Author: Ekmekjian Janet

"AMERICAN EMPIRE" IS NEARING COLLAPSE, AHMADINEJAD SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.09.2008 15:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran’s president addressed the U.N. General Assembly
Tuesday declaring that "the American empire" is nearing collapse and
should end its military involvement in other countries.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said terrorism is spreading quickly in Afghanistan
while "the occupiers" are still in Iraq nearly six years after Saddam
Hussein was ousted from power in Iraq.

"American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and
its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders,"
Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad’s hardline rhetoric came as no surprise and offered
little in the way of compromise at the U.N., where he faces a new
round of sanctions if no agreement is reached on limiting Iran’s
nuclear capabilities.

While he reiterated that the country’s nuclear program is purely
peaceful, the U.S. and others fear it is aimed at producing enriched
uranium to make nuclear weapons

"A few bullying powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of
the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting
political and economic pressures against Iran," he said.

Ahmadinejad also lashed out at Israel on Tuesday, saying "the Zionist
regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for
it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters."

The Iranian president is feared and reviled in Israel because of
his repeated calls to wipe the Jewish state off the map, and his
aggressive pursuit of nuclear technology has only fueled Israel’s
fears. Ahmadinejad accused "a small but deceitful number of people
called Zionists … (of) dominating an important portion of the
financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making
centers of some European countries and the U.S."

Israeli President Shimon Peres reacted angrily to Ahjmadinejad’s
criticism. "It is again a repetition of the darkest accusations in the
name of Hitler and almost anti-Semitism," Peres later told journalists.

In discussing the U.S. war in Iraq, Ahmadinejad said, "Millions have
been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, without a sense of shame,
are still seeking to solidify their position in the … region and
to dominate oil resources."

He suggested that the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan
has contributed to a sharp rise in terrorism and a huge increase in
the production of narcotics. He predicted that the alliance would
not be successful.

"Throughout history every force that has entered Afghanistan has left
in defeat," Ahmadinejad said.

His speech came just hours after President Bush made his eighth
and final appearance before the U.N. General Assembly, urging the
international community to stand firm against the nuclear ambitions
of Iran and North Korea.

"A few nations, regimes like Syria and Iran, continue to sponsor
terror," Bush said. "Yet their numbers are growing fewer, and they’re
growing more isolated from the world. As the 21st century unfolds,
some may be tempted to assume that the threat has receded. This would
be comforting. It would be wrong."

At one point during Bush’s 22-minute speech, Ahmadinejad turned to
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and gave a thumb’s down.

As in past years, the United States only had a low-level note-taker
present for the Iranian president’s address, said Richard Grenell,
spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The U.S. and
Iran do not have diplomatic relations.

During interviews ahead of his speech Tuesday, Ahmadinejad blamed
U.S. military interventions around the world in part for the collapse
of global financial markets, FOXNews reports.

"The U.S. government has made a series of mistakes in the past
few decades," Ahmadinejad said an interview with the Los Angeles
Times. "The imposition on the U.S. economy of the years of heavy
military engagement and involvement around the world … the war in
Iraq, for example. These are heavy costs imposed on the U.S. economy.

"The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and
the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United
States, and by the U.S. government," he added.

He accused the U.S. of starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to win
votes in elections and blamed a "few bullying powers" for trying to
undermine Iran’s nuclear program. He also accused the U.S. and NATO
is mongering war in South Ossetia.

BAKU WANTS TO SEE TURKEY AS CO-CHAIRMAN OF OSCE MINSK GROUP

TREND Information
25.09.08 10:57
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 September /corr. Trend News I.Alizade / Official
Baku wants Turkey to more closely participate in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement as a mediator. Azerbaijan would like Turkey to
become Co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Head of the Foreign
Relations Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan,
Novruz Mammadov, said.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Turkey is a friendly, fraternal country and strategic partner
of Azerbaijan, and it is represented in the Minsk Group. But the
formation of the chairmanship to the Minsk Group is realized via
consensus. I consider that the probability of Armenias consent to
Turkeys chairmanship equals zero. Therefore it is impossible to speak
about this extensively, said Mammadov.

