SU-25 COMBAT JET CRASHES IN AZERBAIJAN, PILOT KILLED
RIA Novosti
17:3803/03/2010
A fighter plane of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces crashed on Wednesday
during a training flight, killing the pilot, the country’s Defense
Ministry said.
A Su-25 Frogfoot close air support aircraft crashed in the Shamkir
district in northwest Azerbaijan at about 5 p.m. local time [13:00
GMT], the ministry said.
An investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched,
the ministry said.
DAVUTOGLU REAFFIRMS ANKARA’S WILL TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS
Today’s Zaman
Feb 11 2010
Turkey
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has firmly rejected arguments
suggesting that there has been deterioration in Turkey’s political
will to normalize relations with its estranged neighbor Armenia.
Davutoglu’s remarks came on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of
his departure to Kazakhstan for a three-day official visit when he
was reminded of certain claims made in the wake of Ankara’s uneasiness
over an Armenian court ruling which the Turkish capital says threatens
protocols signed to normalize relations with Yerevan.
"Our strong political will regarding all types of efforts in the
direction of the constitution of permanent peace and stability in
the Caucasus exists," Davutoglu said, adding that Turkey’s efforts
are based on its strong resolve to contribute to the maintenance
of peace and stability, which will continue in the coming period
with the country making bold moves. After months of Swiss mediation
and US encouragement, Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in
October 2009 to establish diplomatic ties and reopen their shared
border. However, the process hit rocky ground after an Armenian court
upheld the legality of the protocols but underlined that they could
not contradict Yerevan’s official position that the alleged Armenian
genocide must be internationally recognized.
Turkey accused Yerevan of trying to rewrite and place conditions on
the deals. Armenia’s president and foreign minister have warned that
the rapprochement is under threat of collapse.
Ankara attaches importance to the advancement of this strong political
will within the framework of the initial perspective which put forth
such will, Davutoglu said, echoing Ankara’s view that the Armenian
court’s decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions
that go against the letter and spirit of the protocols.
Calling on every related party to play its part to achieve peace and
stability, Davutoglu noted that the international community’s support
on this issue has been continuing. Davutoglu’s visit to the Kazakh
capital of Astana is taking place at the invitation of his Kazakh
counterpart, Kanat Saudabayev.
Recalling that Kazakhstan’s one-year chairmanship of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) formally began last
month and that Turkey will take over the term presidency of the
Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia
(CICA) in June from Kazakhstan, which has held the presidency since
it was established in 1993, Davutoglu said the two countries would
be assuming the presidencies of two of the most important security
organizations in Europe and Asia for around one year.
Noting that this would be his first visit to Kazakhstan in his
capacity as foreign minister, a position he assumed in May of last
year, Davutoglu said he planned to visit other Central Asian countries
as well.
"Central Asia is a region which constitutes one of the most strategic
backbones of our foreign policy. It is a region to which we are
attached by cultural ties, beyond being in the same neighborhood,
although we are not immediate neighbors. We are determined to develop
these relationships by deepening them further in the coming months."
Ankara believes that Kazakhstan’s one-year chairmanship of the OSCE
will offer an opportunity to create synergy between the 56-nation
transatlantic security body and the CICA due to close coordination
between Turkey and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the first former Soviet
state to chair the OSCE, after making promises to carry out democratic
reforms.
140,000 DIE FROM CANCER ANNUALLY IN TURKEY
Tert.am
14:51 ~U 04.02.10
About 140,000 people die from cancer in Turkey every year, said state
doctor and professor Murat Tuncer, head of the Department of the Fight
Against Cancer at the Turkish Ministry of Healthcare, in a interview
with Turkish NTV TV channel said
According to Tuncer, in Turkey, in the next 20 years, cancer deaths can
be as much as 500,000 individuals each year. The professor forecasts
the number of cancer cases to be 150,000 each year, even rising to
a total number of 1.5 million annually.
Currently there are 396,000 people diagnosed with cancer in Turkey,
Tuncer said.
Among women, it is breast cancer that is more widespread, while among
men, it’s lung cancer.
US Fed News
January 7, 2010 Thursday 5:16 PM EST
Publication No. WO/1910/000001 Published on Jan. 7, Armenian Inventors
Develop Bar Clamping, Tightening Tool
GENEVA, Jan. 8 — Karen Gasparyan and Patvakan Hakhinyan, both of
Armenia, have developed a bar clamping and tightening tool.
