Author: Felekian Ara

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN PRAISES THE ACTIVITY OF THE CONTROL CHAMBER
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
22.01.2010 16:42

President Serzh Sargsyan today met with members of the Control Chamber
of Armenia. President Sargsyan appreciated the activity of the Control
Chamber and its effective work in 2009. The President handed diplomas
of gratitude to a number of employees of the Chamber. According to him,
the Control Chamber is on a right path. "We see positive development
and encourage them," the President said.

According to the President, it’s no secret that there are a number of
problems in our country, and the Control Chamber should be consistent
in revealing and eliminating the shortcomings.

President Sargsyan wished success to the leadership and staff of the
structure and voiced hope that they would further improve the methods
and register greater results.

Chairman of the Control Chamber Ishkhan Zackaryan briefly presented
the work done in 2009 and outlined the plans for 2010. He said
"credit programs and the educational system will be in the spotlight
this year."

FESTIVAL DEDICATED TO ARMENIA, IN SLOVENIA

Tert.am
10:29 ~U 22.01.10

Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre, in concert with
Armenia’s Kadans Cultural Center, will be hosting a festival called
"Armenia Up Close" ("Armenija Od Blizu"), which will take place in
Ljubljana in 2010.

According to a release issued by the RA Minister of Culture, the
program is sponsored and supported by the culture ministries of the
Republic of Armenia and Slovenia. The festival, including such events
as a culture and history exhibit, concerts, theatrical performances,
film screenings and lectures, will feature such well-known names
and acts as Arto Tuncboyaciyan and the Armenian Navy Band, and the
Armenian-Italian co-production "7 Senses."

For more on the program, please visit

ALI HASANOV: THERE ARE SOME HOPES FOR THE MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI, RUSSIAN AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS IN SOCHI

APA
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "There are some hopes for the meeting
of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents in Sochi, January 25,"
chief of socio-political department of the Presidential Administration
Ali Hasanov said, APA reports.

"We think that as the continuation of the dialogue lasting for years,
the process that has started around Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno
Karabakh conflict will be discussed during the meeting," he said.

According to Hasanov, there has always been a hope that every meeting
will have positive outcomes, Armenia will give up its non-constructive
position.

"We have always hoped that the ways of solution to this problem will
be found, progress will be observed in the process. But everything
does not depend on us, there is the position of the opposite side,
attitude of the world community towards the issue. Anyway, we are
expecting certain results from this meeting," he said.

To APA’s question "Is Russia making enough efforts for the solution
to Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict?", Ali Hasanov said Russia, US and
France were making more efforts within the recent two years.

"Some efforts are observed, but serious pressure on Armenia is not
observed yet. Without pressure it is difficult to make Armenia and
its leadership give up non-constructive position," he said.

AHMADINEJAD, EX-ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEET IN TEHRAN

Fars News Agency
Jan 22 2010
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Former Armenian
President Robert Kocharian discussed bilateral and regional issues.

During the meeting held here in Tehran on Thursday, Ahmadinejad urged
implementation of bilateral projects as well as Iran and Armenia’s
active and influential role in the regional developments.

The Iranian president underlined that the current regional and global
developments are in "the interest of independent and justice-seeking
countries."

He added that those who had plotted against Iran are now more fragile
than ever.

Robert Kocharian, for his part, stressed Iran-Armenia relations and
said the two countries enjoy massive potentials to grow bilateral
and regional ties.

TURKEY CLOSED BORDER AND SHOULD OPEN IT ITSELF: RPA

news.am
Jan 20 2010
Armenia

Turkish Parliament should ratify Armenia-Turkey Protocols first,
Head of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction Galust Sahakyan
stated at Jan. 20 press conference. According to him, it is irrational
for Armenia to ratify the documents first, as it will not assist
border opening; "Turkey closed the border and should open it itself,"
he noted.

The MP is confident that despite the protraction of ratification
process, Ankara will eventually do so, otherwise international
community will take it as an unreliable partner which might entail
a number of serious problems.

According to Sahakyan, presently Turkey faces many problems, first of
all — Kurdish issue. However, the main reason for the ratification
protraction lies in Azerbaijan’s stance, which Ankara fears to lose.

Once documents are ratified, Yerevan will open entirely different
negotiation process on the Protocols’ provisions and creation of
intergovernmental commission, Sahakyan outlined.

The sub-commission will not discuss Armenian Genocide, but the cultural
heritage of Armenians on Turkey’s territory.