According to him, leaderships of Turkey and Armenia held discussions
for several times.

Mammadov said that due to the recent processes, Turkeys leadership
makes certain statements.

If as a result of the efforts made by the Government of Turkey in the
last negotiations with the Armenians for the solution of conflict,
they can convince the Armenian side of consent to representation
in the Minsk Group, a number of questions can be clarified. If an
agreement is reached upon the format, cochairmen, it can come out
that Turkey will become the cochairman of the Minsk Group. But I do
not consider this real, he added.

He said hat considering that today South Caucasus is one of the
sensitive regions of Eurasia, the events between Georgia and
Russia affected the processes in the world and the international
relations. Also these events created a new situation in the
international relations.

Therefore, taking into account the processes in the foreign relations,
several analysts, centers declare that possibly the cochairmen or the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group will change. Here the discussions deal
with the change in the format. Because in these processes, tension
arose between Russia and the USA, and each of these countries stand
on the different positions contrary to each other, said Mammedov.

He also added that despite this, still the agenda does not include
and is not expected to include a change to the cochairmen or format
of OSCE Minsk Group. In such questions it is necessary to be to
patient. Simply, as the cochairmen of the Minsk Group visited the
region individually, an opinion appeared regarding the change to the
cochairmen-countries or format, said Mammadov.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S AMBASSADORIAL NOMINEE FOR TURKEY TO FACE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS PANEL

AZG Armenian Daily
25/09/2008

USA-Armenian Genocide

Ending Denial through Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, Ending
the Blockade are Key Issues to be Addressed

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has scheduled the nomination
hearing of Bush’s Ambassadorial Nominee for Turkey, James F. Jeffrey,
for Wednesday, September 24, 2008, reported the Armenian Assembly
of America (Assembly). "We are hopeful the nomination hearing is
not a question and answer session, which in the past has resulted
in equivocating on the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and
America’s proud record of humanitarian intervention," said Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "This represents a critical
opportunity for the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey to go further than
Ambassador Yovanovitch and this time to squarely affirm the Armenian
Genocide. The U.S. record of affirmation is clear as evidenced by
the 1951 U.S. filing before the International Court of Justice. The
Armenian Genocide is an historical fact and Mr. Jeffrey would be well
served to follow in the tradition of Ambassador Henry Morgenthau,"
continued Ardouny.In addition to its campaign of denial and application
of article 301 of its penal code, which punishes discussion of the
Armenian Genocide, for more than a decade, Turkey, in coordination
with Azerbaijan, has blockaded Armenia. The Turkish blockade not only
costs Armenia hundreds of millions of dollars, but also undermines
the stated U.S. policy goals of regional cooperation and economic
integration in the South Caucasus Region. While Turkey’s President
Gul did accept the bold invitation by Armenia’s President Serzh
Sargsian to visit Armenia on the occasion of a soccer game between
the two countries earlier this month, more concrete steps are needed,
including establishing working diplomatic relations and a process of
normalization that removes blockades, opens borders, restores economic
relations, and strives toward the peaceful resolution of differences
and disputes in the region. In fact, the U.S. Administration has
repeatedly called upon Turkey "to restore economic, political and
cultural links with Armenia."Jeffrey, a career member of the Senior
Foreign Service, currently serves as Assistant to the President and
Deputy National Security Advisor at the White House. Prior to this,
he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of
Near Eastern Affairs. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy
Chief of Mission in Baghdad, United States Ambassador to Albania,
and three other assignments in Turkey. Ambassador Jeffrey received
his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and his master’s
degree from Boston University.

CORRUPTION INDEX REDUCED

Panorama.am
19:57 23/09/2008

This year the lowest corruption index has been recorded in Denmark,
Swiss and New Zealand. The triple is followed by Singapore.

Every year "Transparency International" international anticorruption
center publishes the indexes of corruption spread in different
countries. Amalia Kostanyan, the president of "Transparency
International" Armenia organization presented the data of the
current year.

