Author: Badalian Vardan

STATE SUPPORT TENDS UP

18:09 24/01/2013

A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan. The Government approved two land-user support programs for
the purchase of cost-effective diesel fuel and nitrogenous fertilizers
in 2013. The Minister of Agriculture was told to select eligible
importers for the implementation of subsidy programs.

It is planned to provide land users with more than 17 million liters
of diesel fuel and 11 tons of ammonia saltpeter. Moreover, diesel
fuel will be available at AMD 350 per liter, while the fertilizers
will be provided at the cost of 6 thousand drams for a 50 kilogram-bag.

According to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the main feature of
these two programs is that the level of State support has augmented
significantly, which means that either cultivated areas have increased
in size.

The government approved a small and medium business support program
and a timetable for 2013. The program seeks to provide the tools
necessary for SME development, revive the economy of remote and border
areas through harmonious management, diversify the national economy,
boost employment and self-employment in the country.

By making the next step, the Government highlights the role of SMEs
in ensuring economic development, generating new jobs, raising the
living standards, shaping a middle class, providing for social and
political stability in the country.

Redistributing the 2013 State budget and amending a previous decree,
the Government allocated funds to the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs that will be used to ensure better working conditions in those
11 welfare centers to be operational by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs. Note that the centers will be providing one-stop-shop
services to vulnerable households.

The meeting agreed to donate a nearly 3,400 square meter-wide plot
of land at Arshakunyats Avenue N28 to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund,
establishing that the land can be used for charitable purposes, namely
to build the Komitas Museum-Institute and a cultural center. The
project has already been approved by the Yerevan Town Hall’s
Architectural Board.

The meeting passed a decision to authorize the Institute for National
Strategic Studies after General Drastamat Kanayan to participate in
the founding of the CSTO Academy based on the CSTO Secretary-General’s
request to the President of the Republic of Armenia regarding the
establishment of such an academy in Yerevan.

The project is co-financed by the “CSTO Institute” autonomous
non-profit organization and its Yerevan branch, as well as the
Public Diplomacy Support Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation. The project has been discussed and endorsed
by the Armenia National Security Council Secretary, as well as the
foreign ministers of Russia and Kazakhstan.

Amending a previous decree, the Executive approved a project on the
launch of a cultural college in Gyumri to cover the needs of not only
talented young boys and girls from Shirak Marz, but also from the
Armenian-populated Javakheti region of Georgia, government’s press
service reported.

AZERBAIJANI SOURCE: THE CLASHES IN ISMAYILI REGION ARE CONTINUED

Yesterday evening, thousands of local residents of Ismayilli, some 150
kilometers northwest of the capital Baku, attacked the headquarters of
the local executive authorities, burned the local governor’s houses,
a local hotel and the cars belonging to the relatives of the hated
governor. The local police was unable to disperse the protesters. The
riots in Ismayilli bear a striking similarity to the local protests
against unpopular governor in Guba in March last year. Azadliq.info
writes about this.

During the evening hours, the Azerbaijani government sent in Internal
Troops to quell the protests. The Ismayilli riots were triggered by
the rumors that Vugar Alakbarov, the spoiled son of the Azerbaijani
Minister of Social Welfare Fizuli Alakbarov, insulted the local
Ismayilli people making derogatory comments about them. The local
governor Nizami Alakbarov (this position is not elected, but appointed
by the Azerbaijani president) is the brother of the Social Welfare
Minister. The governor himself has no roots in Ismayilli and is viewed
as an outsider in the region.

The local media reports that the additional aggravating circumstance
was that the local governor’s illegally owned hotel “Chiraq” operated
as an unofficial brothel insulting the moral sensitivities of the
local population.

The local media reports that the Ismayili authorities have ignored
repeated calls by local residents to shut down the hotel, the site
of an alleged brothel.

The hotel and governor’s residence were seriously damaged by fire.

Protesters also targeted luxury cars, some of which were reportedly
owned by the son of the Social Welfare Minister Alkbarov and some
owned by the governor of Ismayilli himself.

Some local media outlets have reported injuries among the police
forces and the protesters.

24.01.13, 17:07

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL NOT GOING TO CONGRATULATE SERZH SARGSYAN

09:50 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

Presidential hopeful Andrias Ghukasyan, who has been on hunger strike
for three days, has his blood pressure measured every day. Doctors
say everything is all right with Ghukasyan.

The candidate demands that the Central Election Commission invalidate
the registration of Serzh Sargsyan as a presidential candidate.

Ghukasyan is not going to congratulate Serzh Sargsyan if the latter
is re-elected as the country’s leader. He repeated once more that
the election will be rigged if the Republican Party participates in it.

If Paruyr Hayrikyan (Chairman of the National Self-Determination
Union), Raffi Hovannisian (Chairman of the Heritage Party) and Hrant
Bagratyan (Armenia’s former Prime Minister) join Ghukasyan’s slogan
“Stop fake elections,” it will mean a lot for the country.

“Yet, it does not mean that the other presidential candidates are
joining me,” he concluded.

VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN EXPRESSED HIS GRATITUDE TO KAREKIN II FOR HIS ATTENTION

21:31, 24 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: Georgian Armenian (Virahayots) Diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church has spread a statement on
the release of political prisoner Vahagn Chakhalyan.

Armenpress reports it is mainly noted in the message “Armenian
outstanding activist, advocate of justice, who from 2001 dedicated
himself to the social life and carried out works in Javakhk aimed
at maintenance of Armenian churches, schools, Armenian language in
Georgia has been released in accordance with amnesty law adopted my
Georgian Parliament in 2012.

Vahagn Chakhalyan was met by other political prisoners Armen Gevorgyan
and Ruben Shekoyan released 10 days ago.

Holy Father of St. Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi prayed and blessed the
release of Chakhalyan during spiritual lesson. He highly evaluated fair
and humanitarian manifestations of new authorities. He congratulated
Chakhalyan and blessed the young man who spent 4 years of his life
in prison for baseless accuses of some people. Holy Father highly
evaluated the fact that Armenia, as well as diaspora all over the
world supported Vahagn Chakhalyan in such a difficult situation.

Vahagn Chakhalyan was blessed by His Holiness Karekin II on the phone.

Vahagn expressed his deepest gratitude to Catholicos of Armenian for
his paternal care and attention”.

Afterwards, Vahagn Chakhalyan went to Armenia Embassy in Georgia
where he was hosted by extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador
Hovhannes Manukyan.

GYUMRI TO BECOME CULTURAL CENTER OF COMMONWEALTH

arminfo
Thursday, January 24, 18:58

Alongside with the towns of Mogilev (Belarus) and Gabala (Azerbaijan),
the Armenian town of Gyumri has also received the status of the
Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States. To recall,
a relevant decision was adopted in late 2012 at the session of the
CIS Council of the Heads of State.

Special Representative of the Russian President for International
Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvidkoy told media in Yerevan on
Jan 24 that the project provides for cultural development of the
non-capital towns.

“We offer financing of the cultural programs of the project: concerts
by singers from the CIS, master classes, film festivals, sport events,”
Shvidkoy said.

He said that it is necessary to concentrate efforts on development
of the town infrastructure. “For instance, a single cinema of 220
seats is insufficient for Gyumri, a town with such big potential of
intellectuals,” Mikhail Shvidkoy said. He recalled that Gyumri was
severely damaged by the 1988 earthquake. “We still remember and feel
pain for that tragedy,” he said.

To recall, to verify the provisions of the given project and to
receive expert consultations, a delegation of the International
Humanitarian Cooperation Fund comprising 24 journalists, cultural
workers, sportsmen, educational and scientific workers of Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrghyzstan arrived in Armenia, Wednesday.

Part of the delegation headed by Culture Minister of Armenia Hasmik
Poghosyan visited Gyumri and had a meeting with the persons responsible
for implementation of the project overnight.

POLITICAL EXPERT: ARMENIA WILL SEE COMPETITION AT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BUT NOT BETWEEN SERZH SARGSYAN AND THE OTHER 7 CANDIDATES

arminfo
Thursday, January 24, 19:08

Armenia will surely see a competition during the Jan 18 presidential
election, but not between the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan and
the other 7 candidates, Director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander
Iskandaryan told journalists on Thursday.

“I think the competition will be between Raffi Hovannisian and Hrant
Bagratyan. I am convinced that the number of their votes really matters
to them. Not everything ends in presidential election, their political
activity will continue after Feb 18”, Iskandaryan said.

Besides the incumbent President Sargsyan, the main participants in the
presidential election are Leader of Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian,
who is quite well aware of Armenia’s problems, and Chairman of Liberty
Party, ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan who headed the Government
during the difficult 1990s. At the same time, Iskandaryan said that
Paruyr Hayrikyan, Head of the National Self-Determination Union,
well-known dissident in the Soviet times, may also receive a certain
number of votes.

IRAN-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS: MINOR DISPUTE, FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES? – ANALYSIS
By: Geopolitical Monitor

January 24, 2013

By James Bell

A lot has been said recently about Iran-Azerbaijani relations, which
is interesting because many people assume that the relationship
between these two countries doesn’t have much of an impact on the
world stage. Of course, this assumption is wrong, and Iran-Azerbaijani
affairs actually influence a wide variety of issues, from global
energy supply to the potential for an Israeli strike on Iran.

Iranian and Azerbaijani leaders have often espoused the motto of ‘one
nation, two states,’ quite like the Turkish and Azerbaijani political
leaders who constantly refer to the strong bonds that exists between
their respective peoples. Much has been written about the ‘natural’
relations between these two states, and many feel that the idea has
been manipulated in order to play on historical and ethnic ties,
rather than reflecting some kind of spontaneous expression of real
solidarity.

Azerbaijan – Iran Relations
Relations between Baku and Tehran date back to when independent
Azerbaijan was once apart of the neighbouring Iranian state before
Russia invaded in the early 19th century. The diaspora also plays a
part, as it is estimated that there are over 20 million Azerbaijani
Turks living in Iran today.

Economic growth in Azerbaijan is met with fear by officials in Iran.

