Author: Frangulian Shushan

TURKISH ‘DEEP STATE’ SUSPECTED OF SILENCING WITNESSES
Damaris Kremida

Crosswalk.com
ws/religiontoday/11606436/
July 23 2009

MALATYA, Turkey (Compass Direct News) – Under the pretext of recovering
from medical treatment he received earlier this month, a key suspect
in the murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey dodged court
for the second time, further stalling the legal process, prosecuting
attorneys said.

Journalist Varol Bulent Aral, one of the suspected "middlemen" who
allegedly incited five young men to brutally murder Turkish Christians
Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann Geske at
the Zirve Publishing Co. in Malatya two years ago, again failed to
show at a hearing on Friday (July 17).

The three Christians were bound and tortured before they were
murdered on April 18, 2007 at the Christian publishing house, where
they worked. Suspects Salih Guler, Cuma Ozdemir, Hamit Ceker, Abuzer
Yildirim and alleged ring-leader Emre Gunaydin were caught trying to
escape from the scene of the crime.

Aral was admitted for mental health treatment a few days after the
last hearing in June and was released from the Adiyaman penitentiary
hospital on July 8. The gendarmerie, however, failed to produce him
in court on Friday (July 17) claiming that he was recovering from
treatment.

Prosecuting attorneys pointed out that the reason the gendarmerie did
not bring him to the June hearing from the penitentiary in Adana,
nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Malatya, was due to lack of
funds – yet the gendarmerie seemed to have no trouble finding funds
to take him for treatment in Adiyaman, which is the same distance
from Adana as is Malatya.

"Last time [in June] they said they couldn’t bring him because of
insufficient funds," said prosecuting lawyer Erdal Dogan. "This is
unacceptable… now in the same way they make excuses, saying they
took him to the hospital. It seems they are mocking us, especially
since previous health reports said that he was in good health."

Prosecuting attorneys also pointed out that it was suspicious that
Aral was admitted to the hospital only days after a court order that
he appear at the July 17 hearing.

"It seems to us that they are trying to silence him by making him
evade court," said prosecuting attorney Dogan of the "deep state"
officials that he and his colleagues believe masterminded the murders
of the three Christians. "I truly hope that is not the case."

Charged with high-security cases, the gendarmerie are holding Aral,
but some believe the gendarmerie and its intelligence services are
connected with Turkey’s "deep state."

In the last year, nearly 150 people have been arrested in Turkey
under suspicion of being connected to a cabal of retired generals
and politicians called Ergenekon, accused of trying to overthrow
Turkey’s Islamic-leaning but secular government. Some key figures
of the Ergenekon case are believed to be behind the Malatya slayings
and the murders of Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro, killed in
the Black Sea coastal town of Trabzon in February 2006, and Armenian
Christian editor Hrant Dink, who was shot in front of the weekly Agos
three months before the slaughter in Malatya.

The Malatya and Ergenekon prosecutors, however, are still researching
links between the murders and have yet to try them jointly.

Aral has been arrested in conjunction with both cases. In a previous
statement, he had complained that retired Gen. Veli Kucuk, who has
also been arrested in connection to Ergenekon, had threatened him about
testifying. Aral testified to the Ergenekon case state judges privately
in May, but the content of his testimony has not been publicized.

Judges have found the phone numbers of ultranationalist lawyer Kemal
Kerincsiz and Sevgi Erenerol, spokesperson for the Turkish Orthodox
Church – a Turkish nationalist denomination – in Aral’s personal
phone book. Both figures are accused of playing leading roles in
Ergenekon and spearheaded prosecution of Christians Hakan Tastan and
Turan Topal for speaking to people about their faith.

While in prison, alleged ring-leader Gunaydin testified to the state
prosecutor that Aral had contacted him and instructed him to carry
out the murders. Gunaydin had also testified that Huseyin Yelki,
who worked as a volunteer at the Zirve office, had planned details
of the crime with him.

Yelki is still obligated to appear at every court hearing and continues
to be a suspected middleman. Thus far, however, his testimony has
yielded no clear indication of his role.

