Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIA-PRODUCED MIRRORS ON LARGEST EVER BUILT CHERENKOV TELESCOPE
By Anahit Sargsyan

November 26, 2012 | 00:05

YEREVAN.- The largest ever built Cherenkov telescope has 875 hexagonal
mirror facets each of them having a stamp with “Armenia” inscription
on it.

The largest H.E.S.S. II telescope with an area of 600 square meters
started operation in Namibia in September 2012. Together with
other four 12-meter telescopes already in operation since 2004,
the observatory will continue studying cosmic sources. The High
Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) observatory is operated by the
collaboration of scientists from 12 different countries, including
Yerevan Physics Institute.

General view of H.E.S.S.II telescope

Official inauguration of the first H.E.S.S. II telescope was held
on September 28, 2012. The mirror facets for a telescope as tall as
20-storey building were produced by Galaktika CJSC (Garni) which is
a part of physics and astrophysics department at the National Academy
of Sciences of Armenia.

The company has been cooperating with Germany-based Max Planck
Institute for Nuclear Physics since 2002, Galaktika CJSC Director
Ara Mirzoyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Armenia won the tender and
was selected as a producer of mirrors for the world’s largest H.E.S.S
II telescope.

Opening ceremony in the reflection

Since Cherenkov telescopes are installed without a dome, the
requirements for mirrors are very strict. The product was to be
adopted by Germany and metrology should be carried out in Germany
as well. Therefore, Galaktika has developed a device to measure the
mirror reflectance which has no analogue in the post-Soviet area.

General view of Cherenkov observatory in Namibia

It was rather difficult to find skilled manual workers but they
worked hard to deliver the orders in time. They managed to meet the
requirements and deliver 900 mirrors within specified schedule.

“During the opening ceremony in Namibia it was noted German side is
proud of the team working for the project. It is a great honor and
we are really proud,” Mirzoyan said.

Mirror reflectance measuring device designed by Galaktika CJSC

The scientists faced certain difficulties in the course of their work
but the most important is to achieve result.

“We were honored to hear high praise by Werner Hofmann, the Director
of Max Planck Institute,” Mirzoyan added.

The first images from H.E.S.S.II were received on July 26 before the
official opening. At the moment the data is being studied and the
project is declared successful.

Mirror polishing

Ara Mirzoyan said each member state paid about 1 million euro for
participation in H.E.S.S. collaboration.

“Under the decision of the Armenian government, Yerevan Physics
Institute produced 200 additional mirrors for Germany as a contribution
to the project. In addition to the Institute, the National Academy
of Sciences is also a full member of H.E.S.S.

collaboration,” the scientist explained.

Each mirror has a serial number and ‘Armenia’ stamp

Mirzoyan and his team plans to continue their efforts and participate
in the next tender invited for a larger project called The Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) which is estimated at 200 million euro. The goal
of the project is to build two observatories with 100 small telescopes.

Each mirror was packed in a separate container for safe transportation

“While producing mirrors for H.E.S.S. project, we increased our
production capacity. We hope to win the next tender as well. We
produced 900 mirrors in nearly two years. To date, nobody in the
world has such a production rate,” he added.

Mirzoyan expressed great appreciation to the team members, the
people whose work gives an opportunity to see “Armenia” inscription
on 875 mirrors.

You can see ‘Armenia’ inscription 875 times on H.E.S.S.II

BAKO SAHAKYAN CONVOKED A CONSULTATION DEDICATED TO A NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL ISSUES

17:35, 27 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. On 27 November Artsakh Republic
President Bako Sahakyan convoked a working consultation on issues
related to estimated pure income of agricultural of lands.

The Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh
Republic President informed “Armenpress” the Head of the State
Committee of Real Estate and Cadastre under the NKR Cabinet of
Ministers Karlen Petrosyan and NKR minister of agriculture Andranik
Khachatryan delivered corresponding reports.

President Bako Sahakyan emphasized the need for proper implementation
of the process, noting its importance for agricultural development,
stimulation of land users, preservation and improvement of lands.

Prime-minister Ara Haroutunyan and other officials partook at the
consultation.

AGAINST HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN’S RELATIVE POACHER

Story from Lragir.am News:

16:18 27/11/2012

On November 27, the Armenian office of Caucasus Nature Fund and
WWF announced suspension of their cooperation with Khosrov reserve
until the results of the competitive selection for the office of the
director of the reserve announced by the ministry of nature protection
are voided.