ARMENIAN MINISTERS REPORT GOVERNMENT ON THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.01.2010 14:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Government started Wednesday discussions
over Ministries’ 2009 reports.

In his opening speech, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that all
ministries had been recommended to prepare reports concerning their
2009 activities, focusing a major accent on their omissions and
problems impeding reform implementation process.

"Secondly, it is necessary to determine the priority tasks for 2010,"
Head of the Government said, adding that the reports submitted will
help determine the positive results towards resolving key problems.

Speeches were subsequently delivered by Minister of Education and
Science Armen Ashotyan, Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan and
Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan.

The reports will be posted on ministries’ websites.

KIRO MANOYAN: CONCLUSION OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON KARABAKH UNLIKELY IN NEAR FUTURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.01.2010 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ARF-D Bureau Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office
director Kiro Manoyan said conclusion of a framework agreement on
Karabakh is unlikely in near future.

"If Ankara views normalization of relations with RA as a secondary
issue, signing a framework agreement on Karabakh will put an end to
Armenia’s political life," he told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The Armenian President will not sign any agreement on Karabakh as
long as Baku continues to speak of NKR as a part of Azerbaijan,"
Mr. Manoyan said.

OGUN SAMAST’S PRESENCE IN ISTANBUL WAS KNOWN TWO DAYS PRIOR TO DINK MURDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2010 13:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A new document that may deepen the investigation
into the Hrant Dink assassination has been submitted to court by
Trabzon’s former police chief and current head of intelligence for
the Police Department, Radikal Turkish newspaper reported.

The document, sent by Ramazan Akyurek, features an intelligence
report on assassination suspect Ogun Samast that shows he was
under surveillance when he arrived in Istanbul. The document reads:
"His friends greeted Ogun Samast when he came to Istanbul." If the
document is genuine, it proves that Samast’s presence in Istanbul
was known two days prior to the murder.

The existence of the document was revealed to the public by Bahri
Belen, one of the Dink family’s lawyers, on CNN Turk’s "Tarafsiz
Bolge" (Neutral Zone) show Tuesday night. Another guest of the
show was Nedim Sener, author of the book "Hrant Dink Cinayeti ve
Istihbarat Yalanları" (The Hrant Dink Murder and Intelligence
Lies). Sener reminded that in the report, Akyurek was blamed by the
Prime Ministry’s investigation committee for neglecting his duty,
and responded to new questions on this recent development.

Sener said security forces were confessing their guilt and continued,
"If they knew he met with his friends, which branch of the intelligence
was following [him]? What type of data does Ramazan Akyurek have to
be able to know this?"

Journalist Oral Calislar, another guest of the show, said this was
a very important document and added, "If you knew when the man who
would commit the murder arrived in Istanbul, met with his friends,
you actually knew about the murder. If a government knew of a murder
[before] the murder was committed, then how can you put this to words?"

Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was
a Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of Agos
Istanbul-based bilingual newspaper. Dink was best known for advocating
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in
Turkey. Charged under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish
Criminal Code, Dink stood a trial for insulting Turkishness. After
numerous death threats, Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in
January 2007, by Ogun Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

news.am, Armenia
Jan 15 2010

Armenian rescuers ready to leave for Haiti

17:59 / 01/15/2010At the moment rescue squad of RA Ministry of
Emergency Situations is ready to leave for Haiti.

The 50-member group comprises rescuers, doctors and interpreters,
Ministry press service informed NEWS.am. The squad under the command
of Lieutenant Colonel Avetik Manukyan will be headed by Colonel Sergey
Azaryan.

Disastrous earthquake rocked Haiti on January 12. Tens of thousands
victims were reported.

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2010

Putin says no link between Garabagh and Turkey-Armenia ties

14-01-2010 06:31:31

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said linking the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh and the issue of
normalizing Turkey-Armenia relations is inappropriate.
Putin made the statement at a news conference after hosting his
Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, adding that
Russia was ready to facilitate the solution of both issues.
`If we take into account that the Upper Garabagh and Turkey-Armenia
problems are complicated issues as they are, I don’t think it would be
right to combine them into the same package,’ he said.
The Russian prime minister said solving either problem separately is
already a daunting task. `If we put everything together, the prospect
of solving the issue will automatically become very distant.’
Putin added that linking Garabagh settlement with Ankara-Yerevan
normalization would be unsuitable `from the tactical and strategic
viewpoints.’
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for nearly two
decades. Russia co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace
process, along with the United States and France.*