Author: Frangulian Shushan

Azerbaijan Business Center , Azerbaijan
March 10 2009

Azerbaijani FM: issue of country’s readiness for EU membership should
be solved together with EU’s readiness to accept Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. In an interview for TV channel Euronews foreign
affairs minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan clarified some issues
relating to discussion of European prospects of his country.

Mammadyarov stated that the matter of prospects of Azerbaijan’s
membership in the European Union consists of two parts ` Azerbaijan’s
readiness to enter the EU and readiness of the EU to accept it.

`Both issues should be solved in complex,’ the FM considers.

`Despite participation in programs of European Neighborhood Policy
(ENP) and Eastern Partnership, Azerbaijan has not submitted formal
request for membership in the EU.

`And the most difficult for Azerbaijan issue of Nagorno Garabagh
conflict with Armenia should be settled on the basis of European
standards ` no one of the EU states is occupying any other country and
does not conduct there ethnic cleansing,’ Mammadayrov said.

Armenia is occupying 20% of Azerbaijani territory and evicted 1
million people from its territory and occupied districts of
Azerbaijan.

Panorama.am
13:03 10/03/2009

`ONE SHOT, ONE MINUTE’ INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

On 17-24 May seventh international festival `One shot, one minute’
will be launched in Yerevan organized by Armenian Center for
Contemporary Experimental Art (NPAK), told Vahram Akimyan the
organizer of the festival to Panorama.am.
According to him one minute long films shot in one sequence will be
included into the festival. There are no limits on age, sex,
nationality for the participants and genre differentiations for the
films. Every year the organizers receive more applications for the
festival.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENPRESS

SPOKESMAN FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON THE STATEMENT OF GEORGIAN
PRESIDENT ABOUT `COLLAPSE’ OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS: Spokesman for the Armenian President
Samvel Farmanyan commented with the request of Mediamax on the recent
statement of Georgian president about the `collapse’ of the Armenian
economy.
`The assessments of the President of Georgia given to the Armenian
economy at the opening of an entertainment center are absolutely
ungrounded. On the other, hand I do not think that giving such
assessments is the best variant of diverting the attention of the own
people from the various issues existing in Georgia. The President of
Armenia was many times directed questions about inner-political and
social-economic situation in our neighboring countries and, as you
have noticed, the President of the Republic has never expressed
himself over such issues, no matter how attractive it will seem in
this or that situation, leaving the comments of these issues to
analysts or state and political figures of those countries. The
political correctness supposes this,’ the spokesman said.

ANKARA PREPARING TO HOST CLINTON

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2009 18:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that
the scheduled visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to
Ankara would reaffirm the strategic partnership between Turkey and
the United States.

Burak O"zu"gergin, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said on Friday that the Turkish government maintained its mutual
consultation and cooperation process with the new U.S. administration
on all levels.

"Mrs Clinton will pay a working visit to Ankara on Saturday upon an
invitation by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Following their
tete-a-tete meeting, Babacan and Clinton will also hold talks over
a luncheon. She will also be received by President Abdullah Gu"l and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdog(an. Besides Turkey-the United States
bilateral relations, international issues will be high on agenda of
the secretary’s talks," O"zu"gergin said.

PAPAL HOLY LAND TRIP TO HAVE INTERRELIGIOUS FOCUS

Catholic.net
March 5 2009

JERUSALEM, MARCH 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will be taking
many steps to promote interreligious dialogue during his May trip
to the Holy Land, according to an unofficial itinerary. Jean-Marie
Allafort from "Un Echo d’Israel," a Christian newsletter in Israel,
spoke with ZENIT about the Pope’s unofficial schedule for the May
11-15 trip, though he said that "neither the Vatican nor the State
of Israel has published the official program," and some items are
still being discussed.

According to Allafort, the trip will include a visit to the Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial, and a welcome from both the Israeli and
Palestinian Authority presidents.

Israeli President Shimon Peres is set to welcome the Holy Father on
May 11, and together they will visit the Yad Vashem, according to the
report. Later that evening, the Pontiff will attend an interreligious
meeting before proceeding to the apostolic nunciature where he will
reside during his stay,

On his second day in Israel, the Holy Father will meet with the mufti
of Jerusalem and then go to the Wailing Wall to take part in a ceremony
that will also be attended by the grand rabbis of Israel. Later that
morning, he will visit the rabbinate of Israel.

