Author: Emma Nadirian

ARMEN MARTIROSYAN: LEAVING NKR AS PART OF AZERBAIJAN WILL BE EQUAL TO NEW GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2010 11:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Heritage party board chairman Armen Martirosyan
sent a letter to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to remind them of the
genocidal policy Azerbaijan has been implementing against Armenians
for many years.

"Heritage stands for recognition of NKR borders as they are fixed in
Artsakh’s Constitution. Everyone who develops principles for resolution
of the Karabakh conflict should know that leaving NKR as a part of
Azerbaijan will be equal to a new genocide," Mr. Martirosyan said.

Founded in 2002, Heritage , a National Liberal Party, is national by
its roots, liberal in its economic principle, and an advocate of the
democratic system of governance and due process for its citizens. The
party’s objective is the development of Armenia as a democratic,
lawful, and rights-based country that anchors its domestic and foreign
policies in the nation’s sovereign interest. During the party’s Third
Congress on May 30, 2005, Raffi K. Hovannisian was elected chairman.

The other eight members of the party board were elected by secret vote.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in 1988
as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the final
years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to
1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several
regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the
control of Nagorno Karabakh defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan have
since been holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

On 6 December 1994, the Budapest Summit decided to establish a
co-chairmanship for the process.

Implementing the Budapest decision, the Chairman-in-Office issued on
23 March 1995, the mandate for the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Process.

The main objectives of the Minsk Process are as follows: Providing
an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of
assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group;
Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation
of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk
Conference; Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational
peacekeeping forces.

The Minsk Process can be considered to be successfully concluded if
the objectives referred to above are fully met.

The Minsk Group is headed by a Co-Chairmanship consisting of France,
Russia and the United States. Furthermore, the Minsk Group also
includes the following participating States: Belarus, Germany, Italy,
Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey as well as Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Current Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group are: Ambassador
Bernard Fassier of France, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian
Federation and Ambassador Robert Bradtke of the United States.

AZERBAIJANI MPS TO PROTEST AGAINST U.S CONGRESS’S DECISION TO FINANCE NAGORNO-KARABAKH SEPARATISTS

Today
cs/59660.html
Jan 18 2010
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani MPs will visit the U.S to protests the U.S
Congress’s decision to allocate funds to the Armenian community of
the Nagorno-Karabakh.

"During our U.S visit, which starts Jan.21, we intend to conduct
serious discussions over the U.S Congress’s decision to finance
Nagorno-Karabakh separatists," Parliamentary Security and Defense
Committee member Zahid Oruj said.

According to him, the meeting will be held in Washington and Colorado.

"During the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation composing Ganira
Pashayeva, Gular Ahmadova and Igbal Agazade will meet with senators
and discuss the US-Azerbaijani relations and the situation in South
Caucasus," he added.

He said meetings with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Turkish
Diaspora organizations operating in the United States were not
ruled out.

"The U.S. is one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. During the
meetings, we will stress the need to increase U.S. efforts in the
process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement under the framework
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," he said.

AMBERIN ZAMAN: WILL ARMENIA REVOKE ITS SIGNATURE FROM THE PROTOCOLS?
Amberin Zaman

Armenian Weekly
December 28, 2009

Turkey’s continued insistence on linking the establishment of
diplomatic ties and the re-opening of its mutual borders with Armenia
to the latter’s withdrawal from at least some of the seven regions
it occupies around Nagorno-Karabagh has brought Armenia’s President
Serge Sarkisian to this very point.

Amberin Zaman: In the eyes of his own people, Sarkisian was essentially
hoodwinked.

Should Turkey’s parliament fail to ratify the protocols that were
signed on Oct. 30 by March 2010, then in all likelihood Armenia will
unilaterally revoke its signatures and the process of normalization
will grind to a halt.

The reason is simple. In the eyes of his own people, Sarkisian was
essentially hoodwinked. Having signed the protocols in the face of
stiff opposition at home and from hardliners among members of the
Armenian Diaspora worldwide, Sarkisian has come away empty handed.

Diplomatic relations with Turkey have not been established. The border
remains shut. This is because Turkey has reneged on its word. Although
the texts of the protocols make no reference to Nagorno-Karabagh,
our prime minister continues to insist that unless the conflict is
resolved the protocols cannot be approved by the parliament.

