Author: Badalian Vardan

RUSSIAN, U.S. PRESIDENTS CONGRATULATE ARMENIA ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

VestnikKavkaza
Sept 19 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama have
congratulated Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of
the 20th anniversary of the Independence of Armenia, News-Armenia
reports citing the presidential press service.

The congratulatory message of the president of Russia states that over
the years, republic has achieved significant success in economic and
social spheres and increased its prestige in the international arena.

Medvedev also noted that both countries are successfully developing
mutual relations in the spirit of alliance partnerships and are
working together on opening new promising areas of cooperation in
trade, investment, humanities and other spheres.

ARMENIAN NATION SHOWED TO THE WORLD EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLE OF SURVIVAL – PRESIDENT

news.am
Sept 19 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan attended on Monday
the opening ceremony of Panarmenian Conference of the Leaders and
Representatives of Diaspora organizations held in Yerevan. Armenian
News-NEWS.am posts the full text of President’s speech.

President of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Your Holiness,
Catholicos of All Armenians, Your Holiness, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia, Eminent Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I cordially welcome you in the Motherland, where you will participate
at the Panarmenian Conference of the Leaders and Representatives
of Diaspora organizations. I also heartily congratulate you all on
the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Armenia’s
independence. The Conference is attended by 550 representatives
from 46 states who represent 151 Armenian organizations of Diaspora,
including all its pivotal structures. I announce the opening of the
Panarmenian Conference of the Leaders and Representatives of Diaspora
organizations.

Dear Compatriots,

I am confident that the Conference will greatly promote the development
of the Armenia-Spyurk cooperation for the benefit of the Armenian
nation’s peaceful and prosperous future.

This assembly hall represents a collective force. It signifies power
of ten million Armenians and inspires us with pride. That force has
been solving numerous problems through the decades and will continue
to do so.

The Armenian nation is bonded together with its national aspirations
and Armenia’s destiny. All our thoughts, emotions sometimes even anger
and outbursts, heated disputes and serene discussions, silent work
and manifestations of protest – all they eventually have one purpose
– to make sure that the Armenia of tomorrow is a better country,
more powerful, more beautiful, more attractive, to see the Armenian
nation more united, more cohesive and well-organized. We are united
not only by our roots but also by our common goals.

Diaspora is not a new phenomenon in our centuries-long history,
however after the Mets Eghern it acquired quite a different nature.

The Armenians had to withstand the test outside their cradle, on the
“alien and desolate roads”, had to withstand the test of assimilation
and degradation and had to prove their viability in most different
circumstances. The almost hundred-years long history of the Armenian
Spyurk is a history of struggle and victory, unavoidable setbacks
and exceptional willpower. Armenian communities from Uruguay to
Australia, from America to the Middle East have been covered with
the network of Armenian schools, churches, media outlets, as well as
political, public, cultural and sport organizations – this was done
to save the generation. Each family has become an epitome of the
historical homeland. The Armenian nation has shown to the world an
exceptional example of survival, even though many reputable figures
were considering the Western Armenians out of the historical picture.

Moreover, Diaspora has been able to manifest extraordinary political
achievements. With the horrendous images of the Genocide still in
their minds, Spyurk has been begetting new generations dedicated to
the ideas and aspirations of independence.

Dear Compatriots,

Yet, Spyurk is also our pain and our concern because on the foreign
shores we daily encounter problems and challenges. There is an
imperative to keep the new generation Armenian-speaking, sticking
to its roots, close to the Motherland, just keeping them Armenian
which is countered by the ocean of circumstances, conditions,
and temptations. We should admit that that ocean has brought
also some losses, which unfortunately and unavoidably will happen
again. To minimize these losses is the most important task for the
entire nation. I believe that the best means and the most efficient
immunization against the evil of assimilation is empowerment of Armenia
and earning of a great international repute. The level of Armenia’s
recognition in the world may bring back to the Armenian nation even
those who have moved away, if he or she will have an opportunity to
be proud of the homeland, of the achievements of the compatriots and,
finally, of the Armenian identity.

