Author: Chmshkian Vicken

NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC RECOGNITION DOESN’T VIOLATE AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.01.2009 16:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic doesn’t
violate Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and doesn’t threaten its
existence, according to an NKR official.

"The principle of territorial integrity is not applicable to Azerbaijan
by a number of reasons. Above all, Nagorno Karabakh has never been
de jure part of Azerbaijan," Ruben Zargaryan, historian and adviser
to Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, said in an
interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Bogged down in continuous threats, Baku officials undermine the talks
and neglect the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, including those
of peaceful resolution of conflicts and non-use of force," he said.

Zargaryan emphasized that the international law says that the principle
of territorial integrity doesn’t run counter to the right of nations
to self-determination.

"Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and even Kosovo proclaimed
independence irrespective of the position of former mother countries,
what conforms to new international approaches to democracy principles,
human rights protection, ethnic peace and regional stability," he said.

"The Kosovo model is classified as UDI (Unilateral Declaration of
Independence). I would like to emphasize that the international
law doesn’t have norms which oblige a self-determined state to ask
for mother country’s permission to secede. And last but not least,
by its democratic development index, Nagorno Karabakh passes ahead
of Kosovo. The same refers to Serbia and Azerbaijan."

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND RUSSIA HELD A PRIVATE MEETING IN MOSCOW

President’s Office
=362
Jan 17 2009
Armenia

Today, at the conclusion of the international gas summit in Moscow,
Presidents of Armenia and the Russian Federation, Serzh Sargsyan
and Dmitri Medvedev held a private meeting. The President of Russia
expressed his gratitude to the Armenian colleague for accepting the
invitation and participating at the works of the summit. The Presidents
hailed the current relations between the two states describing them as
dependable and adequate to the strategic partnership between Armenia
and Russia.

The President of the Russian Federation noted that the partnership
between Armenia and Russia was much more satisfying than the tough
issues that have been discussed at the international summit. In his
turn, President Sargsyan stressed the importance of cooperation in
the energy sphere with Russia and Gazprom company, assessing it as
reliable, based on long-term objectives. Serzh Sargsayn underlined that
during the last three years Armenia has expanded the gas consumption
three-fold, while the level of gasification of the country places it
among the leaders not only in the CIS but also in the world.

Presidents Sargsyan and Medvedev concurred that frequent high level
contacts and meetings allow to revisit and to find solutions even
for the minor issues.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ENCOURAGED BY SUPPORT FROM WEST IN ORGANIZING MARCH EVENTS

ARKA
Jan 19, 2009

YEREVAN, January 19. /ARKA/. The support from the West encouraged
Armenian opposition to organize the March events, Shushan Khatlamajan,
political analyst and coordinator at the Institute for Civil Society
and Regional Development, said Monday answering ARKA News Agency’s
question at a press conference in Novosti Press Center.

Armenian opposition headed by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who
lost the election, staged protests saying the election was fraudulent
and the results were rigged. The rallies ended in clashes between
protesters and law enforcements.

As a result, ten were killed and 200 injured. Many were arrested.

"The bias western institutions and organizations display while
commenting on elections in the three South-Caucasian republics leads
to some deformation in public perception and particular political
processes", Khatlamajan said.

She said it is difficult to assume what would happen in Azerbaijan
and Georgia, if these countries’ opposition received such a support.

"For example, not only administrative, but also budget means were
used in Georgian parliamentary and presidential elections for backing
Saakashvili’s team. And if the same happened with Armenia, we would
be eaten alive", she said.

The political analyst said that, as a rule, European emissaries and
representatives of European organizations=2 0coming to Azerbaijan and
Georgia do little more than meet once or twice with the opposition
and promise to take due steps. And that’s all.

"In Armenia everything goes otherwise, and this can be understood in
two ways", Khatlamajan said.

