Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Reuters, UK
July 19 2009

Armenia, Azerbaijan still apart on Karabakh

Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:13am EDT

* Armenia hails talks, but Azeris see no progress

* Leaders to meet again in autumn, says Armenia

By Hasmik Lazarian and Afet Mehtiyeva

YEREVAN/BAKU, July 19 (Reuters) – The presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan plan to meet again this autumn after talks in Moscow over
Nagorno-Karabakh which the Azeri side said were unproductive,
officials said on Sunday.

Armenia’s Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev met Kremlin
chief Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday in a bid to resolve the Karabakh
dispute, one of the so-called ‘frozen conflicts’ left by the Soviet
Union’s 1991 collapse.

"Statements by officials made after the meeting indicate that no
progress on principle issues has been made," Panakh Huseinov, from
Azerbaijan’s security and defence parliamentary committee and an
opposition member, told Reuters.

Armenia hailed the talks as "constructive" and its foreign ministry
said the leaders would meet again in autumn. Armenian state TV said it
will be in October.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic Armenian Christian enclave inside
Azeri borders, declared independence in 1991 with support from Armenia
and fought Muslim Azerbaijan in a war that killed some 35,000 people
before a shaky ceasefire was signed in 1994.

No country has recognised Karabakh’s independence.

The dispute led to Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey closing their
borders with Armenia and remains one of the biggest threats to
stability in the South Caucasus, a key route for oil and gas supplies
from the Caspian region to Europe.

Azerbaijan’s Huseinov said that his country believes "real steps on
elimination of occupation" need to be made before any kind of
agreement is signed.

Late on Friday, Sarkysan’s press office issued a statement saying his
talks with Aliyev earlier that day were held "in a constructive
spirit" and that the two sides will continue negotiations aimed at a
"peaceful settlement".

Efforts by international mediators under the auspices of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), focused on
finding a temporary solution to the problem including strong autonomy
for Karabakh, have so far led nowhere.

Russia exerts strong leverage on both ex-Soviet states, and experts
say mediation in Karabakh could consolidate Russia’s strong role in
the Southern Caucasus region.

The Kremlin’s chief foreign policy aide, Sergei Prikhodko, who
co-chairs the Minsk Group, which is mandated to act as an
intermediary, was quoted by Interfax on Saturday as saying that the
lengthy talks were "very constructive".

(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow; Editing by Richard
Balmforth)

Armenian, Russian and Azeri Presidents had their trilateral meeting in Moscow
18.07.2009 18:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ After participating in traditional presidential race
in Moscow hippodrome, Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and
Serzh Sargsyan continued communication in trilateral format. At the
start of the meeting, parties expressed willingness to discuss further
ways of settling NKR conflict, Kremlin press service reports. They
plan to continue coordinating basic principles regarding Karabakh
settlement.

Presidential races have been held in Moscow since 2004 upon the
initiative of Agriculture Ministry. The first races took place on June
3, 2004 in Moscow Central Hippodrome. Annual horse races have always
been attended by Russian Presidents and CIS leaders.

Unlike previous years, Presidents and other visitors are no longer
allowed to offer bets as such practices are prohibited by law

RA JUDO FEDERATION EXTENDED CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES OF THOSE KILLED IN JET CRASH

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.07.2009 22:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Armenian Judo Federation Aleksan
Avetisyan extended condolences to families of those killed in jet
crash on July 15.

"It was extremely painful to know about the death of our Iranian
friends. On behalf of the Armenian Judo Federation, I express our
deepest condolences to the families of those killed," the address
reads.

Russian Judo Federation as well as European and International Judo
Federations also expressed condolences.

ORANGE ARMENIA TO BECOME UITE MEMBER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.07.2009 20:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Orange Armenia , the third mobile telephony operator
of Armenia intends to become UITE member within coming quarter,
Karen Vardanyan, Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE)
told a forum today in Yerevan. The forum is devoted to promotion of
start-ups in IT sphere.

According to Karen Vardanyan, recently ADC, providing broadband
Internet service and I-max Internet service provider joined UITE.

