Author: Chaltikian Arsine

ALIYEV: AZERBAIJAN WILL NEVER GRANT KARABAKH A STATUS "BEYOND ITS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY"

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.08.2008 13:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh conflict must be resolved within
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said
during a government meeting.

"The essence of the talks is restoration of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. We do not discuss any options outside this framework,"
he said.

Touching upon Karabakh’s future status, Aliyev said. "Determination
of status is impossible without consent of the Azerbaijani state."

"Azerbaijan will never grant Karabakh with any status beyond its
territorial integrity. Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group know this
very well," he said, ITAR-TASS reports.

AZERBAIJAN OUTLAWS WESTERN UNION AND MONEYGRAM SYSTEMS OVER FINANCIAL TRANSFERS TO KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.08.2008 17:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) instructed
the republic’s banks to suspend cooperation with Western Union and
MoneyGram transfer systems over "continuous illegal activities with
Nagorno Karabakh."

Earlier, the National Bank of Azerbaijan warned the companies "against
making transfers to Nagorno Karabakh," Interfax reports.

Day.az portal has recently published several articles to inform that
residents of Nagorno Karabakh receive transfers through Western Union
MoneyGram systems.

Due to similar information in Day.az, Migom system has already
suspended its transfers to Karabakh.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO ADD BUS ROUTES FOR KEEPING PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE UNCHANGED

ARKA
August 1, 2008

YEREVAN, August 1. /ARKA/. Public transport fare should be kept the
same by increasing the number of bus routes and reducing the number
of minibuses, Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan said at the government
meeting on public transport fare.

Currently the public transport fare is 100Drams in Armenia.

The Chairman of Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission Robert
Nazaryan said that, according to monitoring results, Bogdan bus fare
is 130.92Drams with minibus and PAZ bus fares being 76.31Drams and
93.85Drams respectively. According to him, if maximum allowable
error and seasonal ratios are not taken into account, the fares
are 191.3Drams, 100.65Drams and 124Drams respectively. The owners of
transport companies themselves suggest setting the prices at 211Drams,
202Drams and 189Drams respectively.

According to Nazaryan, a number of routes operated by Bodgan buses
are unprofitable now and an appropriate decision should be made on
this. The Premier responded that the strategic decision has been
already made – to increase the number of Bogdan buses and to reduce
the number of minibuses without reviewing the tariffs. According to
the Premier, this will help raising the number of bus passengers and,
consequently, the profitability.

Unprofitable routes are the first ones to be taken off, he said.

The Premier also said that the privat e transport sector
will be requested to provide their opinion on the tariff
calculations. Meanwhile, the Government will consider the concept
of new routes to be introduced in September, the Premier said adding
that another monitoring will be conducted in September to establish
the seasonal difference in passenger traffic.

Currently the public transport fleet includes about 500 buses and
3,500 minibuses. Armenia’s capital ranks the first in the number of
minibuses among CIS countries. ($1=301.03Drams).

SERGEI VARDANIAN: HAMSHEN WEEK WILL HELP UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE, HOW MANY WE ARE, AND WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WE ARE

Noyan Tapan

Ju ly 30, 2008

YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The most exciting
event of the cultural week dedicated to Hamshen Armenians that started
on July 21 in Yerevan was the concerts of the Vova Hamshen ensemble
invited from Turkey.

The first concert of the Vova (this name is translated as "Who
is?") Hamshen ethnographic ensemble took place in the Naregatsi
art center. Everything seemed unusual at first. They were singing
in Armenian, but in an unknown dialect. Then suddenly the sound of
bagpipe was heard. The hall was filled with applaud. A new kind of
Armenian song was discovered so in Yerevan.

A happy mood was felt among those gathered, many were excited. Sergei
Vardanian, a well-known specialist of Hamshen studies in Armenia,
highly evaluated the idea of such an event. In his opinion, today
Armenians do not know themselves, and the Hamshen Week will help
understand better "who we are, who many we are, and what kind of
people we are."

Film director Tigran Khzmalian confessed that he is too excited. "I
think it is a historic event," he said. "I was astonished to learn
that the Hamshen ensemble has arrived in Armenia. In my opinion,
now we are entering an era, when we start uniting on the basis of
national solidarity."

