Author: Chalian Meline

ARMENIA TO USE ATOMIC POWER FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.12.2008 16:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met Tuesday with
chairman of the RA Nuclear Energy Safety Council Adolf Birkhofen
(Germany), the RA leader’s press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The President appreciated highly Mr. Birkhofen’s efforts for safe
exploitation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) and thanked
him for the work he has been doing for 12 years already.

"Energy issues are always in the limelight of the Armenian government,"
President Sargsyan said, adding that Armenia is willing to use the
atomic power for peaceful purposes and to build new hydroelectric
power plants.

For his part, Mr. Birkhofen said, "You can be proud of the work
done during the past years for secure operation of the NPP. Owing
to the efforts and knowledge of your government, the NPP has been
fully renovated. It is highly secure, as compared to the other NPPs
throughout the globe."

TURKEY PLEASED WITH CABINET

Hurriyet
Dec 1 2008
Turkey

WASHINGTON – As U.S. president-elect Barack Obama readied to announce
his former campaign rival Hillary Clinton as choice for secretary of
state, the reaction of Turkish officials was largely positive.

The reported choice of top diplomat, as well as others in defense
and national security, whom officials see as experienced and centrist
figures with a positive understanding of Turkey.

The announcement on Clinton is due to come at a news conference in
Chicago, said officials on Obama’s transition team. The incoming
president has also asked Robert Gates, the current defense secretary,
to keep his job for at least another year, sources close to the
president-elect said earlier. For the important post of the national
security advisor, the official closest to the president, Obama
has chosen retired Gen. James Jones, a former top NATO commander,
according to U.S. media. "We have very good relations with these three
figures. We believe Obama is forming a very good national security
cabinet," said one Turkish official privately.

One Turkish concern over the future of the U.S.-Turkish relationship
is Obama’s pledge during the primaries he would recognize the World
War I-era killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide if
elected president.

Obama more sincere Like Obama, Clinton also made a similar
promise during the primaries to recognize the Armenian killings
as genocide. But although Sen. Clinton also sponsored a genocide
resolution in the present Senate, some Armenian groups said she
objected to another similar legislation in the House of Representatives
in October 2007. As a result, most Armenians found Obama more sincere
on Armenian-related matters and the Armenian National Committee of
America, the largest U.S. Armenian group, decided to back him against
Clinton in the primaries.

Turkey also had good relations with the United States during the term
of former President Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband.

A U.S. move to provide the Turkish military with intelligence against
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party terrorists in northern Iraq took effect
in late 2007 under the supervision of Gates and Turkish officials
were pleased he would most likely retain his job.

Gates in late 2006 replaced the unpopular Donald Rumsfeld, who until
the end of his tenure remained consistently angry with Turkey over
Ankara’s refusal to help the Iraq invasion by U.S.-led forces in 2003.

Amid the Iraq dispute in 2003 and 2004, the Turkish military was in a
serious friction with the U.S. Central Command responsible for Iraq,
and it was Jones, as the top NATO commander, who worked as a kind of
mediator to restore the estranged relationship with Ankara. "Jones
did a very good job to improve the military-to-military ties," said
one analyst here. "From Turkey’s viewpoint, Clinton, Gates and Jones
are probably the best trio of picks by Obama for his national security
team," said the analyst.

Focus News, Bulgaria
Nov 30 2008

Turkey plans Istanbul-Yerevan direct flights, considers Azerbaijan

30 November 2008 | 13:32 | FOCUS News Agency

Ankara. Turkey plans to schedule direct flights from Istanbul to
Armenia’s capital Yerevan in order to boost the recent process of
renewed relations between the two countries, Hurriyet reports on
Sunday.

The progress of this plan is directly connected to Armenia’s attitude
in relation to Turkey and Azerbaijan, Hurriyet Daily said citing
unnamed sources.

According to report, Ankara will also take Azerbaijan’s attitude on
the issue of direct flights consideration. "No concrete decision has
been taken as yet. The issue should be assessed as a mental exercise,"
sources were quoted as saying in the report.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the international
community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of
accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia’s
invasion of 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan.

AZERI ANALYST CRITICIZES ARMENIA PROPOSAL

The Messenger
Nov 27 2008
Georgia

Azeri political analyst Vapa Guluzade has announced that some time ago
the Armenian President organized a meeting with 50 representatives of
political parties, asking them if it would be acceptable to return
five Azeri regions occupied by Armenia if Azerbaijan recognized
Karabakh’s independence. Guluzade says this is a Russian initiative,
and that Russia wants to deploy Russian peacekeepers in the conflict
zone in return for restoring these occupied regions to Azerbaijan. As
a result Armenia will be able to restore diplomatic relations with
Turkey and Azerbaijan and open its borders with these countries.

The analyst states that for Azerbaijan this option is absolutely
unacceptable. He thinks that all negotiations over Karabakh are not
genuine and it is useless to carry out any kind of speculation over
the borders of Azerbaijan as there are no new suggestions to resolve
the problem.