This smacks of hypocrisy. Demanding that Armenia unilaterally cede
territory in and around Nagorno-Karabagh in exchange for a border
opening and diplomatic ties is not so different from the European Union
telling Turkey to unilaterally open its air and sea ports to Greek
Cypriot planes and ships in order to appease the Greek Cypriots and
to move forward with Turkey’s EU membership. Armenia needs to settle
its problems directly with Azerbaijan, just as the Greek and Turkish
islanders need to sort out their differences amongst themselves. It
has been 16 years since Turkey sealed its border with Armenia. How
has this helped to promote peace with Azerbaijan? On the contrary,
it has encouraged Azeri intransigence and robbed Turkey of a potential
mediating role. Worse, it has crippled the Armenian economy, stunted
democratization, and allowed corrupt oligarchs to prevail.

Parallels with March 1

Some Turkish columnists have drawn parallels between the ratification
of the Turkish Armenian protocols by the Turkish Parliament and the
agreement struck between Turkey and the United States that would have
allowed U.S. troops to cross through Turkish territory to open a second
"northern front" against Saddam Hussein in 2003. They fear that the
Turkish-Armenian protocols will be struck down by the parliament in
the same way the U.S.-Turkish accord was thrown out, albeit by the
narrowest of margins, on March 1, 2003. It is true that there are
parallels. But these have less to do with the risk of their not being
approved. Rather, it has to do with the fact that Turkey has once again
made pledges that it seems either unwilling or unable to see through.

>From the start, this columnist has argued that it was wrong to submit
the protocols for parliamentary approval. When Turkey recognized
Kosovo’s independence and decided to establish diplomatic relations
with the new Balkan state, did it seek parliamentary approval for
this? It did not. There is no precedent in Turkey for rendering the
establishment of diplomatic relations with a given country contingent
on the parliament’s approval.

And what of Azerbaijan’s cries of treason? Did the government not
foresee these? It is hard to imagine not. Viewed from Armenia’s
perspective, the entire normalization process is nothing more than
a ploy calculated to prevent President Barack Obama from using the
"G-word" and from the American Senate and the House of Representatives
from approving a bill labeling the events of 1915 as genocide.

So did the Americans sell out Armenia as well?

Again from Armenia’s vantage point, this may well be the case. When
the Obama administration piled pressure on the Armenians to initial
the protocols before April 24 this year, assuring them that they would
"take care of the rest," they were in fact seeking to avert another
crisis with Turkey over the genocide issue. To be sure, as a matter
of regional policy America does want Turkey and Armenia to make peace.

But its foremost concern seems to be using friendship between the
estranged neighbors as a weapon to ward off genocide legislation
in both Houses. Judging from Obama’s vague statements on Armenia
following his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
in Washington this month, it would seem that by signing the protocols
Turkey has let itself off the hook at least for this year. Besides,
America has enough trouble with the likes of Afghanistan, Iran, and
Pakistan without alienating its closest Muslim ally, Turkey. Should
Armenia back away from the protocols, this would allow Turkey to
claim the moral high ground. (Meanwhile, Congress has slashed aid to
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh by a whopping 40 percent compared with
last year.) In short, Sarkisian has come away with hech (nothing).

So can Turkey claim a big diplomatic victory? In the short term,
perhaps. But for how long? Yes, Armenia is a small country. Yes, it
doesn’t have oil or precious minerals. And yes, Azerbaijan is more
important in certain ways. But to approach Armenian-Turkish relations
from a purely geo-strategic perspective is to miss the real issue. The
real issue is vicdan (conscience, in Turkish). Around 60 percent of
Armenia’s population is originally from Anatolia. Some crossed the
border with the retreating Tsarist army. But many more are people
whose forebears were brutally massacred from the late 19th century on.

They are, in fact, our people. They are proud and they are endlessly
resilient. One of the most effective means of helping to mitigate the
mass destruction of the Armenians in their native lands would be to
extend a hand of unconditional friendship to the young Republic of
Armenia. "Rhythmic Diplomacy," the term coined by Ahmet Davutoglu,
the Turkish foreign minister, to describe his pro-active policies has a
catchy ring to it. But would it not behoove the minister to go down in
history for "Ethical Diplomacy"? Armenia presents him with that chance.

Amberin Zaman has been the Turkey correspondent for the Economist since
1999. She also writes a weekly column for the Turkish daily newspaper
Taraf. Zaman has been a regular contributor to the Washington Post,
the Los Angeles Times, and the Daily Telegraph of London. This article
is an expanded version of a column that appeared on Dec. 18 in the
Turkish daily newspaper Taraf.