Commenting on the reports of international organizations Freedom House
and Human Rights Watch, she expressed discontent at some aspects. She
said the organizations put special emphases on certain problems and
play down the progress reached by Armenia.

"If the reports were unbiased, balance of how much the society is
concerned about the levels of civil and political rights in the
country would be described differently", she said.

Freedom House, a U.S.-based international non-governmental
organization, in the findings from the latest edition of "Freedom in
the World – 2009", the annual survey of global political rights and
civil liberties, said that democracy level in Armenia has lowered,
just as in many former soviet republics.

Armenia is listed among partly free countries, as a year earlier.

Armenia, along with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova,
lowered its 2008 political rights rank from 4 to 6 on a seven-point
scale because of post-election violence that took lives of ten people.

Human Rights Watch Organization says in its World Report-2009 that
"Armenia experienced one of its most serious civil and political rights
crises since independence when security forces used excessive force
on March 1 against opposition demonstrators protesting the results
of the February 2008 presidential election".

CHANGE IN CADASTRAL SYSTEM

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
January 19, 2009

On January 17, according to the decree signed by the NKR President
Bako Sahakyan, Valery Alexanyan was relieved of the post of the Head
of the State Committee of Real Estate and Cadastre adjunct to the NKR
Government upon his own request. By one another President’s decree
Andranik Khachatryan was appointed Head of State Committee of Real
Estate and Cadastre with a five year officiating term.

Today, on January 19, the NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan
has visited the State Committee of Real Estate and Cadastre and
introduced the newly appointed head of the sphere to the Staff. First,
the Head of the Government had expressed gratitude to V.Alexanyan
for the conducted activity and assured those present that his
working skills and experience will find an application in a not
less important sphere: he will head the Stepanakert branch of the
Armenian Agrarian University, training specialists required for the
sphere of agriculture, proclaimed to be a strategic direction in the
Republic. Valeri Alexanyan is considered to have an important role
in it, where expectations of the country’s leadership are great,-
A.Haroutyunyan noted.

With regard to the newly appointed Chairman of the Committee, the
Prime Minister emphasized, that he had already revealed himself
like an all-sufficient acting leader, while working in the NKR State
Procurement Agency. He expressed confidence that A.Khachatryan will
manage to increase the authority and efficiency of the cadastre
service, which is extremely important, as, according to the
Prime Minister’s words, inasmuch as contacting with the cadastre
sphere as well the population gets an impression on the authority’s
activities. "It is important that the citizens live the establishment
contented",- the NKR Government Head stressed. He wished successful
activity to the Staff of cadastre committee in the new head’s time.

Words of gratitude for estimation of his work were delivered by
V.Alexanyan.

A.Khachatryan expressed gratitude to the country’s leadership too
and assured to do all his best to justify the rendered confidence.

GEGHAM GHARIBJANIAN RELIEVED OF HIS POST AS DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan

Jan 19, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. By the January 19 decree of the
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan, Gegham Gharibjanian has been
relieved of his post as deputy foreign minister of the Republic of
Armenia in connection with being transferred to another position,
NT was informed by the RA presidential press service.

‘TURKEY ASSUMES BIG ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST’

Hurriyet
Jan 19 2009
Turkey

MADRID – Turkey has been assuming an important role in the Middle
East for a long time and this strengthens the hand of those believing
the country should be close to Europe, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier
Solana told daily La Vanguardia in an article published yesterday.

"Turkey’s recent efforts during the war in Georgia, the Gaza crisis,
as well as the improvement of ties with Armenia have caught attention,"
he said.

Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 17 2009

‘Flash mob’ performance on Hrant Dink anniversary

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s right-minded people have mobilized under the
slogan ‘We were shot on that day, too.’ More than 300 people, from
students to pensioners, are planning to gather on the anniversary of
Agos editor-in-chief Hrant Dink’s assassination.

The message, "We were shot on that day, too," has been sent over
popular friendship network Facebook and will bring more than 300
people together to raise awareness of the assassination of weekly Agos
editor-in-chief Hrant Dink.

