Author: Chakrian Hovsep

EU GOING TO HAVE ITS OWN POLICY ON CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2009 16:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It’s not hard to understand that the EU and
U.S. interests differ, an Armenian expert said.

"Majority of European states are NATO members. At that Eastern Europe
is more pro-American than ‘Old Europe,’ which want to pursue its own
policy toward the Caucasus. The Eastern Partnership is vivid example
of this intention," Karen Bekaryan, head of European Integration NGO,
told a news conference in Yerevan today.

Armenia’s joining the European Union will bring together two
organizations – CSTO and NATO, according to him.

"This will result in disappearance of dividing lines. Armenia is
the only CSTO member sate in focus of the EU and U.S. Under the
circumstances, Yerevan stands a good chance to approve itself,"
Bekaryan said.

CHAIRMAN OF GEORGIAN TIMES: ARMENIA AND GEORGIA SHOULD HAVE COMMON MECHANISM IN MEDIA SPHERE

Noyan Tapan

Feb 9, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. Neither Armenia nor Georgia needs
new conflicts and new wars, while some forces try to instigate them
between the two countries. Malkhaz Ghulashvili, the Chairman of
the Georgian Times media holding, expressed such an opinion at the
February 9 Yerevan-Tbilisi TV bridge organized by the Novosti-Armenia
information agency. According to M.

Gulashvili, in order to avoid conflicts the Armenians and Georgians
should work out a common mechanism of rules, especially in the media
sphere, where information wars have become frequent recently.

Gegham Manukian, Yerkir Media TV company’s information
programs Director, in his turn, said that today there are two
fronts in the South Caucasian information sphere, Armenian and
Georgian-Azeri. According to him, today not only Azeri, but also
Georgian press publishes false information about Armenia. G. Manukian
gave as an example the news that allegedly Armenia has purchased
a great amount of arms and ammunition from Russia lately. Another
participant of the discussion, expert Samvel Martirosian said that
the other day the Georgian Times newspaper published the results
of a dubious journalist investigation, according to which, Armenia
has really purchased arms from Russia. According to S. Martirosian,
a document was introduced within the framework of that investigation,
the illiterate structure of which can confirm any serviceman.

M. Gulashvili said that an employee of the RF Defence Ministry has
conveyed the above mentioned information to them. He repeated his
conviction that in the information sphere Armenia and Georgia should
find a way of cooperation, which will give a possibility to introduce
clarity in all issues. "Only in that way we will find out whether
Armenia received arms from Russia or the Russian Defence Ministry’s
employee told us a lie," M. Gulashvili concluded.

GSP+ TO FACILITATE ARMENIA-GERMANY ECONOMIC COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2009 12:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the 45th Munich Security
Conference to discuss bilateral relations.

The leaders appreciated the current level of the Armenian-German
relations and the $350-million bilateral trade.

The Armenian President voiced assurance that granting Armenia GSP+
will facilitate Armenia-Germany economic cooperation.

On Chancellor Merkel’s request, President Sargsyan briefed on the
current stage of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.

The heads of states also referred to formation of the CSTO rapid
reaction force, the RA leader’s press office reports.

Armenian Second TV Channel
Feb 7 2009

Armenian, Turkish ministers hold "constructive" talks in Munich

[Presenter] The 45th annual international conference on security is
underway in Munich. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is scheduled to
deliver a speech this evening. Our leader has already met with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Enhanced Coverage LinkingAngela Merkel. -Search using:
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News, Most Recent 60 Days

[Passage omitted: Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan speaks about
details of the Sargsyan-Merkel meeting.]

[Correspondent] Yes, besides the major format, informal meetings and
talks are being held in the framework of the conference. Let’s talk
about another meeting. The Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers,
Edvard Nalbandyan and Ali Babacan, have met on the sidelines of the
conference. Our foreign minister has given details of the meeting.

