Author: Hambardsumian Paul

UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 20, 2010 – 12:54 AMT 07:54 GMT

The University of St. Andrews (Scotland) hosted The Caucasus: Imagining
Freedom, Negotiating Dominion international conference, which brought
together Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani ambassadors to the UK,
as well as scientists and experts from different countries.

The current conflicts in the region, Caucasus-West relations, as
well as historical, cultural and political issues were in the focus
of the conference.

Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK Vahe Gabrielyan referred to the current
challenges that Armenia is facing in its foreign policy: the Karabakh
conflict, Armenian-Turkish normalization and international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.

Amb. Gabrielyan noted that the Armenian-Turkish normalization cannot
be viewed within context of relations with third countries. He also
touched upon the Karabakh conflict, the press office of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry reported.

HARUTYUN ARAKELYAN : LES RELATIONS ARMENO-TURQUES ONT BESOIN DE SE DEPLACER A UN NIVEAU LEGAL
Stephane

armenews
lundi19 avril 2010
ARMENIE

Les relations armeno-turques ont besoin de se deplacer du politique
au niveau legal a declare le chef du parti Liberale Democratique
d’Armenie Harutyun Arakelyan lors d’une conference de presse.

" La Republique d’Armenie est obligee d’etre guidee par des normes
internationales et de resoudre les problèmes avec des etats voisins
sur l’arène de la loi internationale" a declare Harutyun Arakelyan. "
La Republique d’Armenie doit deposer devant les cours internationales
les faits du genocide des armeniens commis par le Gouvernement Ottoman
entre 1915 et 1923, les purifications ethniques en Azerbaïdjan entre
1988 et 1994, le vol et le deplacement obligatoire des armeniens,
" a-t-il dit.

" L’Armenie doit cooperer plus activement avec les cours
internationales fonctionnant sous l’egide de l’ONU " a dit Arakelyan,
ajoutant que cela fournirait a l’Armenie d’une occasion de resoudre
les conflits regionaux sur la base de la loi internationale.

AZERBAIJANI EXPERT NAMED "THE ONLY WAY" TO RETURN AZERBAIJAN’S ARMENIA-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Today
April 19 2010
Azerbaijan

"Moscow is Yerevan’s strategic partner which provides it with
necessary support in all matters," Azerbaijani political expert Araz
Alizade said.

He was commenting on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s coming visit
to Russia and Moscow’s possible pressure on Yerevan to accept the
updated Madrid principles.

"We need to understand one simple truth that there will be no progress
in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. We must learn
to live being conscious of the fact that we are at war. War is the
only way to return the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia,"
he added.

Speaking about possible link between Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan’s Moscow trip to take place on April 20 with the anniversary
of the so-called "Armenian Genocide" (April 24), Alizade noted that
"Russia has recognized the so-called" Armenian genocide" in 1990s.

Moreover, under the pressure from the world community, perhaps even
Turkey would recognize this fable. The only thing that stops it,
is Yerevan’s claim of 30-billion of indemnity. Ankara simply has no
such money," the expert added.

"As for Russia’s position on Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, I think
it favors this process," the expert noted.

At present, both Russia and the U.S. support Armenia.

ARMENIAN, GEORGIAN ICT EXPERTS TO PARTICIPATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP IN TAIWAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 16, 2010 – 16:16 AMT 11:16 GMT

15 Armenian and Georgian women, representing ICT sphere, will
participate in Project Management Workshop due April 20-May 31
in Taiwan.

As UITE management consultant Vahan Hovsepyan told PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter, this is the second time Armenia participates in the seminar.

Current Armenian delegation will include 4-5 Georgian representatives.

Participants selection is now in progress.

"Taiwan is one of ICT leaders worldwide. Eastern business culture is
in many respects superior to that of West. Participation in Taiwan
seminar will greatly benefit our experts," Vahan Hovsepyan stressed.

"Taiwan is ranked among a number developed of countries for Internet
penetration rate, 80 % of servers worldwide are located in this small
country, compared to Armenia in area," General Manager of Macadamian
Office in Armenia, Sofi Mehrabian noted.

Main objective of the workshop is to contribute to the modern
commercial ICT education in Armenia and Georgia, bringing together
ICT employers and universities with an ICT faculty for the purpose of
upgrading the ICT project management skills, as well as to enhance the
value of ICT graduates and young potential employees to the employers
and thereby speed up SME development and competitiveness.

The project was organized by the EBRD BAS Program for Armenia, which
has been operational in Armenia since 2003 and has successfully
undertaken 649 projects with 575 enterprises and 88 consulting
companies with funding from the EU, EBRD ETC Fund and Special
Shareholder Fund, CIDA, Taipei China and USAID. BAS Program
assists micro, small and medium sized enterprises to improve their
competitiveness by using mainly competent local consultants selected
on a project-by-project basis.

EBC TO MEET IN YEREVAN

news.am
April 16 2010
Armenia

The Working Committee Law, Banking and Finance, European Business
Congress (EBC) is to hold a sitting in Yerevan on April 20. The topic
of the meeting is "Cost management in energy companies: post-crisis
accents."

