Author: Chatinian Lara

KARABAKH ISSUE TOUCHED UPON IN TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN TALKS

armradio.am
31.08.2009 17:43

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and visiting top Turkish diplomats
had talks in Baku over the weekend on recent developments in the
Caucasus, the Anatolia news agency reported. The meeting among Aliyev,
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu and
Ambassador Unal Ceviköz, the deputy undersecretary for the Caucasus
and Central Asia, was held on Saturday following a Friday telephone
conversation between Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.

During Friday’s conversation Erdogan briefed Aliyev on normalization
efforts between Turkey and Armenia, while Aliyev informed Erdogan
about developments regarding the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Erdogan’s
office said in a written statement.

Ahead of their departure from Baku later on Saturday, Sinirlioglu told
reporters that they explained Turkey’s views to Aliyev concerning
both the normalization efforts between Turkey and Armenia and the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, without elaborating further, Today’s Zaman reported.

Central bank: weekly digest of currency transactions
29.08.2009 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Between 24 and 28 August, Dram/Dollar deals in
currency inter-bank market was as follows: banks purchased USD
49,134,975 at AMD 374.82/1 US Dollar and sold USD 56,302,217 at AMD
376.58/1 US Dollar.

In the same period, sale/purchase transactions in inter-bank market
totaled USD 1,000,000, at an exchange rate of AMD 375.90/USD 1.

NASDAQ OEMEX did not carry out any transaction in the above period, RA
Central Bank’s press service reports.

On August 17-23, USD loans totaled 9.4 billion, and AMD loans – 15.5
million.

TURKEY DEVELOPS NOT SERIOUS APPROACH

Panorama.am
13:06 28/08/2009

Turkish side seems to have formed not a serious approach towards
Armenian-Turkish negotiations, Arpi Vardanyan, the director of Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh offices of Armenian Assembly of America told at
news conference.

According to her, after the Armenian President’s statement (I will
go to Turkey if the border is open or if we are on the threshold of
Armenia’s deblockading) Turkey should have taken the initiative to
make correspondent steps but nothing of a kind.

"First you think they are serious, but then you hear Turkish diplomats
making such statements on Armenian-Turkish negotiations and Armenian
President’s visit to Turkey that no diplomat should have made such
announcements," Mrs. Vardanyan said.

Arpi Vardanyan stated that their disposition towards the opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border is unchanged: neighbor states should
not have blocked borders in the 21st century; opening of the border
should not be linked with another problem – recognition of Genocide,
settlement of Karabakh conflict.

MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT TO VISIT SCHOOLS SEPTEMBER 1

ARMENPRESS
Aug 27, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 27, ARMENPRESS: Members of the Armenian government
on September 1 – first day of the academic year – as a tradition will
visit different schools of the republic.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan asked members of the government
not to violate the already formed tradition. "We all must be in
schools on that day in festive mood," Tigran Sargsyan said.

CBA STIMULATE ECONOMY AND CURB INFLATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.08.2009 15:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Optimal refinancing interest rate ensures low
inflation and high economic growth, finance minister of Armenia Tigran
Davtyan told a press conference on Friday.

According to him, Central Bank of Armenia continues the policy of
reducing the refinancing rate, which is fully welcomed by the ministry
of finance. "The process of reducing the refinancing rates continue,
and it stimulates the economy. We would be happy if the central bank
will continue reducing it, but the task of the central bank is not
only in stimulating the economy, but also curbing the inflation level.

Optimal refinancing rate ensures low inflation and high economic
growth," he said.

Nevertheless, according to the minister, positive trends observed
recently shape the "cheap money".

On August 11, 2009 the Central Bank of Armenia decided to reduce the
refinancing rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.25 per cent per annum.

At the beginning of the year the refinancing rate was 8 per cent and
was reduced six times since March 3, when the central bank announced
a return to a floating rate policy and raised the refinancing rate
by one percentage point to 7.75 per cent per annum.

SINGER REFUTES RUMORS OF "SUGAR DADDY" SPONSOR
Arman Gharibyan

socie ty culture
2009/08/25 | 17:05

"It’s a shame that they are trying to link me with certain famous
people. They are spreading information that has no basis in reality,"
said well-known singer Lilou, in an attempt to refute allegations
regarding the financing of her participation in various competitions.

"I participated in the Slavyanski Bazar competition with the financial
assistance of my mother and the singer Sergey Grigoryan took care on
the production work. The entire cost was around $3,000-$4,000. My
mother works in the U.S. and sent me the money. I had no sponsor,"
said the singer who visited the "Hetq" offices today.

When asked if show business personalities shouldn’t expect to be the
focus of such unflattering rumor and conjecture, the singer replied,
"If a reporter writes that I am a terrible singer I can deal with
that. It’s a subjective opinion. I will continue to perform for my
fans. I would advise people to stop spreading lies against me. Even
the most peaceful of individuals can turn into a roaring animal if
subjected to such negative publicity."