With the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in place, there is the potential
for explosive economic growth in Azerbaijan. This could potentially
stir up southern Azerbaijani-Turkish ethnic consciousness within Iran,
which in turn could cause a great deal of sectarian unrest. Although
energy cooperation is a major factor in Iran-Azerbaijani relations, it
is doubtful that this cooperation will ever develop to the point where
it takes on a strategic element. This is in part due to the growing
influence of outside players, particularly Western states who wish to
control energy resources in the area and block any and all Iranian
attempts to exert their influence.

Relations between the two states have recently soured to what can
almost certainly be considered an all-time low. The worsening
relationship has caused both sides to search for immediate security
support from their respective allies. Azerbaijan has earmarked a
considerable amount of its newfound energy wealth for defence
purposes, and it has also been pursuing closer economic,
technological, and military relations with Israel and the US. For its
part, Iran has continued to deepen its own strategic relations with
Russia and China.

In order to give itself a strategic lever against the Azerbaijan
government, Iran has also been developing economic and strategic
relations with Armenia, a country that actively supports the cause of
self-determination in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region. The
Iran-Armenian connection could conceivably serve as a backchannel for
moving Iranian arms into Nagorno-Karabakh, frustrating any Azerbaijani
hope that their new allies and material capabilities will lead to a
resolution of the issue.

There is another interesting element to the US-Israel-Azerbaijan
triangle in regards to Iran. Some observers have speculated that
Azerbaijan could serve as a launching pad for an Israeli air attack on
nuclear sites in Iran.

As far as Azerbaijan is concerned, it will likely continue to seek the
support of both the US and Israel and try to build itself up as a key
influence within the area. President Aliyev has stated time and time
again that no attack on Iran will originate from Azerbaijan. However
if Iran becomes actively involved in Nagorno-Karabakh or the US feels
that Iran has crossed the nuclear threshold, his stance could end up
being weakened.

James Bell is a contributor to Geopoliticalmonitor.com

About the author:
Geopolitical Monitor

Geopoliticalmonitor.com is an open-source intelligence collection and
forecasting service, providing provide research, analysis and up to
date coverage on situations and events that have a substantive impact
on political, military and economic affairs.

If Armen Mazmanyan were President, he would develop a National Strategy Program
Artak Barseghyan

“Radiolur”
18:06 24.01.2013

Rector of the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinema Armen
Mazmanyan is confident that the presidential elections of February
18 will be objective. No administrative and other levers will be
applied under the conditions of lack of political competition, he
told a press conference today.

Nevertheless, Mazmanyan says there are candidates, who deserve to
be elected.

If he were President, he would first of all develop a National Strategy
Program. Mazmanyan believes this provision should lie in the basis
of our national interests.

Armen Mazmanyan insists that our country needs to preserve its
identity, while participating in integration processes.

AZERBAIJAN PURCHASES LONG-RANGE MISSILES FROM TURKEY

Thu 24 January 2013 08:23 GMT | 8:23 Local Time

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Azerbaijan has purchased long-range missiles from Turkey, Turkish
ROKETSAN company reports.

300 mm caliber T-300 “Hurricane” missiles (named as Kasırga by the
Turkish Armed Forces) were purchased on the basis of the delivery
contract in amount of $244 mln signed in 2010, APA reports.

According to information, currently, these missiles are improved
compared to analogs used in the Turkish Armed Forces. No information
was given about the number and advantages of the systems.

T-300 provided with modern systems is designed to strike critical
targets from more than 100 km distance. This system, which is included
in the armament of the Turkish Armed Forces, is deployed on 6×6 and
8×8 tactical wheeled-armored vehicles. The complete system includes
5-meter long four exhaust pipes. Missiles are available at an interval
of 6 seconds. T-300 is equipped with an automatic fire control system.

AGRICULTURAL ALLIANCE HOLDS DISCUSSION WITH ARMENIAN DRIED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCERS

tert.am
24.01.13

Agricultural Alliance members OXFAM in Armenia and BSC Business Support
Center initiated a round-table discussion with leading Armenian dried
food and vegetable producers.

The event aimed at identifying major challenges and opportunities for
further development and promotion of the dried fruit and vegetable
value chain in the country.

Last year Armenia’s dried fruit and vegetables imports totaled 1,078
tons, with exports totaling 42 tons. The major markets are Iran,
Ukraine and Russia, with some amount exported to Switzerland and
France.

Samvel Gevorgyan, BSC Founding Director, reported that annual dried
fruit and vegetable consumption per person is 0.8kg in Armenia against
25kg in Italy, 16kg in Czech Republic, 12kg in Sweden.

About 5,500 producers of dried fruit and vegetables are working
in Armenia, with 21 of them being large-scale producers (more than
5 tons).

“The value chain of Armenian dried food and vegetables is quite a
reality; however, it functions spontaneously and is not properly
regulated. While the value chain mainly targets the local market,
numerous challenges are associated with export opportunities. It
is also worth mentioning that only 50% of the overall dried fruit
products market is covered by local production, and the other 50%
is imported,” Mr Gevorgyan said.