Author: Basmajian Ani

A STILL-SHOCKING ‘BUTTERFLY’ TAKES OFF
Hiroko Oikawa

The Daily Yomiuri
Jan 16 2009
Japan

The production of Madama Butterfly by the New National Theatre, Tokyo,
unfolds like a picture being painted on a canvas. The off-white stage
is barren, with only fusuma sliding doors from a humble Japanese
house at center stage and long stairs representing a hill on which
the house stands overlooking Nagasaki Harbor. High above against the
back screen is a U.S. flag symbolically fluttering in the wind. Upon
this simple setting, director Tamiya Kuriyama paints the tragic story
of Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly).

"This opera was premiered in 1904, when the Russo-Japanese War
began and about the time when the United States started advancing
into Asia. I see the story as representing the dichotomy between the
West and the East," Kuriyama said prior to the production’s premiere
in 2005.

The time setting–the early 1900s or mid-Meiji era–was when Japan
was busy transforming itself into a modern nation. "The country
went through many value changes. Therefore, a barren stage set is
ideal for portraying a space where different cultures coexisted,"
Kuriyama explained.

Based partly on on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by
American author John Luther Long and its dramatization by David
Belasco, Giacomo Puccini’s opera revolves around a 15-year-old geisha,
the daughter of a former samurai who becomes the "local wife" of
U.S. Navy Lt. Pinkerton.

Believing hers is a marriage based on love, Cio-Cio-San waits for him
with her 3-year-old son, to whom she gave birth after he returned
to his country. But when Pinkerton returns with his American wife,
Cio-Cio-San commits suicide using a dagger left to her by her father.

While the West-East conflict is a central theme in the opera, Kuriyama
also says Cio-Cio-San’s tragedy is self-inflicted as a result of her
unsuccessful soul-searching. She gave up her identity as Japanese,
converted to Christianity, abandoning her family religion of Buddhism,
and left her job as a geisha in order to marry Pinkerton. But she was
unable to become either American or Pinkerton’s wife for all she gave
up, Kuriyama explains.

Puccini’s opera is studded with beautiful melodies. Among them, the
most famous are such arias as "Bimba dagli occhi pieni"–the duet of
love by Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton, "Un bel di, vedremo" she sings in
hope of being reunited with her man and "Tu, tu, piccolo iddio"–the
farewell song to her son before her death.

The heroine sings throughout the opera, which is demanding vocally,
physically and dramatically. Playing the lead in this staging of the
production is Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan, making her first
opera appearance in Japan. "It is a great honor for me and a big
responsibility," Babajanyan said in an interview for The Daily Yomiuri.

While finding it emotionally difficult to follow the sad story,
Babajanyan successfully turns herself into a woman she sees as being
"fragile outside and very strong inside."

"Her patience is boundless." A soprano with the Staatstheater Stuttgart
opera house, Germany’s most-talked-about troupe, Babajanyan was
nominated in 2001 as the singer of the year for her Cio-Cio-San by
Opernwelt, Europe’s most prestigious opera magazine. The acclaimed
artist also sang the title role in Puccini’s Tosca at the Bregentz
Festival in Austria in 2007 and 2008.

"The music of Puccini gives me the possibility to touch every
heart in the audience, especially in Madama Butterfly," Babajanyan
said. New National Theater’s production this year is also spiced
up by Italian tenor Massimiliano Pisapia–highly regarded for his
Puccini performances–as Pinkerton, baritone Ales Jenis of Slovakia as
American Consul Sharpless and Tomoko Obayashi as Cio-Cio-San’s maid,
Suzuki, with Carlo Montanaro leading the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

Babajanyan says she likes this production of the opera very much
because it’s so honest and pure. But she admits the way it ends is
still a surprise. "I have already done eight different productions
of Madama Butterfly, and I’m still shocked by the death of Butterfly
in this one."