A historic review. Hamshen or Hemshin Armenians are those who settled
at the south-eastern coast of the Black Sea. According to the accepted
opinion, escaping Arab violence, lords Hamam and Shapuh Amatuni
transmigrated there from Vaspurakan with thousands of migrants in
the 8th century.

Later an Armenian semi-independent power was established there,
which by the name of its founder lord Hamam was named Hamamshen. The
name changed in some time and became Hamshen. In 1489 Hamamshen was
occupied by Turks and went to ruin.

Today Hamshen Armenians can be conditionally divide into two large
groups.

The first group includes Christian Hamshen Armenians who settled at
the Black Sea’s Abkhazian and Russian coast. And the representatives
of the second group mainly live at the Pontian coast of Turkey and
profess Islam.

The latters, in difference to Christian Hamshen Armenians, have never
kept in touch with Armenia. Moreover, many of them are convinced up
to the present that they are not Armenians.

In modern Turkey Hamshen Armenians were first spoken about after
the 1990-s.

Before that even Hamshen Armenians themselves preferred to keep
silence about their origin. The Armenians of Hamshen arriving in
Armenia within the framework of the Yerevan cultural week confessed
that they learnt about their origin already at a very mature age.

For instance, Istanbul-based Hamshen Armenian Mahir Ozkan told in
his talk with us that he first read about his Armenian roots in a
book. And Hikmed Akcicek, the founder and the soloist of the Vova
ensemble, confessed that he was already 15 years old when he was told
who indeed Hamshen Armenians are.

However, it did not hinder him in the future to collect Hamshen songs,
to found an ethnographic ensemble, and to present the unique melodies
of Hamshen to the world.

Nevertheless, not all members of the Vova ensemble are Hamshen
Armenians.

There are also Lazes, and the drummer is Hogr Gyoregen Kurdish by
nationality. In response to the question of what made the Kurdish
drummer become a member of the Armenian ethnographic ensemble, Gyoregen
said: "We help each other. Today singing in Kurdish in Turkey is,
to put it mildly, a difficult matter. And Hamshen Armenians have no
such problem, their language, for some reason, is considered a Turkish
dialect. Therefore, if I cannot sing my national song, I can even if
help other national minorities keep their culture."

Hikmed Akcicek was very much inspried with the Yerevan success of
his ensemble. However, it was more noteworthy what he said about
his impressions from Armenia’s capital: "When we entered the city,
it seemed to me that I had never left it. I am at home."

CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II DRAWS PACE PRESIDENT’S ATTENTION TO BELLICOSE STATEMENTS MADE BY AZERBAIJAN

NOYAN TAPAN

JU LY 25

Receiving PACE President Luis Maria de Puig on July 24, Catholicos
of All Armenians Karekin II noted that the elimination of the public
tension in Armenia is everyone’s expectation. His Holiness underlined
that the representatives and supporters of both the authorities and
the opposition are the sons of the Church of Armenia, and Armenian
Church is concerned adout the fate of every Armenian.

According to a report provided to Noyan Tapan by the Information
Services of the Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin, during the meeting
the interlocutors touched upon the efforts directed to the peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem. His Holiness expressed
his concern about the bellicose statements made by Azerbaijan which
have recently become frequent on the behalf of the spiritual leader
of Azerbaijan. His Holiness also touched upon the barbaric policy
carried on towards the Armenian spiritual and cultural monuments in
Azerbaijan, particularly pointing the complete destruction of the
cross-stones of Old Jougha.

JUDICIARY SHOULD BRING COUP PLANNERS TO JUSTICE, SAYS BBP LEADER

Today’s Zaman
July 24 2008
Turkey

Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader and Sivas deputy Muhsin Yazıcıoglu
stated yesterday that the judiciary should ensure that coup planners
in the Ergenekon case are brought to justice, treating everyone as
equal before the law.

Attending his party’s provincial board meeting in northwestern
EskiÅ~_ehir province, Yazıcıoglu gave his opinions on the
investigation into the Ergenekon organization — a neo-nationalist
group recently indicted on charges of plotting to overthrow the
government. He noted that the BBP has always been opposed to coups
and coup perpetrators.