"Orange Armenia company has already expressed interest in the area,
and within a month the issue of its membership in the Union will be
solved, " Vartanian said

ARF ‘DASHNAKTSUTYUN’ REQUIRES RESIGNATION OF ARMENIA’S FOREIGN MINISTER

ArmInfo
2009-07-16 14:09:00

ArmInfo. ARF Dashnaktsutyun party requires resignation of Armenia’s
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan for elimination of the negative
phenomena, observed in the country’s foreign policy, and establishment
of a national state vector, representative of ARFD Supreme Body,
parliamentarian Armen Rustamyan said at today’s press-conference in
Urbat club.

According to him, in view of the situation developed around the
Karabakh conflict settlement, ARFD Supreme Body came out with the
following statement: ‘Turkey and Azerbaijan try to weaken Armenia’s
positions in the international arena in order to make the region
a zone of its influence. The economic and political weights of
Azerbaijan gradually increases. The only way out in this situation is
our consolidation. We note again that the foreign policy of Armenia
deviated from the basic provisions of the Military Doctrine and the
National Security Strategy’.

The statement also says that the process, hindering international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, is going on. There is no relevant
fight against the consistent anti- Armenian actions by Azerbaijan and
Turkey. The activity of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry in the internal
and external propaganda remains unsatisfactory. The attempt of OSCE
MG co-chair-countries to forcedly achieve efficient settlement of
the Karabakh conflict endanger our national and state interests. In
the created situation, ARFD Supreme Body requires political will and
foresight from the Armenian and Karabakh authorities.

The party expresses hope that the president of Armenia will not sign
any document that ignores the Karabakh people’s will, having been
already expressed via referendum. ‘We expect for the president to take
the required measures to return the NKR to the negotiation process’,
the statement says.

ARFD representatives also say it is necessary to reconsider the
foreign policy of Armenia and open a new page while the going is good.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: FINAL STRETCH AT RACE FOR PRIZE OF PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA?

Trend
July 14 2009
Azerbaijan

The last visit of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was marked
by their statement that the process of negotiations on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement came to the final stretch. And the next
breakthrough in the talks is expected at the next meeting of the
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to be held in Moscow on July 17
within the traditional race for the prize of the President of Russia.

"The Moscow meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia
will help reach the finish line on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement," Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov said to press conference on July 10 after his visit to Baku.

It is impossible to deny significant advancements in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement over the last year. The fact
that the presidents of the conflicting sides meet regularly already
gives hopes for efficient result of negotiations. But the question
on what conditions a framework agreement must be signed between the
conflicting sides remains open.

During their last visit to the region, the co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group did not detail the items of the next negotiations,
but advised to pay attention to recent statements by Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev. MG co-chairmen noted that precisely they
can make a conclusion on two items on which the mediators hope to
conclude the negotiations "and then open a new debate on the topic,
which up to now, has been discussed only in general terms," said
French co-chairman Bernard Fassier.

Apparently, the talks in Moscow will focus on the issues that President
Ilham Aliyev spoke in an interview with ITAR-TASS news agency and
presenter of News Sunday telecast Sergey Brilev regarding the results
of Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Baku.

During interview, President Aliyev said that it needs to resolve the
conflict based on international law, OSCE decisions and resolutions
of the UN Security Council. "And, of course, this legal framework
envisages restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from Azerbaijan’s territory
and the return of refugees to their homeland," he said.

Reading the interview, it becomes clear that the Azerbaijani side
really constructively approaches the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement. "Our proposal reflects the safety of those people who
are there, in the Nagorno-Karabakh, now live and will live; reflect
the issues of local self-government of Nagorno-Karabakh; reflect
the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," said
President Aliyev.

In the same interview were also noted those items that are of greatest
disagreement between the sides. One of the most pressing issues is the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the President of Azerbaijan,
this issue could be postponed indefinitely.

However, the Azerbaijani side has made some concessions to Armenia. In
this case, Baku supports the proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group and tries
to achieve withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from the territories
which are located around the administrative border of Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, in one of the main issues of concern for Armenia, President
Aliyev demonstrated enough tolerance, saying that knowing the
importance for the Armenian side to have a ground link between Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh, considers that "the issues related to the Lachin
corridor can be effectively addressed so that there was no concern
for those who live in Nagorno-Karabakh today and the Azerbaijani
population who will return there after the settlement of the conflict."

