Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIA CONTINUES PROSPECTING FOR URANIUM

news.az
Dec 9 2011
Azerbaijan

The Armenian government has said that is continuing prospecting for
uranium in response to concern from environmentalists.

“Geological work carried out by the Armenian-Russian mining company
meets the classic standards for geological prospecting,” the government
said in a statement, News.am reported.

The statement was posted on the Facebook page of the prime minister’s
assistant. This was a response to a statement from the president
of the Sustainable Development NGO, Armen Parsadyan, on PM Tigran
Sargsyan’s Facebook page demanding an end to the search for uranium.

Parsadyan said that a group had been created to coordinate the
anti-uranium movement.

The Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said a year
ago that uranium had been found in the southern Syunik Province.

ARMENIA AND DIASPORA RELATIONS SPOOFED IN MUSIC VIDEO
By Liana Aghajanian

ianyan Magazine

Dec 9 2011

Update: As of Friday, 1:30 p.m PST, the video has been taken down.

I wanna be a spyurqahay. Or do I? That’s what a just released spoof
video from the CivilNet media channel of non-profit and think tank
Civilitas Foundation tries to address. The four minute video features
an Armenian take on “Billionaire,” a hit song by American singer Bruno
Mars and Travis McCoy of alternative hip-hop Gym Class Heroes (although
he might be alternatively known for dating pop star Katy Perry).

Seated on Northern Avenue in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, a street
mocked for its monstrous, lavish and mostly empty sky-high buildings
built for Armenian Diasporans who like to vacation in the Republic
during summer, Hayk, a lonely, guitar-strutting local Armenian dreams
about becoming a spyurqahay, or one of the millions of Armenians who
compromise a world-wide diaspora, with high concentrations in Moscow
and Los Angeles, or more specifically, the city of Glendale.

The video highlights cultural differences and social norms between
Armenians in the diaspora and local residents, opening the song with
the line “I wanna be a spyurkahay so freakin’ bad, have some facial
hair I never had,” an ode to how quickly diasporan Armenians can be
spotted and singled out when in the country.

It then launches into a comedic depiction of Armenian lives abroad,
where paintings and photographs of beloved Mount Ararat hang on
every wall. Thanks to the Armo-rap styling of Narek Markarian and
Sergey Sargsyan, better known as the Armenian Comedy duo, we get an
explanation of what life as a diasporan who visits Armenia must be
like, complete with courteous hellos from taxi drivers who charge
inflated rates ($50 in this case) to unsuspecting visitors and the
perceptions that wealthy diasporans (read: all), own two to three
houses each, have opportunities to sing with Serj Tankian, of System
of a Down fame, and date perhaps the world’s most famous Armenian at
the moment, newly-single Kim Kardashian.

The video has produced a mix reaction on CivilNet’s own public
Facebook page. “That’s degrading and insulting to diasporans and
local Armenians. Civilitas will do just about anything for a few
‘likes’ these days,” writes one Facebook user, while others are
asking what the purpose of releasing such a video might be. Still,
many are finding it funny enough to share.

Meanwhile, it seems like many have already fulfilled their dreams of
becoming spyurqahays – egged on by worsening socio-economic conditions
and rising poverty levels, Armenia faces a massive emigration problem,
that is depleting the country of its population, who are seeking
better opportunities elsewhere.

RUSSIAN-US TENSIONS WILL NOT AFFECT CAUCASUS – VLADIMIR YEVSEYEV

Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 9 2011
Russia

Escalating tensions between Russia and the US would not affect
the conflicts in the South Caucasus. They are determined, firstly,
by internal regional factors, Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the
Center for Socio-Political Studies, told Vestnik Kavkaza. The expert
believes that conflicts between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, would
maintain their status quo.

Georgia approved Russian membership in the WTO in exchange for Russia
allowing it to monitor the foreign borders. There are no negative
tendencies. Russia does not need instability for the coming Winter
Olympic Games, with the hosting city of Sochi in the area. Tbilisi
would not want instability in Adjara, the expert says.

Concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Yevseyev says that it will
be determined by the ability of the sides to avoid violence. There is
a dangerous balance, with regular sniper attacks and trainings. But
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process has nothing to do with Russian-US
relations. The USA is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group. Meetings on
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem were mainly initiated by Russia. The US
president would not want unexpected decisions before the presidential
polls.