The national coordinator of the Caucasus Nature Fund Arman Vermishyan
and director of the Armenian office of WWF Karen Manvelyan expressed
dissatisfaction with the results of the competition, saying that they
stop their activities in respect to Khosrov reserve because the winner
does not meet to the requirements for this office.

As we know, Gabriel Poghosyan of Artashat has been selected who
is known by the nickname Nono and is a protege of NA Speaker Hovik
Abrahamyan. Hovik Abrahamyan was rumored to be interested in Nono’s
selection for the position.

By the way, earlier the press had reported about Hovik Abrahamyan’s
intentions to build a hotel and a restaurant in the reserve.

“0.5 million USD has been so far invested in the Khosrov reserve by
the fund. After so much money has been spent, there are people who
think they can just come and take everything,” said Karen Manvelyan.

Arman Vermishyan noted that their organization has spent money for
the preservation of the reserve and they want to see some progress and
not a new director who does not meet the requirements for this office.

Note that the environmental organizations have spent several hundred
thousands of euro within different projects. They suspend these
projects until a new competition for the post of director is announced.

By the way, Nono is a famous poacher in Artashat. Fires in the reserve
are associated with his name.

ARMENIAN TRUCKS QUEUED IN GEORGIA’S SADAKHLO BORDER CHECKPOINT

tert.am
27.11.12

Armenian trucks are standing in line at Georgia’s Sadakhlo border
checkpoint from early morning today.

Georgian customs officials have forwarded new demands to the Armenian
drivers in connection with Armenian cargo’s weight.

Makar Arakelyan, director of Sati cargo transporting company, told
Tert.am the restrictions refer to the cargos going out of Armenia.

“There is an issue of weight difference. They seem not to agree…the
document registering the weight has given a small difference with
their scales,” Arakelyan, who is also the chairman of the Cargo
Delivery Union, said.

Arakelyan said the Georgian customs officials demand paying about
2,000 lari ($1,200) fine.

“It seems to be a new decision,” the chairman of the Union said,
adding that the issue has raised today as other trucks passed without
problems yesterday, the day before.

Georgia is a transit country for these cargos with fruits and
vegetables mainly being transported to Russia.

Asked whether it is the attitude of the new Georgian authorities and
whether it may harm the local production, Makar Arakelyan said it
is difficult to judge by one day, adding that he cannot say anything
till he gets clear information. He promised to give new information
later today.

RUSSIA DELIVERS MI-171 MULTIROLE HELICOPTER TO INDONESIA

November 27, 2012 – 16:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia has delivered the first Mi-171 multirole
helicopter to Indonesia, Russian Helicopters holding announced on
Tuesday, Nov 27, according to RIA Novosti.

In October an Indonesian mining company bought a civilian Mi-171
helicopter manufactured by the Ulan-Ude aircraft plant, said Russian
Helicopters spokesman Roman Kirillov.

The helicopter is equipped with modern piloting and navigation systems
that meet international safety standards, he added. Indonesia is
currently considering buying several Russian-made civilian helicopters,
he said.

Russian experts see the Asia-Pacific region as a key market for
helicopters and related equipment.

“A total of over 1,200 Russian-manufactured helicopters are registered
in countries across the region, including more than 700 Mi-8/17s,”
Kirillov said.

Indonesia currently has about 20 such helicopters but in their military
modification, he added.

THE INTEREST TOWARDS IT INDUSTRY INCREASES SUBSTANTIALLY IN ARMENIA

10:25, 27 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS: The Information Technology
Industry interest has grown in 2012. As the Director of Enterprises
of the Information Technologies Karen Vardanyan reports “Armenpress”
people’s interest towards the activities conducted by their Union is
the vivid proof of that. Karen Vardanyan mentioned: “It is obvious,
that the interest towards the Information Technology increases in
Armenia. As an example, I can say that in the “Digitech” Information
Technologies exhibition we had 24.000 visitors, but the number of
visitors in 2011 was 17 thousand in 2012.” The Union plans to bring the
number of visitors to 30 thousand, while the number of participating
companies to 150.

The head of the Union also mentioned that they will participate in
the event dedicated to IT Information Technologies in Hanover City of
Germany in April of the next year. The Union of Information Technology
Enterprises also initiated to implement a number of measures uniting
information and non-information public.

