Author: Chalian Meline

news.am, Armenia
Dec 31 2009

Armen Ashotyan: I am Santa Claus

16:33 / 12/31/2009RA Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan
plans to see the New Year in with his family in Armenia.

`Only once in my life, when a student, I was absent from Armenia
during the New Year holidays. I was in Marseilles and had no money to
buy an air ticket,’ Ashotyan told NEWS.am. The Minister likes to see
pakhlava (a kind of oriental biscuit with nuts) on the New Year table.
Ashotyan does not believe in Santa Claus. `At my age I myself am Santa
Claus for my family,’ he said.

T.P.

ARMENIA’S EXTERNAL DEBT IN 2010 WILL REACH 50% OF GDP: DAVTYAN

news.am
Dec 29 2009
Armenia

Next year Armenia’s external debt will reach 50% of GDP, up to 46%,
said the RA Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan at the Dec.29 press
conference.

According to him, in 2010 Armenia will get a credit of â~B¬100m from
EU as a full public budget loan, of which â~B¬35m as a grant. Another
â~B¬120m trade loan intended for diamond processing is expected
from Russia.

"Most probably it will not be included in state debt, as it goes
to the public sector and the country merely assists its receiving,"
the minister stated.

Speaking of the budget expenses of AMD 93bn for the forth quarter,
Davtyan outlined that though they were carried forward, but are
temporarily stopped. Instead, the critical works for as much as AMD
50bn are carried out in other fields, Davtyan added. In particular,
AMD 24bn went to disaster area, AMD 15bn-to paid to the businessmen
as VAT returns.

Tigran Davtyan compared Armenian economy with turbulence zone having
one of the engines packed up (construction), outlining that the
authorities managed to lead out of the hazard zone our plane and all
"passengers" came out unharmed.

YEARENDER: U.S., RUSSIA VYING FOR BIGGER SWAY IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

Xinhua News Agency
December 27, 2009 Sunday 6:40 AM EST
China

The South Caucasus, a strategically important area and a key route
for energy supplies from the oil and gas-rich Caspian Sea to Europe,
has been the site of tougher rivalry between Washington and Moscow
in the past year.

Moves of the three Caucasus nations, include Georgia’s withdrawal
from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a U.S.-Georgia
partnership deal and a landmark fence-mending accord between Armenia
and Turkey, also fueled the race for greater influence in the region.

STRATEGIC INTERESTS

Washington has long been trying to squeeze out Russian influence in
the Caucasus nations of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia — all former
Soviet republics — while Russia views the region as a "buffer zone"
for NATO eastward expansion and sees the region as having a direct
bearing on its efforts to maintain stability in its troubled North
Caucasus.

Meanwhile, the United States is using their strategic location to
increase pressure on Iran and assist its operations in Afghanistan. It
is also eyeing the region’s abundant oil and gas reserves, which
could help it reduce its dependence on energy from the Persian Gulf.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan has played a central role in regional energy
projects. One of the projects, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,
which runs through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, is viewed by the
West as an important move to break Russia’s monopoly on oil and gas
exports to Western Europe.

Washington has gained access to Baku airport for fueling stops by U.S.

military aircraft and Azerbaijan’s airspace for overflights during
its war in Afghanistan.

Moscow, meanwhile, is also forging closer ties with Azerbaijan.

Earlier this year, Russia sought to extend a lease agreement with
Azerbaijan for the Gabala radar station and has also strengthened
energy cooperation with the country.

WEST-LEANING GEORGIA

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008 when Tbilisi tried
to retake South Ossetia, which, together with Abkhazia, broke away from
central rule in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Tensions escalated when Moscow recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia
as independent states two weeks after the conflict ended. Georgia
severed ties with Russia in September 2008 and quit the CIS this year.

Shortly after the war, Washington announced a 1-billion-U.S. dollar
economic aid package for Tbilisi to help with its war relief.

During his visit to Georgia in July, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden
described the country as an "important strategic partner" and said
Washington will not sacrifice Georgian interests to mend its ties
with Moscow.