[Nalbandyan speaking to a journalist] Starting from September 2008, we
have had numerous meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Mr Ali
Babacan. I and my Turkish colleague use all occasions, occasions like
international conferences and forums, to meet again and hold
discussions. Major issues concern the settlement of our relations. You
know that after the [29 January 2009] meeting between the Armenian
president and the Turkish prime minister in Davos, the foreign
ministers have been told to step up efforts to resolve the
relations. I and Mr Babajan met with this purpose here as well. The
meeting was constructive. We are moving forward and getting closer to
the settlement of relations.

Glendale News Press, CA
Feb 7 2009

FROM THE MARGINS:
The day of the haves and have-nots

By PATRICK AZADIAN

Published: Last Updated Friday, February 6, 2009 10:21 PM PST
It is that time of year again, when the love is in the air. Or it
should be in the air. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, while many
of us still have not managed to recover from the holiday season.

Traditionally, this grand affection is the first fun and light-hearted
holiday after New Year’s Day. The holiday can be great if you have
reason to celebrate. But it is a peculiar holiday. It is the only
holiday that not everyone can participate in to the fullest.

Everyone can partake in Christmas. Celebrations can be as simple as
putting up a tree and engaging in gift giving. The gifts don’t even
have to be expensive, just thoughtful. If you really want to be a
purist about it, a visit or two to the local church would not hurt
either. And being a die-hard purist helping the less fortunate by
participating in charity programs can not only be fulfilling, but can
help you empathize with the spirit of Christmas. You don’t even have
to be Christian to love Christmas.

I like Christmas. More accurately speaking, I like Christmas(es), the
Armenian, the non-Armenian and the Eastern Orthodox versions.

Even Easter can be a populist holiday. For me, the first signs of
Easter, as we don’t really have seasons here in Southern California,
are summarized in the sights of my sister and mom finding and cutting
out colorful fabrics from old dresses, shirts and ties. This is their
preparation for painting eggs. The painted eggs turn out to be very
artistic. Sometimes they are so good I end up keeping them in my
fridge for a couple of years, with the hope that I will get around to
photographing them at some point.

Yet, you don’t have to be as creative as my family to be able to have
fun with eggs. You can just paint them solid red or green. Or you can
just buy a bunny basket from the local supermarket. Getting dressed
and going to church can also be a possibility. Needless to say,
Thanksgiving is a holiday open to everyone. All you need is access to
a turkey and the ability to be thankful. Having a family also helps,
but it is really not a must.

Everyone who lives in America can celebrate all patriotic and state
holidays. On the Fourth of July, you don’t need a pass to watch the
fireworks or be proud of being an American.

You don’t even need to live in America to celebrate Fourth of July. I
remember seeing pictures of people celebrating Fourth of July in
Macedonia. I am not sure whether to take that as a sign of
appreciation for America’s contributions to freedom and democracy
around the world, or a statement of intent to travel to the New
World. But regardless, it is an occasion that does not discriminate on
who can and cannot observe.

But Valentine’s Day is a different animal. The holiday has an
indisputable prerequisite: having a romantic partner. As such,
Valentine’s Day discriminates against those of who do not claim a
girlfriend or a boyfriend, a wife or a husband. It is a day of the
haves and the have-nots.

Having said that, Valentine’s Day shares some common ground with
Christmas. They both have the holiday rush, when everyone does their
last-minute shopping to be prepared for the holiday. In an effort to
have all the preconditions to celebrate Valentine’s Day, people have
the choice of making sure they are not alone on that day. Thus, the
Valentine’s Day holiday rush. On the bright side, and if you consider
yourself a super-positive individual, the day can also be coined as
the day of `singlehood.’ After all, a significant segment of the
population will be single on that day, and they need their own holiday
that is parallel and concurrent with Valentine’s Day.

If your holiday shopping spree is fruitless, just remember what
Marilyn Monroe said: `It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy
with someone.’

But then again, we all know what happened to her.

As always, I will be looking forward to the day of the haves and the
have-nots.

– PATRICK AZADIAN is a writer and the creative director of a local
marketing and graphic design studio living in Glendale. He may be
reached at [email protected].