Burcu Polat, Gunaydin’s girlfriend, also failed to appear in court
on Friday, telling police that she was not ready because she is a
student in Balikesir, in northwest Turkey. The prosecution noted in
court that universities are not in session and requested that the
court find her guilty of not fulfilling her duty to appear in court.

The court again has ordered Aral and Polat to appear in court at the
next hearing on Aug. 21.

INTERVIEW: CRISIS VINDICATES ARMENIA CENTRAL BANK’S CONSERVATIVE POLICY
Ben Aris in Yerevan

Business New Europe
VIEW_Crisis_vindicates_Armenia_central_banks_conse rvative_policy
July 22 2009

Armenia’s bankers used to curse the Central Bank of Armenia. Business
was booming and entrepreneurs wanted the bank to loosen the fiscal
reigns a bit so they could grow faster, but the CBA stuck to its
conservative regime based on the Dutch model of prudent growth and
caution. Then the world’s financial system fell to pieces last autumn
and as the dust settles, Armenia’s bankers and businesses find they
are amongst the few left standing in the region. The CBA’s policies
have been vindicated and the country’s banking sector is amongst the
world’s healthiest.

That’s not to say the country wasn’t affected. "In October 2008,
Armenia was seriously affected by the international crisis via a
downturn in trade," Arthur Javadyan, governor of the CBA, tells bne
in an exclusive interview. "The effect was immediate; for example,
construction production fell by 56% between January and May of this
year and things like retail turnover and brandy production also fell
on the back of falling demand, especially in Russia."

As the situation deteriorated in the first quarter, the CBA took
the dramatic decision to devalue the dram by about 22% at the start
of March, falling from 306 to the dollar to about 380. Since then,
it has recovered to 360, which the CBA considers to be its fair
value. "The economy has adjusted to the new exchange rate. There has
been a general decline in the world economy and this means that the
exchange rates have to be adjusted, but there is no pressure on the
currency now and the CBA has not had to intervene on the currency
market at all in the last three months," says Javadyan.

Expecting the economy to contract by some 7-8% at the start of this
year, the actual contraction of 15.7% in the second quarter came as a
shock. But since then, deals have been cut with both the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and Russia to raise over a billion dollars in loans
and the economy had begun to stabilise by June. "The [international
financial institutions] stepped up to the plate as spring arrived and
implemented a growth promotion package that includes things like road
construction, earthquake zone protection, as well as credit lines for
[small and medium-sized enterprises] to lay the basis for strong growth
recovery in the medium term. We expect a 6-7% decline in the economy
as a whole for 2009, up to 9% – depending on which state organ you
ask – with growth of 1-1.5% returning in 2010," says Javadyan.

Bounce back

On the face of it, those numbers look awful, but Armenia remains in a
good position to bounce back relatively quickly thanks to the prudence
of the CBA and the relatively underdeveloped state of the economy. The
collapse of the construction sector was a severe blow, as it was one
of the most important engines of growth. Most of the banking sector’s
non-performing loans are overdue mortgages, but credits by banks to
the construction sector account for only 0.5% of their total loans,
says Javadyan. "The owners of construction companies are mostly tycoons
and they can simply wait until times get better again," says Javadyan.

Still, the CBA is working to put in place the institutions to support
the market, irrespective of how rich the company owners are, and
recently established a state mortgage agency together with the World
Bank’s International Finance Corporation to refinance mortgage loans,
which is designed to support the secondary market as well as the
construction industry.

The multilateral loans will be key in restarting economic growth
and Javadyan sees the crisis as a cathartic pause more than real
disaster. "The World Bank has given us a $700m loan, which will be
used on three programmes to build infrastructure that is designed to
help during the crisis and promote growth afterwards," he says. "There
is another $700m from the IMF under the standby programme, which we
will use to support the currency." And the Russians also kicked in a
$500m loan that will be used on infrastructural projects as well as
a refinancing of loans programme.

