be called Azeris. "I also decided to take part in this debate
and suggested my version," Mr. Karapetyan said, noting that the Azeris
are a mixture of different peoples: the Tatars, Lezghins, Udine.

"Today Azerbaijan is an artificial entity. Within a short time it is
difficult to unite and form one nation, but they are in a hurry,
because they have problems with Armenia and Karabakh, " Bakur
Karapetyan said.

Bakur Karapetyan sent an open letter to the President of Azerbaijan, in
which he made an attempt to explain the true origin of the Azerbaijani
people. He sent a similar letter to the prime minister of Turkey.

"The Turkish authorities continue to deceive their people," Mr.

Karapetyan said, adding that the Turkish people still do not know
their own history. "From the XIV century, Turkey has committed about
50 Genocides, the last was the Armenian Genocide," Mr. Karapetyan
said. According to him, Turkey wants to present itself to the
international community as the successor of the Byzantine culture,
but in fact its true homeland is Mountainous Altai.

The purpose of Ankara is turkify all the people and it is in favor
of Turkey if Azeris call themselves Turks, the expert said. "Turkey
wants to neutralize the influence of Iran and Russia in Azerbaijan,"
added Bakur Karapetyan.

AZERBAIJAN SPEAKS FOR LOCAL GAS EXPORT THOUGH GEORGIA TERRITORY

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2009 17:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan speaks for local gas export though
Georgia and Black Sea shore to European market, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev stated.

"Azerbaijan agrees with the indicated gas transportation routes,
still the matter needs to be seriously investigated," Aliyev said at
Cabinet council sitting.

According to him, currently Azerbaijan studies different transportation
routes for Azeri gas supply to world market, seeking to expand
its possibilities. "The existence of 3 oil lines expands our
possibilities," Azeri leader emphasized.

The President also noted that possibilities to lay the third gas line
from Black Sea shore should be seriously analyzed, adding that the
issue was discussed during his visit to Romania and the discussions
will be continued, Novosti Azerbaijan reported.

MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION HAS BEEN SIGNED TODAY BETWEEN ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S OVERSIGHT CHAMBER AND CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT SERVICE OF EGYPT

ARMENPRESS
Oct 19, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS: Memorandum of Cooperation has
been signed today between Armenian President’s Oversight Chamber
and Chief Administrative Oversight Service of Egypt. Before the
signing head of the President’s Oversight Chamber Hovhannes Hovsepyan
received the Egyptian delegation and with the deputy head of the
Chief Administrative Oversight Service of Egypt Yusri Abdallah Yusef
discussed issues on promoting the cooperation, ensuring legal-agreement
field.

Y. Abdullah Yusef expressed assurance that the partnership will be
beneficial for the both sides and Egypt has a lot to learn from its
Armenian partner establishment.

H. Hovsepyan on his turn noted that the Chief Administrative Oversight
Service of Egypt is a powerful establishment which differs from
the Armenian one with its authority of law enforcement body which
directly deals with fighting against corruption. Besides, the Egyptian
service has an excellent study center which cooperates with relevant
establishments of 24 countries and is a serious platform for studying
experience.

During the five-day visit members of the Egyptian delegation will
meet with governors of Tavush and Aragatsotn provinces, will visit
sightseeing of the two provinces, historic cultural monuments, will
pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide in
Tsitsernakaberd memorial.

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
October 12, 2009 Monday

YEREVAN THANKS MOSCOW FOR AIDING TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has thanked Russia for facilitating
his countrys rapprochement with Turkey. He said in a meeting with his
Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in Gorki, near Moscow, on Monday
that I would like to thank the Russian leadership, and you, in
particular, for your support to the development of our relations with
the Republic of Turkey. The fact that the Russian foreign minister was
present at the ceremony of signing protocols in Zurich on October 10
was another example of Russias paying attention to the security of the
South Caucasus, Sarkisian said. Armenia and Turkey have been at odds
for decades due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and
Yerevans claims on the World War I-era genocide. On August 31, Ankara
and Yerevan agreed to start domestic consultations on forging
diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations. On Saturday, two
protocols — which ultimately seek to open the Turkish-Armenian border
— were signed. The parliaments of Armenia and Turkey need to ratify
the documents for them to be valid. The Armenian leader is visiting
Russia on his counterparts invitation. The two presidents talks are
said to be focusing on economic and military cooperation and the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.

OUT-OF-SERVICE ENTERPRISES WERE LIQUIDATED

NKR Government Information and Public Relations Department
October 13, 2009

At the NKR Government Session

Today, a regular session of the NKR Government, which was conducted
by the Prime Minister Ara Haroutynyan has taken place.

A number of agenda issues were dedicated to new law projects. The
Executive has gave approval to the NKR law projects "On Firm Names" and
"On General Education", proposed changes and additions to the NKR laws
"On Social Maintenance Cards", "On State Pensions", "On Licensing",
"On State Duty", and "On NKR Administrative Territorial Division". The
legislative beginnings will be submitted to the discussion of the
NKR NA.

The other group of the discussed issues concerned the economic sphere.

The Government affirmed the regulations concerning mineral waters,
by which technical demands for its safety; production, processing,
and packing were defined. The Ministry of Healthcare was charged
with a task to submit to the affirmation of the Government the list
of mineral waters and sources of raw materials and springs.

The started economic process directly concerns the future destiny
of the mentioned enterprise. The Executive resolved to liquidate
the electro technical plant of Stepanakert retaining its accounts
receivable and rights for other demands to the NKR Ministry of
Finance. Similar decision was made in concern with "Metax" CJSC
as well. While introducing the issue, the Minister of Economic
Development B. Babayan noted that the mentioned enterprises execute
nearly no economic activity; therefore it is expedient to liquidate
them. The Prime Minister A.Haroutyunyan charged the Minister with a
task to make appropriate steps for purposeful usage of the property
and the territory of these enterprises and to provide investments
for new economic activities.