If the Armenian side is ready for constructive dialogue at the upcoming
meeting in Moscow, the "final stretch" of negotiations is indeed quite
possible outcome from a protracted territorial dispute. Of course,
this does not mean that the conflict between neighboring countries
will be completely exhausted this year. But even some convergence of
views gives hope for a reasonable approach to future work of sides
on solution of this problem in future.

DINAMO ZAGREB EXPECTS VICTORY AGAINST ARMENIAN PJUNIK

Croatian Times
9-07-13/4863/Dinamo_Zagreb_expects_victory_against _Armenian_Pjunik
July 13 2009
Croatia

Croatian football champions Dinamo Zagreb will play Armenian Pjunik
in a Champions League qualification game tomorrow (Tues) in Yerevan.

Dinamo coach Krunoslav Jurcic has made it clear he expects his team
to win the match.

"The best thing would be to defeat them at their stadium tomorrow. We
are preparing to win the match and will then prepare for the second
match in Zagreb," Jurcic commented to the daily Jutarnji List.

Independent.co.uk

Robert Fisk’s World: You won’t find any lessons in unity in the Dead
Sea Scrolls

I looked at the texts in Toronto ` a tale that was bound to pose a
series of questions

Saturday, 11 July 2009

At last, I have seen the Dead Sea Scrolls. There they were, under
their protective, cool-heated screens, the very words penned on to
leather and papyrus 2,000 years ago, the world’s most significant
record of the Old Testament.

I guess you’ve got to see it to believe it. I can’t read Hebrew ` let
alone ancient Hebrew (or Greek or Aramaic, the other languages of the
scrolls) ` but some of the letters are familiar to me from Arabic. The
"seen" (s) of Arabic, and the "meem" (m) are almost the same as Hebrew
and there they were, set down by some ancient who knew, as we do, only
the past and nothing of the future. Most of the texts are in the
Bible; several are not. "May God most high bless you, may he show you
his face and may he open for you," it is written on the
parchments. "For he will honour the pious upon the throne of an
eternal kingdom."

The story of the discovery of the scrolls is, of course, well
known. An Arab Bedouin boy, Mohamed el-Dib, found them at Khirbet
Qumran in a cave in what is now the occupied West Bank of Palestine in
1947, and handed them over to a cobbler turned antiquities dealer
called Khalil Eskander Shahin in Jerusalem; they eventually ended up
in the hands of scholars ` mostly American ` in the Jordanian side of
Jerusalem. Then came the 1967 war and the arrival of the Israeli army
in East Jerusalem and… well, you can imagine the rest.

Now, I have to say that I looked at these original texts in the Royal
Ontario Museum in Toronto, a tale that was bound to engender a whole
series of questions, not least of which is Canada’s softly-softly
approach to anything approaching controversy. At no point in the
exhibition, jointly arranged with the professional (and brilliant)
assistance of the Israel Antiquities Authority, is there any mention,
hem hem, of the West Bank or occupation. Or how the documents found
there came to be in the hands of the Israelis.

So cautious are the dear old Canadians ` who should by now have
learned that concealing unhappy truths will only create fire and pain
` that they do not even mention that "Kando", the first recipient of
the scrolls, was Armenian. Of course not. Because then they would have
to explain why an Armenian was in Jerusalem, not in western
Turkey. Which would mean that they would have to mention the Armenian
Holocaust of 1915 (one and a half million Armenian civilians murdered
by Ottoman Turks).

This would anger Canada’s Turkish community, who are holocaust
deniers. And in turn, it would anger the Israel Antiquities Authority,
who do not acknowledge that the Armenian Holocaust ever happened,
there being only one True Holocaust, which is that of the Jews of
Europe. The Jewish Holocaust is a fact, but the Armenian variety ` a
trial run for Hitler’s destruction of six million Jews ` cannot be
discussed in Canada. Nor indeed in America, where Obama gutlessly
failed even to use the word "genocide" last April.

Then we come down to the exhibition itself. Poor old Canadians, they
had to publicise the whole fandango as a form of "unity" ` there being
three monotheistic religions, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, geddit? `
but alas, the scrolls are not written in Arabic and the sole gesture
to the Islamic faith is a single 200-year-old illuminated Koran. The
museum bookshop also devotes a small heap of books on Islam to bolster
their claim to "unity". The exhibition, according to the museum’s
director, William Thorsell ` in a lamentable piece of pseudo prose `
"will launch provocative enlightening inter-faith discussions". Here I
reach for my sick bag.