Most of the aid has been aimed at the banking sector. After running
a tight monetary policy until the devaluation, the CBA has since
significantly loosened its control and pumped liquidity into
the sector. Amongst other things, the banks were given access to
longer-term money after the repurchase agreement terms were extended
from one week to three months. And the CBA also pumped in more
liquidity by buying back treasury bills on the domestic exchange – the
most developed part of the domestic capital market – to return cash
to banks to the tune of AMD20bn ($55m) since April 1. More liquidity
was provided through dram forex swaps. In addition, the central bank
intends to create some new lending instruments, says Javadyan, using
part of the Russian money to further bolster the position of banks
with loans targeted at the agricultural and small business sectors
by pre-financing loans – the bank offer credits and once these have
been approved, they can apply to the CBA for refinancing.

Like elsewhere, NPLs are a growing problem, but as retail lending had
only just started in earnest, neither the banks nor the consumers
had enough time to run up big debts. "NPLs in the sector are about
6.5% now, which is good compared our neighbours and even the EU. But
consider that the capital adequacy ratio for the sector is over 27% –
well above the mandatory level of 12% – and the sector is in a pretty
comfortable position," says Javadyan.

The CBA does regular stress tests and has been anticipating any
problems. And it’s the CBA’s prudence that is largely responsible
for the lack of problems the sector enjoys today. "Still, the bank
sector is small, not very transparent and we still have problems
with corporate governance. More than 65% of the bank sector assets
are controlled by seven entities – mostly international banks, while
our oligarchs control only a few banks," says Javadyan. "So we should
continue to be very tough with the regulation of the bank sector and
I was at a recent meeting of the central bankers club where everyone
now seems to be going in this direction."

ARMENIAN AND SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES RELATED TO THE ARMENIA-EUROPEAN UNION RELATIONS

ARMENPRESS
July 21, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Edward
Nalbandian yesterday discussed a wide range of issues related to the
Armenia-European Union relations with the Foreign Affairs Minister
of Sweden Carl Bildt.

During the press conference after the meeting E. Nalbandian noted that
issues connected with the enhancement and deepening of cooperation
and collaborative steps to be undertaken towards it were also subject
to discussions.

"The cooperation between Armenia and EU is multilateral. We cooperate
in different projects and formats, particularly the Partnership
and cooperation treaty, European neighborhood policy as well as the
Eastern partnership. According to the agreement reached within the
frameworks of the visit of the Armenian President to Brussels in
November 2008 another cooperation format was launched in addition
to the existing ones – the presence of the EU consultation group
to Armenia which assists the process of reforms undergoing in the
legislative, executive and judicial system," the Minister noted.

According to E. Nalbandian Armenia will continue its foreign political
course of coming closer to the European Union and intends to implement
necessary steps and reforms towards it.

The Armenian-Swedish relations in a number of spheres including
the economic one have also become subject for yesterday’s
discussions. Minister Nalbandian stressed that the sides have expressed
their gratification on the latest intensification of cooperation
between the business circles which can serve as an impetus for the
development of multilateral cooperation in different spheres.

In his turn C. Bildt reconfirmed that during the meeting issues
of enhancement of cooperation and steps to be undertaken towards
it have been discussed. Development of the economic cooperation,
simplification of the order of getting the entrance visa, creation of
facilities for free trade have also been stressed as important which
will be bilaterally profitable in respect of the overcoming of the
established difficult situation in the conditions of the recession. The
human rights protection issues have also been stressed as important.

C. Bildt stressed the great importance attached to the improvement
of relations between Armenia and Turkey as well as the opening of
borders which "will have a tremendous profit".

He once more stressed the readiness of EU to assist the process of
improvement of these relations. The Swedish Foreign Minister also
stressed that they will attentively follow the development of event
after the Moscow meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
and encourage the continuation of negotiations.

ARMENIAN ‘FRUIT’ JUICE RECALLED

The Dominion Post
July 20 2009

Yan drinks are being pulled from supermarket shelves after a Commerce
Commission investigation found drinks marketed as high-end "fruit
juice" actually contained no detectable fruit content.

The commission said today Armenian Imports Limited, trading as Super
Juice, imported various drink products from Armenia and sold them in
supermakets across the country under the brand name "Yan".