The political analyst believes that the events around Syria and
Iran may affect the Caucasus, although the US cannot interfere in the
Nagorno-Karabakh or the Georgian conflicts. The US needs to concentrate
on withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year. It may also reduce its
presence in Afghanistan.Russian-US relations suffered from Washington’s
refusal to give Moscow legal guarantees that the European missile
shield would not be a threat. The framework of the two-day meeting
of NATO foreign ministers had a session of the Russia-NATO Council,
with Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov attending it.

The key topic was cooperation on the European missile shield, where
the sides failed to reach a consensus.US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said on Thursday that US and NATO allies would not allow any
third state to veto the NATO anti-missile system. The project will
be realized and carries no threat to Russia. The missile threat does
not come from Russia, it comes from other states.

Russia confirmed readiness to defend its measures and take
counter-measures against the actions of the NATO and the US.

IN ARMENIA, SLEIMAN REITERATES CALL FOR DIALOGUE

The Daily Star

Dec 9 2011
Lebanon

BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman said that he would maintain his call
for dialogue and for implementing agreements reached by Lebanese
leaders during previous dialogue sessions, on the first day of his
official visit to Armenia.

“We will continue to call for dialogue and work to implement the
decisions of the National Dialogue Conference, improve our democratic
performance and turn to legitimate institutions to resolve any emerging
problem away from violence,” Sleiman said Thursday, addressing members
of the Lebanese community in Yerevan during a ceremony held in honor
of him and first lady Wafa Sleiman.

The president said that Lebanon was preparing for further reforms,
including drafting a new electoral law, implementing administrative
decentralization and enhancing the services sector, especially water
and electricity.

Sleiman voiced hope that Lebanon would exploit its maritime oil and
gas resources in the coming years, adding that exploration would
begin soon.

He said that Lebanon would continue to improve its national
capabilities to defend itself against any potential aggression
and continue putting pressure on Israel to implement U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to Israel’s summer 2006
war against Lebanon.

Sleiman also noted that Lebanese of Armenian origin living in Lebanon
and those in the diaspora “constitute a natural bridge of communication
between Lebanon and Armenia.”

Thousands of Armenians fled persecution by Ottoman authorities to
Lebanon during World War I and obtained Lebanese citizenship.

Sleiman acknowledged the presence of “difficulties and problems”
obstructing opportunities for communication between Lebanese
expatriates in Armenia and Lebanese at home. He also spoke of the
absence of a direct flight between the two countries and administrative
difficulties.

“Operating a direct flight between Beirut and Yerevan is still a
subject of interest and study,” he said, adding that bilateral ties
could be enhanced by intensifying visits and the inking of bilateral
agreements.

Reducing the cost of transporting goods between the two countries and
investment opportunities are significant as well, according to Sleiman.

Earlier Thursday, Sleiman and his wife toured the Matenaradan
Manuscript Museum with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Sleiman voiced hope that stability would prevail in Arab countries
that are currently witnessing upheaval.

“We and you are closely following and are concerned about the
developments that are taking place in the Arab world and in Syria,
out of our desire for the future stability of these states and the
well-being of their people, but without interfering in their internal
affairs,” he said.

Sleiman will meet Armenian officials, including President Serzh
Sarkseyan Friday.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily
Star on December 09, 2011, on page 1.

THE WORLD’S LONGEST AERIAL TRAMWAY
Nate Berg

The Atlantic Cities

Dec 8 2011

In a unique solution to a transportation concern, officials in Armenia
have built what’s being touted as the world’s longest aerial tramway.

Unlike some of the new gondola systems being built in heavily urbanized
areas in South America, this tramway connects a remote village to an
even more remote historic monastery, Tatev, one of the country’s most
visited tourist attractions, as Armenia Now reports.

Dubbed the “Wings of Tatev,” the roughly 3.5-mile route cuts
a direct path to the 9th century monastery over a dense forest
previously traversed only through winding roads. It’s estimated that
the 11-minute trip on the tramway cuts more than a half hour out of
the trip, and enables wintertime visiting when roads are impassable.

Located in the southern tip of the country, the tramway was constructed
over about 11 months at a cost of roughly $18 million.

Much of the funding was donated by a businessman toward a larger
project aimed at reviving the monastery. It’s estimated that about
20,000 people will ride the tramway each year.

By comparison, gondola and tramway systems recently built in dense
slum areas in Venezuela and Brazil are expected to carry between
15,000 and 30,000 passengers a day.