At noon, the Holy Father will pray in the Cenacle, where Jesus held his
Last Supper. And then he will visit the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem
to meet and lunch with the Catholic ordinaries of the Holy Land. That
evening he will visit Gethsemane and celebrate a solemn Mass.

On May 13, the unofficial itinerary has Benedict XVI visiting
Bethlehem, where he will be welcomed by the president of the
Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and other Palestinian
leaders. There he will visit the Basilica of the Nativity and
celebrate Mass.

In the afternoon, he is set to visit a refugee camp near Bethlehem,
as well as a work of charity, though this latter site has not been
determined.

The program for Thursday, May 14, is still being considered, but the
Holy Father is expected to celebrate Mass in the morning in Nazareth
and meet with religious leaders of Galilee.

On his last day, the Bishop of Rome will visit the Orthodox patriarch
of Jerusalem in the patriarchate. Then he will go to the Holy Sepulcher
where he will be received by the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land,
and where he will be spend time in prayer.

Later that morning, he will visit the Armenian neighborhood of the
Old City of Jerusalem and meet with the Armenian Orthodox patriarch.

He is scheduled to leave Israel around 2 p.m. that afternoon.

AMBASSADOR OF AUSTRIA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA
March 4 2009
Armenia

On March 3 the RA NA President Mr Hovik Abrahamyan received the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of
Austria to the Republic of Armenia Mr Marius Kaligaris.

Highly assessing the Armenian-Austrian relations the NA President Mr
Hovik Abrahamyan highlighted the development of bilateral relations and
the activation of inter-parliamentary cooperation and the cooperation
at the level of committees and MPs. Considering the European
integration as one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy Mr
Abrahamyan noted that the Action Plan of the European Neighbourhood
policy opened new perspectives of development in all directions and in
this context he highlighted the deepening of relations with Austria
as EU member. To his conviction, in this aspect there is big unused
potential of cooperation with Austria. Noting the visits of the past
years the NA President Mr Hovik Abrahamyan considered useful the visit
of the Austrian colleagues to the National Assembly and invited on an
official visit to Armenia the newly elected President of the Austrian
Parliament Mrs Barbara Prammer.

Reserving a special role to the parliament in the development of
the relations of the two countries the Ambassador Mr Marius Kaligaris
highlighted the deepening of the Armenian-Austrian relations within the
EU New Neighbourhood framework, too.The Ambassador noted that Austria
highlighted the deepening of relations with South Cuacasian region,
noting with satisfaction the current high level of cooperation. In
this context was highlighted the European Union-Eastern Neighbours
programme, where the three republics of the South Caucasus, Moldova,
Ukraine and Belarus were included.

Mr Kaligaris considered necessary the activation of the
inter-parliamentary relations, noting that in the newly elected
National Council of Austria the establishment of the committee on
Austria-South Caucasus-Middle Asia parliamentary cooperation was
envisaged, which would boost the inter-parliamentary relations and
make the cooperation full and constructive.

During the meeting the perspectives of the development of bilateral
relations, as well as other issues concerning the inner-political
situation of Armenia and of bilateral interest were also discussed.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO KEEP BACKING PROMISING ENTERPRISES

ARKA
March 5, 2009

YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. Armenia’s government will keep supporting
promising and effective enterprises amid the global economic crisis,
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said.

In the past months, the RA Government held meetings with private
entrepreneurs to discuss existing problems and hardships, Sargsyan
said Wednesday during his interview to local TV channels.

According to the premier, devaluation of the Armenian dram will create
favorable conditions for local producers and exporters and they will
start implementing new programs.

"We have discussed these programs in detail. Devaluation of the
national currency was not a surprise for them and they must resume
some of the frozen programs," Sargsyan was quoted saying.

If hardships, local companies can turn to the RA Government’s task
group and get state support, the prime minister said.

"We will give priority to those enterprises that are facing temporary
difficulties, but have large export capacities," Sargsyan said, adding
the government had backed many such enterprises. "Our allocations
will be under public control," the premier said, stressing strong
exporting enterprises with new employment opportunities would be in
the government’s focus.