White House Documents and Publications
December 7, 2009

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey after meeting

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 7, 2009

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN OF TURKEY AFTER MEETING

Oval Office

1:25 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I want to extend the warmest of welcomes to Prime
Minister Erdogan. I’m glad that I, personally, and the American people
have a chance to reciprocate the wonderful hospitality that was
extended to me when I visited Turkey in April.

As I said when I had the great honor of addressing the Turkish
Parliament in Ankara, I am strongly committed to creating the best
possible relationship between Turkey and the United States.

Turkey is a NATO ally, which means that we are pledged to defend each
other. There are strong ties between our countries as a consequence of
the Turkish American community that has been established here. We have
had the opportunity to work together during this recent financial
crisis, given Turkey’s role as a member of the G20. And given Turkey’s
history as a secular democratic state that respects the rule of law,
but is also a majority Muslim nation, it plays a critical role I think
in helping to shape mutual understanding and stability and peace not
only in its neighborhood but around the world.

During the course of our discussions here, we’ve had the opportunity
to survey a wide range of issues that both the United States and
Turkey are concerned about. I thanked Prime Minister Erdogan and the
Turkish people for their outstanding contributions to stabilizing
Afghanistan. We discussed our joint role in helping Iraq achieve the
kind of independence and prosperity that I think has been advanced as
a consequence of the election law finally being passed over the
weekend.

We discussed issues of regional peace, and I indicated to the Prime
Minister how important it is to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear
capacity in a way that allows Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy
but provides assurances that it will abide by international rules and
norms, and I believe that Turkey can be an important player in trying
to move Iran in that direction.

And we discussed the continuing role that we can play as NATO allies
in strengthening Turkey’s profile within NATO and coordinating more
effectively on critical issues like missile defense.

I also congratulated the Prime Minister on some courageous steps that
he has taken around the issue of normalizing Turkish/Armenian
relations, and encouraged him to continue to move forward along this
path.

We reaffirmed the shared commitment to defeat terrorist activity
regardless of where it occurs. I expressed condolences to the Prime
Minister and the Turkish people for the recent terrorist attack that
was taken there and pledged U.S. support in trying to bring the
perpetrators of this violence to justice.

And finally, I complimented the Prime Minister for the steps that he’s
taken, often very difficult steps, in reintegrating religious
minorities and ethnic minorities within Turkey into the democratic and
political process, and indicated to him that we want to be as
supportive as possible in further steps that he can take, for example,
assuring the continuation of the Halki Seminary and addressing the
vital needs of continuing the ecumenical patriarchy within Turkey.

Over all, just to summarize, I am incredibly optimistic about the
prospect of stronger and stronger ties between the United States and
Turkey that will be based not only on our NATO relationship, our
military-to-military relationship, our strategic relationship, but
also increasing economic ties.

And one of the concrete outcomes of this trip is to follow through on
discussions that I had with both Prime Minister Erdogan and President
Gul in Turkey to stand up a strategic working group around economic
issues and improving commercial ties. That will be launched with the
participation of Secretary of Commerce Locke and our U.S. Trade
Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk, along with Turkish counterparts.
And we think that there is enormous potential for us to grow trade and
commercial ties between the two countries.

Turkey is a great country. It is growing in influence around the
world. And I am pleased that America can call Turkey a friend, and I’m
pleased that I’m able to call Prime Minister Erdogan personally a
friend. I’m grateful for his trip here and look forward to many years
of collaboration with him to observe both the prosperity of the
American people and the Turkish people.

Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN: (As translated.) Thank you very much. I’m very
grateful for the hospitality that both myself and my delegation have
been shown since our arrival here. And I would like to once again
express my thanks for that hospitality.

The fact that the President visited Turkey on his first overseas trip
and that he described and characterized Turkish-U.S. relations as a
model partnership has been very important for us politically and in
the process that we all look forward to in the future as well. And
important steps are now being taken in order to continue to build on
our bilateral relations so as to give greater meaning to the term
"model partnership."

Of course, there are many sides to the development of this
relationship — be it in the economic area, in the areas of science,
art, technology, political areas and military areas.

We have also appointed two people from our side to act as counterparts
in order to liaise with their American counterparts to continue on
this process. Those two people are the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Ali
Babacan; and the Minister of State responsible for economic affairs,
Mr. Zafer Caglayan on the Turkish side. I do believe that this group
is going to work to take the Turkish-American relations forward, not
just in the economic area, but in all areas in general.