That is one of the focal points in Kuriyama’s direction and is
what the audience must not miss. For Kuriyama, meanwhile, the Stars
and Stripes signify more than the U.S. navy ship’s presence in the
harbor. "When I read the translation of the libretto, I was struck
by how the structure of the world has not changed from the days of
Madama Butterfly. The way the flag flutters above the stage, it is
always over our heads today, and without it nothing can stand on its
own. I wanted my audience to see that mirrored in the opera" he said.

"Madama Butterfly" will play at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, a
short walk from Hatsudai Station on the New Keio Line, on Jan. 18 at
2 p.m., Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. For more information,
call the venue at (03) 5352-9999.

PROSECUTOR INFORMED

A1+
[06:09 pm] 15 January, 2009

Press release of the RA General Prosecutor’s office The RA Prosecutor
General Aghvan Hovsepyan received today the delegation headed by
Co-reporters of the PACE Monitoring Committee John Prescott and
George Colombie. The issues discussed during the meeting related
to the preliminary investigation of the riots that took place in
Yerevan on March 1-2 of 2008, the charges pressed against the accused
and the legal evaluations. The RA Prosecutor General informed that
all the accused under arrest during the preliminary investigation
had been investigated during the first six months of preliminary
investigation and 90 criminal cases for 111 people had been sent to
the court. Upon the request of the co-reporters, touching upon the
charges pressed against the 7 accused of the case under investigation
in the Yerevan criminal court based on the 1st part of article 300
and the 3rd part of article 225 of the RA Criminal Code, the RA
Prosecutor General informed that according to the evidence from the
preliminary investigation, the riots that took place in the capital
did not end in themselves for the organizers; rather, they were
a means for state appropriation. The seven defendants of the case
based on the information of the preliminary investigation-Alexander
Arzumanyan, Hakob Hakobyan, Miasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun Mikayelyan,
Shant Harutyunyan, Grigor Voskerchyan and Suren Sirunyan-have played
a key role in the riots. Hovsepyan made it clear that the mentioned
people were charged not for committing murders, but for organizing the
riots that led up to the murders. It was also mentioned that the riots
and the rallies that preceded them could not be considered peaceful
because there was enough evidence showing that the participants were
armed. The prosecutors of the preliminary investigation weighed the
evidence as substantiated and sufficient to send the case to court
where they will be examined during the trial. The RA Prosecutor
General noted that the trial has not begun and it is hard to predict
how the court will evaluate the evidence. The RA Prosecutor General
also mentioned a number of statistics according to which 26 people
are no longer under persecution and their cases have been annulled,
while five have received a fair trial. Touching upon the murders
registered as a result of special measures used by the police, the
Prosecutor General informed that the Prosecutor’s office has appealed
to a number of international organizations with the request for help
in clarifying the issue, but all organizations, including the UN,
the OSCE Yerevan office, the U.S. Embassy of Armenia have refused
to send experts stating that they don’t have practice, experts or
equipment. There has been correspondence with the expert proposed
by CE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg. The preliminary
investigation has ended with the accused under preliminary arrest,
while the preliminary investigation of the main criminal case at
the special investigative service is still in progress and measures
are being taken to reveal others who were involved in the crime,
as well as give legal evaluations to police actions and reveal all
circumstances for the ten murders.

RUSSIA DENIES SELLING WEAPONS TO ARMENIA

Interfax
Jan 14 2009
Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry has denied Azeri media reports alleging
that Moscow supplied Yerevan with $800 million worth of weapons.

"There have been no supplies of Russian weapons to Armenia. The
reports alleging this are untrue," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman
Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax on Wednesday.

The Azeri Defense Ministry has officially asked the Russian Defense
Ministry to provide information on the alleged supplies of weapons
to Armenia, Drobyshevsky said. "An official reply will be given in
the near future," he said.

Russia denies supplying weapons to Armenia (Part 2)

MOSCOW Jan 14

The Russian Defense Ministry has denied Azeri media reports alleging
that Moscow supplied Yerevan with $800 million worth of weapons.

