Sargsyan, Fassier Discuss Karabakh Conflict Settlement

SARGSYAN, FASSIER DISCUSS KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.09.2008 18:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met today with
OSCE MG French Co-chair Bernard Fassier, the RA leader’s press office
told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The two discussed the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement and also touched upon the recent developments in the
South Caucasus.

Armenian Food Is Star At Four-Day Fest

ARMENIAN FOOD IS STAR AT FOUR-DAY FEST
By Jann Malone

Richmond Times Dispatch
nt.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-17-0005.html
Sept 17 2008
VA

If you think you don’t like lamb, the cooks at this year’s Armenian
Food Festival would like you to try one of their Hye burgers.

Hye — it means Armenian in Armenia — are half lamb, half sirloin
beef, plus plenty of spices. "People who didn’t think they liked lamb
have ordered the Hye burgers," said Anne Tootelian Norris, who sees
what’s selling during the festival because she works the cash register.

. . .

This is the 50th year for the festival, which opens tomorrow and
runs through Sunday at St. James Armenian Church in Richmond at 834
Pepper Ave. on the corner of Patterson and Pepper avenues. Festival
organizers are preparing for 7,500 to 8,000 people over four days.

Lunch officially runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner, from 5 to 9
p.m. on Thursday and Friday. The big food lines close down in between,
but Hye burgers, pastries and drinks will be available all day. "And,"
Norris said, "anybody who comes to us and says they really want a
chicken kebab, we’re going to cook them one."

On the weekend, the cooks don’t get a break and will serve from 11
a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Food is the star of this festival, but there will also be a silent
auction and plenty of dancing and other entertainment.

. . .

If burgers aren’t to your liking, go to the festival anyway. You’ll
find plenty of choices, among them beef or chicken shish kebab, rice
pilaf, green beans, stuffed grape leaves and hummus. You’ll also
find a pie made of ground beef, tomatoes and peppers, as well as an
Armenian bean salad made of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and parsley.

You’ll also find traditional holiday breads and an assortment of
pastries, including bourma, the Armenian version of what other cuisines
call baklava or paklava. You can buy a pastry assortment for $3.

Everything is sold ? la carte, Shish kebab is $6 for chicken and $8
for beef. You’ll find a Hye burger combo platter with Armenian rice
pilaf and green beans for $12.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainme

Edvard Nalbandian And Matthew Bryza Discussed Armenian-Turkish Relat

EDVARD NALBANDIAN AND MATTHEW BRYZA DISCUSSED ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

DE FACTO
15.09.08

YEREVAN, 15.09.08. DE FACTO. The issues referring to Karabakh
conflict’s peaceful settlement, situation in the region and
Armenian-Turkish relations were discussed on September 13, at the RA
FM Edvard Nalbandian’s meeting with the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chair,
Assistant to the U. S. State Secretary Matthew Bryza.

According to the RA MFA Press Office, touching on the latest
developments around Armenian-Turkish relations Edvard Nalbandian said
Armenian party positively estimated Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s
visit to Yerevan, which had become a serious stimulus to initiate
a dialogue.

Commenting on Turkey’s initiative on building Stability and Cooperation
Platform in Caucasus, the RA FM noted that Armenia welcomed steps
targeted at strengthening confidence and development of cooperation
in the region.

On the guest’s request RA FM presented the results of his visit
to Georgia.

Edvard Nalbandian and Matthew Bryza also discussed a number of regional
and international issues.

Work on Iran-Armenia pipeline concludes

United Press International
Sept 12 2008

Work on Iran-Armenia pipeline concludes

YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 12

Construction on a natural gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia to
transport 81 billion cubic feet of gas has been concluded, Armenian
energy officials said Friday.

Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said the pipeline is
important to secure energy supplies for his country, noting testing
would commence in the coming days, Trend Capital News said.

"The opening of the Iranian-Armenian pipeline will guarantee the
energy safety of Armenia," he said. "Armenia will receive from 2.3
billion to 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Tehran through this
pipeline a year."

Movsisyan added the Armenian government was entering into trilateral
talks with Iran and Russia on the construction of an oil refinery and
examinations of a new oil pipeline.

The planned $2.5 billion Armenian refinery would have the capacity to
produce around 50 million barrels of oil per year.

Armenia’s Deputy Premier To Participate In CIS Economic Council’s Me

ARMENIA’S DEPUTY PREMIER TO PARTICIPATE IN CIS ECONOMIC COUNCIL’S MEETING IN MOSCOW

ARKA
Sep 12, 2008

YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Armen
Gevorgyan will participate today in the 39th Moscow meeting of the
CIS Economic Council.

About 20 topical issues, including the project of the common budget of
the CIS agencies, the food safety joint program and the anti-aircraft
defense program, are on the agenda.

The CIS plans to allocate next year some 655mln rubles for the
anti-aircraft program.

The CIS deputy premiers will also discuss air traffic competition. The
draft memorandum of national telediagnostics and joint systems of
medical consultations is also on the agenda of the meeting. The deputy
prime ministers will also amend the action program IT development.

RA PM: Tax Reforms In The Country Not To Achieve The Desired Result

RA PM: TAX REFORMS IN THE COUNTRY NOT TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED RESULT UNLESS CITIZENS DEMAND CASHIER’S RECEIPTS IN STORES

ArmInfo
2008-09-11 14:17:00

ArmInfo. Tax reforms in the country will not achieve the desired result
unless the citizens demand cashier’s receipts in the stores, RA Prime
Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said today opening the government’s session.