The press service of the ArmRusgasprom Company informed NEWS.am that
among the participants will be representatives of energy companies,
financial banking and other business circles, particularly Gazprom
OJSC, Overgas, GASFUND, Gaseconomics Research Institute, Zapsibgas
CJSC, Belgasprombank OJSC, NGCC, Caylon Rusbank, BNP PARIBAS, Siemens
IT Solutions and Services, Deutsche Bank, Comerzbank, Ingbank,
Comita, KPMG, BDO, UBS, SIGESSE s.a., PricewaterhouseCoopers and
other agencies.

ArmRusgasprom Board Chairman Karen Karapetyan will make a welcoming
speech at the meeting.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS WANTS TO REACH OUT TO ARMENIAN DIASPORA

Yerkir
15.04.2010 13:31
Yervan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs, told reporters Wednesday that Turks and Armenians "in
Paris and Boston" should sit together and attempt to reconcile their
memories of the tragic events that took place in 1915, the Boston
Globe reported.

"We made some outreach to the American diaspora," he said in remarks
that appeared to reference the Boston area as home to a large Armenian
community. "We told them ‘Our archives are open. We are ready to
discuss everything.’"

Davutoglu said that members of the Turkish parliament have discussed
passing a resolution condemning the US genocide against Native
Americans in retaliation for the bill in Congress, but that he has
not encouraged such a measure.

"You can create a success story out of history," he said. "You can
create hatreds as well."

He said that Turkey had reached out to neighboring Armenia with signs
of friendship and he remains hopeful that the Turkish parliament will
eventually pass a law that will help normalize relations, although
he said he is not sure if there are enough votes yet.

"As Turkey, we are ready to share the pain of our Armenian neighbors,"
he said.

But his comments fell far short of the acknowledgment of suffering
that millions of Armenians want to hear.

ARMENIA WISHES TO EXPAND TIES WITH LEBANON: RA SPEAKER

news.am
April 14 2010
Armenia

In the frames of his official visit to Lebanon, RA National Assembly
Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan met with heads of political parties and
local Armenian community leaders in RA Embassy in Beirut this Tuesday.

Hovik Abrahamyan presented Armenian authorities’ stance on
Armenian-Turkish relations and Karabakh peace process, RA NA press
service informed NEWS.am.

National Assembly speaker also noted that Armenia wishes to expand
ties with Lebanon, saying it is necessary to develop economic ties
in particular.

AZERBAIJAN CAUGHT IN TRAP

Lragir.am
14/04/2010

The EU Commissioner on energy Gunther Oettinger is visiting
Azerbaijan. On the agenda is the final position of Azerbaijan on the
Nabucco project.

The meetings are going to be tough, considering the current situation.

By the way, Ilham Aliyev has not been invited to the summit in
Washington, which was described in Azerbaijan and other countries as
a downright negative attitude toward Aliyev. The dissatisfaction of
the world leaders is also illustrated by the sudden drop of oil price.

According to the U.S. EIA, in January the United States imported 950
barrels of Azerbaijani oil compared with 2.1 million in January of
the past year. For its part, Israel said to refuse to buy a major
amount of oil from Azerbaijan.

Turkish foreign ministry’s statement issued yesterday also comes to
show that Azerbaijan hinders Turkey as well. The ministry denied that
Davutoghlu had had an interview with the Azerbaijani APA news agency.

This statement also denies the reports by the Turkish and Azerbaijani
press that Obama and Erdogan have agreed on the settlement of the
Karabakh issue.

In this context, a lot depends on how Azerbaijan will react to the
proposal on Nabucco. It is already impossible to drift in the direction
of the wind, because the conference on the pipeline is scheduled in
fall, and the investors want to know if Azerbaijan participates or
not. The mysterious thing is that Azerbaijan will lose in any case. It
will lose because it has failed to define the notions of "loss" and
"win" for itself.

AN OPEN LETTER TO US PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM FAAE

Aysor
April 13 2010
Armenia

Chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE) Ashot
Grigorian has sent an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama,
referring to the 1915 Genocide.

"On behalf the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe I am writing
to express my sincerest gratitude for your voicing ‘Mets Eghern’
in last year’s April 24 Genocide Address. Considering this to be
a progressive step, we appeal to you for using the international
genocide-word in this year’s address, making it possible for the U.S.

Congress to approve Resolution 252, which was passed by the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives.

Mr President, the recognition of the 1915 Genocide will make Turkey
pay respect to the international community’s opinion and establish
friendly relations with its major neighbor Armenia.

Believe me, this is the most realistic and fair way of solution to
the Armenia-Turkey relations," said in the letter.

Interfax, Russia
April 8 2010

Yerevan refuses Iran’s mediation in Karabakh conflict

Armenia has refused Iran’s mediation in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

"Armenia highly esteems Iran’s readiness and desire to assist the
Karabakh settlement but reminds everyone that the talks are held
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group," an Armenian diplomatic
source told Interfax.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki said on Wednesday that Tehran
had presented proposals on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.