Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

"BAREKAMOUTYUN" ENSEMBLE TO STAGE "THE HEROIC BALLAD"

ARMENPRESS
Sep 3, 2009

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS: Concert of the "Barekamoutyun"
ensemble will take place September 5 in the National Academic Theatre
of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendarian. The audience will
have an opportunity to go back to 1987 when on the initiative of
the Armenian People’s artist Norayr Mehrabian the "Barekamoutyun"
ensemble was established.

On September 27-28 there will be a premiere in the Academic theatre of
opera and ballet. Artistic director of the "Barekamoutyun" ensemble
Norayr Mehrabian has performed a new dance with elements of classical
dance under the music of Arno Babajanian’s "Heroic ballad" piano
work. It will last for nearly 27 minutes which will be followed by
the second part of the music program.

As any other dance this one also contains battle. Assistant to the
artistic director of "Barekamoutyun" ensemble Hrachya Badalian told
Armenpress that in this case the battle is not against something but
for the homeland, future and the young generation.

Great master of dance art Vanoush Khanamirian assessed the
"Barekamoutyun" ensemble to be a team which highly preserves the
honor of the Armenian nation and makes the Armenian dance sound all
over the world.
From: Baghdasarian

POLITICAL SCIENTISTS DISCUSS THE STRONG AND WEEK ASPECTS OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS
Lusine Vasilyan

"Radiolur"
03.09.2009 17:25

Political scientists Yervand Bozoyan and Alexander Markarov discussed
the strong and week aspects of the Armenian-Turkish protocols today.

According to Yervand Bozoyan, the role of an initiator in the
improvement of the Armenia-Turkish relations has considerably weakened
Armenia’s positions.

"The opening of the border depends on Turkey, and the latter may
bargain over the issue," he said.

Alexander Markarov, on the contrary, considers that having taken the
initiative is an advantage in the current situation. "Armenia proved
to be a reliable partner: it does not simply make statements, it
takes practical steps. In general, the pre-signing of the protocols
is positive and could well serve as a ground for normalization of
relations," he said.

"I can see nothing negative in the fact that two countries want
to improve their relations and have an open border. In this sense,
the trends in the documents are positive," Alexander Markarov said.

"The Armenian authorities actually want to improve the Armenian-Turkish
relations, separating them from the Karabakh issue. This is
understandable.

I understand the authorities from the strategic point of view,
but I cannot understand them from the tactical viewpoint," Yervand
Bozoyan noted.
From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJANI, GEORGIAN AND ARMENIAN REPRESENTATIVES WILL DEBATE ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF REGIONAL ENERGY POLICIES IN TBILISI

Today.Az
s/55193.html
Sept 2 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian high-rank officials will meet in
Tbilisi on September 8 to 9 to discuss the environmental aspects
of regional energy policies in the Southern Caucasus region,
Euroconvention Conferences reported.

"Caucasus Environmental Infrastructure and Green Energy Investment &
Finance Summit 2009", organized by the Euroconvention Conferences,
provides a non-official platform for the ministers and government
officials of the three countries to meet with the international
financial institutions and private sector representatives.

Among the confirmed speakers are the Minister of Energy of Georgia Mr
Aleksandre Khetaguri, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources
of Azerbaijan Mr Huseynqulu Bagirov and the Minister of Environment
Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia Mr Giorgi Khechidze. The
Armenian government is represented by high level bureucrats at the
event, the same source said.

Along the same lines, Caucasus Environmental Infrastructure and Green
Energy Investment & Finance Summit 2009 covers the key topics of power,
that is, renewable energy, development of regional energy policies,
energy transport and environmental infrastructure.
From: Baghdasarian

BEIRUT CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
by Daniel Bardsley, [email protected]

The National
rticle?AID=/20090903/FOREIGN/709029835/1002/FOREIG N
Sept 3 2009
UAE

A conference to discuss what is termed the Armenian genocide will be
the first gathering of its kind in the Middle East to bring together
Armenian, Turkish and Kurdish views.