As the Director of the Enterprises Incubator Foundation Bagrat
Yengibaryan says according to preliminary research the interest
towards the Information technologies increase by 25 percent and the
final research data will be in December.

US EMBASSY: AMBASSADOR MORNINGSTAR’S MESSAGE WAS COMPLETELY DISTORTED BY AZERBAIJANI STATE MEDIA

WASHINGTON, D.C. November 23, 2012. The reports by the Azerbaijani
official state media about the US Ambassador Richard Morningstar’s
comments during his trip to the Nakhchivan region not only were
untrue, but they completely distorted the message and purpose of the
Ambassador’s trip. That is according to the information from the US
Embassy in Baku that has been communicated to Azeri Report.

The source at the Embassy drew attention to the Embassy’s press-release
issued on Wednesday Nov 21 that refuted the official Azerbaijani
media reports about Ambassador Morningstar praising the development of
democracy in Nakhchivan. He did not make any such comments to anyone
and stating so is the obvious distortion of the Ambassador’s message
during his trip, according to the source. Quite contrary to praising
the current state of affairs regarding democracy, his meeting with
the journalist Malahat Nasibova was intended as a show of support
for human rights defenders as her, who are the outspoken critics of
the authorities’ record on democracy.

As was previously reported, both Azerbaijan’s central and the region’s
local official news agencies published stories on Nov 5 claiming that
the US Ambassador praised the democratic development in Azerbaijan’s
Nakhchivan region during his trip there. This became a subject of
controversy, since Azerbaijan is well-known for its very poor record
on human rights and democracy and Nakhchivan ranks even worse than
the rest of the country.

In his comments to Azeri Report on this issue, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski,
the chairman of the US-based Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) said: “I am glad that the US Embassy issued a refutation. It
is outrageous that the Azerbaijani official state media wrongly
attributes such statements to a US Ambassador. I do not see how a
distortion of this magnitude can be an honest mistake on the part
of the government media. The Aliyev regime is well-known for its
uncivilized propaganda tactics, and now they seem to use the US
Ambassador’s name in their campaign.”

“Not only it is against any diplomatic norms and journalistic ethics,
but it can be very damaging to America’s reputation and moral
standing. A swift and clear condemnation of such attempts from the
US government is required to prevent these incidents”, added Mr.

Chakhtakhtinski.

In a further development, the Azerbaijan’s State Telegraph Agency,
AzerTac (similar to Russia’s state news agency ITAR-TASS), seems
to have removed today its news report mentioning the US Ambassador
praising “development of democracy” in Nakhchivan. The link to that
news report on AzerTac’s English language site now comes back with
“Page Not Found” message. It can be seen as the Azerbaijani side
starting to back down from its news story.

As of today, Nakhchivan’s official state news portal still has the
story on its Azeri-language site. Two other pro-government sites, the
Azerbaijani online news agency Today.az and the recently established
Washington, DC based Azerbaijani-American Alliance also still have
the same story on their websites in English language, with today.az
referencing AzerTac as the original source (Azeri Report).

RPA REP. DEEMS NON-ATTENDANCE AT NA MEETING POLITICAL TRICK

November 27, 2012 – 20:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Any parliamentary group has the right to apply
political tricks, member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
said.

Asked if the Armenian National Congress (ANC) opposition bloc has legal
ground to address the Constitutional Court, Hamlet Harutyunyan noted
non-attendance of the parliamentary majority at ANC- initiated meeting
as a political trick, deeming it common in other parliaments, too.

The MP further said that the opposition had repeatedly boycotted the
parliamentary meetings, stressing the need for the Constitutional
Court answer the question.

CHAIRMAN OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT: “PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS DEPENDS ON THE ELIMINATION OF OCCUPATION OF AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIES BY ARMENIA”

APA
Nov 26 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ramil Mammadli – APA. “Turkey and Azerbaijan are friendly and
fraternal countries.

Turkey is cooperating with Azerbaijan in all spheres and doing its
best to enhance it. Azerbaijan is the most important country of the
Caucasus. The development of Turkey-Azerbaijan relations may have
a great role in the establishment of peace and stability in the
Caucasus,” chairman of Turkish Grand National Assembly Cemil Cicek
told journalists in Baku, APA reports.