‘One of the primary goals to be solved is enhancement of efficiency
of the tax and customs administration. We should achieve transparency
of trade, and retail trade plays an important role here. A purchaser
should be given a cashier’s receipt during every shopping in the
store. Therefore, I call on the citizens to demand these receipts in
the stores.

BAKU: Armenian National Congress: Elementary Displays Of Human Right

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: ‘ELEMENTARY DISPLAYS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, EVERY POSTER OR PROTEST ACTION CAUSE AUTHORITIES’ SCHIZOPHRENIA’

Trend News Agency
Sept 10 2008
Azerbaijan

The oppositional Armenian National Congress spread a statement today
strongly criticizing the actions of the country’s authorities.

According to the statement received by ArmInfo, 6 oppositional
representatives embarked on hunger-strike the day before on the
Northern Avenue demanding to set free the persons arrested on the case
of March 1 events. In the evening, at about 10:00 PM, the policemen
broke up by force the gathered participants in the protest action
in the Northern Avenue, and those on hunger-strike were delivered to
the Police department. Foreign Relations Coordinator of ANC Vladimir
Karapetyan was also brought to the Police.

‘The authorities passed all the bounds not only of legality and
moral but also that of logic forcing the policemen to execute illegal
actions. Any protest action, any poster, any display of human rights
cause the authorities’ schizophrenia.

Their inconsistency with the civil society is proved every day. All
this testifies about the panic inside the pro-power camp which realizes
its own illegitimacy and which deserved its own people’s hatred’,
the statement of ANC says.

Pensions To Increase In Armenia From January 2009

PENSIONS TO INCREASE IN ARMENIA FROM JANUARY 2009

Noyan Tapan

Se p 10, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged increasing the
pensions in Armenia from January 1, 2009: the base pension will make
5,800 drams instead of the current 5,000 drams (about 16 USD), the
main pension will make 7,950 drams instead of current 6,800 drams,
while the cost of 1 year of the insurance length of service will make
455 drams instead of current 395 drams, the RA minister of labor
and social issues Arsen Hambartsumian announced at the Septemer 10
press conference.

As a result of the indicated increases, the average amount of
insurance pensions will make 25,700 drams instead of current 21,900
drams, the average amount of social pensions – 10,200 drams instead
of current 8,800 drams, while the average amount of pensions paid to
servicemen and their family members will be increased to 20,400 drams
from current 17,700 drams. The minister said that an extra sum of 24
billion drams will be allocated from the state budget for this purpose.

According to A. Hambartsumian, thanks to a year-by-year increase
of pensions, it will become possible to ensure an average pension
making up 100% of the minimum budget of life support in 2012. It is
also envisaged registering the pension files soon which may allow to
raise pensions of 20 thousand pensioners.

The minister said that starting from 2010, a shift to the system of
cashless payment of pensions and benefits is envisaged in Armenia. With
this aim an interdepartmental working group was set up to implement
preparatory work.

http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=117249

Concentration Of NATO Ships In Black Sea Nothing But Usual Manifesta

CONCENTRATION OF NATO SHIPS IN BLACK SEA NOTHING BUT USUAL MANIFESTATION OF FORCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.09.2008 15:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Concentration of NATO ships in the Black Sea is
nothing but usual manifestation of force, a Russian expert said.

"Maybe, some measures for replenishment of the Georgian army are
being taken under the disguise. Anyway, I do not think this armada
represents a menace for Russia. Of course, the U.S. grows more and
more unpredictable but you will hardly find any people there who will
dare to incite an armed collision with Russia in the Black Sea,"
Andrey Areshev, expert at Strategic Culture Foundation said in an
interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The danger will increase if Georgia undertakes a new aggression
that is quite possible judging by the fact that Georgia broke all
previous agreements on ceasefire (expect for the "six principles"
which Georgia interprets its own way)," he said.

As to various economic sanctions against Russia, Areshev said that
the European Union will hardly refuse from Russian gas. Furthermore,
they will not recall their managers who work for big and profitable
enterprises.

"Given the tendencies of Europe’s economic development, it would be
unwise. Hysteric opinions expressed somewhere in press or in a café
should be selected from statements by serious politicians. They wanted
to put Russia to the test. Well, they received answers to all their
questions," he said.

–Boundary_(ID_7izHRnokRS/v73MgoPTzdA)–

Armenian, Turkish U21 Football Teams To Meet In Istanbul Tonight

ARMENIAN, TURKISH U21 FOOTBALL TEAMS TO MEET IN ISTANBUL TONIGHT

armradio.am
09.09.2008 15:46

On September 8 the Armenian national football team headed by chief
coach Jan Poulsen left for Spain. The Spain-Armenia qualifier within
the framework of the FIFA 2010 World Cup will take place on September
10 in the city of Albacete. The Armenian Public TV will broadcast
the match live at 1 a.m.

Yerevan time.

Before that on September 9 the Armenian and Turkish U21 teams will
meet in Istanbul in the framework of the qualification round of the
U21 European Championship. The match will be broadcast live at 10 p.m.

The Turkish team leads in the group with 16 points. The Armenian
youth team is the 4th with 10 points.