"There have been no supplies of Russian weapons to Armenia. The
reports alleging this are untrue," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman
Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax on Wednesday.

The Azeri Defense Ministry has officially asked the Russian Defense
Ministry to provide information on the alleged supplies of weapons
to Armenia, Drobyshevsky said. "An official reply will be given in
the near future," he said.

Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasily Istratov had earlier been
summoned to the Azeri Foreign Ministry to give explanations in the
wake of reports alleging that Russia had passed $800 million worth
of weapons to Yerevan from its military base in Armenia.

During a meeting between Istratov and Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister
Araz Azimov, the Russian diplomat was asked officially whether these
reports were true, to which Istratov answered that Russia would give
explanations on the matter later.

68 IRAQ CITIZENS GRANTED TEMPORARY ASYLUM

Panorama.am
12:16 16/01/2009

In 2008 the Agency of Migration of the Ministry of Territorial
Administration received 190 applications to be granted temporary
asylum in Armenia, said Ruzanna Petrosyan of the Ministry. According
to her 122 of them were Georgians and 68 Iraqi people.

R. Petrosyan said that the applications of Georgian citizens are
being discussed, irrespective to it all Iraqi people have been granted
temporary asylum.

In 2008 15 people from Iran, Turkey and Georgia applied to the agency
as refugees. Currently only 6 of them have been recognized as refugees.

INTEL HEADS TO BE ASKED ABOUT DINK

Hurriyet
Jan 16 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved the Prime
Ministry Inspection Report about the murder of Turkish Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, which has opened the way for an investigation
against two high-ranking police officers.

Ramazan Akyurek, the country’s top police intelligence chief, and
Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Istanbul’s police intelligence chief, may be
investigated for negligence of duty, under allegations that they did
not prevent Dink’s murder although they had intelligence preceding it.

At the time of the murder, Akyurek was police chief of the Black
Sea province of Trabzon, where suspects of Dink’s murder came from,
and Yılmazer was the branch director of the intelligence department
in charge of right-wing terror and minorities in Ankara.

Erdogan approved the report at the beginning of December. The report
is currently with the Interior Ministry for the approval of Minister
BeÅ~_ir Atalay. After Atalay’s approval, it is expected that inspectors
will be allocated to investigate these officials.

The Prime Ministry report was prepared upon the demand of Dink’s family
to determine which officials neglected their duties. The report states
that a preliminary investigation would be appropriate against Akyurek
and Yılmazer, together with other officials still to be determined.

Abatement for Hayal Meanwhile, the prosecutor of another case against
Dink’s murder suspect, Yasin Hayal, over the bombing of a McDonalds’
restaurant in Trabzon in 2004, requested a reduction in Hayal’s
sentence because he had repented.

Hayal was sentenced to six years in prison for the bombing, however,
the Supreme Court of Appeals overruled the decision. Prosecutor Yakup
Unal Demir did not demand a widening of the investigation.

Hayal is one of the main suspects in Dink’s murder and he is alleged
to have planned and incited the murder. Erhan Tuncel, another main
suspect of the murder case is alleged to have organized the McDonalds’
bombing together with Hayal, but was charged by police as an informer
after the bombing.

Dink, the editor in chief of the multilingual weekly Agos, was shot to
death in the central Å~^iÅ~_li district of Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2006.

–Boundary_(ID_QpmFCA2ZgoxqmJ8IzZWMzA)–

theTrumpet.com
Joel HillikerColumnist
Israel’s Alliance With Turkey Is a Trap
January 14, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com
The Gaza war has shown that Turkey is no friend. Will Israel realize it?

