Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVED THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM DAVID LIDINGTON

ARMENPRESS
18 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: The President of the Republic of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received the Minister of State for Europe of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Lidington
on September 18. As Presidential press office told Armenpress,
the issues pertain to British- Armenian relations agenda and other
prospects were envisaged in the course of the launched meeting.

President Sargsyan stated Armenia attaches great importance to the
comprehensive development of relations with the United Kingdom and
to the political dialogue activation in that process. Serzh Sargsyan
voiced hope Minister Lidington visit will serve an important impetus
for repairing of bilateral ties and deepening of cooperation.

Trade and economic relations development and investment promotion was
also highlighted in that context.President Sargsyan and David Lidigton
attached importance to the cooperation of Armenia and Great Britain
within European Union context. The head of the country noted with
gratitude the notable progress with EU in the direction of Association
agreement, establishing of deep and comprehensive free trade area,
the facilitation of people’s move.

The interlocutors dwelled on the impact of regional developments,
NK conflict settlement process, current concerns. David Lidington
agrees with EU and European Parliament that any step praising the
murderer is unacceptable and worths condemning.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: “AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES ARE SUBJECTING THEIR OWN PEOPLE TO A LONGSTANDING INFORMATION BLOCKADE”

arminfo
Tuesday, September 18, 13:52

“It is obvious that Azerbaijani miscarriage of justice doesn’t mean
miscarriage of the international law and justice. Otherwise, the world
will obviously plunge into the incessant repetition of similar murders
and will find itself in the clutches of general anarchy. For that
very reason, the international community has unequivocally emphasized
the inadmissibility of that incident. It is very important, but still
it’s not enough. Pardoning of the criminal, or to be more precise – his
acquittal, runs contrary to all fundamental principles and goals of the
Council of Europe. And it is stated not by us but by all the leaders
of the Organization without exception,” President Serzh Sargsyan said
at the meeting at the Government of Armenia, on September 16.

The president is sure that with that act, Azerbaijan crossed the limits
of the international civilized behavior. Feeling the international
pressure, the leader of that country is employing more frequently
his favorite tool – public lies.

“With regard to his utterances, I must underscore once again that
never an extradited convict received pardon in Armenia.

Yes, by glorifying the criminal, Azerbaijan has put itself in such
a desperate situation, that is compelled to come up with lies daily,
finding “faults” with Armenia and stating them out loud. Sordid lies,
I would say a string of sordid lies, a parade, parade of lies. The
authorities of the neighboring state, which have been subjecting
their own people to a longstanding information blockade, would like
to think that it is possible to fool an entire nation all the time.

Time will show whether it is possible or not. However, the well-know
maxim claims the opposite. Meanwhile we are conducting necessary work
on this direction. I believe those responsible for the legal component
know very well what’s to be done. I expect active, unrelenting work
in all international bodies. I expect coordinated and far-reaching
activities. Next: the program of diplomatic work is clear and is
underway. At the same time, I also believe that the Government, in
coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, should develop
a consultative document for official use which will allow all our
agencies along with their own work to conduct in the international
settings activities which will assist also in this process. We have
a lot of things to do on this issue and shall lose no time. Lowdown
acts and lies will not prevail,” the president said.

KOCHARYAN IS ALWAYS THERE
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:26:02 – 18/09/2012

Will the government of Armenia be changed prior to the presidential
elections? After Serzh Sargsyan’s consultation with the government
this issue is the most discussed social-political one though not only
the change of government but also the issue of power has always been
topical in the history of independent Armenia.

The first impression from Serzh Sargsyan’s meeting was that Sargsyan
showed a yellow card to the prime minister and a red one could follow
immediately. This impression is promoted also by total dissatisfaction
with the economic policy, and if Serzh Sargsyan removes him, everyone
will be happy.

Serzh Sargsyan’s reprimand was preceded by the PAP allegations that
Tigran Sargsyan has set to defame Gagik Tsarukyan. This was the
first time Prosperous Armenia personalized its problems with Tigran
Sargsyan showing that it is going to reinforce the PM’s issue ahead
of the presidential election.

Reprimanding Tigran Sargsyan after such statements means supporting
Gagik Tsarukyan or at least acting under his influence.

