Author: Hovhannisian John

ARMENIAN AND AZERI YOUTH TO MEET IN FINLAND

News.am
12:38 / 08/17/2009

On August 17-23, 2009 Armenian and Azeri youth representatives will
meet in Mariehamn, Finland. Finnish and Swedish youth representatives,
as well as foreign experts will take part in the meeting organized
by Aland Peace Institute. Five Armenian and nine Azeri young people
to participate.

Techniques of conflict settlement, gender issues and women’s role in
confrontations will be discussed during the meeting. National cultural
matters will also be touched upon in the course of the event.

Baku supports inclusion of Europeans and Americans into peacekeeping
forces in Karabakh

2009-08-15 14:05:00

ArmInfo-Turan. There are still certain differences in the concepts of
the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides regarding settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, Turan was told in the exclusive interview by the head of
International Relations Department of the President’s Administration,
Novruz Mamedov.

Azerbaijan’s position remains the same – stage-by-stage liberation of
the occupied territories around Karabakh, and return of the displaced
people to their native places. During the transition Lachin and
Kelbajar regions must be liberated, and a corridor between Karabakh and
Armenia must be created. These processes must be accompanied by
cleaning the territories from mines and restoration work. It can take
from 5 to 10 years.

"Then the displaced people must return to Karabakh, and it is necessary
to deploy peacekeeping forces. After the return of 60,000 Azerbaijanis
there and the restoration of the situation the legal status of Karabakh
can be developed only in the frames of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. It can take up to 10 years," Mamedov said. He said it is
early to speak about the exact time now, because it is not known how
the processes will develop. The return of only seven regions around
Karabakh will cause the return of 760,000 people. "All the houses,
industrial and social infrastructures have been destroyed there.
Several years will take to clean the territories from mines, and the
whole process can take 15-20 years," Mamedov said.

Not going into details of the renewed Madrid Principles, he said that
they are about development of Karabakh’s status, i.e. who and when will
take the decision, the question of peacekeeping forces, their structure
and location and the question connected with the corridor.

He agreed with the Cochairmen that the sides are close to an agreement,
but even a small detail can influence the settlement. "Of course
Armenia wants the resolution of the legal status at the first stage,
but the Cochairmen agreed that all the seven regions around Karabakh
must be returned," Mammadov said.

Azerbaijan does not want militarists from the neighbor countries in the
peacekeeping forces. It would be better if the peacekeeping forces were
organized from representatives of the Armed Forces of European states
and the USA," Mammadov said. Concerning the location of these forces,
he said that it would be better to place them on the line of touch
between Karabakh and the nearby regions.

The status of Karabakh must be determined on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
Constitution. It will be determined at the last stage, so nothing can
be said now," Mammadov said. In case of successful
development of the peaceful process the communication will be opened;
then will come the question of opening the motorways. "I think Armenia
is first of all interested in opening the railways, because it caused
the blockade itself," Mammadov said.

Trend News

Ankara has denied the information about arms shipments to the Russian
military base in Armenia via Turkish airspace

15.08.2009 21:58

Azerbaijan, Baku, 15 August /Trend News/
Ankara has denied the information about arms shipments to the Russian
military base in Armenia via Turkish airspace. This is stated in the
incoming message to Trend News from the Turkish Embassy in Baku.
The information from the embassy said that the information distributed
by some media on August 13 about arms shipments to the Russian
military base in Gyumri in Armenia through the air territory of Turkey
are without any foundation.
The position of Turkey to Azerbaijan is known and Turkish people have
always been close to Azerbaijani. Dissemination of such information is
a step towards breaking friendship and fraternity of Turkey and
Azerbaijan.

INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION TARGETS 146.6% FULFILLED BY SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILROAD IN JULY

ARKA
Aug 14, 2009

YEREVAN, August 14. /ARKA/. International passenger transportation
targets were 146.6% fulfilled by the South Caucasus Railroad cjsc in
July, the company’s press service reported.

Transportation of passengers was 155.1% in July (5,894 tickets sold
against 3,800 planned) on Yerevan-Batumi route, 126.3% (2,021 tickets
sold against 1,600 tickets planned) on Yerevan-Tbilisi.

Actual number of tickets sold for international transport route was
7,915 against 5,400 planned, says the report.

