Author: Badalian Vardan

DIASPORAN ARMENIAN REQUEST ARMENIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR ZHIRAIR SEFILYAN, SARGIS HATSPANYAN

Tert.am
23.09.11

Fifty-eight Diasporan Armenians have requested Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan that he grant Armenian citizenship to Zhirair Sefilyan
and Sargis Hatspanyan.

The Committee in defense for Zhirair Sefilyan’s right to citizenship
requested Dr. Aramis Mirzakhanian of the Royal Institute of Technology
(Sweden), who participated in the 4th congress of diasporan leaders
and members, that he organize a signature-collecting campaign among
the congress participants.

The committee reported that Committee Coordinator Aghavni Sahakyan
has handed over a letter signed by the 58 participants in the congress
to the Reception of the Armenian president.

ARMENIA INTENDS TO VOTE AGAINST THE ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF THE PALESTINIAN STATE

arminfo
Friday, September 23, 10:29

Armenia is going to vote against the issue of recognition of the
Palestinian state. ArmInfo has been told this by a source close to
the foreign diplomatic circles.

Today the UN Security Council will consider the issue of recognition
of Palestine and hold a voting at the UN General Assembly.

The source says that in the future Armenia’s stance may undergo
modulation in case the incumbent authorities of Palestine give up the
radical position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereignty with
a categorical turn towards supporting Azerbaijan’s stance.

The source recalls that this position has recently been stated in Baku
by the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Notwithstanding the fact that
Russia advocates the independence of Palestine very actively and all
the CIS states support Russia in this matter, Armenia is categorical
in it stance and will vote against, the source says.

To remind, Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian negotiator, has recently
visited Armenia to enlist Armenia’s support at the UN General
Assembly. According to the rumors in the press, Armenia was inclined
to support the issue of Palestine, however, the Palestinian leader’s
statement in Baku apparently left no chance to Yerevan.

To note, in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent in Ramallah in
2010, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad refused pointblank to
draw any parallel between the sovereignty problems of Palestine and
Nagorno-Karabakh. To note, Russia was one of the first countries
to support Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative to seek recognition of the
Palestinian state at the UN unilaterally. According to international
sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked the United
States not to exercise the veto when considering the Palestinians’
request at the Security Council.

“OTHER” JUDGE SAHAKYAN ALSO DENIES HIS SON IS A GANG MEMBER

hetq
15:07, September 23, 2011

Minutes ago, Hetq was able to get in touch with Judge Tigran Sahakyan,
President of the Criminal Appeals Court of Armenia.

He too refuted press reports that his son was picked up today by
police in an early morning raid of suspected criminal gang members.

Judge Tigran Sahakyan of the Civil Appeals Court had earlier denied
charges that his son had any connection with the gang.

SERZH SARGSYAN AND NOUBAR AFEYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:33:46 – 23/09/2011

Serzh Sargsyan received National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations,
NECO’s Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Other medalists are: Muhammad Ali, Toni Blaire, George H.W. Bush,
Bil Clinton, HIllari Clinton, Gerard Ford, Martine Scorsese, Frank
Sinatra, Armenian Noubar Afeyan and others.

Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner of Flagship Ventures, an early-stage
Venture Capital firm. Dr. Afeyan is currently a Senior Lecturer on
entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Dr. Afeyan has
authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning
his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987.

Currently Dr. Afeyan serves on a number of public and private company
boards. He is a director of Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG
Medicine, Bind Biosciences, Ensemble Discovery, Helicos BioSciences,
Joule Biotechnologies, LS9 and Eleven Biotherapeutics. Previously he
was a member of the founding team, director and investor in several
successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color
Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics.

Dr. Afeyan serves as Member of the Board of Directors of “Ameriabank”
CJSC from July, 2010

Dr. Afeyan is currently a visiting Scholar at the Wyss Institute at
Harvard University. In addition, he is a member of several advisory
boards including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation
at MIT, the Whitehead Institute at MIT and the SKOLKOVO School of
Management in Moscow. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Afeyan is co-founder and board
member of Armenia 2020 and the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia.