RIA Novosti reports that the Tatev tramway takes the title of
longest tramway from the 2.48-mile Sandia Peak Tramway in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. The Tatev tramway officially opened at the end of October.

AUSTRALIAN FM TO VISIT ARMENIA NEXT YEAR

news.am
Dec 7 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Tuesday, which was first day of the 18th Session of the
OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) FMs’
Council being convened in Vilnius, Lithuania, became significant by
the joint statement of the heads of delegation of Minsk Group Co-Chair
countries and FMs of Armenia and Azerbaijan, whereby the importance
of the Karabakh conflict’s peaceful resolution was reaffirmed.

On the same day, Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian attended the informal
meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) FMs,
during which the FMs discussed the next meetings of the CSTO statutory
agencies.

Edward Nalbandian also had a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian FM
Konstantin Grishchenko, during which they examined political dialogue
and reflected on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

In Vilnius, Armenia’s FM also met with his Australian colleague Kevin
Rudd. During this meeting the interlocutors explored the avenues for
expanding bilateral relations and cooperation issues, and reflected
on the regional issues in the South Caucasus. Kevin Rudd informed
that he plans to visit Armenia in the first half of 2012, MFA Press
Service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

ARMENIA AND FRANCE TO DEEPEN COOPERATION IN SECURITY AND DEFENSE

news.am
Dec 7 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian National Security Council (NSC) Secretary Arthur
Baghdasaryan, who is in France on a working visit, met with his French
colleague, Secretary General for National Defense and Security, Francis
Delon. The parties stressed that the Armenian-French friendship is
the foundation for greater collaboration, and they agreed to deepen
cooperation in the domains of security and defense.

Arthur Baghdasaryan also met with Thierry Mariani, French Secretary
of State for Transport for the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable
Development, Transport and Housing, and with Patrick Devedjian,
Hauts-de-Seine Department Council Chairman. During this meeting they
discussed the deepening of Armenian-French cooperation.

Armenia’s NSC Secretary also met with Anne-Marie Descotes, director
of the Agency for French Schools Abroad. In addition to future
deepening of cooperation in the education sphere, the interlocutors
also examined the matter of founding a French high school in Armenia,
NSC Press Service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES 2012 BUDGET PROJECT

Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 8 2011
Russia

The Armenian parliament approved the budget project for 2012 today,
ARKA reports.

The project received 66 votes for and 2 against. The Heritage Fraction
and Dashnaktsutyun did not attend the session.

The budget of 2012 will have income of 911.6 billion drams, expenses
of 1044.1 billion drams, deficit – 132.5 billion drams. 732 billion
drams is tax income.

The parliament also passed a package of bills worth about 100 billion
drams. Luxury tax will be introduced for vehicles worth over $90,000,
taxing of alcohol drinks will increase by 50%, income tax for
individuals with income of 2 million drams or more will reach 25%,
fixed casino payments will be increased by 50%.

Income will increase by 7% to 852.4 billion drams, expenses by 43.1
billion drams, compared with 2011. 897.5 billion of expenses belongs
to current expenses, 148.412 billion drams – non-financial assets.

46.2% of finances will be spent on the social sphere, 19.8% for
security, 13.2% for economy, 4.5% for state debt service, 3.1% for
communities, 2% for formation of the reserve fund.

The GDP is expected to increase by 3.1%, compared with 3.95% in
2011 and 4.98% in 2010. The consolidated budget of 2012 will have
938.5 billion drams of income (excluding payments from non-budget
transfers), 1071 billion drams of expenses and a deficit of 132.5
billion drams. Community budgets will have an income of 93.7 billion
drams and expenses of 93.7 billion drams.

The GDP in 2012 should stay at 4.2%, inflation is expected at 4%
(±1,5%).

$1 = 383.62 drams.

GUNFIRE CONTINUES ACROSS ARMENIAN-AZERI LINES
By Karine Ohanyan, Lusine Musaelyan

Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 619
November 29, 2011
UK

A lasting ceasefire, punctuated by lethal shootings.

Although a ceasefire has held in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict since
1994, the peace is frequently interrupted by bouts of gunfire. In
the latest tragic incident, two young Armenians were killed by shots
fired from the other side of the “line of control”.

Aren Simonyan was killed on November 19 and Mihran Margaryan the
following day. Both were members of the Karabakh Armenian military
and at 19, would only have been toddlers when the conflict was in
full swing.