We, of course, have — we take joint steps on regional issues. This is
in the Middle East, in Iraq, with respect to the Iranian nuclear
program. We continue to have joint activity in Afghanistan, and the
Turkish armed forces have taken over the command of the forces there
for a third time with the additional support that we have sent to
Afghanistan in the last couple of months. And there are steps that we
have taken with respect to training activity and other activities in
the context of provisional reconstruction teams, and we continue on
that. We’ve had an opportunity to continue discussing those issues
during our visit here.

Another important area, of course, is energy. Turkey is a transit
country for energy issues. And the agreement has been signed for
Nabucco and we are ready to take some important steps with respect to
Nabucco.

We continue to talk with Azerbaijan. I do believe that positive
progress will be made in this area. In addition to Azerbaijan, of
course, there is the importance of companies like Statoil, Total, and
British Petroleum and others.

We have also discussed relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which
is of great importance. This is important in the context of
Turkish-Armenian relations. We have discussed the Minsk Group and what
the Minsk Group can do — the United States, Russia, and France — to
add more impetus to that process. I can say that to have more impetus
in the Minsk process is going to have a very positive impact on the
overall process, because the normalization process between Turkey and
Armenia is very much related to these issues. As the administration in
Turkey, we are determined to move forward in this area.

Another important issue with respect for us in Turkey is the fight
against terrorism. And there was a statement that was made in this
very room on the 5th of November 2007, which was very important in
that context, because at the time we had declared the separatist
terrorist organization as the common enemy of the United States,
Turkey, and Iraq, because terrorism is the enemy of all mankind.

Our sensitivity and response to terrorism is what we have displayed
when the twin towers were hit here in the United States. Wherever a
terrorist attack takes place our reaction is always the same, because
terrorism does not have a religion — a homeland. They have no
homeland, no religion whatsoever.

We have also had opportunity to discuss what we can do jointly in the
region with regard to nuclear programs. We as Turkey stand ready to do
whatever we can to ensure a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue
in our region. And we stand ready as Turkey to do whatever we can do
with respect to relations between Israel and the Palestinians, and
Israel and Syria, because I do believe that, first and foremost, the
United States, too, has important responsibility in trying to achieve
global peace.

And we, too, must lend all kinds of support that we can in our regions
and — in our respective regions and in the world in general in trying
to achieve global peace, because this is not the time to make enemies,
it’s the time to make friends. And I believe that we must move hand in
hand towards a bright future.

Thank you once again.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you.

All right, where’s Ben Feller" There you are.

Q Thank you sir. I’d like to ask you briefly about a domestic issue,
that being the economy, heading to your speech tomorrow. Do you
support the use of federal bailout money to fund job creation
programs" Is that an appropriate use of that money" Is that something
that you plan to support tomorrow?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, Ben, it would be a mistake for me to step
on my speech tomorrow by giving you the headline today.

Q Not that big a mistake. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But let me speak generally about what we’ve seen. On
Friday we got the best jobs report that we’ve gotten in a very long
time. And it significantly beat expectations. At minimum, it showed
that for all practical purposes, we’ve stopped losing jobs. And that’s
consistent with the fact that in the third quarter we saw the economy
grow.

My first job when I came into office was to make sure that we got the
financial crisis under control and that we tried to limit the
devastating effects that it was having on the real economy. We have
had a very tough year, and we’ve lost millions of jobs. But at least
now we are moving in the right direction.

What my speech tomorrow will focus on is the fact that having gotten
the financial crisis under control. Having finally moved into positive
territory when it comes to economic growth, our biggest challenge now
is making sure that job growth matches up with economic growth. And
what we’ve seen is, is that companies shed jobs very quickly, partly
induced by the panic of what was happening on Wall Street, and they
are still tentative about hiring back all those people who were laid
off. Also what we’re seeing is some long-term trends where companies
are becoming so efficient in terms of productivity that they may feel
that they can produce the same amount of goods or services without as
many employees.

So those present some particular challenges, given the fact that we
lost over 3 million jobs just in the first quarter of this year before
any of the steps we took had a chance to take effect.

With respect to TARP specifically, I think you saw stories today and
you’ve seen stories over the last several weeks that TARP has turned
out to be much cheaper than we had expected, although not cheap. It
means that some of that money can be devoted to deficit reduction. And
the question is are there selective approaches that are consistent
with the original goals of TARP — for example, making sure that small
businesses are still getting lending — that would be appropriate in
accelerating job growth?

And I will be addressing that tomorrow. But I do think that, although
we’ve stabilized the financial system, one of the problems that we’re
still seeing all the time — and I heard about it when it was in
Allentown just this past week — was the fact that small businesses
and some medium-sized businesses are still feeling a huge credit
crunch. They cannot get the loans that they need to make capital
investments that would allow them to then expand employment. And so
that’s a particular area where we might be able to make a difference.