The commission said it tested products described as 100 percent
blackcurrant juice, 100 percent peach juice and 100 percent pomegranate
juice.

Other claims on the packaging were that the juices were free of added
sugar, preservatives, artificial flavours, colouring or sweeteners.

Tests revealed the blackcurrant and peach juice had few or no signs
of any fruit content, let alone what was stated on the package.

"Testing for the product claimed to be 100 per cent pomegranate
juice indicated that although it may contain some pomegranate juice,
it is unlikely that it is 100 per cent pure pomegranate juice.,"
said the commission.

Another Yan product claiming to be 100 percent apricot juice had not
been tested.

The vitamin C levels reported on the packaging were also called
into question as they did not align with the levels associated with
blackcurrants, peaches or pomegranates.

Commerce Commission director of fair trade, Adrian Sparrow, said
testing clearly showed the labelling on the drink packaging was
incorrect and the distributor had agreed to recall the products until
further testing could determine "the exact nature of the products
they have imported".

"As the exact nature of the products is unknown there is not only
potential contravention of the Fair Trading Act but risk to consumers,"
said Sparrow.

"Although at this stage of the commission’s investigation, there
is no evidence to suggest that these products are unsafe, given the
uncertainty as to the products’ ingredients, the commission advises
consumers to exercise caution if they have known allergies," he added.

Yan products have been stocked by around 30 stores and supermarkets
around the country and buyers can seek a refund from the place of
purchase with a receipt or packaging.

The products have been imported into the country since early 2007,
but a commission spokesperson told BusinessDay it was unclear how
long the products had been sold to the public.

Breaches of the Fair Trading Act can result in a maximum fine of
$200,000 for a company and $60,000 for an individual. The Commerce
Commission said the investigation is continuing.

In Suren Sureniants’ affirmation, some document on Nagorno Karabakh
settlement will be signed in early 2010

YEREVAN, JULY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. The territories adjoining Nagorno
Karabakh have been liberated by Armenia as security zones, and sooner
or later presence of Armenians should be replaced there by the
respective international security guarantees and respective
peacekeeping contingent. Stating this at the July 17 press conference,
Suren Sureniants, a Political Board member of the Hanrapetutiun
(Republic) party making part of the Armenian National Congress
meanwhile said that he does not mean Lachin and Kelbajar, which are
situated between RA and NKR. According to him, they should remain under
Armenia’s control, at least until the issue of NKR status is clarified.

In S. Sureniants’ opinion, indeed the Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan are not so interested in problem’s solution, but Madrid
proposals, with some reservations, can become a basis for Nagorno
Karabakh settlement.

The positions of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, Russia,
France, and the U.S. in the issue of Nagorno Karabakh settlement have
become close, which, according to S. Sureniants, will no longer give a
possibility of manoeuvring and delaying the settlement to the
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. As a result, in S. Sureniants’
affirmation, some document on Nagorno Karabakh settlement will be
signed in early 2010.

Recent developments around NKR conflict show Stepanakert’s firm position
18.07.2009 16:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recent developments around NKR conflict settlement
show Stepanakert’s firm position, Head of Hay Dat Bureau Kiro Manoyan
told a news conference in Yerevan. `Recently NKR President Bako
Shakyan repeatedly emphasized the necessity of NKR’s involvement in
negotiation process. As a consequence, before Moscow meeting of
Armenian and Azeri Presidents, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
visited Bako Sahakyan in Sepanakert to discuss issues on NKR
negotiation process,’ Kiro Manoyan noted. According to the Head of Hay
Dat, neither Yerevan nor Stepanakert can benefit today from
intensification of differences on NKR conflict.

IRANIAN AIR ACCIDENT CAUSED BY TECHNICAL FAILURE

Avionews
p?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1107292& pagina_chiamante=index.php
July 17 2009

Tehran, Iran – Pilot’s responsibility excluded. Also two Canadians
among the victims

(WAPA) – It would have been a technical failure, not a pilot’s
mistake, the cause of Wednesday’s tragical air accident, in which 168
have been killed on board of Tupolev Tu-154, en route from Tehran,
Iran, to Yerevan, Armenia, that crashed near the city of Qazvin
(see AVIONEWS). The announcement was made by Ahmad Majidi, Iranian
deputy-transport minister.