Asked whether the Turkish parliament is going to pass a law on Karabakh
problem and KHpjaly genocide, Cemil Cicek said:

“Caucasus, including Karabakh problem is in one of the major places
in Turkey’s foreign policy. Unfortunately, 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
territories have been occupied by Armenians. Turkey is declaring this
injustice and occupation on all levels and making efforts to ensure
the return of our Azerbaijani brothers to their native lands.

Establishment of peace in the Caucasus depends on the elimination
of this unjust occupation. Turkey states this everywhere. Actually,
this is not new for us. This has been Turkey’s position since the
Azerbaijani territories were occupied,” he said.

Cemil Cicek said he will attend TurkPA event in Baku, General Assembly
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, discussions on Azerbaijan-Turkey cooperation.

ANKARA: SPINNING THE WHEEL: IS TURKEY’S FOREIGN POLICY ASTRAY?

Today’s Zaman
Nov 25 2012
Turkey

Is Turkey’s foreign policy astray? Or is it turning fragile as the days go by?

by YAVUZ BAYDAR

Tension is now spilling over into Iraq. With the decision of the
Nouri al-Maliki-led central government to deploy troops in Kirkuk
and Tuzhurmatu — the last in the midst of a disputed area — Arabs
and Kurds seem to be preparing to dig trenches for a confrontation.

With its vital dimensions such as energy and trade, it threatens to
add up to the strains on Turkey’s foreign policy. Given the nature
of the power-holders in Baghdad and the active role of Iran, the
break-up of diplomatic relations with another (fourth) neighbor is
not at all a remote possibility; it is at the doorstep.

In the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, Turkey’s “weight” in the
region was inevitably brought to the fore again. The global vote
for the “winner” went to Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s ever unpredictable
president, and not to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey, declared by many,
has been sidelined, forced to take the backseat, as a regional broker;
its tools as a soft power are already worn out.

Turkey’s foreign policy needs a powerful revision. It has to do
with its identity, priorities, execution, delegation and style. All
of these features show strains, limitations, blurs, arrhythmia and
contradictions. Because of the flaws, Turkey, once full of promises as
a leading regional power, no longer leads; it only follows. It started
to send signals as an old style state whose voice is a blend of anger,
threat, resentment and disappointment. This must be addressed.

Of course, identity has to do with priorities. What are those and how
do they match with Ankara’s compass? Not an easy question. If it has
to with the fading EU dreams, is anything seriously being done here
to revitalize it? Or is the government only showing reflexes to hide
behind the current turmoil in the EU, creating pretexts for its loss of
appetite for reforms? Impressions matter, and they are very negative.

There are three elements that stir up the content of the foreign
policy. The first has to do with the strict verticality of its
management: More than ever, its conduct is strictly ruled by the
foreign minister himself, and, more decisively, with the “final
adjustment” from the prime minister. The ministry itself — with a
vast institutional memory, qualified staff and network — seems to
have lost its appeal.

The second has to with style, now seen as the natural part of the
persona of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In almost every event, pushing
the necessary diplomatic language aside, he managed to irk and even
alienate friends and foes. This was more audible than ever during the
Gaza crisis, when he lashed out at three permanent members of the UN,
“strongly disagreed” with Obama, and showed no sign of softening on
a dialogue with Israel. His supporters in the media do him a disfavor
while applauding every such move.

Righteousness being another feature of his, Erdogan may, with a strong
sense of morale, have had all the reasons to be angry with Ehud Olmert,
Shimon Peres, Bashar al-Assad, Benjamin Netanyahu, Maliki and others,
but those outbursts only served to limit his room to maneuver, and
helped display the capacity limitations of his country’s foreign
policy drive.

The third point is perhaps the critical one. If the balance sheet
of the “zero problems with neighbors” policy under Ahmet Davutoglu
does not at all impress, it has if anything showed only how weak —
maybe unprepared as well — Ankara was in conflict resolution. In the
cases of Greece, Cyprus and Armenia it has applied the methods of
“Old Turkey,” resorting to severe conditional methods. The finesse
necessary for ending conflicts has been lost, overtaken by “hard power”
discourse, causing unnecessary suspicion among friends as well.

It will get worse in the Middle East before it gets better. With
Russia and Iran lurking behind Assad and Maliki, Turkey will have to
reconsider a longer-term path, mainly because it is energy-dependent.

Will it clearly side with the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds? Will it reopen
dialogue with Israel? Will it deepen its ties with non-Sunni elements
in Lebanon and Syria? These are only a few questions that Ankara
faces as the regional plot thickens.