Based on "Development Asian Bank", "Bertelsman Foundation", "World
Bank", "Freedom House", "Global Insight", "International Group of
Businessmen" and "World Economic Forum" data the index of corruption
in Armenia has been reduced compared with the previous year.

According to the organization the highest index is recorded in Somali
and Iraq.

ARMENIAN OFFICIALS SEEM TO BE SINCERE FOR SOLUTION, SAYS TURKISH FM

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 10:34
Turkey

Turkish FM Babacan said that Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan had strong
will to solve problems.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that Armenian officials
seemed to be sincere for solution.

Babacan, who is currently in New York for UN General Assembly meetings,
said regarding Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenia
that Armenian officials said that they wanted solution not only for
Armenian-Turkish relations but also for Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.

Babacan said that the recent crisis in Caucasus made countries in
the region revise their attitudes, adding that Armenia and Azerbaijan
were also among these countries.

Babacan said that he and President Gul evaluated that new situation
as a good opportunity and visited Armenia.

Babacan said that Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan had strong will to
solve problems.

Babacan said that all problems, which concerned those three countries,
were related with each other, and representatives of the three
countries would meet on Friday.

NEWLY APPOINTED U.S. AMBASSADOR PRESENTS HER CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Noyan Tapan

Se p 22, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The newly appointed Amabassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to Armenia Marie
Yovanovitch on September 22 presented her credentials to Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan. Congratulating the ambassador on her
appointment, S. Sargsyan said that Armenia attaches great importance to
the development of its relations with the United States. He expressed
his gratitude to the U.S. government for its consistent assistance
to Armenia since the country’s independence.

He expressed a high opinion about the role of the U.S. as a co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The newly appointed U.S. ambassador conveyed U.S. President Bush’s
congratulatory message on the occasion of Armenia’s Independence
Holiday.

Underlining the willingness of the U.S. to assist Armenia with its
progress on the path to democracy and market economy. M. Yovanovitch
stated that she will do her best for the development and extension
of bilateral relations.

On behalf of the U.S. government she welcomed the brave initiative
to invite Turkish President to Armenia, saying that it has a great
importance for the region and will promote peace and stability.

As NT was informed by the RA presidential press service, during the
talk the sides also discussed the problems of economic cooperation
between Armenia and the U.S, and exchanged ideas about the regional
developments.

MATENADARAN TO HAVE NEW ANNEX, AREA OF SHOW-ROOMS TO INCREASE FOUR-FOLD, 10 MILLION DOLLARS BEING INVESTED

Noyan Tapan

Se p 22, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
on September 19 visited the construction site of the old building
of the the Ancient Manuscripts Institute – Matenadaran after Mesrop
Mashtots.

A preliminary sum of 10 million dollars is being allocated by the
Moscow Investment Construction Company headed by Sergei Hambartsumian
for construction of an annex to occupy an area of 12,100 square
meters. S. Hambartsumian stated that the idea of financing the
construction of a new annex of the Matenadaran arose after Serzh
Sargsyan’s appeal to businessmen of the Diaspora. The design’s
architect is Arthur Meschian, while the idea of building an annex is
not a new one: the first design was developed as long ago as 1987-1988
by Armpromproject Institute at A. Meschian’s architectural studio. The
construction began in 1988 but remained incompleted after the 1988
earthquake. In 2007 a new design statement was prepared which became
the continuation of the previous design. By the design, the main
buildling will continue to be the dominant one and the new annex will
not be seen from Mashtots Avenue. In case of constructing a new annex,
the total area of show-rooms will increase four-fold: the main building
currently occupies 3,300 square meters. The design envisages allocating
areas for a book depository, a manuscript house, an archive with its
reading halls, another two reading halls, a virtual Matenadaran hall,
a restoration and modelling unit, a room for researchers, a computer
unit, a 240-seat multifunction auditorium, labs, an Armenology center,
a publishing-house and a printing-house, as well as photographic labs.