"Because of the severity of the crash -Mr. Majidi added- the two
black box recorders found are badly damaged, even though they are
made of steel. The tapes were out on the ground. We might send the
black box to Russia, where they were manufactured, to chase the issue
with their help".

The major part of the 153 passengers on board were of Iranian
or Iranian-Armenian nationality, but there were also Georgian
and Armenian citizens. Canada’s foreign ministry has furthermore
confirmed the presence among the victims of two Canadian citizens,
without unveiling their identities. Many media report that they might
be a woman with her 3-year-old son. (Avionews)

(009) 090717122114-1107292 (World Aeronautical Press Agency –
2009-07-17 12:21 pm)

ARMENIAN MAN MISSES DOOMED IRAN FLIGHT DUE TO PARTYING
by Armen Hareyan

HULIQ
July 16 2009
SC

A citizen of Armenia Haroutiun Khalghatyan can well celebrate a
second birth. He miraculously missed his flight yesterday from Iran’s
capital Tehran to Armenia, which never landed taking the lives of
170 passenger.

An Iranian Armenian blogger Vartan Davtian blogs from Tehran that
Armenian citizen Haroutiun Khalghatyan was late of his flight
yesterday, which saved his life. Everyone is calling this a true
miracle.

Khalghatyan, was in Iran on a working visit. A day before he was
partying in Tehran’s Ararat Armenian Center. Blogger Davtian writes
that after speaking with friends of Khalghatyan he learned that the
later woke up very late after partying the night before and thus was
already late of his flight.

He missed his flight, which never landed, but he got a second chance
on his life. Khalghatyan is 44 years old.

Flight 7908, which took off from Tehran on route to Armenia’s capital
Yerevan, crashed shortly after the take off. Black boxes have been
found and will be sent to Russia for interpretation. The plane was
Russian made Tu 154.

ARMENIAN BAR OF LAWYERS INTENDS TO INTRODUCE CARPA SYSTEM MODEL

ArmInfo
2009-07-17 16:05:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian Bar of Lawyers is going to introduce CARPA
system model on regulation of financial problems of French lawyers. In
this connection, Chairman of the Bar Rouben Sahakyan and Chairman
of Araratbank Board Ashot Osipyan will sign an agreement on July
18. As the Bar of Lawyers told ArmInfo, the leadership of CARPA
system structure in France supports introduction of CARPA system
in Armenia. The CARPA chairman and a group of lawyers have arrived
in Yerevan to participate in the official ceremony of agreement
signing. About 75 well-known lawyers and offices gave their consent
to membership in the newly-created structure.

According to the source, CARPA will lead to formation of a new
business environment in Armenia. The given system aims to simplify
the financial management of lawyer’s offices, ensure the security of
financial operations, ensure signing of civil-legal transactions with
participation of lawyers, and thereby raise the popularity of lawyers
and the confidence in them. The system will give an opportunity
to keep the lawyers’ banking accounts with ensuring implementation
of obligations.

The source says CARPA was established in France in 1956 on a voluntary
basis. The goal of CARPA is to simplify and regulate procedure
relations between the citizens and lawyers.

Banks urged to lend more

The Straits Times (Singapore)
July 15, 2009

PARIS — French banks should lend more to companies and a number of
positive signs are pointing to economic recovery, the minister in
charge of implementing the country’s stimulus plan said in remarks
broadcast on Wednesday.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio, Patrick Devedjian joined a chorus of
voices seeking to raise pressure on lenders to supply enough liquidity
to help the global economy recover.

‘Banks are in a delicate situation, I understand this well, but we
need lenders to be more generous in offering credit because this is
what supports the economy,’ he said.

‘Of course, we are in a crisis, of course it has not ended, but at the
same time, a number of positive signs have appeared almost
everywhere,’ he said.

— REUTERS

s/World/Story/STIStory_403496.html