Author: Babajanian Karo

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: RUSSIA SILENT ON MEETING WITH TURKISH BORDER-GUARDS

09:45 ~U 10.01.14

The Russian intelligence service refrain from commenting on Turkish
media reports about a recent meeting between Russian and Turkish
body-guards in Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, says the paper.

Sergey Grechin, a press secretary for the Border Guard Service of
Russia, whom the paper contacted for comments, has declined to
confirm or deny the report. Asked about the reason for silence,
he simply answered, “Because”, says the paper.

He reportedly said that he doesn’t think anyone in Gyumri can give
information on the meeting. But his remarks made it clear that the
two countries’ border guards nonetheless meet, says the paper.

Commenting on the report, a spokesperson for the Gyumri City Hall,
Zohrab Yeganyan, said later that he wasn’t aware of any meeting,
but he did not rule out such a possibility either, the paper adds.

“Gyumri comes under the Turkish media spotlight at times, but it
turns out later that it is disinformation,” he was quoted as telling
the paper.

SARKISIAN PROMISES BOOST TO MILITARY STRENGTH WITH ‘NEW, POWERFUL’ WEAPONS

Friday, January 10th, 2014

President Serzh Sarkisian looks on from an Armenian army post on the
border with Azerbaijan

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia will boost its military strength in the
coming years with new and powerful weapons which many other countries
do not have at their disposal, according to President Serzh Sarkisian.

Visiting Armenian army units deployed along the heavily fortified
border with Azerbaijan on New Year’s Eve, Sarkisian also expressed
confidence that a full-scale Armenian-Azerbaijani war will not break
out in 2014.

A short video released by the presidential press office through leading
Armenian TV channels showed him inspecting the army’s border posts
in northeastern Tavush province, talking to soldiers and officers
serving there and handing awards to some of them.

“One or two more years, and you will be able to proudly say that the
Armenian army possesses weapons which other states 20, 30 or 40 times
our size do not possess,” Sarkisian said as he shared a meal with
military personnel in a tent. He did not elaborate, saying only that
“any powerful weapon derives its power from its soldiers and officers.”

It was thus not clear if the arms delivery promised by Sarkisian
stems from a five-year plan to modernize the Armenian Armed Forces
that was adopted by his administration in late 2010. The plan puts
the emphasis on the acquisition of long-range precision-guided weapons.

The Armenian military is currently equipped with Scud-B and Tochka-U
ballistic missiles that have firing ranges of 300 kilometers and 120
kilometers respectively. It also reportedly purchased in 2011 Chinese
AR1A multiple-launch rocket systems with a firing range of up to 130
kilometers. The military makes no secret of its readiness to use such
weapons against Azerbaijan’s oil and gas installations in case of a
renewed war for Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Soviet-era Scud and Tochka missiles are less advanced than
Iskander-M systems which Russia reportedly deployed at its military
base in Armenia in 2013. Designated by NATO as SS-26 Stone, Iskander-M
can strike targets more than 400 kilometers away and is regarded by
military analysts as one of the most potent weapons of its kind in
the world.

A Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 commits
Moscow to helping Yerevan obtain “modern and compatible weaponry
and special military hardware.” Armenia relies heavily on this and
other security arrangements with Russia in trying to offset oil-rich
Azerbaijan’s massive military buildup.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed earlier this week that his
country has “one of the strongest armies in the world.” “Our military
might play a decisive role in a just resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict corresponding to international norms,” Aliyev said during
a cabinet meeting in Baku, according to Azerbaijani news agencies.

Sarkisian, for his part, sounded confident that Azerbaijan will
not attempt to regain control over Karabakh and Armenian-controlled
territories surrounding the disputed enclave in the months ahead.

“Rest assured that there will be no hostilities in 2014 as well,”
he told soldiers in Tavush. “I am sure about it.”

“But in order to prevent those hostilities you must stand firm,”
added the Armenian leader. “As soon as the enemy feels that you don’t
stand firm, problems would arise.”

ARTAK BARSEGHIAN APPOINTED CEO OF YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY

Friday,
January
10

Artak Barseghian was appointed CEO of Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC)
on January 1, 2014. Earlier he was CEO of Pernod Ricard Kazakhstan,
according to the press service of YBC.

Artak Barseghian was born in 1969 in Yerevan. He is a graduate of
Yerevan Institute of National Economy. He started working at YBC in
1998 and held a number of administrative positions.

Barseghian was appointed Financial and Administrative Director of
Pernod Ricard Ukraine in May 2001. Since September 2009 he headed
Pernod Ricard Kazakhstan.

TODAY, 20:24

Aysor.am

ARMENIAN FM STARTS HIS VISIT TO CUBA FROM VISITING OLD HAVANA

January 10, 2014 | 20:38

Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian started his Cuba trip from visiting Old
Havana’s historic area that was declared a Cultural Heritage Site by
UNESCO since 1984.

During his stay in Cuba, the Minister will hold official talks with his
counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, and will carry out other activities and
meetings with Cuban authorities, cadenagramonte.cu reported quoting
the island’s Foreign Ministry.

Minister Nalbandian is on a trip to Latin America. He has already
visited Peru and Panama where he held meetings with local high
ranking officials.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIANS’ ATTEMPTS TO ACHIEVE RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH AS INDEPENDENT STATE IN U.S. TO BE RAISED AT OSCE PA

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

APA, Azerbaijan
Jan 9 2014

[ 09 January 2014 14:32 ]

 Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. Armenians’ attempts to achieve the
recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state in the
states of the U.S. will be raised at the winter session of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to OSCE PA,
vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova told APA.