"If someone has coup plans, the judiciary should look into
these without violating anyone’s personal rights. Nobody should
be treated as guilty without being proved so. However, nobody
should have the privilege of committing a crime without seeing any
consequences. Everyone should be equal before the law, regardless
of rank or position. We want the judiciary to work without being
politicized, and we side with democracy and the state of law," the
BBP leader said.

Yazıcıoglu also noted that the impositions of a small minority have
never changed in Turkey in spite of the changing governments. "Look,
there are over 400 deputies who are democrats, nationalists or
conservatives in Parliament; however, the Republican People’s Party
[CHP] always gets the last word. Governments have changed, but this
has remained the same. Democracy has always been the loser since a
small minority has managed to somehow govern the country although
different parties took office," he added.

He also mentioned the closure case filed against the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party), saying he is opposed to party closures
unless the party is connected to acts of terrorism or terrorists.

Strongly denying claims that the BBP is somehow connected to the murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Yazıcıoglu stated that
certain circles have deliberately tried to spread this falsehood,
adding that his party will stand against these efforts.

–Boundary_(ID_cUPzRsQNhL7WsoxzeESsBg)–

CO-CHAIRMAN OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN BUSINESS UNION BOARD: SERZH SARGSYAN’S INVITATION IS SINCERE, AND ABDULLAH GUL SHOULD LEAVE FOR ARMENIA WITHOUT FAIL

NOYAN TAPAN
JULY 22

RA President’s invitation to Turkish President to watch the football
match together is very beautiful and sincere, and Gul should leave
for Armenia without fail. Kaan Soyak, the Co-chairman of Board of
the Turkish-Armenian Business Union, stated adding that after the
invitation they sent a message of greeting to the RA President.

"You do what has not been done for many years. You treat quietly all
kinds of issues with Turkey. In this way you will be able to solve
all problems on both sides," the message read.

Mentioning that he expects Turkey to answer the invitation positively,
Soyak stated that becoming Presidents of such "reconciliation
apologists" as Gul and Sargsyan is a great possibility: "If these two
leaders do not solve the problem, who will solve them then?" Soyak
said adding that "the general atmosphere in connection with the
invitation is positive in Armenia."

Kaan Soyak also said that the Armenia-Turkey national teams’ match
will "become an occasion for opening a new page in the relations of
the two countries."

NO PROBE INTO POLICE CHIEF IN DINK MURDER CASE

Today’s Zaman
July 23 2008
Turkey

An Ä°stanbul court on Tuesday ruled against a demand to start an
investigation into Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah and
seven other police officers, including former Police Department
Intelligence Bureau Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Guler, who were accused of
having disregarded intelligence information regarding a plot to kill
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside
his office in January of last year.

Earlier, lawyers representing the Dink family appealed against
Ä°stanbul Governor Muammer Guler’s refusal to grant his legally
required permission to start an investigation into the role of Chief
of Police Cerrah, who the prosecution says disregarded important
intelligence information that could possibly have saved Dink’s life.

Permission granted by the Ä°stanbul governor to investigate whether
the seven other officers are responsible in any way was annulled by
the court yesterday after Ahmet Ä°lhan Guler filed a case contesting
the governor’s decision.

Sadettin Yaman, one of the judges on the panel, objected to the
majority ruling.

Since the trial of suspects in the Dink murder started last year,
lawyers representing the Dink family have questioned the fairness
of the trial many times. One of the suspects in the case is a former
police informant.

Dink’s lawyers also claimed that information needed for the prosecution
and demanded by the court was denied by the police, which they say
has been withholding critical information on some of the suspects
and their relationship to some police officers.

There have also been a series of police lapses in the handling of the
Dink case, which many say are attempts to protect those who plotted
the crime.

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 19 in front of the
headquarters of bilingual Armenian weekly Agos, of which he was the
editor-in-chief. Following Dink’s murder, many reports suggested that
the police were tipped off about the planned assassination more than
once prior to his execution, yet failed to prevent it.