Joel Hilliker Among the many truths the war in Gaza has exposed, here is
one: Israel’s alliance with Turkey is a trap.
Israel inked a mutual defense agreement with Turkey in 1996. Among its
benefits, the deal linked the two countries’ militaries in joint training,
provided Israeli arms to Turkey ($2 billion worth as of 2007) and granted
Israel’s air force overflight privileges.
Far more, the deal gave Israel a much-needed, highly respected ally in a
neighborhood full of enemies. Those itching to pick a fight with Israel
simply haven’t been eager to contend with Turkey’s million-man army, the
second-largest force in nato after the United States. This reality helped
stabilize the volatile Middle East for years. The Islamic Affairs Analyst
went so far as to say that Israel’s foes – mostly notably Iran – respected
Turkey enough that the Jewish state’s survival was all but assured as long
as the pact held up.
But there’s the rub. Just a glance at events in the past couple of years
shows that this deterrent effect has weakened. Israel’s enemies have started
to turn loose.
Not coincidentally, over that same period, Turkey has shifted from being a
hedge against those enemies to actually supporting them. This is a grave
loss for Israel.
Nothing makes this clearer than does the Gaza conflict.
There is a clarion warning in recent events about what to expect from Turkey
in the future, if only the Jews would heed it.
`We will kill you’ – thus read a sign posted on one of the largest synagogues
in the Turkish city of Izmir. Public graffiti screams messages like `Kill
Jews’ and `Israel should no longer exist in the Middle East.’ Large, angry
protests fill the streets of cities across the country, including a rally on
Sunday of 200,000 in Istanbul square. Near Istanbul University, a Jewish
shop owner found a sign on his door warning customers not to patronize the
place, `since this shop is owned by a Jew’; other posters went up saying,
`Jews and Armenians are not allowed but dogs are allowed.’
As Israeli forces pound Gaza, this is how the people of Turkey are
responding.
`There haven’t been such widespread and spontaneous anti-Israel sentiments
before,’ says columnist Sami Kohen of the Turkish daily Milliyet. `It’s not
just the Islamic circles. It’s also the secularists and the nationalists.
The protests have been representative of the whole of Turkish society. I don’t
remember seeing such a public reaction on any other issue before.’
Can Israel afford to ignore such realities?
After years of walking a line in allying with the West, Turkey is
increasingly embracing its Muslim identity. An early sign of just how much
came in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian elections. Where most of the world
turned its back on the terrorist group, Turkey not only recognized it as a
legitimate government, it accepted a Hamas delegation in Ankara led by the
group’s leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal.
In the summer of 2007, the Turks elected a former Islamist, Abdullah Gül, as
their president. Under Gül’s leadership, Turkey became one of the few
governments in the Middle East to recognize Hamas’s administration when it
seized the Gaza Strip. Later that year, Turkey became an almost lone voice
protesting Israel’s attack on a Syrian nuclear facility. And in 2008, the
Gül government hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Istanbul and
established political and economic ties with Tehran.
Remarkably, none of this alarming behavior raised much concern within the
Israeli government. When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided he wanted to
secretly pursue a peace deal with Syria last year, he used Turkey as the
mediator, as if Turkey’s respect for Israel’s interests had remained just as
it was in 1996.
Olmert’s blind pursuit of a peace pact with an avowed enemy of
Israel – Syria – drawing on the help of a country that is supporting and
cooperating with more avowed enemies – Hamas and Iran – is deeply revealing, and
prophetically relevant.
The entire peace process, actively pursued since Oslo in 1993, is predicated
on Israel’s wish, unfounded in reality, that its enemies sincerely want
peace. This tendency to invest faith in sources that warrant no faith is a
grievous wound in Israel’s national character. As devastating as it has been
for Israel to this point, it will yet prove to be far more so.
If the Israeli government still felt it could trust Turkey, that nation’s
response to Israel’s counterattack on Hamas should have corrected the
misconception. Despite its supposedly being the Jews’ strongest ally in the
region, Turkey’s reaction – not just in the street but also by the