I think, it wouldn’t be redundant to repeat that Spyurk and Armenia
should become each other’s extension. Spyurk – politically and
culturally, scientifically and in terms of health care and sports
should be nurtured by the Motherland and in its own turn should nurture
Armenia. It doesn’t mean that it will become a faceless adjunct of
Yerevan; it means mutual complementarity.

In the existing conditions of globalization, the danger of assimilation
is multipling and the identity is jeopardized. And it is possible
to prevent imminent threats only through a closer cooperation and
regular contacts with the reborn Armenian state – the Republic of
Armenia. Armenia is the nucleus of the preservation of the Armenian
identity and its shield.

The Diaspora structures, centers, periodicals, benefactors,
intellectuals and individuals who have been creating Armenian schools,
cultural centers, centers for Armenian studies and those who bestow on
the Armenian children, boys and girls our euphonical mother tongue,
who preserve and promote Armenian culture deserve deep gratitude and
profound recognition.

The mother tongue is a potent earnest of the Armenian identity.

For many centuries, the language actually substituted the homeland.

Preservation of the Armenian identity abroad emanates from the vital
interests of the Republic of Armenia. It’s not a solely Diaspora
problem; and we do realize that. The Armenian language and national
identity are indispensable prerequisites of our nation’s eternity.

Let’s try to agree, all of us, the entire nation that in the Armenian
families we speak Armenian only. The Armenian teenager must keep the
Armenian language sacred, must be vigilant, conscientious and realize
that along with speaking many languages, one should not forgo one’s
native language, especially now, when high technologies make distant
learning possible.

In Spyurk, the issue of the Armenian language preservation
and dissemination is high on the agenda because a large part of
Diaspora does not speak Armenian or speaks insufficiently, while in
some communities the usage of the language is limited to the oral
Armenian only. Our language is our main weapon in the mission of the
preservation of the Armenian identity, a pillar of our existence and
an important promise of our national unity. Thus, I appeal to you
and expect that issues of teaching, transmission and preservation
of the language will become an objective of our future consolidated
activities. The Armenian state will play a pivotal role in the process,
and we will continue our efforts aimed at making Armenia the center
of the native language teaching through its universities, schools
and express language courses.

I would like to specially touch upon the issue of the Western
Armenian. We, the Armenian authorities will do our best to support
the Western Armenian literary language, which along with the Ancient
Armenian – Grapar, Middle Armenian and literary Eastern Armenian
constitutes a part of our greatest treasure. We have to note without
false modesty that the literary heritage created in the Western
Armenian is of universal significance but at the same time it needs
serious protection. We are ready to listen to the proposals of the
experts and not only on this but also on other issues.

Distinguished Participants,

I wish the Conference productive works and concrete results. I am
confident that Armenia-Artsakh-Spyurk triumvirate can move mountains.

Moreover, some mountains have already been moved. It is not accidental,
that a mountain, the biblical Ararat is the symbol of our unity.

Our formula is precise: the utmost of the Motherland’s capacities
for Spyurk, and the utmost of Spyurk capacities for the Motherland.

I once again congratulate us all on Armenia’s 20th anniversary of
independence!

ARMENIA-ARGENTINA COOPERATION MEMORANDUM SIGNED

news.am
Sept 19 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The 7th “Fruitful Armenia” International Forum got underway
on Monday in Armenia’s capital Yerevan.

Armenian Deputy PM and Regional Governance Minister Armen Gevorgyan
and Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan delivered the event’s
opening remarks. In his talk, Gevorgyan reflected on recent opening
of the new complex of Armenia’s Zvartnots International Airport
and Argentinean-Armenian benefactor Eduardo Eurnekian’s charitable
programs, specifically the “One Computer for Every Child” project,
Fruitful Armenia Foundation representatives told Armenian News.NEWS.am.

Armen Gevorgyan also expressed a conviction that, through combining
the efforts by such individuals and the state organizations, it will
be possible to materialize projects which would turn Armenia into
a regional leader, and also to have the region’s most productive
agriculture.