–Boundary_(ID_VhHAnANZxIYAjifQQij/wg)–

ARMENIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMY RECEIVED AMBASSADOR OF ARGENTINA

RIA Oreanda
July 21 2008
Russia

On 21 July 2008 was announced, that the Minister of Economy Nerses
Yeritsyan received Leopoldo Alfredo Bravo, the newly appointed
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Argentina to Republic
of Armenia (residence in Moscow).

Congratulating the newly appointed Ambassador with the beginning of his
mission in Armenia, Nerses Yeritsyan wished him productive activity.

At the beginning of the meeting Mr. Bravo noted, that with the
large and active Armenian community in Argentina bilateral trade
and economic relations between the two countries could be more
developed. Mr. Ambassador proposed to carry out joint economic studies
and find fields of mutual interests to develop further cooperation.

Mr. Minister presented to the Argentinean Ambassador the prospects
of Armenian economy development, localazing main directions of the
Armenian governmental program, basically 5 national-wide projects
called for an establishment of centers of excellency in the region,
these are: business environment, education, public health services
– accentuating on nuclear medicine, researches and implementation
of new methods for cancer diseases treatment, surgical operations
spent on children with hearing problems, in dental and other fields
of medicine, and also development of SPA tourism, and establishment
of financial center.

Talking about prospects of broader Argentinean – Armenian economic
cooperation Nerses Yeritsyan emphasized the chemical industry, IT,
High-Tech, jewlery art, also focused the attention of the Ambassador
on the idea of establishment of "Free zone" as an organic food market,
next to the airport. After passing quality control, packeging and
branding here in Armenia, the ready products can be delivered in any
country of the world.

At the end of the meeting, Mr.Bravo mentioned, that he considere the
opening of the Argentinean Ambassy in Armenia as an important part of
his mission. Mr. Ambassador thaked Nerses Yeritsyan for warm welcom
and assured him that his activities will be directed in deepenning
and broadenning of bilateral trade and economic relations.

TURKISH MINISTER HOPES FOR SUCCESS OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR DIALOGUE

Anatolia News Agency
July 18 2008
Turkey

Ankara, 18 July: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said [on]
Friday [18 July], "Turkey supports holding dialogue on Iran’s nuclear
programme."

Ali Babacan and his Iranian counterpart Manuchehr Mottaki held a
joint news conference following their tete-a-tete meeting in Ankara
on Friday.

"We hope that the dialogue process on Iran’s nuclear programme would
continue with success," Babacan said.

"We held consultations today with Mottaki on Iranian nuclear
programme," Babacan said.

"The meeting that would be held in Geneva on Saturday in regard to
Iran’s nuclear programme carries high importance. We exchanged ideas
with Mottaki on nuclear talks," Babacan said.

"Turkey supports the idea of handling Iran’s nuclear programme through
dialogue. Turkey supports the nuclear talks process and thus the
meeting to be held on Saturday in Geneva," Babacan said.

"Iran’s nuclear programme was among topics I discussed with my
colleagues from Europe and the United States in the past 10 days,"
Babacan said.

"We are very clear on this matter of nuclear energy. While we are
against the use of nuclear weapons in our region, we believe that every
sovereign country has the natural right to utilize nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes. Dialogue and consultations are necessary to
build confidence. We stress the importance of dialogue in all of
our meetings. We wish for the process to continue successfully,"
Babacan said.

"One of the topics we discussed with Ali Babacan today was Iran’s
nuclear programme," Mottaki said.

"We are in constant consultations on this matter. Turkey always
follows Iran’s nuclear activities. We thank Turkey for its constructive
approach to Iran’s nuclear activities," Mottaki said.

Asked if a proposal is made in Geneva on Saturday that the United
Nations’ sanctions against Iran may be postponed in the case Iran stops
its uranium enrichment, Mottaki said, "There is no need to hurry up."

In reference to the would-be presence of an US official at the Geneva
meeting on Saturday, Mottaki said, "This is a positive development
and I expect progress."

Turkey’s foreign minister and chief negotiator for EU talks, Ali
Babacan, said [on] Friday, "Turkey keep in contact with Armenia from
time to time."