GAS AND ELECTRICITY TARIFFS TO BE REVIEWED

ARMENPRESS
Feb 5, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS: The prices for gas are expected
to be increased from April 1, 2009 and naturally it will have its
impact on the tariffs, chairman of the Armenian Public Services
Regulatory Commission Robert Nazarian said today in the NA answering
to the questions of members of parliament after the presentation of
the report.

He noted that in the coming days "Armrusgasprom" company is expected
to present an application to the commission on reviewing the tariffs.

"How much the increase on the border will be I do not know yet, as
I as far as I know by yesterday negotiations were going on with the
Russian side. After receiving the application we will study it and
we have to establish tariff by the end of this month," the chairman
of the commission said.

He also added that depending on the amount of the increase of the
gas tariff an issue on reviewing electricity tariff will raise.

OPEN LETTER FROM 19,000 ASSYRIANS TO TURKEY: DO NOT TOUCH ST. GABRIEL MONASTERY

Assyrian International News Agency

Feb 5 2009

The group "Aktion Mor Gabriel" in Germany, held a protest demonstration
in Berlin (AINA 1-27-2009) against Turkey’s attempts to confiscate
the Mor Gabriel Monastery. According to official figures from the
Berlin police, more than 19 000 people gathered. It is undoubtedly
the largest Assyrians demonstration ever in Europe.

Buses filled with young, old, men and women from Belgium, Holland,
Switzerland, Austria, and from several cities in Germany emptied
outside the magnificent cathedral, the Berliner Dom. In an hour the
cathedral’s park area turned to a meeting place for Assyrians from
all over Europe.

Just a stone’s throw from the gathering is the Pergamon Museum. Inside
the museum you can watch the impressive Babylonian procession street,
built by the Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC). Lions in
the relief walking along the procession street’s blue and ocher colored
glazed walls towards the mighty gate of Ishtar. They are witnesses of
a great past and have seen many generations of Assyrians come and go.

The contrast in Berlin

Inside the Pergamon Museum, you can watch the Babylonian procession
street and the gate of Ishtar, one of ancient history’s most unique
remains from the great Assyrian empire, while outside, a stone’s
throw from the museum you are met by today’s brutal truth, where the
remains of the Assyrian empire protest against Turkey’s attempt to
confiscate the Mor Gabriel Monastery, which has become a symbol of
the Christian Assyrians since it was built in 397 A.D.

Before the protest march was moving towards its final destination,
the Syriac Orthodox Church Archbishop of Germany, Julio Hanna Aydin,
made a short speech.

– I am extremely pleased to see so many young people involved in
the Mor Gabriel issue. I am overwhelmed with joy to see all of our
organizations, regardless of name, flags and colors. It is the day
of unity, said Bishop Hanna Aydin.

Under the leadership of Bishop Hanna Aydin the crowd prayed the
lord’s prayer, after that the demonstrators began to move towards the
Brandenburg Tor, the arch of triumph that has become the symbol of
a free, democratic and reunited Germany, where several demonstration
speeches would be held.

Berlin’s main avenue, Unter den Linden, was closed for car traffic
for the demonstration. This avenue which is Berlin’s cultural and
political center is heavily visited by tourists. Some curious tourists
asked the organizers in yellow vests what it is about.

The demonstration took the march from the Berliner Dom at Pariser Platz
to the Brandenburg Gate in one hour. "Do not touch the Mor Gabriel"
the crowd scanted all the way.

The list of speakers consisted of representatives from various
organizations, Assyrian, Armenian, German Evangelical Church
representatives, other coreligionists and human rights activists. Also
the authors Yelda Ozcan and Recep Marasli showed their solidarity
and gave speeches during the demonstration.

The line of argument in the speakers’ message was that Turkey should
stop harassing the Assyrians. Most speakers noted that the feudal
system is a problem and the village guards armed with government
weapons are raging freely and terrorizing the Assyrians in the
area. The Turkish State which has started this systematic state terror
by using Kurdish clans and village guards has to immediately stop it
if they want to belong to the civilized world, emphasized the majority
of speakers.