Is there somebody in the Turkish delegation that wants to call on a reporter?

Q Mr. President, is there any new and concrete U.S. action plan for
disarmament and the elimination of the PKK terror organization in
northern Iraq" Thank you, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, what the Prime Minister and I have discussed is
coordinating closely in dealing with the problem of the PKK. We have
stated before and I have reaffirmed since I came into office that the
United States considers PKK a terrorist organization, and that the
threat that it poses not only in Turkey but also in Iraq is one that
is of deep concern. And as NATO allies, we are bound to help each
other defend our territories. More broadly, I think that it is
important for us to have a consistent position with respect to
terrorism wherever it takes place.

So we discussed how we can coordinate militarily. I will tell you that
with respect to the issue of the PKK, I think that the steps that the
Prime Minister has taken in being inclusive towards the Kurdish
community in Turkey is very helpful, because one of the things we
understand is, is that terrorism cannot just be dealt with militarily;
there is also social and political components to it that have to be
recognized.

With respect to Iraq, I think the degree to which the Kurdish
population within Iraq feels effectively represented within the
central government in Baghdad, to the extent that we can resolve some
long-term pressing issues like Kirkuk, the more I think that Kurds
will recognize that their interests are not in supporting any kind of
military activity but rather in working through conflicts politically,
in a way that allows everybody to be prosperous. And that’s the kind
of process that we would encourage.

Okay" Thank you very much, everybody. Happy holidays.

END 1:45 P.M. EST

Sounds from the culture club
November 6, 2009
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Filtere d: true
X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: ApsEAGd59UpEtb/H/2dsb2JhbACQD7w9hTuIToQ+BIwL
X-Iro nPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.44,700,1249282800";
d="scan’208";a="237435535"
X-L istprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Karma chameleon … world-famous guru Ravi Shankar performs with his
sitar-playing daughter, Anoushka. Photo: AFP

World-class performers have built the reputation of Australia’s best
outdoor festival. Bruce Elder spreads out his picnic rug.

EVERYONE who has been to WOMADelaide knows it is simply the best
outdoor festival in Australia. A near-perfect marriage of a civilised
city, eclectic and exuberant music rarely performed in this country, a
deep commitment to celebrating multicultural diversity and a languid
and peaceful summer balminess.

Can there be anything more magical than an arc of huge Moreton Bay fig
trees spreading across a flat, grassy park at the edge of the Botanic
Gardens?

A night when the late-summer desert air that blows in to Adelaide is
still dry and balmy with just a hint of an ocean breeze to cool things
down. A friendly crowd sitting on rugs and lying on the dry grass and
performers from all over the world offering music that is always
exotic and, amazingly, always accessible.

WOMAD, an acronym for the World of Music and Dance, came into
existence in Britain in 1982 under the enthusiastic leadership of rock
singer Peter Gabriel. It was more than just a festival. A record
label, Real World, was launched and a commitment to music beyond
Western pop and rock – predominantly traditional music from the third
world enriched by first-world production technology – was established.

A decade later, after festivals in Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, Italy,
Canada and Japan, the WOMAD concept arrived in Australia. Initially it
was an adjunct to the Adelaide Arts Festival but it quickly became a
regular event. Since then, at first every two years and now annually,
it has spread itself over three days at the end of summer and although
the performers are often unknown to local audiences, it has never
disappointed.

Such has been the quality of the musicians that world music fans now
flock to Adelaide from all over Australia and New Zealand.

Next year marks the festival’s 18th anniversary and, as always, the
program offers an excess of tantalising live performances. The
highlight will be a farewell performance by 90-year-old Ravi Shankar,
who will be joined on stage by his sitar-playing daughter,
Anoushka. Other exotic delights include Eliades Ochoa from Cuba (he
was a star of the Buena Vista Social Club); the authentically
legendary Jamaican ska group the Skatalites; Jeff Lang’s world music
project Djan Djan, which sees Lang accompanied by Mali kora player
Mamadou Diabate and Mumbai tabla player Bobby Singh; the Kathakali
Dance Troupe from India, which will perform excerpts from the epic
poem The Mahabharata; Azerbaijan singer Gochag Askerov; and gypsy
fusion band Besh o droM from Hungary, who symbolically sum up the
richness of the weekend’s line-up by claiming their music is
influenced by Transylvanian, Jewish, Afghan, Egyptian, Lebanese,
Armenian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek tunes. And that is only a
taste of the dozens of acts scheduled to play during next year’s
four-day festival.