Because the message of most of the videos showing around the
exhibition (this being the age of multitechnical as well as
multicultural wellbeing) make it clear that Judea and Samaria (the
West Bank to the rest of us) is originally Jewish. And so it was, by
God. The poor old Philistines lived on the sea coast. But when I
suggested a swap to a bunch of Israeli settlers some years ago ` to be
fair, they roared in good-humoured laughter at my horrible suggestion
that Israel might be given to the Palestinians in return for the
occupied West Bank ` the idea did not commend itself to them. They
wanted Tel Aviv and all of internationally recognised Israel plus the
West Bank. (At the time, they also wanted to keep Gaza, partly on the
grounds ` according to one of them ` that this was where Jonah was
puked up by the whale.)

No such claims soil the Ontario exhibition. "Words that Changed the
World" is how the organisers coyly entitle their exhibition, "a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these historical treasures". But
up come the spoilsports, namely the Canadian "Coalition Against
Israeli Apartheid", to suggest that the scrolls, originally in the
hands of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the Ecole
Biblique Française, were "confiscated and illegally removed by
Israel" in 1967. The Royal Ontario Museum, the protesters say, is
showing "looted" property which it has no right to exhibit. The
Palestinian Authority itself has intervened, arguing that the museum
is "displaying artefacts removed from the Palestinian
territories". (Let us not, O Reader, mention the Elgin marbles, albeit
that the Brits don’t occupy Greece.)

So the museum has started to clam up. "We’re not granting any
interviews," according to a snotty spokeswoman for this esteemed
institution. I can well see why. The museum claims it has documents to
prove the legality of the exhibition. But it won’t show them. Nor will
it consult Unesco for its opinion. Plenty of unity there, of course.

Needless to say, if the Saudi government were to exhibit its Islamic
treasures in Toronto, I doubt very much if it would mention the large
Jewish community that once lived in Arabia. Any more than a recent
Turkish cultural exhibition at the Royal Academy mentioned the ` ahem,
ahem again ` contribution of the Armenians to Turkish history. Mind
you, given the fact that the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls are
infinitely clearer and more decipherable than the originals stared at
by The Independent’s Middle East correspondent, I do wonder if these
precious documents really need to be flown around the world.

But I guess it’s the same old story: seeing is believing. Providing
you’re not a Palestinian or an Armenian or anyone interested in
property rights.

The National, UAE
July 12 2009

Armenia diaspora comes home

Daniel Bardsley, Correspondent

Last Updated: July 11. 2009 7:17PM UAE / July 11. 2009 3:17PM GMT

YEREVAN // Charles Masraff does not mince his words when he describes
what he wants to achieve in Armenia.

The 59-year-old restaurateur says he was attracted to the country `by
the possibility of giving Armenia a future’.

Although he was born and brought up in London, Mr Masraff’s paternal
grandparents came from what used to be Western Armenia, and is now
eastern Turkey.

He is one of what is thought to be a growing band of western-raised
diasporan Armenians moving to their ancestral home country.

In the decade after it became independent in 1991, Armenia lost as
much as one-fifth of its population as the economy declined in the
early 1990s, with most emigrants going to Russia.

Since the mid-1990s, the economy showed strong annual growth until the
recent financial crisis, and the parallel modernisation has attracted
many of Armenia’s huge diaspora, which is over twice the size of the
country’s 3.2 million population, to live in the country for the first
time.

While Armenia has achieved significant economic growth, Mr Masraff
believes the country remains stifled by a culture of corruption, which
he describes as `a way of life here’.

`Armenia desperately needs people with outside experience,’ he
said. `There’s a culture among Armenians living in Armenia that makes
progress difficult ` corruption, the sense that the present is all
there is.

`But if you look at the Armenian diaspora and the success they’ve
enjoyed in different societies, compared to the inability of this
society to achieve very much ` why did we get this huge contrast? The
post-Soviet hangover has a lot to answer for.’

Mr Masraff spent most of his career in Scotland in hotel management,
but for the past three months has been running a restaurant in
Yerevan.
`I came here to try to achieve something,’ he said. `I’m not just an
observer. By running a business, I feel I have a greater chance to
achieve something.’