Biden said the United States would continue to offer comprehensive
support to the Caucasus country, including its entry into NATO.

Russia’s position on the issue has been vastly different. Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin said in August that Russia intends to continue
giving "total political and economic support to both South Ossetia
and Abkhazia."

"Russia will not permit any reprisal attempts or any repeat of military
ventures in this region," he said.

ARMENIA, TURKEY MENDING FENCE

In October this year, Armenia and Turkey signed a historic deal on
normalizing ties and reopening their borders. Observers said the
United States has played a crucial role in bringing them together.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped mediate the deal when
signing of the accord was delayed more than three hours by last-minute
disagreement between the two countries over the wording of a statement.

Turkey and Armenia have been bogged down over a century-old row over
the killing of 1.5 million Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire at the end of World War I. Turkey denies Armenia’s charge of
a genocide.

And Turkey has sided with Azerbaijan in its territorial dispute with
Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 1993, Turkey closed its
borders with Armenia in a gesture of support for Azerbaijan.

Analysts noted that reconciliation between the two long-time rivals
will help Washington’s strategies for Iran and Afghanistan and ensure
the safe supply of Caspian energy.

Meanwhile, thawing ties between Armenia and Turkey will make
it difficult for Russia to justify its military base in Armenia
as the base was allegedly intended to maintain stability on the
Armenian-Turkish borders.

Yet, Russia still maintains close ties with Armenia both bilaterally
and within the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a post-Soviet
security bloc which consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Analysts noted that substantial improvement of ties between Armenia
and Turkey seems likely in the near future, but the settlement of
outstanding issues concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh region and Georgia’s
breakaway regions will take more time, and as such, the South Caucasus
region will remain a focus for rivalry between Washington and Moscow.

news.am, Armenia
Dec 26 2009

Sport’s persons and coaches awarded with titles

Armenia’s President Serge Sargsyan awarded a number of Armenian
sport’s persons and coaches for their merits and contributions to
sport, a spokesperson for the Cabinet said.

Sirekan Janoyan, chief of Gyumri’s ARMENIA Sport Organisation, was
awarded with rank of the Honored Person of Cultural and Sport Merit.

Ervand Kirakosian, a weightlifting coach, Ashot Danielian, a
weightlifting coach, Armen Babalarian, a Greco-Roman wrestling coach,
Arsen Avetisian, a taekwondo coach, Samvel Sogomonyan, a boxing coach,
and Arman Haroutyunian, a boxing coach, were awarded with rank of
Armenia’s Honored Coach.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARKISIAN SIGNS INTO LAW 2010 BUDGET BILL

ARKA
December 25, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, December 25, /ARKA/. Armenian president Serzh Sarkisian signed
today into law the bill on 2010 government budget, the presidential
press service reported.

The bill was passed by Armenian parliament on December 10. It
calls for 742 billion Drams of revenues and 935 billion Drams of
expenditures. The budget deficit is projected at 193.4 billion Drams.

The government expects the economy to grow 1.2% next year and the
inflation to be between 2.5%-5.5%.

ARMENIA AND CHINA DISCUSS REGIONAL USES

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2009 19:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Foreign Ministry hosted political
consultations between Armenia and China.

Armenian delegation was lead by the head of RA MFA department for
Asia, Oceania and Africa affairs Areg Hovhannisyan; deputy director
of European and Central Asian department at China’s Foreign Ministry,
Zhang Xiao headed the Chinese delegation.

The consultations focused on regional issues and bilateral relations,
collaboration in international organizations, organization of
intergovernmental Armenia-China sitting and Shanghai 2010 international
exhibition.

The parties also touched upon cultural and economic collaboration
issues, dwelling on Shansi-Nairit joint Armenian-Chinese enterprise
construction and launch.

Chinese delegation was received by Deputy Foreign Minister of RA,
Karine Kazinian.