government – was on par with Iran’s.
`What Israel has done is nothing but atrocity,’ President Gül said. `Allah
will sooner or later punish those who transgress the rights of innocents,’
said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid volley after volley of
reproach. Of Olmert, with whom he had been working on the Syria peace deal,
he said, `He betrayed me and harmed the honor of Turkey.’ To Olmert and
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, he said, `History will judge you with what you
have done as having painted a black stain on the history of humanity.’
The prime minister has been speaking with leaders all over the Middle East
and Europe pushing for an end to the fighting – and 100 percent of his demands
fall on Israel. In Ankara’s view, Israel bears all the blame for the Gaza
war. `Hamas abided by the truce. But Israel failed to lift embargoes,’
Erdogan said – a ridiculous lie. He has refused to take calls from Olmert
unless Israel stops the war. When Livni offered to visit Ankara, the
official response she received was, `If she doesn’t want to talk about a
ceasefire, she shouldn’t come.’
Meanwhile, Turkey is more than happy to meet with Hamas and its terrorist
sponsors. The president and prime minister met with Iranian envoy Saeed
Jalili a week ago. Turkish and Hamas officials, including Khaled Meshal,
have directly met in Damascus at least twice since the start of the Gaza
war. Having just joined the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member,
Turkey has pledged to be Hamas’s mouthpiece in the United Nations. `Hamas
officials have full confidence in Turkey,’ Erdogan said on Al Jazeera
television last Sunday. This week Turkey called on the UN to impose
sanctions on Israel.
Hold these actions up against what I wrote last week: the fact that many
Arab leaders are siding more with Israel than with Hamas. They are more
concerned about Iran’s ascendancy than they are about angering their own
people by failing to condemn Israel. By stunning contrast, Turkish leaders
clearly feel they have more to gain from attacking Israel than they have to
lose in allowing Iran a victory in Gaza.
This is no friend of Israel! That is the patent truth.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Olmert’s office has dismissed questions about
whether the Turkish-Israeli alliance is fracturing. `Our relations won’t be
hurt,’ his staff have said, `they will remain strategic.’ They explain that
the leaders are simply posturing for the people in order to position
themselves for coming elections.
Even if that were true – and it’s almost laughable to assume so – shouldn’t the
fact that the Turks hate Israel and that their leaders must denounce the
Jews in order to retain popular legitimacy – be of supreme concern to Israel
regarding the value of this alliance?
What is it about Israel that causes it to brush aside such reality? To
continue searching for and believing and seeing only good intentions in its
most stubborn enemies? Under circumstances such as Israel is in today, this
is no virtue. It contains the seeds of the death of the state!
Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, requested an urgent appointment
with Prime Minister Erdogan last week. He was rebuffed – told that a meeting
was impossible as long as attacks on Gaza continued. So what did Israel do?
Ehud Olmert asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Middle East envoy Tony
Blair to mediate between Israel and Turkey!
That’s right: Israel asked Germany for help to try to preserve an alliance
with a country actively working with Israel’s enemies against Israel’s
interests.
The problem with Turkey is not simply a matter of Turkish leaders needing to
appear to snub Israel in order to appease their people. The problem is far
deeper and is ignored at Israel’s peril.
And Israel’s problem is not a lack of enough mediation and diplomacy!
Israel’s problem is that it continues to seek help from nations that do not
have its interests at heart.
If Israel would look honestly at the situation, it would recognize that
about Turkey.
And it would also recognize it about Germany.
Biblical prophecy reveals the inevitable outcome of these relationships.
They are visible already in embryo. They will come as no shock to those
attuned to the prophetic truth as it unfolds in geopolitical reality. But
Israel – credulous, vulnerable, trusting and blind to the very end – will be
absolutely shocked by the monstrous betrayals that will result from its
alliances with both Turkey and Germany.
Read `Why Turkey Matters’ and Jerusalem in Prophecy to learn from your own
Bible the truth about how this tinderbox situation will end. –