At the end of the war, Armenian forces retained control of all of
Nagorny Karabakh – an Armenian-majority region inside Azerbaijan in
Soviet times – and also of surrounding areas of land. Because the
sides cannot agree on how a final settlement should look, no peace
agreement has been signed, despite efforts by mediators from Russia,
France and the United States who make up the so-called Minsk Group.

Hopes were high that a summit in Russia in June might produce a
breakthrough, but once again nothing came of it.

Officials in Karabakh and in Baku each regularly accuse the other side
of breaking the ceasefire, commonly with the kind of sniper fire that
left Simonyan and Margaryan dead.

Azerbaijan is committed to regaining control of Karabakh and the
adjoining areas now held by the Armenians. This, plus Baku’s massive
arms spending underwritten by oil revenues, increases Armenian
suspicions about its intentions.

The Karabakh Armenian defence ministry suggested that the deaths of
the two soldiers reflected plans by Azerbaijan to step up its military
presence, and promised to respond accordingly.

“This incident… confirms yet again that not only does Azerbaijan
not respect efforts by international mediators to reach a peace deal,
it is also taking steps to increase tensions in the region. This
circumstance obliges Karabakh to take tougher actions of its own and
respond in kind,” a statement from the ministry said.

In response to what they see as the deliberate targeting of civilians
by Armenian snipers, the Azerbaijani authorities have recently begun
building walls to protect villages located close to the line of
control. When IWPR reported on this issue from the Azerbaijani side,
villagers there said their homes were regularly targeted by snipers.

(See Azeris Wall Off Front-Line Zones on this.)

Villagers in Armenian territory make almost identical complaints
about Azerbaijani sniping.

The village of Talish in the Martakert region is about five kilometres
back from the line of control, but residents say they frequently
come under fire. One man, Vilen Petrosyan, said the shooting became
more frequent during the seasons when farmers were out at work,
and more exposed.

“Of course the gunfire has become an everyday thing for us, and the
danger is ever-present,” he said. “It isn’t just people who suffer,
but also our livestock. My brother got injured in the stomach,
and only survived by a miracle. We who live here have no sense that
there’s a ceasefire at all.”

Such is the level of mutual mistrust that on the Armenian side of
the dividing line, officials and residents suspect that the walls
are intended to provide cover for Azerbaijani sharpshooters.

“Not only is Baku is doing this in a bid to present itself as the
victim, but it could even use these walls to conceal snipers,” David
Babayan, spokesman for the president of Karabakh, said.

At the same time, Babayan suggested that the walls could be seen as
a tacit recognition of Karabakh and its boundaries.

“You can welcome the initiative in one way, since a wall like this
effectively gives the borders a clearer form,” he said.

In Armenia itself, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan was
just as sceptical about Azerbaijan’s justification for its walls.

“The wall is the physical embodiment of Azerbaijan closing itself
off from reality,” he said. “The wall protects Azerbaijan from…

[mediators’] requests for it to remove its snipers from the line
of control.”

Karen Bekaryan, head of the European Integration NGO in Yerevan,
said that the wall was a “paradox”.

“If its aim really is to protect against sniper fire, then why won’t
Azerbaijan agree to the mediators’ suggestions that snipers should
be withdrawn from the front line?” asked.

For ordinary people living close to the front line, the wall symbolises
mistrust of the other.

Zaven Avetisyan, a resident of Mataghis in Karabakh’s Martakert
district, said he was delighted that the Azerbaijanis were putting
up walls.

“The more they are separated from us, the better. Then neither of
us will ever see the other,” he said. “We won’t see them, and they
won’t see us,

Karine Ohanyan is the Russian-language editor of the Armedia news
agency in Yerevan. Lusine Musaelyan is a correspondent for RFE/RL in
Nagorny Karabakh.

PARUYR HAYRIKYAN PRAISES THE COOPERATION FO ARMENIAN PARTIES WITH THE EPP
Anna Nazaryan

“Radiolur”
09.12.2011 15:08

“The Republican Party of Armenia, Orinats Yerkir and the Heritage
may become constructive partners of the European People’s Party
in the near future, but this does not mean membership in the EPP,
since Armenia is not a member of the European Union,” leader of the
National Self-Determination Party Paruyr Hayrikyan told reporters
today. He reminded that the question refers to cooperation only.

As leader of a political structure, which has had an experience of
cooperation with the European People’s Party, Paruyr Hayrikyan praised
the cooperation of the three Armenian parliamentary forces with that
European party.