Ali Babacan and his Iranian counterpart Manuchehr Mottaki held a
joint news conference following their tete-a-tete meeting in Ankara
on Friday.

Reminded about some news reports indicating direct talks between Turkey
and Armenia, Babacan said that "Turkey is a country that recognizes
Armenia. Within this framework, we keep in contact with Armenia from
time to time."

"I had a chance to meet the former Armenian foreign minister as well
as their new foreign minister in certain international meetings. From
time to time, Turkish diplomats meet their counterparts from Armenia,"
Babacan said.

"No doubt, this (diplomatic) traffic is important for the relations
between Turkey and Armenia. What is important is how to normalize
relations," Babacan said.

"There are problems. There are current problems and differences of
opinion on the incidents of 1915. We must handle all issues through
dialogue," Babacan said.

Reminded about news reports that security advisers of NATO member
countries convened in Ankara, Babacan said that "it is true the
security advisers of NATO member countries meet from time to time. A
related meeting took place in Ankara on Thursday. The issues discussed
were international issues pertaining to NATO."

In reference to a question on tourism between Turkey and Iran, Babacan
said that "last year, around one million Iranians visited Turkey. The
number of Turks visiting Iran was less than one million. We discussed,
with Mottaki, ways to promote tourism between our two respective
countries."

Mottaki

Asked about Iran’s relations with the United States, Mottaki said that
"in the past few years, many Americans from different fields wanted
to visit Iran. We support this process between the peoples of our
two countries."

"US businessmen would like to conduct business with Iran. A group of
US businessmen already operate in Iran. However, I would not be able
to give names due to the sensitivity of the issue," Mottaki said.

"We proposed direct flights between Iran and the USA. We may hold a
meeting on would-be direct flights and the opening of an US interest
office in Tehran," Mottaki said.

In regard to a question on the closure case filed against Turkey’s
ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, Mottaki stressed that
"Turkey is an important country in the region with an important role. I
believe the leaders of Turkey would be able to overcome all matters."

In reference to a question on Turkish-Iranian relations, Mottaki said
that the two countries must work to promote relations in all areas.

"The private sectors of Turkey and Iran have a role to play in
developing commercial relations. It is important to develop relations
out of the economy as well," Mottaki said.

"Let us also talk about the media. Iran and Turkey have very active
media establishments. We can help you organize meetings, symposiums
and seminars," Mottaki also said.

The year 2009 will be a year of culture between Turkey and Iran,
Iran’s foreign minister announced on Friday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said that two countries
would celebrate the 50th anniversary of signature of their cultural
agreement the following year.

"Therefore, we have defined next year as the ‘Iran-Turkey year of
culture’," Mottaki told a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan in Ankara.

The Iranian foreign minister is actually paying a formal visit to
Turkey. He is expected to be received by Turkish President Abdullah
Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Friday.

Mottaki said that he hoped two countries would organize activities
and programmes throughout the whole year, and told reporters that
bilateral relations between Turkey and Iran were on the right track
and were developing rapidly.

The Iranian minister said that the trade volume between the two
countries was around 10bn US dollars but said that this was not the
real potential and capacity.

Mottaki announced that the following joint economic committee meeting
between Turkey and Iran would take place in Tehran in August and
reaffirmed the desire of the two countries to further improve their
economic relations.

The foreign minister said that he also discussed developments regarding
Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon with Babacan, and welcomed the agreement
between the parties in Lebanon.

Also speaking in the press conference, Babacan said that Turkish-
Iranian relations contributed to the stability of not only the two
peoples but also the entire region.

"We attach importance to our relations with our neighbour and ally
Iran, and we base our relationship on mutual respect, cooperation
and security," Babacan told reporters.

Babacan said that two countries aimed to raise their trade volume to
20bn US dollars as soon as possible.

Turkey’s foreign minister said that there were many regional issues
and problems concerning both Iran and Turkey, and told reporters
that two countries were having consultations on problems like Iraq,
Israel-Palestine, Israel-Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

Babacan said that Iran and Turkey had common goals regarding the
region including peace, stability and prosperity, and also said
that talks both countries often held focused on how regional peace,
stability and prosperity could be enhanced.