KOCHARYAN HINTS AT HIMSELF
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:36:07 – 23/09/2011

6-7 months are left till the scheduled parliamentary election but
it is not clear who will take to the arena and with what forces they
will ally.

One of the main intrigues of the pre-election campaign is whether
the Armenian National Congress will run in the scheduled elections
to parliament, and who will head the Republican ticket.

The congress which insists on early elections, first to president, then
to parliament, may boycott the scheduled parliamentary elections in a
demarche if the dialogue is not launched in autumn, and it launches the
“square” confrontation. However, the Congress may choose to proceed
with “small steps”, first entering the parliament, then forming a
parliamentary group and, afterwards, gather momentum to plunge into
the presidential elections.

A more interesting situation has occurred in relation to the Bargavach
Hayastan Party. Wikileaks has published a document which reads that
the ex-president Robert Kocharyan told the ex-U.S. Ambassador Marie
Yovanovitch that the Bargavach Hayastan Party is a one-man party. This
statement was commented by Member of Parliament Aram Safaryan from
this party who thinks there is nothing bad about having a party around
Gagik Tsarukyan.

Since then the experts have been saying that Robert Kocharyan may no
longer view Bargavach Hayastan as a possible platform to return to
politics. There were opinions that Kocharyan has decided to extend
the break.

However, the ex-foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan hinted that the
second president may run in the parliamentary elections. However, in
which party is he likely to run? Or will he run under the majority
system? Most probably, he will run on the ticket of the Bargavach
Hayastan Party.

Evidence to this could be the interview of the spokesman of Kocharyan’s
office, Victor Soghomonyan, who stated that Kocharyan had meant
“the party known to everyone”, not the Bargavach Hayastan Party.

This public “refutation” is evidence that Kocharyan does not want to
spoil his relations with Tsarukyan, and hints at himself. In this
context, Kocharyan’s appearance on the first line of the ticket
of the Bargavach Hayastan Party is quite possible. The question is
whether besides Tsarukyan the other members of the party will agree
to adhere to the opposition and lose their positions. Will Robert
Kocharyan be able to guarantee that they will keep their positions
and leverages and will not oppose to the present government. In other
words, Kocharyan himself needs guarantees, and if he has decided to
run for parliament, it means he has no guarantees yet and he also
chooses to take “small steps”.

LA TVA GENE LE DEVELOPPEMENT DU MARCHE PHARMACEUTIQUE DE L’ARMENIE
[email protected]

armenews.com
samedi 24 septembre 2011

ARMENIE

Toutes les pharmacies qui fonctionnent en Armenie sont privees et
ils sont libres de definir leur politique des prix.

Par exemple, quelques pharmacies offrent 5% de remise pour les
retraites. Il n’y a pas de règlement en Armenie, selon lequel les
retraites peuvent obtenir des remises. En meme temps, la moindre
polyclinique a une liste de medicaments, que les retraites peuvent
recevoir gratuitement . Malheureusement, ces medicaments n’atteignent
pas souvent les retraites.

Pour attirer les consommateurs, quelques pharmacies annoncent des
remises generales. Cela depend de l’emplacement de la pharmacie et
de ses concurrents les plus proches.

Neanmoins, le processus d’evaluation est plutôt complique quant au
marche des medicaments en Armenie.

D’abord une TVA de 20 % puis de 32 % doit etre paye depuis 2001
pour l’importation de medicaments et des supplements alimentaire
respectivement alors que cet impôt n’existe pas en Georgie. En raison
de cela, beaucoup de representations medicales etrangères ont deplace
leurs bureaux en Georgie.

De plus, des taxes de douane de 25 a 35 % doivent etre payees pour
le dedouanement, le stockage, etc.

Les medicaments n’atteignent pas les pharmacies immediatement, car il
y a des grossistes. Ainsi, au final le prix d’un medicament dans une
pharmacie est 50 % plus eleve compare au coût principal. En attendant,
l’abolition de la TVA permettrait de diminuer les prix de 20 a 30 %
dont l’alimentation des bebes qui etait auparavant exempte de TVA.