History is present

A few hundred meters south of the Brandenburg Gate, where 19 000
Assyrians were assembled, the Holocaust Mahnmal, a monument to the
Holocaust, which covers a 19 000 m2 area in the middle of Berlin’s
most central neighborhoods. The monument was built as an unforgettable
symbol of the crime that Nazi Germany had committed against the city’s
once flourishing Jewish community.

Turkey, however, does the contrary, and responds to its dark history in
an entirely different way. Just a few kilometers from the demonstration
site is Hardenberg Strasse, the street where the genocide architect
of Seyfo, Talat Pasha, was killed in March 15, 1921 by an Armenian
survivor of the genocide. Seyfo-genocide was staged by the young
Turks under the direction of among others Talat Pasha. The current
Turkish government continues its policies in the same spirit. With its
aggression and its harassment of the Assyrians and other Christians
in the country, the Turkish state shows that even today they follow
in Talat Pashas footsteps.

Turkey seems to have difficulties to put up with the fact that there
are a couple of thousand Assyrians left in Turabdin, the origin area
of the Assyrians, and that they have a monastery in the area, although
they already have eradicated several hundred thousand of them during
the Seyfo genocide. Turkey wants to erase the last remains and to
complete the genocide that Talat Pasha and the young Turks began in
the shadow of the First World War. A country which does not recognize
its crimes and apologize for them is always prone to commit the same
crimes against humanity. Learn from Germany, Turkey! Dare to face
your dark history and make up with it!

BELARUS-ARMENIA INTERPARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION TO MEET IN MINSK

Trend News Agency
Feb 5 2009
Azerbaijan

The Belarusian-Armenian interparliamentary cooperation commission plans
to hold a session in Minsk on February 23-24, Chairman of the House
of Representatives of the National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko
said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
the Republic of Armenia to Belarus Oleg Esayan, reported Belta .

The Belarusian part of the cooperation commission has already been
set up. According to Vladimir Andreichenko, the forthcoming session
will help establish closer contacts between the National Assemblies
of Armenia and Belarus. The agenda of the session includes goals to
enhance energy security. Armenia has a rich experience in the field,
the Belarusian speaker said.

Vladimir Andreichenko stressed that the Belarusian and Armenian
parliamentarians have been closely cooperating including within the
international organisations. The recent years have seen the cooperation
between the two countries considerably intensified. With setting up
the bilateral commission, the parliaments of Armenia and Belarus have
reached higher level of cooperation, Vladimir Andreichenko added.

"Although we have no common borders, Belarus and Armenia have
established warm friendly relations. The mutual trade has been
increasing year-on-year," Chairman of the House of Representatives
said. At the same time, according to him, the potential in the trade
and economic relations of the two countries remains untapped.

Vladimir Andreichenko invited an official delegation of Armenia and
its Speaker to visit Belarus this year.

On his part, Oleg Esayan said that Belarusian-Armenian relations
have been successfully developing almost in all areas: politics,
economy, culture. The two countries have similar positions on all most
important issues of international politics. Yet there is a need to
put more efforts in creation of joint companies, investment projects,
interbank cooperation. Oleg Esayan is confident that "2009 can be
most important for starting a new series of high-level visits."

According to the Ambassador of Armenia, bilateral trade has increased
significantly over the past several years. Last year, trade between
Belarus and Armenia reached $28.2 million, up 18.9 over 2007.

An increase in Belarusian exports to Armenia came on the back of
large contracts for the delivery of Belarusian goods for the mining
industry. Belarus’ major exports to Armenia were tyres, trucks,
medicines, tractors, special-purpose vehicles. All in all Belarus
exports more than 140 types of products to Armenia.

Oleg Esayan conveyed an invitation to Vladimir Andreichenko from
the Speaker of the Armenian parliament to pay an official visit to
Armenia this year.

AS ARPI VARDANIAN PREDICTED IT, BARACK OBAMA WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

NOYAN TAPAN

Feb 4, 2009
YEREVAN

In the meetings with American Armenians U.S. Congressmen express
the hope that new President Barack Obama will keep his preelection
promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Arpi Vardanian,
the Armenian Assembly of America Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Office
Director, reported at the February 4 press conference reminding B.
Obama’s words: "The Armenian Genocide is not a personal perception,
but a fact, about which there is large-scale evidence."