According to an abstract posted by the World Intellectual Property
Organization: "The present invention is related to hand-operated
clamping and tightening tools. A bar clamping and tightening tool is
disclosed, comprising a bar, a stationary jaw assembly which can be
fixed on and released from either end of the bar and comprises a
stationary jaw mounted in and spring- loaded relative to the housing
of the stationary jaw assembly, a moveable jaw assembly which can
slide along the bar and comprises a housing to which a moveable jaw
and a rear handle are fixed, a drive handle mounted in the housing of
the moveable jaw assembly so that it can pivot about said housing,
drive levers which are mounted in and spring- loaded relative to the
housing of the moveable jaw assembly and can slide along and be fixed
on the bar, a locking lever mounted in the front of the housing of the
moveable jaw assembly, wherein the stationary jaw can pivot about the
housing of the stationary jaw assembly and comprises a means for being
fixed on the bar. The efficiency of use is increased." The invention
carries International Patent Publication No. WO/1910/000001 on Jan.
07. The original patent was filed in Armenia under application No.
PCT/AM2009/000004 on July 1, 2009. It is available at:
000004
ARMENIA: RESULTS OF 2009 SPORTS YEAR SUMMED UP
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 18:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Sports and Concert Complex after Karen Demirchyan
hosted Friday a ceremony of awarding Armenian sportsmen and coaches
who brought medals from 2009 international competitions.
National Olympic Committee President Gagik Tsarukyan gave car presents
to weightlifters Arakel Mirzoyan, Tigran G. Martirosyan, Hripsime
Khurshudyan, boxer Andranik Hakobyan, wrestler Roman Amoyan and judo
athlete Hovhannes Davtyan. Weightlifting world champion Nazik Avdalyan
received an apartment in Yerevan.
Money awards were handed to the individual and chief coaches, as well
as to the top 135 sportsmen of the year.
NOC President Gagik Tsarukyan honored Basketball Federation President
Hrachya Rostomyan and Hatis club’s chief coach Gia Kazanchyan with
Hrant Shahinyan medal.
WSJ, ICG AND ARMENIA’S SILENCE: A FAMILIAR FORMULA FOR A FAIT ACCOMPLI
By Ara Khachatourian
sj-icg-and-armenia%e2%80%99s-silence-a-familiar-fo rmula-for-a-fait-accompli/
Oct 7th, 2009
A constant has emerged in the suspense/surprise-filled processes that
have dominated our national agenda this past year. The Wall Street
Journal and the International Crisis Group have become harbingers of
sort for heralding a fait accompli for Armenia.
It was in late March that the Wall Street Journal reported on
the specifics of what became widely known as the "roadmap" to
Turkey-Armenia rapprochement. That report was immediately-if not
simultaneously-followed by a heavily biased report from a so-called
independent think tank known as the International Crisis Group.
Both foreshadowed a deal in mid-April that would pave the way for
the normalization of ties between Armenia and Turkey. Both reports
were also rife with hints at preconditions, including the need for
an immediate resolution to the Karabakh conflict, by way of alluding
to an agreement by Armenian and Azeri leaders about withdrawal of
Armenian forces from the liberated territories and the establishment
of a historic commission to study the Armenian Genocide.
Fast forward to October (the eve of a meeting between Serzh Sarkisian
and Ilham Aliyev on Thursday in Moldova and a previously announced
schedule for Armenia and Turkey to sign the protocols on Saturday)
and the Wall Street Journal prints an interview with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who says that protocols will be signed
regardless of the outcome of the Moldova meeting and the ICG’s report
includes a multi-point assessment, which claims that Armenian and
Azeri leaders have already "broadly" agreed to a pullout and should
prepare their respective public for an eventual peace deal.
Erdogan also said the two processes – a resolution of the Karabakh
conflict and rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia – remain linked,
and that a positive outcome at this week’s talks, to be held in
Moldova, would help overall.
"This is perhaps the most important point – that Armenia should not
allow its policies to be taken hostage by the Armenian Diaspora,"
Erdogan told the Wall Street Journal.
Erdogan also reiterated earlier claims that an agreement has already
been reached on the withdrawal from five of the seven liberated
territories, with the fate of Lachin and Kelbajar, reportedly, still
up in the air.
On the heels of these reports also came an announcement late Tuesday
by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, inviting world historians to a
commission that is tasked to study the Armenian Genocide.
"There are all sorts of allegations about what happened a century
ago. It is clear that people who do not know what happened where or
how are not able to take decisions on this matter," Gul said in an
interview with Agence France Presse.
"What we hope is that historians, archive specialists study this matter
and we are ready to accept the conclusions of this commission. To
show that we are sincere, we even said that if a third country is
interested in this matter, if French historians, for example, want
to take part in this commission, they are welcome," he added on the
eve of a visit to France.
President Sarkisian has spent a better part of his week on Diaspora
tour telling his audiences in Paris, New York, Los Angeles,
Beirut and the Russian port city of Rostov that such a commission
is not stipulated in the protocols and assuring that whatever
historical discussion that is to take place, within the framework
of Armenia-Turkey ties, would be a discussion of post-Genocide
historical matters.
Gul’s statements are seen as a direct challenge to Sarkisian’s
assertions during his tour, which was met with angry protests
during all but one stop: the Russian city of Rostov. There, leading
Russian-Armenian organizations issued an announcement opposing the
protocols’ provisions that
If an agreement is to be signed on Saturday clearly there is a major
disconnect between the signatories.