RUSSIAN URANIUM MINER ARMZ PLANS TO RAISE OUTPUT 12% IN 2009

RIA Novosti
16:10 | 26/ 11/ 2008

MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti) – Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), Russia’s
leading uranium producer, plans to increase production in Russia
and Kazakhstan by 12% to 4,300 metric tons, the company chief said
on Wednesday.

Vadim Zhivov said uranium output could reach 3,841 tons in 2008, a 20%
increase on 2006, and that the company could issue bonds next year.

Russia’s proven uranium reserves have increased 275% to 545,000 metric
tons since 2006, Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said earlier
this month.

ARMZ manages all of Russia’s uranium mining assets and also
participates in uranium production in the Central Asian Republic
of Kazakhstan. The company is developing cooperation with Armenia,
Canada, Mongolia, Namibia and Ukraine. It is owned by Atomenergoprom,
which is part of Rosatom.

ARMZ aims to increase uranium production six-fold (up to 20,000 tons
per year) by 2024 and become the world’s leader in uranium mining.

REAL MEN DON’T BEAT WOMEN

A1+
[08:03 pm] 25 November, 2008

"End to women’s violence", "Silence is dishonorable", "Sexual abuse
is a crime", "A real man doesn’t beat women"-these were just some
of the posters held by members of the "Women’s Resource Center" NGO
and other organizations as they organized a march on International
Women’s Violence Day.

"Sexual abuse against women is still active today because women are
silent and the purpose of this march is to break the silence," told
"A1" correspondent of the "Women’s Resource Center" NGO Tatevik
Aghabekyan.

According to her, although there was a notice for the march a couple
of days ago, there was not much turnout.

Aghabekyan believes that the main impediment is not shedding enough
light on violence against women and the lack of organizations fighting
for sexually abused women.

The women were passing out flyers and putting them up on the walls
during the marches in Yerevan. The last stop was near the Government
building where participants handed a letter to the Armenian Premier. In
the letter, the women call on the Premier to help the organizations
fighting against violence against women, draft a state program aimed
at preventing abuse, create resource centers in the Marzes and concede
money from the state budget.

Foreign volunteers were also participating in the
march. Lebanese-Armenian Nara Aharonyan was there with her 6 year-old
daughter.

"There is violence everywhere. There are countries that have resources
and help women in these situations. Armenian women want to speak out,
but they are afraid and ashamed," told "A1+" Nara Aharonyan. Dutch
Oliver Van Lishaut said: "This is bad. I have three sisters and
three daughters. Fifty-percent of mankind are women and they must be
treated equally."

During the march, "A1+" conducted some surveys among residents of
Yerevan. According to a majority of Armenian men, there are not many
cases of violence against women in Armenia.

"Men and women must solve family problems together. I don’t think it
is right to raise the issues because they are strictly personal. The
wife should not make her husband feel ashamed," said fifth-year
student of the Conservatory Gevorg Elbakyan.

The girls and women surveyed said that they consider divorce as the
best option.

During the march, women were passing out papers with the names of women
who have made contributions in Armenia, but have been forgotten. Among
these women are Zabel Yesayan, Mariam Khatisyan, Satenik Ohanjanyan
and others.

CONVERSEBANK OF ARMENIA SIGNS $10MLN WORTH CREDIT LINE AGREEMENT WITH EBRD

ARKA
Nov 25, 2008

YEREVAN, November 25. /ARKA/. Conversebank of Armenia and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement
on a $10mln worth credit line Tuesday.

It is a four-year credit at an average market interest rate of about
16% p.a., Executive Director of Conversebank Ararat Ghukasyan said
adding that the loan is to be extended in two tranches – $5mln each.

The first part is expected to arrive as early as in mid-January next
year, Ghukasyan said.

Ghukasyan said that the loan funds will be used to provide credits
to small and medium enterprises. Interest rates will range depending
on liquidity and risks and borrowers’ credit portfolio, he said.

"Conversebank" Closed Joint Stock Company was registered on December
20 1993. Since February 2007 Argentinean businessman of Armenian
origin Eduardo Ernekian has been holding 95% of the bank’s shares.

Armenian Apostolic Church owns the remaining 5%. Conversebank has 25
branches, including eight branches in Yerevan.

By the end of October 2008, the bank’s assets had totalled 63.9bln
Drams, total capital 13bln Drams, liabilities 50.9bln Drams.

According to the information of ARKA News Agency, at the end of the Q3
2008, Conversebank was the sixth among the banks of Armenia in terms of
assets, crediting volume, liabilities, total capital, and the20third –
in terms of aggregate deposits from individuals and organizations. The
bank ranks the fifth in terms of profit in January-September.

CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE OF THE RA NA SPEAKER HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN ON THE OCCASION OF THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL CURRENCY ISSUANCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

National Assembly of RA
Nov 24 2008
Armenia

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Mr Hovik
Abrahamyan congratulated on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of
the currency issuance of the Republic of Armenia:

"After the restoration of the statehood and establishment of the
symbols of the statehood – flag, coat of arms, anthem one of the
decisive and important steps of the establishment of the economic
independence of the Republic of Armenia was the transition to the
Armenian Dram. Today, the dram having 15-year history has become a
stable and reliable national currency, facing the numerous experiences
and challenges of the past years and overcoming them with honour. Being
one of the components of the history of the newly independent Armenia
the Armenian Dram today has become an inseparable part of our daily
life.