Hundreds of people, including students and retired people, will come
together in an initiative started by Turkish youth to give a
performance on Jan. 18 and 19 at 3 p.m, to commemorate the anniversary
of Dink’s murder.

During the performance, the moment when Dink was shot and fell will be
reenacted. A camera will record the performance. The performers will
fall down one by one. Each of them, after lying down for a few seconds
will reenact the moment when the soul leaves the body. The only thing
the performers need to do is to get up and walk without looking at the
camera after they stand up.

In correspondence with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic
Review about the BaÅ?ka Culture House event, performers Eylem
Akkaya, Ä°lker Eraslan, Ä°brahim BaÅ?, Erdi Biltekin
and Hüseyin Civan wrote, "The Dink murder is the deepest and
freshest wound caused by Ergenekon, the deep state and counter
guerrillas. We will also commemorate our intellectual people, who have
also been the victims of murder. We call on everyone to join us for
Dink and for justice."

Gathering through ‘flash mob’ technique
Eraslan said they started to rehearse for the performance at the
beginning of November using the "flash mob" technique. Even though
this technique is used for fun abroad, he said, it was mostly used in
Turkey to draw attention to social events and traumas. As part of this
technique, an announcement is made over the Internet to gather people
together and then these people perform together.

Akkaya, stating that many performances had been held at the
BaÅ?ka Culture House, said, "The main goal of this performance
is to visualize the moment when Dink was shot among crowds in
different locations in Istanbul and to keep the memory of society of
this event fresh.

‘As a society, we were all shot with Dink, too’
Aside from the goal Akkaya spoke of, one of the biggest aims of the
performance is to reenact the "social shooting," said BaÅ?,
"When Dink was shot, our society was also shot and wounded. We should
never forget this pain."

Speaking about Dink’s mission, the performers said, "Dink was our
brother, who defended the brotherhood of people and fought for it. He
was shot and we were shot too. This pain is the pain of all of us."

The performers, who seek to draw attention to the importance to the
normalization of the common language of brotherhood in Turkey, as
opposed to the language of nationalism and racism, said, "We should
speak of the damage of the language of nationalism and racism to all
people from the very young to the very old. We can have safety and
peace only when we normalize this thought."

Performances at the BaÅ?ka Culture House will continue after the
commemoration to Dink. Performers will come together a short time
later and draw attention to the tragedy in Palestine. Those who want
to join flash mob performances can obtain information through

Interfax, Russia
Jan 16 2009

Lavrov categorically denies claims of Russian arms supplies to Armenia
in 2008

MOSCOW Jan 16

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied media reports
claiming major deliveries of Russian weapons to Armenia.

"We have investigated this situation together with the General
Staff. The person whose surname is mentioned by Azerbaijan’s media did
not sign any documents. No [arms] shipments were made to Armenia last
year," Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on Friday.

The Russian minister said he is speaking about the publication of a
document signed by a certain person in Azerbaijan’s media. This
document refers "a huge amount of military hardware and military
property that was allegedly delivered to Armenia a short time ago," he
said.

The Russian authorities have asked Azeri officials to produce their
copy of this document, Lavrov said. "Our inquiry has shown that such a
document does not exist. We may conduct a graphology examination of
this copy," he added.

"Russia has never made it a secret that it has a program of
military-technological cooperation with Armenia. It has a similar
program with Azerbaijan," the foreign minister said.

"These programs are not classified. Armenia is a member of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization. This organization’s members
enjoy privileged conditions. Our Azeri friends are very well aware of
this. No one has any questions about our military-technological
cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan," Lavrov said.

RUSSIAN MUSICIAN-MISSIONARY RETURNS TO AREA CHURCHES

Charleston Gazette
January 14, 2009, Wednesday
West Virginia

Olga Petrosyan, the young, Russian woman who has performed and spoken
several times in the area, is returning to West Virginia for a visit
and will be appearing at local churches this month.