But at the same time, Serzh Sargsyan uses the PAP’s issues to show
that not only the PAP but also he is dissatisfied with the government.

Serzh Sargsyan is trying to show that the situation is under his
control. At the same time though, by putting Tigran Sargsyan in an
unfavorable situation Serzh Sargsyan closes the topic of the PM’s
resignation, ending the talk with the PAP.

At the same time, Serzh Sargsyan assumed responsibility for the
government by not replacing the prime minister but reprimanding him
and giving him some instructions. In this sense, Serzh Sargsyan
protects the government thus highlighting that it belongs to him
without disagreeing that everyone is dissatisfied with the government.

In other words, by just scolding the government, Serzh Sargsyan shows
to the opponents that the prime minister will not be a scapegoat.

For such support, Tigran Sargsyan and the rest of the ministers would
not mind looking like bad students.

The replacement of the prime minister is a bugbear for Serzh Sargsyan.

He will hardly get any significant social and economic effect. Even
the propaganda effect will be highly relative. Instead, he will have
to face the annoying issue of appointing a new prime minister before
the presidential elections while Serzh Sargsyan does not need such
a situation and additional negotiations with the political forces.

Besides, Tigran Sargsyan’s resignation may be disapproved by the West.

Moreover, all the possible candidates for PM are pro-Russian.

The issue is not that there is nobody better than Tigran Sargsyan
but T. Sargsyan is the most convenient person, at least prior to
the presidential election. Afterwards, Serzh Sargsyan will be able
to make a decision on the premier, proceeding from the quality and
result of the elections.

At the same time, Tigran Sargsyan’s staying in office before the
presidential elections is also useful for Prosperous Armenia. This
party obviously avoids criticism in Serzh Sargsyan’s address. Tigran
Sargsyan and his policy are the best platform for the PAP to appear
as opposition or an alternative, and criticize as much as they want.

The PAP would be happy with the premier’s replacement only in one case
– if Robert Kocharyan is appointed. Only then the PAP will get the
real chance to be majority or the real chance to get rid of Robert
Kocharyan’s ambitions without being forced to rope dancing between
Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan.

But Serzh Sargsyan would not be happy to have Robert Kocharyan in
the prime minister’s office, at least prior to 2017-18 elections,
when Serzh Sargsyan may resort to Kocharyan’s option who is always
there to stand by in case no other option is found. And if certainly
no force majeure happens.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT MEETS FRENCH COUNTERPART

APA
Sept 18 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku-APA. President Ilham Aliyev has today met French counterpart
Francois Hollande at Elysee Palace in Paris, APA reports quoting
AzerTAj.

A guard of honor was lined up for the Azerbaijani President here.

President Ilham Aliyev passed along a ceremonial guard of honor.

French President Francois Hollande welcomed the Azerbaijani leader.

During the meeting, they discussed cooperative relations between
Azerbaijan and France in various directions.

They said these relations were successfully developing in the fields
of politics, economy and culture.

The presidents noted the active role of French companies in
Azerbaijan`s economy.

They stressed the importance of the French investment in Azerbaijan.

The Heads of State said the two countries had good prospects for
cooperation in this field.

They also discussed the current state of negotiations to settle the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as what must
be done with respect to settlement of this dispute.

FOREIGN INVESTORS TIRE OF ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza
Sept 18 2012
Russia

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to VK

Since early September, a new wave of devaluation of the Armenian dram
was registered. At the Armenian stock exchange $1 costs 412 drams,
while a week ago $1 cost about 408 drams. Thus, devaluation was 11%
in few days. At the moment dollar demand increases, and it leads to
devaluation of dram.

Early September was marked by the growth of flour prices. Previously
50-kilo bag of flour cost 11 500 drams; now it costs 12 thousand
drams. Bread became more expensive as well. If prices remain the same,
it means bread~Rs weight reduces.