Participants at the two-day event in Beirut, which starts today,
will discuss how the international community and international law
should recognise the First World War events.

Armenia asserts that as the war was ending 1.5 million people died
when Ottoman authorities drove Armenians from a region of eastern
Anatolia that was known as Western Armenia.

Armenia and its diaspora, along with many other countries and
individual US states, describe the massacres as genocide, although
Turkey does not, and insists the death toll was much lower and that
many Muslim Turks died in what it says was wartime unrest. This week
Armenia and Turkey announced plans to establish diplomatic relations
for the first time.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in protest against
Armenia’s support for the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh,
previously controlled by Azerbaijan. But this week, Turkey said it
hoped to open the border by the end of the year, and the two countries
have given themselves six weeks to finalise accords over establishing
relations before presenting them to their respective parliaments.

The protocol to establish diplomatic ties does not detail how the
genocide accusations will be dealt with, although one suggestion from
the Turkish side has been that a historical commission is established
to look into the issue.

Issues being focused on at the academic conference, titled The Armenian
Genocide and International Law, include genocide denial in Turkey,
alleviating the consequences of genocide and how the massacres have
affected Kurdish-Armenian relations.

Another subject is the evolution of the Armenian genocide denial in
the Turkish press, which is likely to note that media in Turkey now
more readily use the term genocide than before.

Beirut has one of the largest Armenian communities in the Middle East.

Antranig Dakessian, a conference organiser and executive secretary
of the Haigazian Armenological Review, published by Beirut’s Armenian
university, Haigazian University, said the conference was not debating
whether the massacres were genocide. Instead, it will look at the
reasons behind what Mr Dakessian called "genocide denial".

Such events as the conference were important for ensuring the killings
that occured as the Ottoman Empire crumbled were not forgotten,
he said.

"When you are in such a terrible situation or your grandparents have
undergone such a condition, you would like the world to share with
you," he said.

Also, he said, the impunity of those responsible for the genocide
has encouraged other people to commit genocide.

However, Mr Dakessian, a Lebanese-Armenian whose grandparents came from
what was Western Armenia, said the event would consider issues such
as how genocide should be dealt with by the international community
to prevent recurrences.

Mr Dakessian said the conference would not be preoccupied with the
question of whether the killings were genocide, since for Armenians
this was historical fact.

"The Armenian genocide is an established reality," he said. "We have to
overcome that issue of whether it occurred. We’re trying to highlight
how to deal with the consequences."

Another organiser, Vera Yacoubian, executive director of the Armenian
National Committee Middle East, and the great-granddaughter of
Armenians driven from former Western Armenia, said similar conferences
have been held before in Europe or the United States, but not in the
Middle East.

She said she believed some Turkish participants do not recognise the
killings as genocide, so the conference would see a variety of views
expressed. "They may say there were massacres," she said. "We have
people at the conference [who hold these views], but I’m not sure if
they will say these things at the conference. I hope they do."
From: Baghdasarian

Aysor
Sept 2 2009
Armenia

The Minister of Sport of Azerbaijan arrived to Yerevan

As Aysor.am was informed by the press service of the RA Sports and
Youth Ministry today that the Minister of Sports and youth affairs Azad
Rahimov arrived to Yerevan for the Judo youth league taking place in
Yerevan from 11-13 of September in which the Azerbaijani team also is
taking part. The president of the Azerbaijani judo federation Fizuli
Aleqperov has arrived together with the Minister. They have had a
meeting with the RA Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Armen Grigoryan
and the president of the RA judo federation Aleksan Avetisyan.

Of course it is well known that the sports Minister of Azerbaijan and
the president of the federation have arrived to Armenia for signing a
decree on getting security guarantees. The document is signed already
and the Armenian side is taking care of the security of the guests.

In the post Soviet period it is the first time that Azerbaijani sport
delegation is visiting Armenia. There is no any particular reaction
concerning their visit within the Armenian society. We are sure that
the sport delegation of Azerbaijan can take a tour in Yerevan even
without being accompanied by the security service and will notice
that they do not attract the attention of the people. It is Yerevan
and the hospitable Armenians live here.

