Author: Badalian Vardan

ELECTRICITY GRIDS ARMENIA SEES OWNERSHIP CHANGE BETWEEN INTER RAO SUBSIDIARIES

Interfax
Sept 15 2011
Russia

The Armenian government approved the transfer of 100% of the shares
in CJSC Electricity Grids Armenia on Thursday from Interenergo B.V. to
INTER RAO Holding B.V., Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister
Armen Movsisyan said at a government meeting.

“The proposal for the transaction was received from OJSC Inter RAO UES
(RTS: IRAO),” he said.

“OJSC Inter RAO UES is the 100% owner in INTER RAO Holding B.V. In
turn, the holding is the 100%-owner of Interenergo. Therefore, the
ownership rights for the Armenian company are being transferred from
Inter RAO’s ‘granddaughter subsidiary’ to its ‘daughter subsidiary’.

This decision has not raised any divisive issues and doesn’t foresee
changes in CJSC Electricity Armenia’s operations,” the ministry said.

CHSC Electricity Grids Armenia is the sole seller of electricity in
Armenia. The company owns 323 substations, providing services to over
830,000 customers.

It was earlier reported that Inter RAO UES has pans to restructure
its foreign assets in order make its corporate structure clearer for
investors. For instance, assets engaged in the export and import sale
of electricity will be moved to the balance sheet of the Inter RAO
subsidiary registered in the Netherlands.

AZERI POLITICIAN: AZERI OFFICER WHO KILLING ANOTHER OFFICER IN HIS SLEEP IS A FAKE HERO

Panorama
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

Azerbaijani politician Jumshud Nuriev says Ramil Safarov, who killed
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, is a fake hero.

In an interview with “Bizim Yol” the politician said an Azeri officer
who had killed a sleeping officer cannot be a hero, and that he feels
pity towards Safarov, who is sentenced to pass his life in prison.

SERZH SARGSYAN HOSTED A RECEPTION DEDICATED TO THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE

AZG DAILY
16-09-2011

Presidential Update: 2011-09-16 00:33:17 (GMT +04:00)

President Serzh Sargsyan hosted a reception on September 14 dedicated
to the 20th anniversary of the Armenian Independence at the Sartarabat
Battle Memorial, presidential press service reported. The reception
was attended by the representatives of the RA Justice system, law
enforcement bodies and diplomats. The President congratulated the
invitees on Independence Day and wished them success.

“I congratulate us all on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
independence of the Republic of Armenia. It’s a magnificent holiday.

It is also a solemn occasion to reckon over our twenty-year long
journey, tasks before us and our vision of the future. The gist of
the day is our ability to pass on to the generations values and legacy
which were left to us by those who had created, defended and nurtured
a free and independent Armenia with their sweat and blood. This is
a home to over three millions Armenian citizens. This is a home to
the millions of Armenians spread all over the world. This is a home
where our children will live and enjoy their share of happiness. This
is a land which will prosper, thrive and advance toward eternity
through their hard work. An independence, which we got not by a
whim of fortune but first of all by rekindling the undying fire
of our forefathers’ dream of a free and independent Armenia. We
got it through our confidence that justice would prevail. We got it
through the irresistible call of endurance and self-sacrifice of our
grandfathers and fathers, which reached us through the everlasting
witnesses of heroism and dream – every bit of our land and every drop
of our water, every piece of our sky and every beam of light which
warms us. We earned our independence and proved to us and to the world
that we have the right to live on our own land as we deem right, with
our values. We proved it first of all by the victories of our army.

The army which was born on the battlefield and passing through the
crucible of war has become a sturdy shield and steadfast pillar of our
statehood. Becoming even more powerful and more potent, the Armenian
Army today has not only become a safeguard of the safe and creative
life for the citizens of Armenia, but also a watchful guarantor of
the regional peace and security. The Army is ready to rise against
any external threat to our independence – on our borders, on the
agressor’s territory, or anywhere else. That’s our Army today.

Armenian Soldiers and Commanders! Officers!

This is an army whose soldier on the battlefield not only defends
but also becomes a citizen of the country. “Soldier is a soldier only
when he thinks in terms of state,” – that’s the lesson of the knight
of the late last century, the National Hero of Armenia and Artsakh
Monte, who preferred the title of a soldier to all others.

A soldier, who thinks in terms of state, who is well-educated and
disciplined and his high morale is the earnest of the combat readiness
of our Army.

The Armenian soldier is rightfully the safeguard of our freedom and
our independence.

However, the life and safety of our troops greatly depend also on
the efficient work of our diplomats.