After the Forum’s official opening, the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen of Armenia (UMBA) and the Union of Manufacturers of
Argentina (UMA) signed a memorandum on cooperation. The document was
signed by UMBA President Arsen Ghazaryan and UMA President Jose Ignacio
de Mendiguren. After the signing ceremony, Ghazaryan noted that this
cooperation memorandum is extremely important in terms of increasing
the volume of commodity turnover between Armenia and Argentina.

ARMENIAN EMIGRATION CREATES ‘WOMEN-ONLY’ VILLAGES
By Mariam Harutunian (AFP)

Agence France Presse
Sept 19 2011

VARDADZOR, Armenia – There are no men to be seen in the rural lanes
of Vardzador as mother-of-four Susanna Asatrian makes her way to the
fields to thresh barley and wheat.

Her husband has left the country in search of work like so many other
men in remote, impoverished Armenian settlements, leaving them almost
entirely populated by women to symbolise the country’s depopulation
problem.

“It’s a total matriarchate. We even joke that our village’s name
should be changed from ‘Canyon of Roses’ to ‘Canyon of Women’,”
said the 36-year-old.

In the midst of the harvest season in Vardadzor, around 130 kilometres
(80 miles) from the ex-Soviet state’s capital Yerevan, women do the
hard agricultural labour, prepare for the long winter ahead and raise
their children practically without male assistance.

“The children miss their father, but what can we do?” asked Asatrian.

In villages like this, women traditionally marry young and their
husbands often leave after their honeymoon to work as migrant
labourers, only returning for a couple of months each year.

The men who remain are largely elderly.

More than a million people left Armenia in the years from 1988 to 2007,
with around two-thirds of them relocating to Russia, like Asatrian’s
husband, leaving the small Caucasus republic with a current population
of 3.2 million.

Asatrian is one of the lucky ones, however; her husband comes home
every New Year, rings her up frequently and sends hundreds of dollars
to support the family every few months.

Others fear that their husbands will find new wives in Russia and
abandon them completely, as in the case of one woman from Vardadzor
whose emigrant partner broke off contact while she was expecting her
second baby.

“There has been no news of him for the past 10 years, not a single
phone call,” said the 29-year-old who gave her name as Tamara.

“People say that he lives in Omsk with an older Russian woman, brings
up her child and does not want to think about us.”

Emigration has increased again in recent months, a trend which analysts
link to the economic recovery after the global financial crisis.

The United Nations Population Fund and the state statistics agency
estimate that some 25,000-30,000 people abandon Armenia permanently
each year.

“Those who leave the country are mainly young men in the prime of their
life,” said Garik Hayrapetian of the United Nations Population Fund.

“The situation negatively affects the population’s reproduction and
gender balance and contributes to the ageing of society.”

Armenia’s opposition argues that migration threatens the country’s
national security, and President Serzh Sarkisian has declared that
the authorities must take action.

“The number of people looking for overseas success is large, and
of course we should be seriously concerned about this problem,”
Sarkisian said earlier this year, suggesting that the only way to
reverse the trend was to create better economic conditions.

Surveys have suggested that 70-75 percent of emigrants leave because
of the lack of job opportunities and low wages in a country that
suffers from economic isolation because its borders with neighbours
Turkey and Azerbaijan have long been closed due to political disputes.

But the head of the country’s migration agency Gagik Eganian accused
the opposition of trying to score political points by describing the
latest wave of emigration as catastrophic and suggesting that Armenia
was becoming “deserted”.

“There is no data on what proportion of these people (this year’s
emigrants) left the country forever,” he said.

Some analysts also argue that migration has economic benefits,
with many families surviving on money sent home by relatives working
abroad — $772 million (548 million euros) in the first half of this
year alone.

But in a more worrying statistic, the United Nations Population Fund
says that 44 percent of people responding to one of its surveys did
not see a future for themselves and their children in Armenia.

Hayrapetian also raised concerns that not only the poor and jobless
were now leaving.

“Migration has changed qualitatively. Well-off people with higher
education and well-paid jobs are now emigrating,” he said.

The government is preparing what it calls a National Programme for
Migration Reduction, which is due to be launched soon, while another
scheme entitled ‘Come Home’ aims to encourage people from the huge
Armenian diaspora to resettle in their ethnic homeland.