Azad Rahmov and Fizuli Alekperov are intended to stay in Yerevan till
the end of championship. Later the sportsmen and the trainers will
join them.
From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY COMMENTS ON THE PROCESS OF NORMALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

ArmInfo
2009-09-02 11:59:00

ArmInfo. Russian Foreign Ministry has positively conceived the
information about readiness of Armenia and Turkey to start the process
of internal consultations for signing ‘Protocol on the establishment
of diplomatic relations’ and ‘Protocol on the development of bilateral
relations’, press-service of Russian Foreign Ministry says commenting
on the event. ‘Armenia and Turkey are our friendly countries. We
conceive the movement towards normalization of relations between
them as a logical and expected process. We shall be happy if the
consultations, which are the interior affair of these countries,
will result in substantive arrangements.

The preliminary analysis of the draft protocols as well as the elements
and schedule of their fulfillment shows how seriously these problems
were discussed, and resolute are Yerevan and Ankara to go their part
of the way.

We would like to note that no step envisaged in these documents may be
interpreted as damaging any third party. The serious mutual efforts
taken by the leadership of Armenia and Turkey over the last period
of time for rapprochement of the two countries create a real chance
to change the created disadvantage and to transfer the links frozen
for a long period of time into a new constructive plane. We hope
that improvement o f relations between the two neighbours will lead
to revitalization of the bilateral trade and economic contacts and
will positively affect social and economical situation in both states,
which is not less important in the conditions of the global financial
crisis. The Russian official representatives were always calling
Armenian and Turkish partners to strive to settle the disagreements
between them just in this pragmatic way. It is important to further
continue developing in the way which will lead to establishment
of good-neighbourly relations between Armenia and Turkey, which
will impartially promote recovery of the situation in the region,
strengthening of peace and security’,- the ministry comments.
From: Baghdasarian

JAVIER SOLANA GREETS AGREEMENT OF NORMALISATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. On September 1, EU High
Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana appeared with a statement
on the normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

At the announcement of the European Commission to Armenia it was
noted: "I welcome yesterday’s agreement between Turkey and Armenia
to start internal political consultations on the protocols providing
the framework for establishing diplomatic relations."

It was also noted in Solana’s announcement that this is a crucial step
towards normalisation of bilateral relations, which would greatly
contribute to peace, security and stability throughout an important
region of Europe.

"I commend the courage and vision of both sides to move forward
with this historic process. I hope the two protocols can be signed,
ratified, and implemented in the near term," was noted at the
announcement.

J. Solana also congratulated Switzerland for its mediation efforts
and stands ready to offer support and assistance to the normalisation
process.
From: Baghdasarian

REPRESENTATIVES OF MOTHER SEE TAKE PART IN THE FORUM OF RELIGION ORGANIZATIONS OF EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES

ARMENPRESS
Sep 1, 2009

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The forum of religion organizations
of European and Middle East countries dedicated to the issues of
ethnic population and development is being conducted from August 31 to
September 2 in Minsk, during which a wide circle of issues on family
problems will be discussed.

The press service of Mother See told Armenpress that under the blessing
of the Catholicos of all Armenians from the Armenian Apostolic Church
Primate of the Armenian diocese of Russia and Nor Nakhijevan Archbishop
Yezras Nersisyan, Primate of Gegharkunyats diocese Archbishop Markos
Hovhannisyan and Executive Director of the Armenian Round Table Fund
Director Karen Nazaryan take part in the forum.
From: Baghdasarian

GOVERNMENT APPROVES $2 MILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEES TO AVO PRIVATE DEVELOPER

ARKA
Aug 27, 2009

YEREVAN, August 27, /ARKA/. The Armenian government has approved
today $2 million in loan guarantees to a private AVO developer to
finish construction of a residential building on Abovian street in
central Yerevan.

Finance minister Tigran Davtian said the private developer needs
the guarantees to seek a loan from Armbusinessbank to accomplish
the project.