Among the analysts who believe a growing number of diasporan Armenians
are moving to Armenia is Arpi Vartanian, country director for the
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh offices of the Armenian Assembly of
America, a lobbying group.
Born and raised in Detroit to two diasporan Armenians, including an
Iranian-Armenian father, Ms Vartanian moved to Yerevan in 1993.
`I’ve seen families come and go, I’ve seen people get frustrated they
weren’t able to succeed but I see more and more people coming or
expressing the desire to come. They want to live in their homeland,’
she said of the `repatriates’ moving to the country.

`That’s not to say everyone is coming with rose-tinted
glasses. They’re coming with the hope that Armenia will change them,
but [also] that they can use their experience or knowledge to change
Armenia.

`Every encounter impacts people. I’ve had people say: `You’ve taught
me.’ They told me later they watched how I worked and my work ethic
and that taught them. They were able to use that later.’

For diasporans brought up in the West, Ms Vartanian said Armenia was
now a much easier place to live than when she arrived, when there were
few cafes or nightclubs.

`There are still some things I miss and crave,’ she said. `It drives
me nuts when people don’t stand in line. But people have been so open
and interested in who I am.’

Rudolf, a 27-year-old born in Bahrain and brought up in France, London
and Lebanon, and who declined to give his full name, admitted however
that diasporan Armenians often tended to socialise with their own kind
rather than locals.

`My friends are diasporan friends from Syria, Beirut, the United
States,’ said Rudolf, who has a `pagan Armenian metal’ rock band and
has lived in Armenia for the past 18 months.

Even if his social circle is largely made up of fellow diasporans, he
hopes he can effect change.

`We’re coming here to do something good,’ he said. `We have done stuff
that there wasn’t here five or six years ago ` the first rock band in
the Caucasus. We come with new ideas. We’re trying to relate it more
to Europe. I’m against the Soviet mentality. I think it’s ruined the
country.’

His friend, Zak Valladian, born and brought up in Dubai, is a member
of a group called Tebi Hayrenik or `back to the motherland’ that
encourages diasporans to relocate to Armenia. He believes `absolutely’
more of them are doing what he did four months ago, and moving to the
country.

`Change comes from within,’ said the 30-year-old, who runs a special
effects business. `I do believe for Armenia’s sake, the only thing
they can do is to encourage the diaspora to come and invest. It’s home
from home for us.’

OREIGN/707119958/1013/NEWS

IN THE FIRST HALF YEAR 2009 ARMECONOMBANK INCREASED NUMBER OF ACTIVE CARDS BY 26.4% TO ALMOST 70 THSD

ArmInfo
2009-07-10 19:28:00

ArmInfo. In the first half year 2009 Armeconombank increased the
number of active cards by 26.4% to 69802 as compared with the same
period of 2008.

Head of Plastic Card Operations Management Division of Armeconombank
Vardan Yeghiazaryan told ArmInfo correspondent that in the second
quarter 2009 the bank increased the number of active cards by 4.4%.

According to him, the share of MasterCards made up 6666, or 9,5% of the
total number of cards, having increased by 16% in the second quarter ,
ArCa – 90,5%, or 63136, having increased by 3,7% in II qt. Yeghiazaryan
stressed that in II qt tendency of monthly growth in transactions with
Armeconombank was observed. Thus, if in May the volume of transactions
with Armeconombank cards via bancomats, POS- terminals amounted to
3.3 bln AMD (number of transactions – 165 thsd), in June this index
grew to 3.5 bln AMD (number of transactions – 170 thsd).

He said that as of July 1, 2009, Armeconombank had 48 bancomats (4 of
them having cash-in function), the annual growth being 26%, and the
growth for II qt being 4.4%. By 1 July the number of Armeconombank
POS-terminals amounted to 203, the annual growth being 15.3%.

Yeghiazaryan pointed out that under card projects Armeconombank works
with 570 enterprises in Armenia, this index is expected to considerably
grow since September. "Under salary projects, we are going to start
active cooperation with numerous schools of both Yerevan and regions
since autumn",- he said.

To note, the Sukiasyan family of entrepreneurs owns 53,4% of
Armeconombank shares, and 25%+1 share is controlled by the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).