We are ready to pay for the regional peace and stability with the
efforts of our diplomats, preserving life and health of each and
every of our border troops.

Thousands of troops have returned safe and sound to their families
thanks to many sleepless nights and hard work of our diplomats abroad.

We value diplomatic victories as much as we value victories on the
battlefield.

We also highly value the work of the National security bodies in
conquering challenges that face our country. The people, who are
seemingly far from the front lines, nevertheless are doing a difficult
and singular work. Their services are an important and dependable
component of the safety of the people, security of the state and
normal life of our society.

On this momentous day in the Armenian history, I would like to
highlight the significance of the formation of the rule of law.

And now when in the spring of its life, our state celebrates its 20th
independent fall, I would like to put on record an achievement which
is unprecedented and not of human making.

That achievement is the citizen of the Republic of Armenia.

The citizen of Armenia does not only enjoy the right to live by his
own law but he himself creates and adopts these laws, he himself
defines the borders of his rights.

Today, in the Motherland of all Armenians we tell each and every one
of our compatriots, “Armenia – it is also you”. You have earned that
right not only by your blood, but also by your love for Armenia,
your dedication and sense of responsibility”, the President said.

CONGRESS MARKS KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Tert.am
15.09.11

Members of US Congress joined Nagorno Karabakh Republic (Artsakh)
Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan and Parliament Member Zoya Lazaryan
at the Capitol Hill commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the
Republic’s independence, the Asbarez.com reported.

The September 13 event, co-hosted by the Congressional Caucus
on Armenian Issues, the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic office in Washington, and Armenian American
groups was held at the historic Rayburn House Office Building’s Gold
Room, with the participation of a broad cross-section of the Armenian
American community and Congressional staff.

Throughout the evening, Members of Congress, including Congressional
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Ed Royce (R-CA), as well as
Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Robert Dold
(R-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jackie Speier
(D-CA) spoke forcefully and eloquently about Karabakh’s robust
democracy and commitment to a lasting peace which respects the right
to self-determination of its people.

Representatives Pallone and Cicilline envisioned a future where
Karabakh’s independence would be internationally recognized or reunited
with neighboring Armenia.

Eastern Prelate Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan offered a moving invocation
during the program. He was joined at the observance by Rev.

Father Sarkis Aktavoukian, pastor of the Holy Cross Armenian Church
of Bethesda, Maryland and Rev. Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan of St. Mary’s
Armenian Church in Washington.

In his keynote remarks, Speaker Ghulyan stressed that clear security
guarantees must be included in any peace settlement, given Azerbaijan’s
ongoing aggression against the people of Karabakh.

“We realize that the status quo is not what we had hoped for when we
embarked on our struggle. Yet, particularly considering Azerbaijan’s
openly and repeatedly stated threat of military action, the current
situation with all its components represents the system of our
security. Any changes to this arrangement without real guarantees and
real definition of what peace and our sovereignty will look like are
unacceptable for us.”

Chairwoman Lazaryan thanked Members of Congress for their ongoing
commitment to sending US aid to Nagorno Karabakh.

“20 years of independence have proved that Artsakh can address its
own economic and social challenges. And this has been possible in
significant extent due to the assistance provided by the United
States. We appreciate this. I am confident that when adopting this
decision, US Congress knows these resources will contribute to peace
in the South Caucasus.”

Armenia’s Ambassador to US Tatoul Markaryan offered a moving defense
of liberty for the people of Nagorno Karabakh.

Earlier in the day, Speaker Ghoulyan and Parliament Member Lazaryan
met with ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian and former ANCA
Chairman Garo Armenian, where they were awarded medals for their
ongoing commitment to the cause of Karabakh’s freedom.

OMBUDSMAN ASKS JUSTICE MINISTER TO COMBAT INJUSTICE IN THE JUDICIARY

Tert.am
15.09.11

Armenia’s human rights defender, Karen Andreasyan, has called upon
the justice minister to take active measures to combat injustice in
the judiciary.

In a letter addressed to Hrayr Tovmasyan, the ombudsman asks for
launching a disciplinary proceeding against three judges who were
earlier reported to have issued unfair rulings.

It comes three citizens lodged claims with the Ombudsman’s Office,
complaining that judges had been unfair in relation to them. Having
reviewed scores of similar appeals, the Ombudsman selected those
three, considering the judges involved in those proceedings in gross
and blatant violation of the law.

“The ombudsman had submitted to the Justice Ministry’s Disciplinary
Board reports on each of the three judges and informed the society
about that. But he immediately came under public attack after
statements containing disinformation, deluding quotations from legal
acts, unlawful calls and illiterate accusations were made on behalf
of different judiciary organs,” reads a statement by the Ombudsman’s
Office.

