Author: Babajanian Karo

TAX COLLECTION IN ARMENIA SHOULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY ENHANCED IN 2012, PM SAYS

Mediamax
Sept 8 2011
Armenia

Photo Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
assigned the ministers today to provide the Finance Minister with
data on tax bases of the spheres they are responsible for.

The Prime Minster said that “we should undertake the task of enhancing
tax collection in 2012”, Mediamax reports.

“We should realize that this isn’t only the function of the
State Revenue Committee. All the government members should bear
responsibility for tax collection”, said the Prime Minister.

Tigran Sargsyan noted that first of all, he is interested in the
analysis of energy sector as there are growth forecasts in this
sphere. Construction is the second sphere, transport and communication
is the third and health care is the fourth sphere.

ACA ACCUSES U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT OF UNFAIR STAND ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 10, 2011 – 12:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On behalf of the Armenian Council of America
(ACA) and Armenian Americans throughout the nation, the ACA expressed
indignation over the fact that the U.S. State Department, while having
information on important documents on the Armenian Genocide being
destroyed in the Turkish archives, encouraged the Republics of Armenia
and Turkey to engage in the Armenian-Turkish Protocols which included a
provision “implementing a dialogue on the historical dimension with the
aim to restore historical confidence between the two nations, including
an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and
archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations.”

“As Americans, we expected the U.S. State Department, our
representative in the international community, to be an impartial and
an honest broker in order to foster harmony and good-will between
Armenia and Turkey. Yet, through diplomatic cables disclosed by
Wikileaks, reveal that the State Department completely aware that
Turkish archives containing important documents related to the Armenian
Genocide had been purged by Turkish officials, continued the facade
that the Protocols are a right step towards bilateral relations,”
Sevak Khatchadorian, Board Member Armenian Council of America, said
in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Peace and cooperation are components to the region’s prosperity,
and the Armenian Council of America is willing to work towards that
endeavor, however, these important elements cannot be achieved at
the cost of a historical accuracy.

“Distorting the Armenian Genocide in favor of international or
domestic political and economic gain is counterintuitive to progress
and creates a precedent for allowing future genocides and human rights
violations to occur.

“Madame Secretary, we urge you to correct your Department’s stance
on the Armenian Genocide. Genocide is not an acceptable crime and
genocide denial in the 21st century is unfathomable. We also request
your Department to engage the government of Turkey in persuading
them to stop denying the Armenian Genocide and to acknowledge their
historical past,” he said.

ARAVOT: CO-RAPPORTEURS SHOULD ASK PARENTS OF THOSE KILLED

Tert.am
11:38 ~U 10.09.11

The paper’s editor writes in an editorial that the chapter of the 1-2
March 2008 events can be considered closed only when the perpetrators
are revealed and punished.

“I don’t know the logics the PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia and the
Monitoring Commission are lead by, but the only logic acceptable for
me is the following: A crime was committed on 1 March 2008; people
were killed. The chapter of this and other crimes can be considered
closed only when it is revealed and the verdicts for the perpetrators
enter into force. All the rest is idle talk,” read the editorial.

Further, the editor says that the chapter of the 1-2 March 2008 events
can be considered closed not in Strasburg, but rather in the court
of law.

The co-rapporteurs should during their next visit to Armenia ask the
parents of those killed what they are interested in the March 1 case.

TURKEY SHOULDN’T FOLLOW TENSION-CREATING POLICIES, SAYS IRANIAN OFFICIAL

Tert.am
10:02 ~U 10.09.11

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has said that
Iran expects Turkey and other neighboring countries not to take
measures that would help advance policies that would create tension
in the region.

Mehmanparast made the remarks on Thursday in reference to the fact
that Turkey has agreed to host an early warning radar as part of
Nato’s missile defense system, which is ostensibly meant to counter
an alleged ballistic missile threat from Iran.

“We believe that the deployment of part of Nato’s missile defense
system in Turkey will not contribute to stability and security in
the region or even security in the host country,” he stated.

Mehmanparast added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the
expansion of Nato’s presence in the region is itself a source of
insecurity, which would help the West extend its domination and push
ahead with its colonialist policies.”

“Therefore, friendly and neighboring countries are expected to exercise
more vigilance and take the security interests of the region into
consideration and not to pave the way for the implementation of such
tension-creating policies, which will have complicated consequences,”
he said.

