Author: Badalian Vardan

TBILISI’S POLICY MAY URGE ARMENIANS TO DEMAND SECESSION FROM GEORGIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.11.2009 18:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian authorities’ policy may urge
Samtskhe-Javakheti Armenians to demand secession from Georgia, Head of
Yerkir Union Sevak Artsruni announced in Yerevan. "Official Tbilisi
does not realize that radical policy in relation to Armenians is
against their interests. That may lead to extreme solutions of the
problem," Artsruni said, not ruling out possibility of secession in
constitutional manner.

With regard to possible influence of border opening on
Samtskhe-Javakheti Armenians, Artsruni said it would significantly
weaken Georgia’s policy as a transit state. "But we do not have much
positive expectations of border opening," he added.

ARMENIA IS READY TO JOIN EURASEC

Gazeta.KZ
Oct 29 2009
Kazakhstan

Armenia will ratify the agreement on the establishment of the
Anti-Crisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). The
Minister of Finance of Armenia, Tigran Davtyan, informed, Kazakhstan
Today agency reports citing Caucasus Bulletin.

According to T. Davtyan, Armenia will be one of the first member
countries of this fund that will finish the interstate procedures.

"The projects have been prepared and four best of them have been
chosen to be presented for consideration of the fund in the long
term," he said. In this connection, the Minister of Finance said
that the work on ratification and preparation of the projects have
been carried out simultaneously. The developed projects are in the
energy, mining metallurgy, and transport spheres and are intended
for participation of large joint enterprises.

"The agreement on the establishment of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund
was signed at the session of the EurAsEC Inter-State Council in June
in Moscow.

WORLD BANK: POVERTY RATE TO GROW IN ARMENIA THIS YEAR

ARKA
Oct 28, 2009

YEREVAN, October 28. /ARKA/. Poverty rate is to grow in Armenia this
year, compared with 2008, Aristomene Varoudakis, the head of the
World Bank’s Yerevan office, said on Wednesday at the presentation
of the report on social situation and poverty in Armenia.

The WB experts haven’t completed studying impacts of the global
recession on social and economic situation in Armenia yet, but they
think poverty will grow here in 2009, Varoudakis said.

In his words, the matter needs more detailed study, which is under
way now.

The study, he said, will help the country authorities take effective
steps to resist the crisis and ward of its impacts on poor people.

Varoudakis gave a high mark to the results of statistical studies
on households.

He thinks these studies make it possible to estimate things.

According to the report, poverty rate was 23.5% in 2008 (more than
760,000 people).

WHY ARA ABRAHAMYAN WAS ABSENT FROM THE FUND RAISING DINNER?

Aysor
Oct 28 2009
Armenia

World Congress of Armenians Chairman, Ara Abrahamyan, was absent from
the fund raising dinner attended by Armenia’s President and more than
80 Armenian businessmen in Moscow. When asked about this developing,
the leader of Armenian Democratic Party, Aram Sarkisyan, told
journalists that Ara Abrahamyan hadn’t been in Russia on those days.

"Ara Abrahamyan attended the session of the General Conference of
the UNESCO in Paris, and as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador he had to
participate in that session,"

When asked what sum Ara Abrahamyan donates for development programs
of Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Deputy Chairman of World
Congress of Armenians said that there was enough time till November
26 Ara Abrahamyan along with other individuals to decide what sum to
donate to development programs of Shushi.

NIKOL PASHINYAN’S PROPONENTS AGAIN SUBJECTED TO POLICE VIOLENCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.10.2009 21:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During an October 26 hearing in Shengavit General
Jurisdiction Court, policemen used force against the crowd of
demonstrators. They beat people, forcing them out of court territory,
ANC press service reports. Two young people were taken to police
station and released after a short while. One of women activists was
moved to hospital with bodily damage.

THE OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO MEET IN LUXEMBURG ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NALBANDIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER MAMMADYAROV

ARMENPRESS
Oct 26, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS: The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
(Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov, the Russian Federation; Ambassador
Bernard Fassier, France; Ambassador Robert Bradtke, United States)
will travel to Luxembourg October 25-27 to meet Armenian Foreign
Minister Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov.

An official from the OSCE Office told Armenpress that they will
address plans for their next trip to Baku and Yerevan in November and
preparation for discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement at the
OSCE Ministerial Council in December 2009.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan left today for Luxemburg
to participate in the 10th session of Armenia-EU cooperation council.