“L’AZERBAIDJAN PERDRA LA GUERRE FACE A L’ARMENIE” AFFIRME UN EXPERT MILITAIRE RUSSE
Krikor [email protected]

armenews.com
samedi 24 septembre 2011

ARMENIE-AZERBAIDJAN

Selon Anatoly Tsikanov, un expert milliaire Russe, en cas d’attaque de
l’Armenie et du Haut Karabagh, l’Azerbaïdjan serait defaite. Au sujet
du budget militaire disproportionne de l’Azerbaïdjan par rapport a
l’Armenie, A. Tsikanov repond ” le potentiel de l’armement militaire
est inegal et plaide en faveur de l’Azerbaïdjan “. Mais l’expert
s’interroge ” l’Europe est interessee par le petrole et du gaz azeri.

Laissera-t-elle se developper un conflit ? “. D’autant plus que selon
A. Tsikanov, un conflit entre l’Azerbaïdjan et l’Armenie entrainerait
d’autres partenaires, tel que la Russie, l’Iran et meme Israël. Et
l’expert militaire Russe de conclure ” si l’Azerbaïdjan declenche
la guerre, dans tous les cas elle la perdra ! Car ni la Communaute
europeenne, ni l’ONU, ni l’OTAN n’admettront pas que le conflit puisse
se resoudre par la voie des armes “.Krikor Amirzayan

ACTION IN SUPPORT OF AZERBAIJANI OFFICER RAMIL SAFAROV HELD IN ANKARA

Today
Sept 23 2011
Azerbaijan

An action in support of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov was held
in Ankara, Turkey.

The action organized by ASIMDER, the organization for struggling
against the groundless Armenian claims, was held outside the Hungarian
embassy in Ankara. Citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian
Azerbaijanis attended the event.

The participants said that Hungarian court didn’t consider extenuating
motives while sentencing Safarov and demanded to reargue the case.

They also emphasized the importance of Safarov’s serving remaining
part of imprisonment in Azerbaijan.

A high-ranking official of the Hungarian embassy in Ankara met the
action participants and promised to deliver their written statement
to his country’s officials and after evaluating it they will inform
the action organizers about the developments.

Safarov was charged with killing of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan
in Hungary and sentenced to life imprisonment on April 13, 2006 by
the Budapest Court.

CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF RAMIL SAFAROV IN ANKARA

news.az
Sept 23 2011
Azerbaijan

An action in support of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov was held
in Ankara, Turkey.

The action organized by ASIMDER, the organization for struggling
against the groundless Armenian claims, was held outside the Hungarian
embassy in Ankara. Citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian
Azerbaijanis attended the event.

The participants said that Hungarian court didn~Rt consider extenuating
motives while sentencing Safarov and demanded to reargue the case.

They also emphasized the importance of Safarov~Rs serving remaining
part of imprisonment in Azerbaijan.

A high-ranking official of the Hungarian embassy in Ankara met the
action participants and promised to deliver their written statement
to his country~Rs officials and after evaluating it they will inform
the action organizers about the developments.

Safarov was charged with killing of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan
in Hungary and sentenced to life imprisonment on April 13, 2006 by
the Budapest Court.

AZERBAIJANI FIRST VICE SPEAKER: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S SPEECH DESIGNED FOR DOMESTIC AUDIENCE

Trend
Sept 23 2011
Azerbaijan

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement in an interview with
“Russia 24” on Thursday that Nagorno Karabakh will never become part
of Azerbaijan, was designed for the domestic audience, Azerbaijani
Parliament~Rs First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgerov told Trend.

“Armenia has repeatedly voiced similar views. Sargsyan is saying this
mainly for the domestic audience, though he knows the Nagorno-Karabakh
status is not an issue in negotiations. The OSCE Minsk Group has
confirmed that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,”
Asgerov said, and that Armenia recognizes it as well.

“They just make inadmissible suggestions concerning its status. Our
position is that the highest status of autonomy that exists in the
world can be granted to Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan. There is no
problem in this matter from our side. They create the problem. When and
how they will agree to a compromise is their business,” Asgerov said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding
regions.