It says that the Ministry of Justice rejected all the three reports,
considering that there were not sufficient grounds for filing a
proceeding.

Arguing the decision, the Ombudsman’s Office says that evidence of a
blatant and gross violation of one single legal norm is enough for
filing a disciplinary proceeding , while the committee’s response
saying “there were not sufficient grounds” implies that there was at
least one ground in each case. In the meantime, it says the Judicial
Code of Armenia does not clearly specify how many grounds are necessary
for launching a proceeding.

In response to the Ombudsman’s notice on the above mentioned, the
committee said it had given an exhaustive answer.

Not considering the process exhausted, the Ombudsman has now submitted
his claim to the Justice Ministry, another body responsible for filing
proceeding against judges.

It particularly calls for taking appropriate measures to restore
the claimants’ trust in the judiciary, protect the society from
unlawfulness by holding judges accountable, and reduce monopolistic
and clannish approaches in the system, relieving law-abiding judges
of unnecessary disciplinary pressures.

IMPOSSIBLE TO INSURE GOOD EDUCATION WITHOUT ASSISTANCE OF BUSINESS – ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT

news.am
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Strengthening Education and Business Cooperation in Armenia
two-day conference kicked off in Yerevan on Thursday.

Armenian Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan, Minister of Labor and
Social Issues Arthur Grigoryan, the Head of EU Delegation to Armenia
Raul de Luzenberger attended the meeting, Ministry of Education press
service informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“It is impossible to ensure high quality of education and carry out
reforms without the assistance of business sphere. This is especially
true for vocational education, where the employers should contribute to
formation of education standards relevant to the needs and priorities
of the field. After all, the final consumer of education and knowledge
is the economic system. It is obvious that the quality of education
will be directly proportional to the demand of experts in the economy,”
said Ashotyan. “We are ready for cooperation with business sphere on
all levels. We are open to discuss every proposition.”

YEREVAN TO HOST INTERNATIONAL IT SYMPOSIUM

news.am
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The National Academy of Sciences of Armenia will become
the venue, between September 26 and 30, for the “Computer Science and
Information Technologies” (CSIT-2011) 8th International Symposium,
the Academy’s press service told Armenian News-NEWS.am. The event will
bring together scientists from France, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Canada, Belgium, Georgia, and elsewhere. Renowned Russian scientist
and Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics Zhores Alferov is also expected
to attend the symposium.

The event’s objective is to encourage the development of computer
science and the exchange of scientific and technological information
between IT specialists, and to create an opportunity for expanding
cooperation between the scientist of Armenia and international centers.

US ARMENIAN PROPERTY CASES AGAINST TURKEY
by ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z

Today’s Zaman
Sept 15 2011
Turkey

There are a couple of pending property cases against Turkey introduced
by American citizens of Armenian descent in California courts in
the US.

One of these cases concerns a large amount of land in Adana which
partly covers the Ä°ncirlik American air base (Alex Bakalian, et al v.
Central Bank the Rep of Turkey, et al). I have been trying to follow
the Bakalian case, in which a California district court decided
that the defendants had been lawfully served and has required the
defendants to respond to the Armenian complaints last month. So,
we have now a very concrete case against Turkey. American laws
(Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act) allow plaintiffs to sue sovereign
nations in US courts. In the latest edition of the Agos weekly, I
saw an interview with Bakalian’s lawyer, Mr. Vartkes Yeghiayan, and
I contacted Agos to get the lawyer’s original commentary in English.

Agos correspondent Ms. Beril Eski kindly agreed and sent me the
original of the interview. It is a little long, so here is a cut
version. Let’s read Mr. Yeghiayan’s comments about the Ä°ncirlik case.

“Beginning in 1915, the government of the Ottoman Turkish Empire began
ordering the collection of real and personal property and deportation
of Turkish Armenians. A series of discriminatory regulations,
directives, and decrees issued by the Ottoman Turkish Empire between
1915 and 1923, collectively known as the Emvali Metruke, sought to
provide legal cover for the unlawful expropriation of the property
and assets of Turkish Armenians, including that of our plaintiffs. …

“In response to the outrage expressed by the international community
over the large-scale deportations, murders and expropriation of
property from Turkish Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government,
government telegrams posted in 1916 demonstrate that proceeds from
the sale of properties left behind by deportees were deposited with
Defendant T.C. Ziraat Bankası …upon information and belief held in
trust and for safekeeping on behalf of the rightful Armenian owners
in accordance with other Emvali Metruke. …