While in Beirut, Sarkisian stressed that the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide is "not only a matter of the restoration of justice,
but also a major circumstance from the viewpoint of the security of
Armenia and the Armenian people." "It is a necessity," the president
stressed.
Furthermore, he underscored: "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will
get a solution only when we see that we’ve got what our people have
struggled for since 1988."
Gul’s blatant denial of the Genocide also goes counter to President
Obama’s wide support for the protocols, since he urged Turkey in
March to come to terms with its own history and acknowledge the past.
At press time, official Yerevan had no comment.
It is precisely for these and other more overbearing reasons that
Armenia should immediately pull out of this process and not enter
into such a critical agreement so hastily.
RA STATE FIGURES CONGRATULATE CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS ON OCCASION OF HIS BIRTHDAY
Noyan Tapan
Aug 24, 2009
ECHMIADZIN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Many congratulations from state,
political and public figures and foreign ambassadors were received on
August 21 in the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin on the occasion of the
58th birth anniversary of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. RA
President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated His Holiness and presented
his good wishes on that occasion.
RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamian visited the Catholicos of All Armenians
and presented his congratulations on the occasion of the anniversary.
During the meeting the NA Speaker awarded a medal of honor to the
Catholicos for his exclusive mission in the life of the Apostolic
Church of Armenia, Armenian people’s spiritual life, his contributions
to development of his national culture and preservation of national
identity and his prominent achievements.
According to the Information Services of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian, RA government members,
diocesan leaders, monks and management of the Mother See, merited
figures of culture congratulated His Holiness in Saint Echmiadzin
the same day.
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE CREDITS OF 44 MILLION DOLLARS TO THREE BIG ENTERPRISES IN MINING INDUSTRY
Noyan Tapan
June 29, 2009
YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Within the framework of its anticrisis
measures, the Armenian government will provide credits of 44 million
USD to three big enterprises in mining industry – Armenian Molybdenum
Production and the copper and molybdenum enterprises in Zangezur
and Agarak. RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian said at the June
26 sitting of the government held in Syunik marz that in this way
the government will promote the mining industry and encourage the
operation of companies having great export potential.
According to the minister, Armenian Molybdenum Production and the
Zangezur copper and molybdenum enterprise will receive 15 million USD
each, while the Agarak enterprise will be given 14 million USD, with
a repayment period of 4-5 years. The Ministry of Finance will sign
security agreements with these companies, and their production spaces
and the equipment to be purchased with credits are given as a security.
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that these are quite considerable
sums and will be allocated by the Russian side. In his opinion,
this will create activity in the life of Syunik marz (province) and
give impetus to the work of the indicated enterprises, helping them
overcome the temporary difficulties due to the crisis.
According to the prime minister, the Armenian commercial banks cannot
give large amounts of credits as they are not capitalized to such a
degree, and for that reason considerable credits are provided by the
state. He attached importance to public control of this process.
RIGHT-WING PARTIES HOLD VICTORY IN EURO-PARLIAMENT
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.06.2009 17:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During Euro-Parliament elections held on June 4-7,
European voters determined the fate of 736 mandates. According
to preliminary results, right-wing parties maintain control in
Parliament, although they display poorer result in comparison with
the elections held 5 years ago. As shown by preliminary data, only
43.24% of voters went to polling stations; this is the lowest rate
recorded over the whole history of Euro-Parliament elections. It
should be noted, however, that voting rate persistently went down
over the past 30 years, exceeding the 61% limit in 1979, and the 46%
limit in 2004. Left-wing parties are expected to receive 155-165
votes instead of the 216 received in 2004. In comparison with 2004,
all big factions will gain less seats in Euro-Parliament.
Right-winged European People’s Party (EPP) is likely to win 263-279
seats – much less than during previous elections. The seats remaining
vacant will be occupied by smaller factions, such as the Green Party.
Jose Manuel Barrozu who will most likely be elected Euro-Commission
Chair for the second term expressed his gratitude to voters and assured
them that their voices would be heard. The 27 EU member states continue
receiving voting results, Russian BBC reports.
TURKEY COULD OPEN BORDER WITH ARMENIA
Southeast European Times
May 11 2009
ANKARA, Turkey — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey
could open its border with Armenia if Yerevan withdraws its troops
from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The two
neighbours have had no diplomatic relations for more than a decade,
since Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan. Last month, however, Turkey and Armenia agreed on a road
map to normalise ties and open their border. Erdogan also announced
on Friday (May 8th) that he will travel to Baku this week to meet
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and discuss the conflict
with Armenia. Azerbaijan has warned that opening the border before
the withdrawal of Armenian troops from those territories would harm
its national interests. (TRT, Anadolu news agency, Hurriyet – 09/05/09)