AZERBAIJANI MPS LIKELY TO MEET WITH ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS: VICE-SPEAKER

Trend
Dec 21 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova does not
exclude the possibility of meeting between of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian parliamentarians in the near future.

"Usually we meet with the Armenian MPs at the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly, Council of Europe and in the conferences of other
international organizations," Muradova told journalists today.

"Perhaps, we will meet with the Armenian MPs at a future session and
we will get an opportunity to exchange views on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.’

The last meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs was held in
Moscow in late October.

"Meetings with them are not objective for us, and we do not assign
them," Muradova said. "These meetings usually occur on the activities
of international organizations, or they have a place in one or another
form through these organizations."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

UN RESOLUTION ON PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION MEETS AZERBAIJAN’S INTERESTS

Trend
Dec 21 2009
Azerbaijan

Official Baku considers that the UN General Assembly’s resolution on
the People’s Universal Right to Self Determination meets the interests
of Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan has participated in preparing the resolution on the
People’s Universal Right to Self Determination, but the resolution
does not reflect anything about self-determination at the expense
of the territories of independent states, but vice-versa the paper
openly states that the military intervention, aggression and acts
of occupation and violation of human rights as a result of this,
including the violation of the right to self-determination, are
completely contrary," Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan
Polukhov told Trend News on Dec. 21.

During its 64th session on Dec. 18, the UN General Assembly without
voting adopted the resolution on the People’s Universal Right to
Self Determination.

In addition, Polukhov said the resolution expresses concerns over the
facts where the states maintain the territories of other countries
under occupation through military aggression and due to it, have
resorted to occupation, discrimination and other acts violating
human dignity.

According to him, the paper also expressed concern over one million
refugees and internally displaced persons. Given all these, the
resolution can be assessed as meeting the interests of Azerbaijan,
said Polukhov.

"We recognize the right to self-determination, but it can be realized
only within the territorial integrity of states," said Foreign
Ministry spokesman.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied
territories.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2009

Azerbaijan loses credibility in OSCE Minsk Group: Deputy Speaker

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 18 / Trend News M.Aliyev /

Azerbaijan loses the credibility in the OSCE Minsk Group mediating in
the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Azerbaijani Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova said.

"The OSCE Minsk Group has stated its position only in separate stages
of the negotiations," she said. "However, its representatives have
always refrained from expressing an opinion in connection with the
actions of members of this group."

In its time Russia and France have supported Armenia, she added.

"So they [the OSCE MG] do not condemn one another in this matter and I
do not think that would condemn in the future," Muradova said.

Muradova called on the Minsk Group to fulfill its duties, mobilize
efforts to intensify the negotiations and to represent a solution
acceptable to both parties.

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate approved a bill on
the general appropriations for the 2010 fiscal year, according to
which assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh will be allocated to the amount
of $8 million. Any restrictions on the implementation of programs in
Karabakh have been removed.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER OPENING NOT TO ENTAIL FLOW OF MIGRANTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 13:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The opening of Armenian-Turkish border will not
necessarily entail flow of migrants, according to Gagik Yeganyan,
Head of Migration Service at Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial
Administration.

"Migration flows tend to intensify in view of lessening obstacles to
crossing the border," he told a news conference in Yerevan on Friday.

At that, he noted that an open border does not mean that anyone
wishing to cross the it will be free to so without a visa permit (as
is the case with Iran) or relevant legal bases (in case of leaving
for Georgia). Yeganyan accounted for the "flow" of Turkish migrants
by the absence of bans on Turkish citizens’ entry to Armenia. "They
might have as well come before the opening of border, why didn’t they
to that?" he asked.

Yeganyan said the number of migrants has grown 4 times over the recent
8 years (2000-2008), with 288 thousand people leaving Armenia for
Turkey and 294 thousand migrating in the opposite direction.

As to the data published by Turkey, he said it provides wrong
information by saying that there are around 50-70 thousand illegal
Armenian migrants working in the country. As shown by the official
data of Turkish statistical service, the negative balance of migration
flows made 5 238 people.