The guarantees are given for a three year term. In return the company
will deposit the housing space under construction and the land plot.

Last April, the government approved 20 billion drams ($55 million)
in loan guarantees to private developers to help them complete
their housing projects. Five construction firms have reportedly
received such guarantees since then. Construction sector shrank by
55.5 percent in the seven months of this year, contributing to the
total GDP fall. According to the minister, the move is expected to
reinvigorate the sector that was the main driving force behind a
double-digit GDP growth in the previous six years.

Earlier this month, Urban Development Minister Vartan Vartanian said
the wide-ranging anti-crisis measures of the government would ease
the dramatic decline in the construction sector in the second half
of this year.

The government said also it will spend part of a $500 million
anti-crisis loan provided by Russia on housing construction in Arme
nia’s northern regions and another $33 million portion of the loan will
be channeled into a recently established state mortgage fund assigned
to provide relatively cheap housing loans to the population.
From: Baghdasarian

SHOULD ARMENIAN LEADER VISIT TURKEY? SITUATION AS SEEN FROM STEPANAKERT

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 27 2009
Armenia

NEWS.am continues publishing a series of comments on the advisability
of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Turkey. The Armenian
leader is to return his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul’s visit
to Armenia. However, pressured by Azerbaijan, Turkey started setting
preconditions for normalizing its relations with Armenia, particularly,
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In his turn, the Armenian leader stated he would visit Turkey provided
the Armenian-Turkish border was reopened or a relevant process was
under way.

Below are Nagorno-Karabakh experts’ opinions of the situation.

Talking to NEWS.am, Vahram Atanesyan, Chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, NKR Parliament, said that "Turkey is not viewing the problem
in the context of the present situation." According to him, official
Ankara believes the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border to be
such a vital issue for Armenia that the country will be ready for
major concessions. However, Turkey should have put up with the fact
that the Azerbaijan-dictated policy of "bringing Armenia to its knees"
proved ineffective and "indecent of a country seeking EU membership."

Atanesyan believes that reopening the borders and establishing
diplomatic relations "is only a starting point for both countries
seeking to normalize their relations, and the Turkish side is
presenting it as an epoch-making event," and its "counterproductive"
attitude to the process is evidence thereof.

"Of importance is also the factor of Azerbaijan’s opposition,
which is evidence of Turkey, and especially Azerbaijan, being
failure-states. Both the states are unable to normalize their
relations with Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, to say nothing of the
Armenian people. However, this situation cannot be an everlasting one,"
Atanesyan said. He pointed out that, to have influence on the South
Caucasus, Turkey has to normalize relations with Armenia. One has the
impression that too little time remains before the return visit for
the process to show any essential progress or at least any prospects
for it. "I do no think President Serzh Sargsyan will visit Turkey,
it is desirable that the visit take place though."

Speaking of the Armenian President’s possible visit to Turkey, the
former deputy foreign minister of NKR Masis Mailyan pointed out that
the Ankara-Yerevan relations are not so good "for a top-level visit
to Turkey to be considered necessary."

According to him, "the international PR over the normalization of
bilateral relations is still working in Turkey’s favor." "Specifically,
Turkish diplomats succeeded in neutralizing the threat of the United
States recognizing the Armenian Genocide this April. The public
Armenian-Turkish dialogue, as well as Ankara’s appeals to other
countries for not interfering in the process, proved to be the most
substantial argument," Mailyan said.

Good neighborly relations should be established, but "it is advisable
now to work at a different level… Nagorno-Karabakh does not fully
trust Turkey’s initiatives."

Mailyan stressed that Ankara’s practical steps can prove the sincerity
of Turkey’s intentions to normalize relations with Armenia: giving
up the demand for Armenian territorial concessions to Azerbaijan;
establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia and reopening the land
border. "The steps are supposed to show us who we are dealing with:
a country, which is still guided by the Pan-Turkism doctrine or with
a modern-day Turkey, which is seeking EU membership and accepting
the EU’s system of values," Mailyan said.
From: Baghdasarian