“In 1923, Turkey became the successor state to the Ottoman Turkish
Empire. …

“In 1928, new laws came into effect, transferring all ‘abandoned’ real
and personal property to the Turkish Treasury. Since its establishment
in 1856, the Imperial Ottoman Bank acted as the state Treasurer and was
responsible for collecting state revenues. Defendant Merkez Bankası
of the Republic of Turkey was established in its present format in
1931 as the successor to the Imperial Ottoman Bank. …

“Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the
plaintiffs’ real property and assets in Adana that were not sold have
been continuously, wrongfully owned and controlled by the Turkish
government and used for commercial activities by Turkey and the
Turkish Merkez Bankası in conjunction with numerous private commercial
enterprises operating both in the United States and elsewhere. Income
earned from those properties, including rental income being paid by
the United States government to lease the plaintiffs’ property, flows
continuously into the Merkez Bankası. Thus, Defendants Turkey and
the Merkez Bankası are profiting from and being unjustly enriched by
their possession of and/or use of proceeds from such stolen property
belonging to the plaintiffs. …

“Our relations with the Turkish Foreign Affairs and that of the ‘time
limitation’ also known as the ‘Statute of Limitation’ are interlinked
in a sense that the Republic of Turkey does fall under the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act, however, due to illicit expropriation and use
of property for the purpose of making gain — ‘Commercial Enterprise,’
the Armenian Genocide — ‘Violation of International Humanitarian Law’
and lastly the ‘Violation of the Lausanne Treaty’ of which Turkey is
a signatory. …

“When we win the case and should the Republic of Turkey or the banks
default on the judgment brought forth against them, we will move to
seize properties belonging to the aforementioned in equal value to
our claims.”

When I got the interview I hoped to find answers to some legal
questions that crossed my mind, the most important off which was,
of course, about the statute of limitations. The dispute about time
limitations must be the vital part of this case and, I guess, it
will be hard to explain to the court why the statute of limitations
cannot be applicable in this case, which was brought almost 100 years
after the actual seizure of said property. I can gather some core
arguments from Mr. Yeghiayan’s explanations on time limitations,
but they do not answer the many questions that may possibly be put
to any plaintiff who brings this kind of case under any legal system
in Europe, for example. Even if we accept that the plaintiffs had
the opportunity to start such a case for the first time when the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act came into force in the US, why did
they wait 35 years to do so? There are many legal questions that
can be asked in connection with the statute of limitations. Anyway,
I will continue to follow this case and share my comments with you.

AZERBAIJANI FM: SO-CALLED “ELECTIONS” IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CAMOUFLAGE ARMENIA’S ANNEXATION POLICY

Trend
Sept 15 2011
Azerbaijan

The so-called “elections” to the “local self-governing bodies”
scheduled for September 18, 2011 by the separatist regime of
Nagorno-Karabakh camouflage the annexation policy of Armenia, the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported.

“The unrecognized separatist regime in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan represents nothing but an illegal structure established by
the Republic of Armenia on the basis of ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijani
population,” the Foreign Ministry’s statement said. “The so-called
“elections” are conducted in order to camouflage the annexation
policy of Armenia and are aimed at consolidation of the results of
the continued occupation of the internationally recognized territories
of Azerbaijan.”

According to the reports circulated by the mass media outlets of the
Republic of Armenia so-called “elections” to the “local self-governing
bodies” are being arranged to take place in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on September 18, 2011.

The Republic of Azerbaijan calls upon the Armenian side to stop
its destructive illegal steps, which do not have any prospects, and
instead to demonstrate a good will and take a constructive position
in the negotiation process in order to find a soonest and durable
solution to the conflict on the basis of the norms and principles of
international law, the statement 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 its surrounding
regions.

BAKU MAKES ANNOUNCEMENT ON PLANNED ‘ELECTIONS’ IN OCCUPIED LANDS

news.az
Sept 5 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has made a statement in relation to
planned elections in the occupied lands.

The announcement says that according to reports in Armenian press,
there is a plan to hold ‘elections to municipal elections’ in occupied
lands of Azerbaijan on 18 September.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan repeats that the poppet regime
in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan is an illegal structure created
as a result of an ethnic policy against the Azerbaijani community of
the region.

The illegal ‘elections are aimed at hiding the occupational policy of
Armenia and strengthening the results of occupation of the Azerbaijani
lands recognized worldwide.

“Azerbaijan urges Armenia to stop its destructive and illegal actions
which have no prospects and take constructive step in the process of
negotiations for the settlement of the conflict on the basis of of
the norms and principles of the international law”, the statement says.