The member of the Council of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), the
head of the constant parliamentary committee on fiscal issues, Gagik
Minasian, is sure that economic indexes of the first half of the year
are positive in Armenia which enables prediction of stability of basic
macroeconomic indexes and absence of problems with implementation of
the state budget. According to him, the analysis is based on data
published by the statistics service. They say that the index of
economic activity was 7.7% in January-July; the economic growth is
registered in all spheres except for construction. The results of
the first half of 2012 confirm over-fulfillment of budget inflows,
while the price growth remains within predicted limits in the end of
the year.

At the same time, such predictions and optimistic attitudes do not
influence the social situation. Population~Rs income hasn~Rt grown
in the period. The wage level in Armenia is meaningful in this context.

Armenia has the slowest pace of wages~R growth among the CIS countries
~V 1% only.

This index doesn~Rt correlate with official information of the 13-per
cent economic growth in industry which is the biggest among the CIS
countries. Industry is the major segment of Armenian economy. The
official statistics data states that in the first half cost of the
produced goods was 501 billion drams. The agricultural volumes were
203 billion drams; the construction volumes ~V 130 billion drams. The
13-per cent boom in the biggest sphere of economy couldn~Rt but lead to
increase of living standards ~V increase of wages and purchasing power.

However, wages grew only by 1%. In the context of prices increasing and
wages staying the same, purchasing power of population couldn~Rt grow.

About 325 thousand citizens appeared between beggary and poverty.

These people have income in 6530 drams ($17.5) per person in a month.

Another relatively ~Ssuccessful~T group of citizens has income in
12242 drams ($30) in a month.

The hardest social situation and odd indexes which are far from normal
economic logistics are not new. However, a special attention should
be paid to decrease of foreign investments to Armenian economy by 40%.

The volume of foreign investments into Armenian economy in the first
half of 2012 was $266 million. This index is the lowest in recent
6 years. Russian investments into Armenian economy reduced by 80%;
French investments ~V by 65%; the American investments ~V by 78%;
the UK investments ~V by 81%. These countries are main investors to
the Armenian economy. The dynamics show that Armenian economy lacks
attraction for foreign investors. It is another reason for thinking
over the current socio-economic situation in the country.

ROSSELKHOZNADZOR TO BAN FISH FROM ICELANDIC, ARMENIAN

Interfax
Sept 17 2012
Russia

Rosselkhoznadzor will as of September 27 be banning product from
the Icelandic enterprise Vinnslustooin HF (NA668) and Armenia’s CJSC
Akvatekhavtomatika.

The service has announced that E. coli bacteria has been discovered in
consignments of frozen mackerel from Iceland and trout from Armenia,
thereby getting these companies back on the list of violators of
Russian food-safety requirements.

“In the case of the arrival of product shipped before September 27, the
decision on its entry will be made with mandatory laboratory control
for signs of danger in the revealed risk group,” Rosselkhoznadzor said.

Furthermore, Rosselkhoznadzor has beefed up control over products from
a number of meat and fish companies in Brazil, Denmark, Lithuania,
Ukraine, China, and Spain “in line with the primary discovery in their
products of E. coli group bacteria.” Control is also being tightened
over milk products from the Lithuanian dairy outfits NLT 61-01 P EB
(aB Pieno zvaigzdes, a branch of Mazeikiu pienine) and N LT 81-01 P
(UAB Rokiskio pienas) due to the finding of yeast in consignments of
tvorog, which is somewhat similar to cottage cheese.

ONE SHOULD NOT HAVE EXPECTATIONS FROM THE PARTY: VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN

21:12 | 2012-09-18 | Opinions | Armenia Opinions |

“The ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Foundation) does not appreciate its
friends. They have special love to do it after death, “said the member
Alvard Petrosyan in an interview. According to her, the “Heritage”
party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan appreciates his friends much better,
than ARF.

Armenian news agencies asked the ARF member Vahan Hovhannisyan whether
they had grounds for such insults. Mr. Hovhannisyan answered, “I do
not see any offense there. I can see complaint, which may be partly
justified and partly not. But it did happen in all societies.”

Mr. Hovhannisyan also answered to the question whether it is normal
that the party member expresses complaint, he said that it is abnormal
that she expressed her complaint later than needed. However he also
noted that he does not agree with the statement of Alvard Petrosyan.