Back in Vardadzor, Susanna Asatrian’s children keep in contact with
their father via the internet, while others wait expectantly for their
dads to return from Russia for Christmas — although some of them,
it seems, are likely to be disappointed.

FRUITFULL ARMENIA: PRIME MINISTER OFFERS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR QUALITY WINE-MAKING IN ARMENIA

AZG DAILY
20-09-2011

The sixth FruitFull Armenia international conference kicked off
Thursday, September 16, in Yerevan with winemaking and grape growing
experts, marketing specialists from France, Argentina, Italy, Austria,
Australia and other wine-making countries in attendance.

According to ArmeniaNow, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan addressing
the conference said that large investments were made in winemaking
over the past years, contributing to better quality of products,
new technologies and to expanding the farms. However, small economies
are affected by the competition.

Grape growing development provides a solution to villagers~R social
problems in Armenia, he said, adding that Armenian winemaking companies
need to create an association which will get state assistance.

“We need to build the chain from production to sales of agricultural
products for state assistance to small households to be efficient,”
the Premier stressed.

The Prime Minister said that successful implementation of the program
of Free Economic Zone will allow to market agricultural products
abroad.

SASUN MIKAELYAN: DEFENSE MINISTER’S RESIGNATION NOT TO IMPROVE ARMY

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 19, 2011 – 18:27 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia’s Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan’s
resignation will not improve the situation in the army.

“The situation in the army greatly distresses me. In a young army
like that there must not be such incidents. However, the situation
in the army is not quite connected with the minister but rather with
the system itself,” Sasun Mikaelyan, commander of Sasun detachment
told a press conference in Yerevan. He added that for the army to
function properly the countries authority system should first function
properly. According to him one minister’s resignation will not change
anything. Here he stressed that unity between society and authorities
can prevent new incidents.

Recently the Armenian society has come to sharply react to army
incidents. Particularly violent was the reaction with regard to
serviceman Aghasi Abrahamyan’s case.

On August 26, Aghasi Abrahamyan, born 1992, was brought unconscious to
a military hospital, where he died later. Later, medical examination
resealed marks of violence on the soldier’s body. On Septmeber 6
two officers have been arrested as result of investigation into the
death of serviceman Aghasi Abrahamyan. The officers were detained
in accordance with article 375 of Armenian Criminal Code (misuse of
authority, administrative dereliction) stipulating for 2-13 years
of imprisonment.

NO SUCH NATION AS ‘KARABAKH ARMENIANS’: SAFAROV SAYS NO MORE MONEY SPENT ON WEAPONS

epress.am
09.19.2011 18:08

Twenty years ago, tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were forced to
flee their homes. Every refugee is a story full of pain and emotions,
reports Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the correspondent of which, Sohbet
Mamedov, conducted an interview with the leader of Karabakh’s Azeri
community Bayram Safarov.

Ahead of the interview, the journalist writes: “I say ‘Karabakhtsis’
since this term should characterize the people from Karabakh –
Azerbaijanis just as Armenians. There is no such nation as Karabakh
Armenians or Karabakh Azeris.”

Bayram Safarov, in turn, notes that his generation still remembers
the period of cohabitation (when Armenians and Azeris lived side by
side), and he can overcome the feeling of alienation and hatred.

“But young people grow up in conditions of hatred, since it is
impossible to forget all that is the reason for which young people
were left without homes and land. Under conditions of occupation,
hatred can only grow. We have the same right to live in Karabakh as
the Armenians,” said Safarov.

Karabakh’s Armenian population, in his opinion, does not have an
interest in continuing the conflict – “it has become a hostage of
circumstances.”

“It would be better for not only Armenians but also Azeris if the money
spent on arms and armies in both countries were [instead] spent on
improving the welfare of the people and restoring the region,” he said.

U.S. MAJOR GENERAL TO TAKE PART IN MILITARY PARADE IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 19, 2011 – 14:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Kansas adjutant general is heading to Armenia
as part of an international partnership program between U.S. states
and other nations.