RA NA SPEAKER SENDS LETTER TO PACE MEMBER COUNTRIES’ PARLIAMENT SPEAKERS

Noyan Tapan

Jan 13, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. In late December 2008 RA NA Speaker
Hovik Abrahamian sent a letter to parliament speakers of PACE member
countries.

According to the RA NA Public Relations Department, the letter read:

"As you know, on December 17 PACE Monitoring Committee adopted a
draft resolution on Armenia, which will be submitted for discussion
during the PACE winter session, in 2009 January. The draft estimates
Armenia’s fulfillment process of Assembly’s former resolutions, N 1609
(2008) and 1620 (2008) on the March 1-2 tragic events.

The draft properly confirms the progress recorded by Armenia in the
issue of creation of a group of independent experts for investigating
the the March 1-2 events. The draft also confirms the efforts exerted
by the Armenian authorities for the purpose of initiating reforms in
various spheres, as it was required by the Assembly, in particular,
in spheres regarding media.

Nevertheless, the draft gave negative conclusions on the persons
imprisoned in connection with the above mentioned events. Such
conclusions, together with imprisoned persons’ political qualification
and proposed sanctions on depriving the Armenian delegation of the
vote in PACE are the most alarming for a number of reasons.

With the expectation of your favorable approach to problems we are
concerned with, we also attach a memorandum to this letter, which
will help you to form a better idea about the progress recorded in
the issues raised in the draft.

In addition to the main issues voiced in the attached document, I
would like to draw your attention to the extreme harmful essence of
the draft, which if being adoped will considerably damage domestic
stability in Armenia and by intervening in the judicial process will
fundamentally damage the integrity of state’s structures, which is
based on the principle of power separation.

It is no less important that the proposed sanction is exaggerated,
disproportionate and does not correspond to Assembly’s previous
conduct, including towards the other delegations of our region. It will
be a case of using dual standards and will contradict our collective
efforts aimed at promotion of cooperation and dialogue within the
framework of the Council of Europe and Assembly.

And lastly, the draft with its nature contains serious risks of
exerting pressure upon Armenia by some forces on the basic problems
regarding regional policy, which will not be tolerated, but will
considerably damage our indisputable resolution and efforts aimed
at strengthening peace and stability in the region. It will be an
additional and serious pressure upon country’s economy reducing foreign
investors’ confidence, which is especially unfair to a state being
in a blockade especially under conditions of the world economic crisis.

Thus, taking the opportunity, I ask for support of your country’s
delegation in PACE during further developments on the issue and votings
to be held in January. I would like to assure you that provision of
such a support will have no impact on Armenia’s readiness to completely
cooperate with the Council. Armenia is loyal to human rights principles
stipulated by our country’s constitutional right and the international
commitments we have assumed. Moreover, we are deeply convinced that
it is impossible to further record progress on the way of reforms
without a strong and developed judicial system. Nevertheless, we
do not agree that depriving our delegation in PACE of the vote will
improve the democratic condition in the country.

I sincerely trust your judgement and I am hopeful that our
considerations and the proposed revisions to the draft will receive
your complete assistance. I am at your disposal if additional
explanations are necessary, which can emerge around this issue.

The Republic of Armenia Foreign Ministry, as well as Armenia’s
delegation in PACE are always ready to provide additional information
or explanations to your delegation for preparing for the above
mentioned session.

Armenia: PACE co-rapporteurs make monitoring visit

Strasbourg, 13.01.2009 – Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John
Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the monitoring of
obligations and commitments by Armenia, will go to Yerevan from 14 to 16
January 2009, for a follow-up visit in connection with the
implementation of PACE Resolutions 1609 (2008)
< 3D/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1609.htm> and 1620 (2008)
< 3D/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1620.htm> on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia.

The co-rapporteurs expect to meet the President of the Republic, the
Speaker of the National Assembly, the leader of the Armenian delegation
to PACE, the Chair of the parliamentary committee set up in the wake of
the events on 1 and 2 March 2008 and the committee of experts
responsible for establishing the facts regarding these events, as well
as the General Prosecutor. Their report
< D/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc08/EDOC11786.htm> is due to be debated during the Assembly plenary session,
on 29 January.