“People want to find a proper way to achieve something, some people
entering the party, especially ARF, they do have an idea, which they
want to achieve. They enter to serve and not to receive ranks. One
should not have expectations from the Party. Of course, in some
cases you can be disappointed, when you see that the deeds are not
appreciated, but in reality you cannot think of it.”

FRIENDSHIP FORGED IN FINANCING FURNACE

Australian Financial Review
September 17, 2012 Monday
First Edition

“The first time I met Charis he was working for New Zealand’s NZI. I
thought he was a pretty bright guy and then he turned up at Macquarie.

Our relationship was forged in fire. We did some of the toughest PPP
(public-private partnership) deals the country has ever seen. When you
work with somebody in that situation and you look around the room at
3am during heated negotiations with the government or the banks and
you see who is still standing, that is when you really get a measure
of people.

Charis was leading the infrastructure finance team at Macquarie. We
started with the Melbourne CityLink project. I had been working on
that project during Labor and then Jeff [Kennett] came in and said this
is a go-er but it has to be private-sector financed and it has got to
have full electronic tolling. ‘Oh my God’, I thought, and said ‘yes,
certainly Premier, we will be able to do that’ with fingers crossed
behind my back and away we went. It was an enormously complex project
because it was not only a PPP, but it had a listed vehicle, Transurban,
being created at the same time. Michael headed the team and we had debt
and equity and underwriters, short-term and long-term people. It was a
nightmare. He was just terrific. He is extremely inventive. He always
found a solution to a problem. Michael could also get quite angry
himself at times. I remember him letting go at one of the major banks
in Australia at one time. I’ve always said this about Armenians. It
takes five Jewish people to make one Chinese and it takes 5 Chinese
to make one Armenian. They are the smartest guys in the world, there
is no doubt about it. They have been traders for 3000 years and they
just know how to put a deal together. When you have been to the wall
with somebody you do develop a lot more respect for them. The thing I
love about Charis is he can relax as well and have a bit of fun. Even
in the darkest moments when things are just appalling and one of the
major banks is threatening to pull the plug, Michael will come out
with a cracker of a line which will save the moment. One time during
deep negotiations with the government in Victoria things were on the
line. It was 11pm on a wet Melbourne night, cold, and we are walking
down Flinders St to the office of the (CityLink) Authority.

There is myself and Charis and Mike Kerslake from Westpac. We are all
rather short people and all feeling a bit depressed ahead of another
long night and Charis looks across the pavement and says ‘Talk about
the attack of the killer dwarfs’. That is classic Charis. Everyone is
a bit down and a bit depressed and he comes out with a line like that.

Michael has a lovely family. You get to know the family and that
builds the bond further. We love sport. I am trying to get Charis
involved in AFL. Fundamentally he is an intelligent guy and he will
realise that rugby league is just a boof head game and get over it. I
never call him or have lunch with him when I don’t laugh.”

“When we first met, Tony was the senior guy and I was the up and
comer. Transfield, really through Tony and Guido Belgiorno-Nettis,
were the first guys who gave me my big shot. He was the icon. I was
not 30 years old at the time, so I was a kid relatively speaking. Tony
was the man. He wasn’t all that friendly at the time, I must admit. He
actually complained to my boss and got me back from a family holiday.

He called up and said ‘I want you to come back’ and I said ‘Come on
Tony, I am on holidays’. He called up my boss and whinged and the boss
called up and said, ‘Michael this is one of the biggest deals we are
doing’. I came back. Tony was the guy who did all the big projects.

Infrastructure in the late 1980s was just a term and no one was doing
it. It was not sexy at the time, it sort of became sexy in the mid
to late 1990s, and it was bloody hard. These deals took three to five
years to do. You have to remember at the end of these periods you can
bloody lose. If you lose a deal about two years of your life is gone.