The Associated Press reported that maj. gen. Lee Tafanelli will be
in Armenia from September 20 through 23.

Tafanelli will visit with Armenian military and emergency management
officials. He’ll also take part in a parade marking the 20th
anniversary of Armenian independence.

Officials from Kansas and Armenia have participated in several
exchanges over the past decade, under the National Guard Bureau’s
State Partnership Program.

VestnikKavkaza.net
Sept 17 2011

Turkey issues own version of incident of exploding aircraft in the sky
over Karabakh

The Turkish press has issued a new version of what happened in
connection with an unmanned aircraft that exploded in the sky over the
Nagorno-Karabakh. The report noted that in the images distributed by
the Armenians there is no distinguishing mark belonging to Azerbaijan.
The newspaper “Sydzhak Gyundyam” notes that unmanned aerial vehicles
were presented in Azerbaijan at a military parade in Baku on June 26
this year. They displayed the flag of Azerbaijan.

According to a source close to the Turkish diplomatic service, the
downed drone belonged to the armed forces of Israel.

“The drone took off from a military base in Armenia or on the
territory close to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and carried
out a reconnaissance flight in connection with Iran. So on the
occupied lands of Azerbaijan, the Armenians have begun to not only
establish a transit area for drug trafficking and a terrorist base,
but also a base for conducting covert operations and military
intelligence”, the source said.

The same source said that Israel has conducted reconnaissance drones
over all the countries of the Middle East. However, on this subject
some questions remain. For example, why was an incident which occurred
on 12 September announced two days later?

It should be noted that the Armenian side claimed that the drone
belonged to Azerbaijan. However, the images of the plane does not look
as if it was hit. There is no trace of fire or being hit by a
projectile. But seen in another way, the device was destroyed only due
to collisions on the ground.

Another assumption is the fact that in the video of the crashed
vehicle an emblem is visible of the company “NovAtel”, operating in
Canada. The newspaper reports that “NovAtel” produce systems with
greater precision. Israel has purchased from this company DGPS systems
for a new generation of “Hermes 1500”, “Hermes 900” and “Hermes 180”
unmanned aircraft. Israel only sold to Azerbaijan devices such as the
“Hermes 450”. They, in turn, do not use the system of “NovAtel”.

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces use UAV Hermes 450 (1994) drones of
Israeli production. The downed drone in Nagorno-Karabakh was a
Hermes-180.

The press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry earlier reported
that the crash of the unmanned aircraft on the occupied lands has
nothing to do with Azerbaijan.

Fars News Agency , Iran
Sept 17 2011

Armenian FM Hails Positive Prospects of Tehran-Yerevan Ties

TEHRAN (FNA)- Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian viewed the
prospects of ties between his country and Iran as “positive” and
“bright”, and further asked for the expansion of the relations between
the two states.

Speaking in a press conference after his talks with Iranian Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Salehi here in Tehran on Saturday, Nalbandian
expressed pleasure in his visit to Iran and his talks with senior
Iranian officials.

He said during his satisfactory talks with Salehi, the two sides
discussed bilateral ties and exchanged views over the latest
developments in the region.

“The two countries’ relations are developing,” he said, and continued,
“Today we found the opportunity to study the agendas specified by the
two countries’ presidents and discuss the agreements concluded by the
two sides in the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Cooperation Commission.”

Nalbandian further stated that he is pleased to see that the two
countries’ important projects, specially in the transportation sector,
have been implemented.

Nalbandian stated that during his meeting with Salehi, he invited his
Iranian counterpart to pay a visit to Armenia.

As regards his talks with Salehi over the regional developments, he
appreciated Tehran’s balanced views and stances on the
Nagorno-Karabakh disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Armenian top diplomat appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran for
presenting proper and balanced views on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,
and expressed the hope that Tehran would maintain the same stance and
continue presenting such positive views in future.

Iran and Armenia have taken major strides to promote their bilateral
relations in the last few years. The bilateral trade volume between
the two states stands at nearly $270 million, a figure that is
expected to rapidly climb in a near future, according to officials.