Arménie : visite de suivi des co-rapporteurs de l’APCE

Strasbourg, 13.01.2009 – Georges Colombier (France, PPE/DC) et John
Prescott (Royaume-Uni, SOC), co-rapporteurs de l’Assemblée
parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe (APCE) sur le suivi des
obligations et engagements de l’Arménie, se rendront à Erevan du
14 au 16 janvier 2009 pour une visite de suivi, dans le cadre de la mise
en =9Cuvre des Résolutions 1609 (2008)
< 3D/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/FRES1609.htm> et 1620 (2008)
< 3D/documents/adoptedtext/ta08/fres1620.htm> de l’APCE sur le fonctionnement des institutions
démocratiques en Arménie.

Les co-rapporteurs devraient notamment rencontrer le Président de la
République, le Président de l’Assemblée nationale, le
Président de la délégation arménienne auprès de l’APCE, le
Président de la Commission parlementaire constituée suite aux
événements des 1er et 2 mars 2008 et le Comité d’experts
chargé d’établir les faits relatifs à ces événements, ainsi
que le Procureur général. Leur rapport
< =3D/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc08/FDOC11786.htm> sera débattu en session plénière de l’Assemblée,
le 29 janvier.

ED002b09

Georgia refuses Gazprom help to restore gas supplies to Armenia

15:32 | 11/ 01/ 2009

MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia has rejected Gazprom’s offer
of assistance in restoring gas supplies to Armenia, the Russian energy
monopoly said on Sunday.

Georgia halted Russian gas transit to Armenia on January 9 after damage
was discovered on a stretch of the Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline.

Igor Volobuyev, deputy head of Gazprom’s information policy department,
quoted Georgia’s gas transportation company as saying that it would
complete the restoration work on the Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline "with
its own resources by January 12 at the latest."

Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri earlier said that
corrosion on the gas pipeline between Georgia and Armenia had resulted
in a significant gas leakage, adding that it would take at least four
days of 24-hour shifts to repair the damage.

The damage occurred in Georgia’s Gardabani district on a 1,000-mm pipe.

Turkish Press
Jan 5 2009

Turkish – Armenian Relations In 2008

Published: 1/5/2009

BAKU – The beginning of a dialogue process between Turkey and its
problematic neighbor Armenia was the most important incident in 2008
in bilateral relations as it brought life to very limited relations
between the two countries.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul accepted an invitation by the Armenian
President Serzh Sargsian to watch a Turkey-Armenia World Cup qualifier
match in Yerevan.
Abdullah Gul met with Sargsian in Yerevan on September 6. President
Gul said that he wishes the soccer match between Turkey and Armenia to
help lift obstacles that prevent the peoples of Turkey and Armenia
from getting closer to each other and to contribute to regional
friendship and peace.
On September 7, President Gul said that he witnessed the Armenian side
to be in agreement with Turkey in trying to lift obstacles that block
the development of bilateral relations through dialogue.
In addition to Gul’s talks in Yerevan, the meetings held by the
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan with his Azerbaijani and Armenian
counterparts in various platforms were important steps that
contributed to the dialogue process with Armenia.
Armenian President Sargsian said that there may be very positive
developments with Turkey in less than a year.
Armenian officials said that they welcomed a proposal by Turkey to
establish a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.
"We are ready to open our border with Turkey and establish diplomatic
relations without preconditions," told Armenian authorities.
Though the Turkish-Armenian border is closed, around 60,000 Armenian
tourists visit Turkey annually.
Around 70,000 Armenian citizens work as illegal migrants in Turkey.
Armenia’s occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, Armenia’s
one-sided description of the incidents of 1915 and statements in
Armenian Constitution that allege that a portion of Turkey’s territory
actually belongs to the Armenians are some of the problems in
bilateral relations.
(SOL-AÖ)
TURKEY IN 2008 -(DIP)