GAS, WATER AND POWER TARIFFS TO RISE IN ARMENIA FROM APRIL 1ST

Noyan Tapan

M arch 2, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 27 sitting, the RA
Public Services Regulatory Commission made a decision to establish the
following tariffs of natural gas sold to comsumers by ArmRusgazprom
CJSC (starting from April 1st): the tariff of gas sold to consumers of
up to 10 thousand cubic meters of natural gas will make 96 thousand
drams, the tariff of gas sold to consumers of 10 thousand and more
cubic meters of natural gas will make a sum equivalent to 215 USD.

By another decision of the Commission, the tariff of one kilowatt of
electric power sold to consumers by Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC
was established at 30 drams. A tariff of 179.78 drams was established
for one cubic meter of drinking water supplied to consumers by
ArmWaterCanal CJSC.

ON FEBRUARY 27, 2009, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN LEFT FOR MOSCOW ON A ONE-DAY WORKING VISIT TO DISCUSS AN ARMENIA-RUSSIA ECONOMIC COOPERATION-RELATED AGENDA

Monda y, 2 March 2009

On February 27, 2009, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan left for Moscow
on a one-day working visit to discuss an Armenia-Russia economic
cooperation-related agenda. First, the Prime Minister met with RF
Central Bank Chairman Sergey Ignatyev. The parties looked at the
steps taken by the Central Bank of Russia towards the maintenance of
financial stability and exchanged views on those actions underway in
both countries to mitigate the negative impact of the global financial
crisis. A key item on the meeting agenda was the crediting of Armenian
real sector enterprises on the part of the Interstate Bank.

During a private meeting, co-chairmen of the intergovernmental
commission on economic cooperation Tigran Sargsyan and Igor Levitin
spoke about the traditional spheres of bilateral cooperation. In
particular, they addressed the steps underway in the energy and
transport sectors along with their timings and related problems.

At the Armenian Embassy in Moscow, the Prime Minister met with the
representatives of business circles. Tigran Sargsyan delivered a
keynote speech entitled "Armenia: the strategy of the future." Both
the theses and ideas reflected in the speech were given a favorable
consideration on the part of those present. Russian scientist Vorontsov
who had closely cooperated with Armenian engineers on road building
projects in Yerevan, noted: "While I am Russian, but I am a citizen of
the Armenian world." The businessmen proved to be interested in a broad
range of questions concerning different spheres of economy – energy
sector reforms, infrastructure development, small and medium-size
enterprise support, incentives for the real sector and development of
tourism in the Armenian world. Tigran Sargsyan suggested cooperating
closely with the Business Support Council of Armenia, The Project
Implementation Agency, the Operative Headquarters and the Armenian
Development Agency.

During the meeting with the head of RF Government, the parties said
to be pleased with the current dynamics of bilateral trade and
discussed questions of mutual interest. Vladimir Putin said that
despite the negative impact of the global financial and economic
crisis, commodity circulation between two countries has grown by
10 % to USD 900 million. He further advised that during a recent
meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Davos, he had
the opportunity of presenting his government’s economic assistance
programs for Armenia. Said assistance will shortly be translated into
a stabilization credit to the amount of USD 500 million available
to Armenia.

Tigran Sargsyan invited his Russian counterpart to visit Armenia
at his convenience. In accepting 0Athe invitation, Vladimir Putin
informed that the two vice-premiers of Russia, inclusive of Minister
of Regional Development Dmitry Kozak, will soon come to Armenia to
discuss transition to a new stage of economic cooperation.

Turkish Press
Feb 28 2009

Relations With Turkey Better After Cooperation Against Terrorist
Group, Senior U.S. Diplomat Says

Published: 2/28/2009

WASHINGTON – A senior U.S. diplomat said Friday relations between
Turkey and the United States had taken a turn for the better after the
two countries started to cooperate actively against the terrorist
organization PKK.
"Relations are better after Turkey and the U.S. launched in November
2007 an active cooperation against PKK terrorism. The new
administration is going to build relations up on this actual
agenda. Luckily, an era of tensions about Iraq have passed," said Dan
Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Speaking at a press briefing on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton’s prospective foreign visits in March to a number of countries
including Turkey, Fried said Turkey was an important actor in its
region.
"Turkey is an important player who has relations with all the sides in
the Middle East and in the Southern Caucasus. Turkey is a great friend
for the U.S. in issues such as Georgia, Azerbaijan-Armenia relations
and the Upper Karabakh," Fried said.
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