We were just lucky we won the Melbourne CityLink. The life of people in
the sector is a series of failures punctuated by the occasional success
so you better enjoy those days because they don’t happen that often. We
both love boxing. Several years ago we went to Vegas to watch a fight,
to see an Armenian-Australian boxer called Vic Darchinyan. He came out
for the Olympics here and has been a triple world champion. I always
said to him if he fought in Vegas I would come and see him. I happened
to be in the US and I said to Tony would you like to come and he said
yes. My wife came as well and the three of us went to see the fight
in Vegas. He headlined and he won. I call Tony The Good Shepherd. No
one has been born in more places in Australia than Tony. No one has
been to more schools than Tony. Every time you go to see a government
on a deal Tony is from that state. ‘I went to school in Victoria,
I grew up in Perth, I spent my childhood in Brisbane’. We do go to
sport together but he is way too busy. He is certainly the most vocal
BCA president. I think it is an age thing. He is not scared to say
what he thinks. There is no bullshit about Tony.

What you see is what you get. Why I like working with Tony is that he
sees the whole picture and that is a real skill. It is so rare. This
guy is like the workaholic champion and for him to take on the BCA
he really believed the business voice was not being heard in the
appropriate way. He is out there. The way I look at it, I have 2000
weekends to go and the last 500 are going to be crap.”

Responding to Tony’s comments about Armenians, Michael says: “Oh Tony,
you are going to get a lot of pizzas and kebabs I think and you are
going to get your car serviced for free.”

Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd (pictured
right), 68, has been involved in some of Australia’s biggest
infrastructure projects and has chaired Transfield Services since
2005. Former Macquarie Capital executive chairman Michael Carapiet,
54, ran the bank’s infrastructure funds and helped drive the company’s
global expansion. Armenian-born Carapiet, known as “Charisma” by some
colleagues and “Charis” (short for “charisma”, pronounced “karas”) by
Tony, retired from Macquarie last year. He chairs the NSW State Super
fund. The two met more than 20 years ago during tough negotiations
over financing infrastructure deals and became close friends.

MIchael Smith

TURKEY’S PRO-KURDISH PARTY MP SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN JAIL

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 18, 2012 – 14:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) MP Sebahat
Tuncel has been sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison
for being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK),
Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Tuncel was detained and released in 2007 when she was elected as
a deputy while the court case was still proceeding. If the Supreme
Court of Appeals approves the sentence, Tuncel will be stripped of
her deputy mandate.

Tuncel has also been banned from leaving the country.

LA COMMUNAUTE ARMENIENNE DE TURQUIE DEMANDE QUE DES MODIFICATIONS SOIENT APPORTEES AUX REGLEMENTS DES ECOLES
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 18 septembre 2012

La communaute armenienne se prepare a presenter un rapport au
ministre turc de l’education demandant certaines modifications a la
reglementation dans les ecoles des minorites affirme le quotidien
turc Hurriyet.

Dans un rapport au ministre de l’Education Dincer Omer, la communaute
armenienne exige l’abolition de la pratique de nommer les directeurs
adjoints turcs dans les ecoles des minorites. Le rapport exige aussi
que les professeurs d’histoire turque et de langue turque puissent
etre choisis par les ecoles elles-memes.

Karekine Barsamyan, directeur de l’ecole elementaire de Private
Pangalti (Mihitaryan) dans le quartier de Nisantasi a Istanbul a dit
qu’ils avaient pris d’importantes mesures pour resoudre les problèmes,
a la suite d’une serie de negociations qu’ils avaient en avec Ankara
jusque la.

Karekine Barsamyan a dit que la difference d’opinions entre les
directeurs armeniens et directeurs adjoints turcs avait cause certains
problèmes majeurs dans le passe. ” En fait, selon la reglementation
en vigueur, nous sommes en mesure de choisir nos propres directeurs
adjoints et les enseignants. Nous voulons seulement legaliser ce
règlement ” a- t-il dit.

Silva Kuyumcuyan, directrice de l’ecole armenienne a Karakoy, a
egalement contribue a ce rapport. ” Il est vrai que nous ne sommes
pas actuellement avec les problèmes que nous avons rencontres dans
le passe. Nous demandons l’egalite des citoyens. Nous exigeons que
les règlements des autres ecoles soient appliquees dans nos ecoles
“, a-t-elle dit.

A Istanbul, il ya 14 ecoles primaires, cinq ecoles secondaires et une
ecole maternelle appartenant a la communaute armenienne. Il y avait
3.000 elèves inscrits dans ces ecoles au cours de la dernière annee
scolaire selon le journal Hurriyet.