Iran has always emphasized that the adoption of military approaches
must be avoided, and it condemns any action that would lead to
militarization and a global arms race, Mehmanparast stated.

SAAKAHVILI WOULDN’T DO ANYTHING STUPID – ALIYEV

Tert.am
13:43 ~U 10.09.11

A recent WikiLeaks report disclosing a diplomatic cable from the
US Embassy in Baku refers to a conversation between US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

At a meeting back in 2007, the Azerbaijani leader and the US diplomat
discussed, among other things, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
relations among the neighboring countries in the South Caucasus region.

According to the cable published Friday by Azeri Report, Aliyev told
Fried that he was concerned by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
potential for religious extremism in Azerbaijan.

He further said that Azerbaijan would continue to be a staunch friend
of Georgia in the face of increasing Russian provocations.

“Russia has Armenia, we have Georgia,” Aliyev had said.

Although Saakashvili sometimes “talks stupidly,” he wouldn’t do
anything stupid,” he was further quoted as saying.

As for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Fried calmed the Azeri president
down, informing him of a meeting with Armenia’s then foreign minister,
Vardan Oskanyan, who reportedly told him that [Armenia’s then President
Robert] Kocharian ” freezes up whenever an agreement is close”.

They further addressed the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations and Turkey’s
position on Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan conflict.

“Turkey strongly supports Azerbaijan, and if there were progress in
N-K, it would “unlock Turkey’s ability to play a larger role, which
would in turn give Azerbaijan more freedom of action,” reads the cable.

It further says that Turkey would be much freer in its relations with
Armenia which would strengthen Turkey’s strategic importance and also
help “kill the Armenian resolution” (HR 106) once and for all.”

“If Armenia “comes out of its shell,” it would be good for everyone in
the region. The good news is that as far as N-K is concerned, Russia
“is not acting as a spoiler,” the document says.

LE MAGAZINE ” POLKA ” CONSACRE UN DOSSIER SUR ARA GULER
Krikor [email protected]

armenews.com
samedi 10 septembre 2011

Le magazine de photojournalisme ” Polka ” dans son numero de septembre
(n°14) consacre un dossier sur le photographe armenien de Turquie Ara
Guler ainsi qu’un autre dossier intitule ” Turquie, terre promise ”
et sous-titre Christ s’est arrete a Sainte Sophie “. ” On l’appelle
” le Cartier Bresson turc ” ” ecrit ” Polka ” au sujet d’Ara Guler et
d’ajouter ” tous les photographes viennent le saluer quad ils passent
par Istanbul. La-bas, Ara Guler est une star. Meme un cafe porte son
nom ! “. Goksin Sipahioglu, fondateur de Sipa, dit de lui ” Ara est
l’~il d’Istanbul “. G. Sipahioglu ajoute ” avant d’etre photographe,
Ara voulait etre dramaturge ou cineaste. Il avait ecrit six ou sept
pièces de theâtre, il etait très doue. C’est un Armenien ne a Istanbul,
qui parle très bien le turc. Il est aime partout en Turquie.

Des Armeniens, il ne parle jamais. On sait qu’il est armenien. Il en
est fier, comme Sinan, le fameux architecte, mais il n’en dit rien. On
ne peut pas discuter de religion ou d’autres sujets serieux avec lui.

Il n’aborde jamais ces thèmes-la ou plutôt il ne va jamais loin. En
cela, il est très turc… “. (NDLR evoquer son origine armenienne en
Turquie, n’est pas a priori une attitude “turque”…).

Dans un autre article sur ” Turquie, terre promise ” signe par
Jean Viard, ce dernier plaide pour une integration de la Turquie en
Europe tout en mettant la reconnaissance du genocide armenien parmi
les conditions de cette adhesion. Il ecrit ” Le XXe siècle achève le
demembrement de l’Empire ottoman. Dès 1913, les Jeunes-Turcs (Comite
Union et Progrès) arrivent au pouvoir. Leur volonte de relever
l’empire les entraine en 1914 dans l’alliance avec l’Allemagne
et l’Autriche-Hongrie. En 1915, des deportations de masse et des
massacres font plus d’un million de victimes chez les Armeniens. Ce
sera le premier genocide du XXe siècle, que la Turquie peine toujours
a reconnaître (…) la reconnaissance du genocide armenien comme la
paix a Chypre sont certes indispensables a l’entree de la Turquie
dans l’Union “.

Magazine ” Polka ” (n°14) 5~@ disponible auprès de tous les marchands
de journaux et maisons de presse.

EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE IMPORTANT FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ARMENIA – PRESIDENT

news.am, Armenia
Sept 9 2011

YEREVAN. – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Friday met with
“Investment in Higher Education” international conference delegation
participants. The conference held on Thursday and Friday within the
frameworks of Bologna process under co-chairmanship of Armenia and
Poland, president’s press service informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The president welcomed the participants and stated that the conference
goals are very important and up-to-date for Armenia.

“We consider the process as one of possible paths to become closer to
Europe,” the president said and added that Armenia makes improvements
in the education system since 2005 to correspond it to European
criteria.

Armenian government has undertaken a process aiming to improve
investments in higher educational system, and to increase the quality,
equality, availability and effectiveness of education. European
experience application is important in the sphere.

Armenian Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan presented the
outcome of two-day conference. Conference participants praised the
high level of the discussions. They evaluated improvements launched
in higher educational system and expressed readiness to cooperate
not only within the Bologna process, but also to continue bilateral
cooperation with Armenia.

The president believes that the conference will be fruitful not only
for Armenia but also for the states participating in the conference.

IT’S GOOD THERE WASN’T A KNOCKOUT, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SAY OPPONENT IS WEAK – VIC DARCHINYAN

news.am, Armenia
Sept 9 2011

YEREVAN – The feedback on the fight with South African boxer Evans
Mbamba is positive among the International Boxing Federation (IBF)
and the promoters, and professional boxing bouts could be organized
in Armenia again, Armenian world boxing champion Vic Darchinyan said
at a press conference today.

“I am very happy that the fight was in the motherland. This objective
had long existed, but the IBF was not giving permission. The country’s
president helped organize the fight. The IBF had reservations that
the fight could not be organized, but when they learned that the
president would be on hand, they agreed to hold the world championship
in Yerevan,” Darchinyan stated. Assessing Evans Mbamba’s fight, Vic
Darchinyan noted that his opponent was very well prepared. “We had
asked the IBF to select the best contender and that is what they did.

I wanted a knockout so much and that is why I was a bit tense. But it
is good there wasn’t a knockout; otherwise they could have declared
my opponent weak,” Darchinyan argued.

Speaking about the financial side of organizing and holding a boxing
match in Yerevan, Vic Darchinyan emphasized that he spent more than
he received. He also thanked the sponsors and stressed that this
professional fight night in Yerevan could not have taken place without
their help. In terms of his future plans, Darchinyan informed he did
not intend on ending his career yet and said his next fight will be in
December. He added that he definitely wished to fight Arsenio Moreno
and Nonito Donaire.

ISRAELI MEDIA: FOREIGN MINISTER AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN TO OFFER ISRAEL’S SUPPORT TO US ARMENIA LOBBY FOR RECOGNITION OF “ARMENIAN GENOCIDE”

Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2011

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed to develop
measures to counter Turkey in the international arena, among them is
the Israeli-Armenian rapprochement, Mediamax agency reported.

The Lieberman’s plan aimed at Israeli-Armenian rapprochement first
of all through the recognition of so-called “Armenian genocide”,
Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said. “During visit to U.S. this
month Israeli Foreign Minister is expected to meet with leaders of the
Armenian lobby. It is expected that he would offer them cooperation
against the Turks in Congress. This could mean Israel intends to
support the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide”,
reads the article published by the newspaper.

In their recent interviews to Mediamax, Israeli deputy foreign minister
Danny Ayalon and Israeli ambassador Shmuel Meirom stressed that Israel
never denied the “tragic events” and “mass murder” of Armenians during
the World War I, however, this issue has become political and Israel
doesn’t wish to become a party to the confrontation between Armenia
and Turkey on this important issue.”

‘DOORS OPEN TO ALL WHO ARE EAGER TO ASSIST IN KARABAKH CONFLICT’

news.az, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2011

‘We praise everyone who wants to bring his positive contribution to
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict’.

However, we are well aware of the real, true stance and activity of
all states concerned with this issue.

The statement has come from the international relations department
chief of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov.

He was speaking about the repeated efforts of Iran to get involved
in the process of Karabakh conflict settlement through dialogue.

‘However, today its official representation in the process is
impossible, as envisaged by the Minsk Group statue, created within
the OSCE. But it does not mean that any who wants to assist in this
process won’t be of any help. Doors are open to all who are eager to
assist’, the official said.