As A. Vardanian predicted it, U.S. President will remain loyal to
his promise and will recognize the Armenian Genocide, especially as,
according to her observation, an irreversible process of genocide
preception, search for the truth, learning lessons from the past has
started in the world.

According to A. Vardanian, that process has been also launched and
continues in Turkey, where nearly 30 thousand signatures have been
collected as a result of a group of intellectuals’ initiative to
apologize to the Armenians. A. Vardanian classed as a progress the
circumstance that the Turkish authorities decided not to call for
criminal liability the signature collection initiators.

A. Vardanian confirmed the observation of a journalist that the Turkish
lobbying has become active in the U.S. in the past years. Nevertheless,
according to her, the Turkish agitation is still inferior to the
Armenian one.

HOPE IS A GOOD THING, BUT…

Azat Artsakh Daily
04 Feb 09
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

So one more – the first in 2009 – meeting of the presidents and the
heads of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan
on settlement of Nagorno Karabahk conflict held in Zurich on January
28 is behind. The basic question which, for sure, the societies of
the conflicting parties are interested in is whether they achieved
any progress in the negotiation process. It’s worth to say at once
that most of the experts and politicians did not expect too much from
the Swiss meeting of Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev. Even American
co-chairmen Matthew Bryza, who usually excels as an unflagging
optimism, the day before rendezvous of the presidents also admitted,
that serious progress was not expected. In a certain sense such a
skeptic attitude toward the meeting can be explained by accruing it
within the framework of Davos World Economic Forum, due to importance
of which the meeting became of secondary meaning. But is it the only
reason why a diplomatic breakthrough did not happen? Certainly,
the reasons are deeper and they lie in the positions of parties,
or rather in the absolute polarity of those positions on the key
points of the regulation. It is known that now on the negotiation
table lie so called Madrid Principles, named by mediators as basic,
after reconciliation of 0Awhich the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group
intend to get the final agreement signed by the parties. But are
their expectations realizable? After the presidents meeting in
Zurich, Matthew Bryza, true to form, underlined with optimism that
the positions of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the basic principles of
the regulation of the Karabahk conflict notably drew together.

Though the American diplomat did not work out in details, in which
principles the approachment took place, yet there is no doubt,
that it was certainly not the status of NKR and the territory
which practically appears to be the stumbling block in the process
of regulation. The co-chairmen themselves realize the difficulty
of achieving mutual compromise. In their joint statement on the
results of the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in
Zurich, they announced their willingness to work with the Ministers
of Foreign Affairs to develop a detailed proposal and submit for
consideration by two presidents of the most essential distinctions
between the parties by the base principles of settlement. The
mediators expressed the hope that in the near future, the parties
could overcome those distinctions for the achievement of the secure
peace agreement. Hope is a good thing, but… Right after the
meeting of the presidents in Zurich, the head of MFA of Azerbaijan
E. Mamedyarov announced that "The negotiations held in the frame
of territorial inte grity of Azerbaijan". And he declared this,
despite the fact that in the above mentioned statement, issued by
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, directly stated that the balanced
agreement must be based on the Principles of the Helsinki Final Act –
territorial integrity, self-determination and peaceful settlement of
disputes. As seen, this was far not the first time Azeri officials
selectively and to the best advantage for themselves interpret
the process of settlement of the conflict. Nevertheless, I want
to believe, that Swiss meetings of the presidents and the heads of
Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia were not just ordinary
consultations and an imitation of negotiation process. Let’s trust
the Armenian foreign minister Eduard Nalbandyan in whose words the
two presidents underlined the presence of definite dynamics in the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. In any case, even in the
lack of appreciable results the dialogue of parties helps to maintain
the process of regulation afloat. Consequently, in a certain extend it
reduces the risk of resumption of the war. Undoubtedly, this creates
conditions for further search of a realistic solution of the problems,
more precisely – a full-scale solution with obligatory participation
of official Stepanakert in the negotiations.