Muradova said that there is an agreement “to advance the negotiations
and avoid actions that will impede them” in the settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and Armenia’s recent steps are contrary to
this agreement: “We will do our best so that the OSCE PA expresses
its attitude to this issue.”

The vice-speaker also noted that at the winter session, they will
also demand to prevent the resettlement of Syrian Armenians in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

WHO WILL REPLACE VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT?

January 10, 2014 | 01:44

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission has received Speaker
Hovik Abrahamyan’s application on terminating parliamentary mandate
of MP from ARF Dashnaktsutyun Vahan Hovhannisyan.

Hermine Harutyunyan, spokesperson for the commission, told Armenian
News-NEWS.amthat the application will be considered during seven
days and the mandate will be given to the following person in the
ARF proportional list.

The next in ARF list is Aramayis Grigoryan who was appointed governor
of Ararat Region. He is followed by Mikael Manukyan, who, according to
rumors, is going to renounce mandate in favor of executive director
of Ararat Lada Karen Shahmuradyan. ARF Dashnaktsutyun press service
said that the decision had not been made.

Vahan Hovhannisyan has been appointed Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ERDOGAN COULD BECOME TURKEY’S SECOND ATATURK – ARMENIAN ANALYST

January 09, 2014 | 00:03

YEREVAN. – If Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is able to win the battle
against Fethullah Gulen, we will deal with Turkey’s second Ataturk,
or with such a figure whose influence in the country will spread onto
all domains.

Armenian capital city Yerevan State University Faculty of Oriental
Studies Deputy Dean, turkologist Ruben Melkonyan told the above-said
to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, the most recent developments in Turkey should be observed
in the context of Erdogan’s multi-vector battle policy.

“Erdogan enjoys great influence and prestige to fight against
new challenges and to achieve some success. [But] this challenge
[to Erdogan by Islamic opinion leader Gulen] is unique because the
enemies are from his own circles. This is a new test for Erdogan,
but I believe he has pretty big chances to succeed,” Melkonyan said.

On December 17, 2013, the Istanbul police arrested numerous influential
individuals, and these arrests caused many members of Erdogan’s
government to hand in their resignation.

THE COLOR OF PARAJANOV

EurasiaNet.org
Jan 9 2014

January 9, 2014 – 12:00pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Iconic filmmaker Sergo (Sergei) Parajanov – a man who in his lifetime
gained a reputation as the Soviet Union’s Fellini – would have turned
90 today. This EurasiaNet video pays tribute to Parajanov’s legacy,
which extends well beyond his native region, the South Caucasus.

An ethnic Armenian born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Parajanov is still
widely considered to be the greatest visual poet that the Caucasus has
ever produced. Relying on a cinematic style that emphasized a rich,
baroque tapestry of images and the expressive silence of his film
characters, Parajanov transgressed the cultural and artistic borders
of his time and place. While defying Soviet censors, he managed to
rise above the parochial nationalist sentiments that prevailed in
the Caucasus in his time — much like another famous cosmopolitan
Tbilisi Armenian before him, the 17th century troubadour Sayat Nova,
a figure who became an inspiration for Parajanov’s internationally
acclaimed movie, the Color of Pomegranates.

Ultimately, Communist authorities couldn’t tolerate Parajanov’s
individualist streak, and he spent several years in prison starting
in the late 1970s, convicted on what were widely seen as politically
motivated charges. The experience broke his health, and he succumbed
to cancer in 1990 at the age of 66. One can only wonder what might
have been, if he could have lived long enough to enjoy full artistic
freedom during the post-Soviet era.

Editor’s Note: Giorgi Lomsadze is a freelance journalist based in
Tbilisi. He is a frequent contributor to EurasiaNet.org’s Tamada
Tales blog.

INDONESIA MULLS PURCHASE OF RUSSIAN SU-35 FIGHTER JETS

January 8, 2014 – 16:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Indonesia is considering Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35
fighter as a replacement for its Air Force’s aging F-5 Tiger jet,
the country’s defense minister said, according to RIA Novosti.

The Su-35 is one of half a dozen options on the table, Purnomo
Yusgiantoro told a press conference.

Possible alternatives also include the American F-15 Eagle and F-16
Fighting Falcon, and the Swedish SAAB JAS 39 Gripen, said the Commander
of the Armed Forces, General Moeldoko.

The Indonesian Defense Ministry wants to buy 16 new fighter jets
between 2015 and 2020 to replace the F-5, which has been in service
for three decades, according to Air Force Chief of Staff, Ida Bagus
Putu Dunia.

Since 2003, Indonesia has purchased from Russia five Su-27SKM and 11
Su-30MK2 fighter jets. The country is also considering buying several
Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines from Russia.

WASHINGTON THREATENS UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT WITH SANCTIONS

January 08, 2014 | 17:23

US Senate approved a resolution expressing support for the Ukrainian
people, US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt wrote on Twitter.

The resolution encourages demonstrators and members of the opposition
and civil society in Ukraine to continue avoiding the use of violence
and engage in a dialogue of national reconciliation.

The Senate condemns the decision by Ukrainian authorities to use
violence against peaceful demonstrators on November 30, December 1,
and December 11, 2013, and calls for those responsible to be swiftly
brought to justice and all detained nonviolent demonstrators to be
immediately released.

It is noted that in the event of further state violence against
peaceful protestors, the President and Congress should consider
whether to apply targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset
freezes, against individuals responsible for ordering or carrying
out the violence.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am