The transition to Armenian Dram created opportunities for the
establishment of the financial-banking system and development of
the economy. Day by day the Armenian national currency becomes more
reliable and stable even in the conditions of the world financial
crisis.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Dram issuance of
the Republic of Armenia I congratulate the employees of the banking
system of the republic and wish all of them effective work for the
strengthening of the Republic of Armenia."

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 23 2008

`Turkey’s Caucasus initiative has improved Turkish-Armenian relations’

The tension between Georgia and Russia, which led to war in August,
changed the balance of power in the Caucasus, as well as around the
world, and Turkey and Armenia have benefited from it, according to
specialists who came together for a discussion of Turkish-Armenian
relations in Yerevan.

Turkish-Armenian relations gained momentum after a regional crisis
erupted following a Georgian military offensive in its Russian-backed
breakaway region of South Ossetia and Ankara came up with a proposal
to prevent such disputes in the future. The Turkish government
promoted a platform called the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Pact
(CSP) supported by visits to Moscow, Tbilisi and Baku. Armenia backed
the idea as well. `The Caucasus stability initiative made Turkey
engage directly with Armenia. Even if the initiative dies, this is the
positive outcome,’ said Sabiha Senyücel from the Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV).

She also said the idea did not come out of the blue and that Turkish
and Armenian officials have been negotiating for the past two
years. `But still, the CSP initiative served very well to prepare the
ground for direct talks with Armenia,’ she added. Turkey severed its
ties with Armenia in the early 1990s in protest of the Armenian
occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkish
official policy requires that the normalization of ties depends on
Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh as well as the termination
of Armenia’s support for claims of an Armenian genocide at the hands
of the Ottoman Empire and the official recognition of the current
borders between the two countries by Armenia.

However, a chief Turkish foreign policy adviser signaled recently that
Turkey may modify its stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu, a major architect of the foreign policies of the
Turkish government, said in Washington in late October that unlike its
unchanged position on the Armenian claims of genocide, the Turkish
government may consider dropping or modifying its preconditions
related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Senyücel told Sunday’s Zaman that if this becomes reality, then
a major obstacle before Turkish-Armenian dialogue will be removed.

`For Turkey to have a stronger and freer hand in its initiatives
including the CSP, it needs to continue the rapprochement process with
Armenia. And on this, the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
occupies a vital place,’ she said. Sergey Minasyan, the head of the
political studies department at the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan,
said that the main problem between Armenia and Turkey is not the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. `If Turkey understands that, too, it will be
very good,’ he told Sunday’s Zaman.

He reiterated that both Azerbaijanis and Armenians are concerned about
the increasing Russian influence in the region. So even though they
recently signed a pact with Russia, following the ceremony they paid
visits to their traditional allies. `After signing the pact, the
Armenian president went to Paris, and the Azerbaijani president went
to Ankara for support,’ he said referring to the joint declaration
signed by Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijani President
Ä°lham Aliyev in Moscow in the presence of Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev at the beginning of November.

Proposed last month by Medvedev, the talks have been interpreted as a
renewed Kremlin effort to strengthen its influence in the energy-rich
Caspian region. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic
Armenian forces since a six-year conflict that killed about 30,000 and
displaced 1 million people before a truce was reached in 1994. Some
clashes have continued, and international efforts to settle the
conflict have failed. Back in September, the foreign ministers of
Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan came together in a trilateral meeting
on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss
efforts to resolve the bitter territorial dispute.

Masis Mayilian, an independent expert from Nagorno-Karabakh, said that
if Turkey stays neutral as a mediator, it can influence Azerbaijan to
reach a settlement. However, he said Turkey’s `brotherly’ feelings
toward its regional ally, Azerbaijan, harm its neutral role.

The specialists gathered in Yerevan on Friday at the Caucasus
Institute to hold a workshop titled `Turkey-Armenia Dialogue Series:
Breaking the Vicious Cycle.’ It was jointly organized by TESEV and the
Caucasus Institute.

23 November 2008, Sunday
AYÅ?E KARABAT ANKARA

ALI BABACAN: ANKARA AND BAKU STAND A GOOD CHANCE TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.11.2008 12:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey and Azerbaijan can normalize relations with
Armenia, according to the Turkish Foreign Minister.

"We have a good chance to normalize relations and we should not miss
it," Ali Bacacan was quoted by Cihan news agency as saying.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will be in Istanbul
on November 24 to attend a meeting of the BSEC secretariat and to
present Armenia’s plan of activities in the tenure of its presidency
in the organizations.

The Armenian Genocide will be in focus of talks between Minister Ali
Babacan and his Armenian counterpart, Burak Ozugergin, a spokesman
for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"Everything is on the table," Ozugergin said. "We are not precluding
anything. The Ministers will take up bilateral issues, including the
1915 events and perhaps regional issues that could include relations
with Azerbaijan."