The 24-year-old, gifted and talented musician from Volgograd, Russia,
will be singing and sharing her testimony of how God continues to
work in her and her family’s lives.

When she was a small girl, they were forced to flee from the tiny
country where they lived to keep from being killed by the government
military.

There was a time in Petrosyan’s life when she feared to make as much
as a single sound.

She can recall a horrifying night when she was only 4 years old
in Azerbaijan, a part of the former Soviet Union which is bounded
by Iran on the south, by the Caspian Sea on the east, by Russia’s
Dagestan Republic on the north and by Armenia on the west.

During the late 1980s, ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan had pressed for its unification with Armenia,
leading to a guerrilla war.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, a large-scale conflict
broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1992.

Even though they were Armenian by blood, the Petrosyans had lived in
Azerbaijan and spoke only the native Azeri and Russian languages.

Petrosyan sometimes describes the terror in the night – the knock at
the door. Azeri extremists were going from house to house, searching
out ethnic Armenians for extermination. Discovery would mean death.

Then, an Azeri neighbor spoke to the gunmen and rescued the family
from the prospect of imminent death.

Shortly after that, Olga’s family joined a flood of refugees crossing
the border. Then the family moved north to Volgograd, formerly known
as Stalingrad, where Olga’s grandparents had a home.

Her grandmother attended regularly the church services in a local
theater there, and, in those circumstances, despair was transformed
into hope for the family. At age 11, she became a Christian at a
Nazarene Youth Camp.

Petrosyan wanted to go to school in America, but the cost was far
beyond the means of the $100 per month of family income.

Then a letter came, offering a $10,000 scholarship. An Indiana family
offered to sponsor part of her college education here in the United
States.

But Petrosyan had to match it for the $20,000.

She succeeded. Other families supported her with gifts totaling $8,000.

She paid the balance by work on campus and personal ministry in the
United States.

Petrosyan graduated from Bethel College with a Vocal Performance degree
and is now serving as minister of music for a church in Copenhagen,
Denmark, and as a missionary.

To hear and meet this young lady who is using her talents for the
glory of God, plan to attend one of the following:

– Sunday, Jan. 18: South Charleston First Church of the Nazarene,
10:45 a.m.; Grace Church of the Nazarene, South Charleston, 6 p.m.

– Sunday, Jan. 25: Forrest Burdette United Methodist Church, Hurricane,
8:30 and 11 a.m.; Poca Baptist Church, 6 p.m.

– Tuesday, Jan. 27: Putnam Rotary Club, noon, Wellington’s at
Scarlet Oaks.

Olga Petrosyan of Volgograd, Russia, will sing and share her personal
testimony at three area churches during January.

REVENUES FROM COMMUNICATION SERVICES INCREASE BY 13.5% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-NOVEMBER 2008

Noyan Tapan

Jan 14, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The revenues from services
provided by Armenian communication enterprises amounted to 154 bln
367.2 mln drams or 504.8 mln USD (without VAT) in current prices in
January-November 2008, increasing by 13.5% in comparable prices as
compared with January-November 2007.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, the transporation
of goods by general use transport declined by 9.1% in Armenia in
January-November 2008 on the same months of 2007 and made 8 mln
574.2 thousand tons, while the turnover of goods grew by 6.3% to 2
bln 695.6 mln tonne-kilometers.

The transportation of passengers by general use transport declined
by 2.9% in the indicated period on January-November 2007 and made
224 mln 586.1 thousand passengers, whereas the passenger turnover
grew by 4.1% to 3 bln 598.5 mln passenger-kilometers.

The number of road accidents grew by 12% in the country in
January-November 2008 on the same period of 2007 and made 1,994, as a
result of which 363 people died (3.7% growth) and 2,850 were injured
(14.3% growth).