A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE ISSUES OF THE CAPITAL WILL BE HELD IN THE YEREVAN HISTORY MUSEUM NOVEMBER 4-6

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS: A two-day conference dedicated to

ARMENPRESS
Oct 27, 2009

the issues of the capital will be held in the Yerevan History Museum
November 4-6.

Director of the museum Armine Sargsyan told Armenpress that officials
of the Archeological and Ethnographical Institute of the Armenian
Academy of Sciences, Yerevan State University, officials of Yerevan
museums will take part in the event.

Materials of the conference have been collected and soon will be
presented for publication. A. Sargsyan said that such materials have
been presented which not only refer to the current issues of Yerevan
but also the not revealed pages of the capital’s history. Twenty
five reports are intended on economic, urban building, education and
tourism spheres.

Conference on Yerevan issues is organized in Yerevan for the second
time, the first one has been conducted in 2006.

Before the conference the History Museum is planning to organize
November 3 a photo-exhibition.

COURT DELAYS HEARINGS OVER GULYAN’S CASE

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2009 19:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In an October 23 hearing presided over by Justice:
Gayane Karakhanyan, the General Jurisdiction Court of Kentron and
Nork Marash districts decided to postpone hearings over deceased
witness Gulyan’s case considering the absence of special investigator
Gabriel Petrosyan. Justice said that General Prosecutor’s Office
had received notice on Gabrielyan’s being unhealthy and receiving
in-patient treatment.

Justice Karakhanyan rescheduled court hearing for November 4. Hrayr
Gulyan, father of the deceased, told journalists that the notice
contained no information on investigator’s diagnosis and the hospital
he was in. Gulyan’s lawyer stressed he would insist on Petrosyan’s
presence since he had questions concerning the subject matter of
the case.

He further noted that as a result of expert examination. the victim was
found to have received bodily damages before his death. Lawyer also
noted that during interrogation policemen had denied the existence
of such damages at the time of taking Gulyan to police station. "So
bodily damages must have been inflicted on victim after entering the
building," said the lawyer.

Levon Gulyan died on May 12, 2007 when being interrogated by police
as a witness. The circumstances of his death are unknown. Criminal
investigation into the matter was twice suspended by inquest bodies.

DEVINE LITURGY ON THE TENTH YEAR OF OCTOBER 27 VICTIMS TO BE HELD OCTOBER 25 IN MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN

ARMENPRESS
Oct 23, 2009

ETCHMIADZIN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS: The Devine Liturgy on the tenth
year of the victims of October 27, 1999 will wrap up October 25 in
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, chaired by Catholicos of All Armenians
Karekin II, press service of Mother See told Armenpress.

DAVUTOGLU MEETS AZERBAIJANI LEADERS AFTER FLAG TENSION

Today’s Zaman
Oct 23 2009
Turkey

Ahmet Davutoglu (L) met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on
Thursday in Baku.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had talks on Thursday in Baku
with both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Azerbaijani
counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov, due to tensions between the regional
allies, which escalated upon the delivery of a diplomatic note of
protest to Azerbaijani officials because of their decision to remove
a Turkish flag in front of an embassy building in Baku.

The occasion of Davutoglu’s visit to Baku was a foreign ministerial
meeting of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC) hosted by Azerbaijan. There was a positive environment during
the one-hour meeting between Davutoglu and Mammadyarov, diplomatic
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Anatolia news
agency, as they noted that all issues between the two countries have
dealt with "a broad perspective."

Protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey for re-establishing their
ties and reopening their joint border, the removal of Turkish flags
around a monument to 1,130 Turkish soldiers who died while fighting for
Azerbaijan’s independence in 1918 and recent developments regarding
efforts by the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been working for a decade
and a half to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, were discussed during the meeting between the two
foreign ministers, the same diplomatic sources told Anatolia.

The meetings between Davutoglu and Azerbaijani leaders "passed in the
way they should pass between officials of the two brotherly countries,"
the sources said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Anatolia also reported that Ambassador Unal Ceviköz, the
deputy undersecretary for the Caucasus and Central Asia, is in Vienna
attending a meeting of the Minsk Group that will be held today. As of
Thursday, Ceviköz had already started talks with his counterparts,
the agency said, without providing further detail.

Earlier this week, Ankara protested Azerbaijan’s removal of Turkish
flags at a cemetery and outside some Turkish missions in apparent
retaliation to a ban that prevented Turkish fans from waving Azeri
flags during a World Cup qualifying match between Turkey and Armenia
earlier this month.