Commenting on her last place showing in the Slavyanski competition,
the singer argued that, "No matter who represented Armenia this year,
they would have come in last. It was all politics."

"I found it very insulting that many of the participants had no idea
that Armenia even existed. We have entered the Council of Europe and
the citizens of those countries have no concept of Armenia," she said.

PUBLIC SERVICES REGULATORY COMMISSION ESTABLISHES SMS TERMINATION TARIFFS FOR ARMENTEL, K- TELECOM AND ORANGE ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-08-26 16:33:00

ArmInfo. Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia has
established SMS termination tariffs for ArmenTel, K-Telecom and Orange
Armenia mobile operators, Starting Jan 1 to Jul 1 2010 termination
of one SMS will cost 9 drams. Starting Jul 1 2010 to Jan 1 2011 this
tariff will total 7 drams.

Starting Jan 1 to Jul 1 2011, the tariff will total 5 drams and
starting from Jul 1 2011 – 3 drams.

ArmenTel (Beeline brand, subsidiary of VimpelCom OJSC) and K-Telecom
(VivaCell-MTS brand, subsidiary of MTS OJSC) are the mobile operators
in Armenia. The third operator Orange Armenia (France Telecom) is
likely to launch provision of service in the country till the end
of 2009.

TURKEY AND ITS WESTERN ALLIES WANT TO SOLVE KARABAKH PROBLEM TO THE DETRIMENT OF NKR

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.08.2009 18:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey and its Western allies want to solve the
Nagorno Karabakh issue to the detriment of Nagorno Karabakh’s people,
Vladimir Zakharov , deputy director of the Center for Caucasian
Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, commenting on the statement by the Ambassador
of Turkey to Azerbaijan and the British ambassador to Turkey, that
advancement in Armenian-Turkish relations depends on the progress in
the Karabakh conflict settlement.

"In fact these two processes are linked. However, Western officials
and the U.S. State Department have repeatedly stated that the Karabakh
problem and normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations are very
different processes and they can not be connected. It turns out that
the West now resorted to a policy of double standards," the Russian
expert said.

He recalled the fact that the Azerbaijani foreign ministry is actively
cooperating with both Turkey and the United States and European
countries. "Baku consider Karabakh as a territory taken from him, and
the international community does not want to delve into the essence
of documents, which clearly represent the essence of the conflict,"
Vladimir Zakharov said.

Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulisi Kilij in an interview to local
television station said that along with advances between Azerbaijan and
Armenia in the Nagorno Karabakh issue the Turkish-Armenian relations
will move forward.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES’ (WCC) CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF THE
ARMENIAN CHURCH, CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA LEAVE FOR SWITZERLAND

Tuesday 25 September 2009, His Grace Bishop Nareg Alemezian and Dr. Nora
Bayrakdarian-Kabakian left for Geneva this morning to attend the Central
Committee meeting of the WCC, which will be held 26 August to 2 September at
the Ecumenical Centre (Geneva). In addition to reviewing and supervising the
activities and finances of the Council, the Central Committee will elect a
new General Secretary to replace Rev. Samuel Kobia and decide upon the venue
of the next Assembly.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

THE VISIT OF SERZH SARGSYAN TO TURKEY IS TO TAKE PLACE.

Aysor
Aug 24 2009
Armenia

"The Armenian – Turkish relations are not settled down, they are in
progress, and I do not think that any abrupt changes can take place,
though I think that the visit of RA President Serzh Sargsyan is to
take place",- today at a conference informed the political scientist
Aleksander Iskandaryan, the Director of the Caucasus Institute.

The Armenian- Turkish relations can be developed in different ways,
as to the speaker. Hence A. Iskandaryan outlined that "Turkey is more
important for Armenia, than Armenia for Turkey".

At the same time, according to A. Iskandaryan, whatever has happened
in the relations with Turkey lately is very serious, and there is a
political path to be directed by.

"So, the Armenian issue is being discussed in Turkey: it is a topic
of internal political discussions in Turkey. The Turkish issue is
being discussed in Armenia, and if before, these discussions were
about history, now certain political and economic matters are being
discussed, suchlike: Whether to open the border or not? Is it good
or bad?", – explained A. Iskandaryan.

Referring to the improvement of the Armenian -Turkish relations and
opening of the border, A. Iskandaryan stated that the attitudes of
the Armenian side and those of the Turkish one are quite different.

As to him, whereas in Armenia "people, some political bodies,
individuals" are against but the "governmental system" is for
the opening of the border, in Turkey not only people but also the
government and leading parties are against.

A. Iskandaryan considers Serzh Sargsyan’s announcement, on visiting
Turkey if the border is open, "a good diplomatic trick". According
to the political scientist, "this is a step that requires another
step from Turkey".

A. Iskandaryan also outlines the process. He thinks that the process
is "profitable for Turkey, because country which quits the process
will face the negative results".