According to the director of the Matenadaran Hrachia Tamrazian, the
project is a big charitable program, which is the biggest scientific
and cultural one in recent decades. He said that construction
of the new building will allow to turn the Matenadaran into the
largest center on Armenology and medieval studies of international
importance, which will have modern equipment. "It also solves the
problem of alternation of generations in science, which is the most
urgent problem of Armenology," H. Tamrazian said, adding that the
construction of the new annex will allow to create 150 jobs and
double the scientific staff of the Matenadaran over a year. "Stormy
are fruitful years are awaiting us," he noted.

In response to a reporter’s question about whether the project is
ambitious or necessary, Arthur Meschian replied: "Let’s go to the book
depository, the maniscript house and the restoration unit and see in
what conditions the employees work, and this will be the answer to
your question. Important work is being done… the number of whose
who prevent it is quite great and organized, while we need helpers
and not impediments."

EU: GEORGIA CRISIS FORTIFIES IMPORTANCE OF TURKEY

The Associated Press
September 19, 2008

HELSINKI, Finland: The Georgian crisis has strengthened the strategic
importance of Turkey both in the Caucasus and for the European Union,
the bloc’s enlargement chief said Friday.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Turkey was "engaged in very
active and evidently successful diplomacy" in its neighboring regions.

Turkey has met separately with Georgian and Russian officials in an
effort to promote peace between the two countries since their war
in August.

It is also helping to normalize ties between Syria and the EU and is
mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Istanbul.

"Turkey remains a very important bridge between Europe and the
Islamic world," Rehn told reporters during a visit to Helsinki. "In
other words, everything that has happened in recent weeks has only
strengthened Turkey’s strategic importance from the EU’s point
of view."

Today in Europe Chunnel fire’s cause still as dark as the tunnel
itselfGates urges cautious NATO stance on Russia What’s in a street
name? Moscow is finding out He did not give any specifics, however,
on if or when Turkey was likely to join the EU.

Rehn said that Turkey, eager to join and currently engaged in accession
talks with the bloc, had made "a very important initiative" in talks
aimed at achieving stability in the Caucasus.

"The problem in the Caucasus now is that there are many countries
that cannot engage in bilateral talks; Russia and Georgia, Armenia
and Azerbaijan, and just a little while ago, Turkey and Armenia,"
Rehn said. "Turkey is very active in (regional talks) and the EU
supports them."

Rehn also described Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s June 6
breakthrough visit to Armenia as a sign the two countries were
beginning to normalize relations and said the political implications
of the visit were "significant."

Turkey, a NATO member, has cause for alarm about how Russia’s
recognition of the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia might inspire its own separatist Kurds, or provoke Armenia
to boost support for separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of
Azerbaijan, which is a close Turkish ally.

Since the Georgia conflict, Turkey has proposed a regional grouping
for stability in the Caucasus, which would include Russia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

ARMENIA TO DELIVER ELECTRICITY TO TURKEY

United Press International
Sept 17 2008

Armenia will begin delivering electricity to Turkey in 2009, Armenian
leaders announced recently.

Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian said
the agreement for the electricity supply was reached while Turkish
President Abdullah Gul was visiting Armenia, the Daily News Bulletin
reported.

Armenian company High Voltage Power Lines and Turkish company Unit
signed the contract on electricity deliveries.

According to the agreement, the Turkish side will restore damaged
portions of high-voltage power lines on its territory and set up
new transformers, and Armenia will deliver 1.5 billion kilowatts of
energy per year to Turkey, which later will increase to 3.5 billion
kilowatts per year.

NKR PRESIDENT REITERATES THE NECESSITY TO PRESERVE THE MINSK GROUP FORMAT

armradio.am
17.09.2008 11:49

President of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan met French
Co-Chair of the OSCE Minks Group Bernard Fassier.

A wide range of issues related to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
settlement and current situation in the region were discussed at
the meeting.

Bako Sahakyan noted the importance of Europe and France in particular
in establishing peace and stability in the region. The President
reiterated the necessity to preserve the Minsk Group format adding that
everything should be done to restore the status of the NKR as a full
party to the negotiation process. Both sides noted the importance to
carry out concrete steps to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust
between the parties to the conflict.