At the session, the Minister of Economic Development B. Babayan came
out with account on the existent state in the sphere of stock-taking
and management of the state property. He noted that a corresponding
division had been already founded in the ministry, a centralized
system and data collection base is functioning, and corresponding
legal acts were adopted.

At present 641 buildings and constructions are included in general
stock-taking, though there are a lot of buildings out of registration,
the minister emphasized. B. Babayan came forward with proposals, which
were assigned to competent structures as governmental instructions. The
Prime Minister charged the Minister with a task to submit an account
on executed activities quarterly.

The Executive has introduced amendments and additions into the
Government decree N2 "On State Pensions" dated January 3, 2004,
for securing implementation of the law. In particular, wemen having
at least 35 years of insurance length of service are allowed to be
granted pension one year sooner.

The Executive affirmed the order of the students’ passing from one
higher educational institution to another. According to the new order
the passing is conducted by approbation of the two rectors. The
students studying at the target places are prohibited to change
specialty.

By proposal of K.Petrosyan, the Head of Industrial Infrastructures
adjunct to the NKR Government, the Executive introduced an amendment
into the government decree N449, dated June 20, 2008, according to
which the tender on technical inspection licensing will take place
even in case of only one application submission.

By the last agenda issue the Executive introduced a change in
the temporary scheme of land use of the Hadrout region’s rural
community. 0.5 hectares of pasture being the community property
of agricultural significance were transfered into the category of
productive meaning.

VIVACELL-MTS PRESENTS ITS CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT THE EDUCATION AND CAREER EXPO 2009

ArmInfo
2009-10-15 11:51:00

ArmInfo. Today VivaCell-MTS presented its Career Development
Program at the Education and Career Expo 2009 hosted by Logos Expo
Center, held at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex, then
Company press service reports. ‘As a major supporter of the event,
VivaCell-MTS provided valuable information to describe the Company’s
Career Development Program.

VivaCell-MTS’ Human Resources strategy is in line with the
Company’s mission and objectives as a Responsible Corporate Citizen
of Armenia. Interpersonal relations and development is a primary
focus of the Human Resources policy, especially for a family of 1200
professionals.

A system of corporate values, known as the VivaCell-MTS Core
Values, was developed and put into use by the Company, to be shared
and followed by all employees. These values integrate everyone
from all strata and levels, and include the following: Employee,
Transparency, Ownership, Client-Oriented, Respect, Result-Oriented
and Teamwork. "The adoption of our Core Values marked an important
milestone for VivaCell-MTS.

It opened doors to a new and higher level of organizational
development.

These are objectives for which we strive and not just an end in
itself. As a family, we are committed to these values and it’s what
makes us accountable toward both internal and external stakeholders",
said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

There are four directions under the Career Development Program:
Internship for students, the VivaCell- MTS Seasonal School, Open
Doors, and Guest Lectures or courses provided by VivaCell-MTS staff
to academic institutions. The VivaCell-MTS Seasonal School is of
vocational nature intended to support students in enhancing their
professional education through training programs delivered by highly
qualified VivaCell-MTS employees. Each school session is devoted
to very specific professional areas and provides applicants with
opportunities to advance in their professional skills. VivaCell-MTS
is one of those few companies where the people with special needs are
given fair and equal opportunity for careers. To date, there are over
30 people with special needs working with the Company.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER OF ARMENIA APPLIES TO COURT TO OBTAIN INFORMATION FROM ANC

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2009 19:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On October 15, at 12:00 p.m. Kentron and Nork
Marash regular court will hold a legal trial at the suit of Freedom
of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) against Armenian National
Congress.

On June 26, 2009 FOICA applied to court demanding to oblige ANC to
provide information requested on 2008 financial report as well as
sources for donations, exceeding hundredfold minimal salary.

To receive the information above, FOICA addressed ANC Leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan in April 2009, yet the request was not answered, FOICA
press service reported.

THE STATEMENT OF THE "NEW TIMES" PARTY

-jamanakner
04:00 pm | October 13, 2009

Politics

Statement

On October 10, 2009 the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey
signed clearly anti-Armenian Protocols. The signing ceremony took
place after a three-hour delay and the explanations for this delay
clearly show that the protocols are a result of serious pressure and
they include the three preconditions set forth by Turkey in 1993,
that is, the territorial integrity of Turkey and Azerbaijan, an end
to the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide
and a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict favoring Azerbaijan.

The protests in Armenia and the Diaspora proved that Armenians are
against the anti-Armenian protocols and go to show our nation’s
resoluteness to confront all current and future challenges as a nation.

Reaffirming the fact that imposing the anti-national protocols on
the Armenian nation is the effect of the anti-national legislative
and executive administration’s actions, the "New Times" party states
the following:

In the current stage, Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora must do
everything possible to not ratify these humiliating documents and put
an end to the subsequent attempt of world powers to turn Armenia and
all Armenians into a sacrifice

The processes taking place in the Republic of Armenia are very similar
to the logic of the destructive steps that were taken in Serbia and it
is definite that this clan-oligarch regime must be removed as soon as
possible. This can become a reality through the combined efforts of
different layers of society and as a result of the unified struggle
of political parties.

Starting on October 10, 2009, Armenians around the world must perceive
that only relying on themselves will they be able to confront the
challenges to be faced. We remind all world powers that the Armenian
nation has a history spanning 5,000 years, has survived in worse
conditions, has experienced genocide, has continued to shape the
Homeland and is now struggling for a Dignified and Fair Future.

"New Times" Political Party Board