The music is always great but it is the lazy summer ambience, the
sense of passion and joy and human harmony that make WOMADelaide so
special. You feel optimistic and hopeful about the human race after
you’ve spent a weekend at this remarkable musical celebration.

WOMADelaide
WHEN March 5-8.
WHAT A festival of exotic-yet-accessible music from around the globe
entertains audiences over a long weekend at Botanic Park, North
Terrace, Adelaide.

INFORMATION See womadelaide.com.au.

au/travel/travel-feature/sounds-from-the-culture-c lub-20091104-hxmw.html

HAVE WE DIGRESSED?

9/armen-ayvazyan
03:52 pm | October 19, 2009

Politics

Armen Aivazian, Director of the "Ararat" Center for Strategic Research,
thinks Armenian people have digressed from the core issue in debates
over Armenian-Turkish relations.

"Armenia’s foreign policy has ignored the Armenian Cause for 17 years,
this is the core issue," says Mr. Aivazian.

"Today they make conclusions on the Zurich meeting and bring different
reasons for the delay of the signing of the bilateral Protocols. But
the reasons lie in Armenia’s policy towards Turkey which sooner or
later would lead to this destructive outcome – signing of anti-Armenian
Protocols," says Armen Aivazian.

"Turkey is not excluded to ratify the Protocols but the country
will try to benefit from the documents to the maximum extorting more
concessions from Armenia, especially in view of the Karabakh conflict.

The Protocols carry some inadmissible provisions regarding the
recognition of borders, the territorial wholeness of the third country
in the region, etc."

BY RATIFYING UN CONVENTION, TURKEY ACCEPTS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Tert
Sept 23 2009
Armenia

Armenia and Turkey ratified the UN Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As GPartners law firm partner
Sargis Grigoryan stated during a press conference, the Convention is
the only international document regulating issues related to genocide.

"If any country ratifies the convention it means they accept it. By
ratifying the UN Convention, Turkey accepts Armenian Genocide,"
Grigoryan said.

At the same time, Grigoryan also added that Raphael Lemkin, who
developed the Convention, clearly wrote in his report that the concept
of genocide in the Convention was formulated based on the Holocaust
and Armenian Genocide.

The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide came into force on January 12, 1951.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS IS USEFUL NOT ONLY FOR ARMENIA AND TURKEY BUT FOR AZERBAIJAN AS WELL IN FUTURE

ArmInfo
2009-09-21 14:03:00

Arminfo. Turks and Azerbaijanis often like to repeat that they are
one and the same nation but live in different countries. I don’t
object, but I think that normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations
is useful not only for Armenia and Turkey but for Azerbaijan as well
in future, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview
with TV programme.

Armenian president said.

ARMENIAN TRADE-INDUSTRIAL CHAMBER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

Armenian Trade-Industrial Chamber will participate in the 86th
international trade fair, which will be conducted from September 25 to
October 5 in Marseilles. Numerous companies from different countries
will present furniture, utensil, souvenirs, items of applied art,
clothes, wine, food, materials for packaging, equipments for swimming
pools, boats and other kinds of products.

Executive Director of the Trade-Industrial Chamber Arayik Vardanyan
told Armenpress that 10 member-enterprises of the chamber, will
present agricultural processed products, souvenirs and wine. The
enterprises will present their products in one pavilion. According to
A. Vardanyan, the participation in such authoritative exhibitions is
of great importance to every employer. It enables to make a way to
the market of the given country, as well as to sign contracts with
other companies on place.

ABOUT 15 BILLION AMD INVOLVED IN ARMENIA’S ECONOMY FROM THE RUSSIAN LOAN

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 18, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: RA Central Bank has already been
extended 60.5 billion AMD from the stabilization loan of about 500
million USD provided to Armenia by Russia.

The 15 billion from IT has already been distributed between the
Armenian trade banks, and has been extended as a loan by the part of
the latter. Three hundred to five hundred million AMD has been extended
as a hypothec loan, RA Finance Vice-Minister Vardan Aramyan said at
today’s press conference summoned at RA government. According to him,
at the beginning the dynamics of involving that money in economy
was quite slow, but currently trends of activation are already quite
notable. Forty four USD from that money has been extended to 3 Armenian
large mining enterprises as system making companies.

In regard to reaching that money to economy the Vice-Minister attached
importance to the active behavior of the banks; they still go on
displaying a certain watchfulness.