Over the reporting period, passenger traffic targets were fulfilled
by 166.4% (4,127 actual passenger-kilometers against 2,479.6
passenger-kilometers planned

South Caucasus Railroad fully owned by the Russian Railways is the
operator of the Armenian Railways under a 30-year concession agreement
signed on February 13 2008.

DOESN’T ARMENIA KNOW, WHAT INTERESTS HAVE CO-CHAIRS OF OSCE MINSK GROUP?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.08.2009 22:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian side does not know what interests are
pursued by the OSCE Minsk Group. It is not yet known whether the US
co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza was appointed to the office
of the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, but if this proves true, then
he would work to the detriment of Armenia, political analyst Sergey
Shakaryants told a press conference in Yerevan. According to him,
Matthew Bryza was interested in energy issues, but these projects
bypass Armenia.

"In terms of energy only Russia and Iran are interested in Armenia,"
the Armenian political scientist said. According to Mr. Shakaryants,
the United States give to understand that Armenia will participate
in all projects, only in the case of normalized Armenian-Turkish
relations. By doing so, the U.S. seek to subjugate Armenia to Turkey.

"Since 1991, the United States have been trying to make Turkey a
leader in the Caucasus region," the Armenian expert said.

Sergey Shakaryants also commented on the possible replacement of
the American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Mattew Bryza by the former
U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Tina Kaidanow. According to him, if the
former ambassador to Kosovo, will serve as a new co-chair of OSCE
Minsk Group, things would go wrong. Activities of Tina Kaidanow have
contributed to the genocide of Serbs, and the Armenian people might
will suffer the same fate.

Touching upon the Madrid principles, Sergey Shakaryants particularly
said: "Five out of the six points in Madrid principles say about
one-sided concessions of the Armenian side. The only advantage of
the principles is in the recognition of Karabakh’s status outside of
Azerbaijan, while the remaining points are unacceptable for Armenia".

OFFICIAL SAYS NUMBER OF TOURISTS TRAVELING TO ARMENIA HAS GROWN BY 0.1%

Panorama.am
16:36 12/08/2009

The number of tourists who traveled to Armenia in the first term of
the year has grown by 0.1% compared with the same term of the previous
year. 207 729 tourists traveled to Armenia in the first term of the
year, Mekhak Apresyan of the Economy Ministry told at news conference.

According to the official there is no reduction but there is no
improvement either. Apresyan says 0.1% of growing is important if to
take into account 1-2% reduction recorded in many other countries of
the world.

Remind, that Apresyan has announced earlier that Armenia would have
10% of growing this year.

Official ensures that great number of tourists is going to travel to
Armenia in the second term of the year. It is said that tourists from
USA, EU states, Iran and Georgia travel to Armenia.

FOR ESTONIA, KINGS BRAZIL TOP THE QUEEN OF POP

Gulf Times
12/8/2009August

Tallinn: For football minnows Estonia, today’s friendly with giants
Brazil is about far more than just honing the team ahead of next
month’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Turkey and Spain.

"Brazil only has two friendlies this year. They played the first
one with Italy in February and now they’re playing Estonia. We feel
very proud that we’ve got the world’s absolute kings of football in
Tallinn," Estonian federation spokesman Mihkel Uiboleht told AFP.

"Having Brazil here is like 11 Madonnas visiting Estonia all at the
same time," Uiboleht added, referring to last week’s headline-grabbing
concert in Tallinn by the eponymous Queen of Pop.

But Estonia are not blinded by the stars, even though the game has all
the makings of a serious mismatch: Brazil top the 203-team rankings
established by world football’s governing body FIFA, while Estonia
are 112th.

"No doubt if you look at the statistics, Brazil are the strongest
team Estonia have ever faced. But at the same time when I watched
Brazil on TV playing at the Confederations Cup this summer I realised
they are just ordinary people who also get into trouble sometimes,"
coach Tarmo Ruutli told reporters on Monday.

Estonia may be second-from-bottom in the six-team Group 5 of Europe’s
World Cup qualifiers, ahead of Armenia, but they have managed what
for them is a half-decent run so far.

They have five points from six games, and their 7-0 drubbing away in
Bosnia last September contrasts with their holding Turkey 0-0 at home
the following month.

Estonia’s players may not be global names like the Brazilians, but
Uiboleht singled out a trio on whom the team is counting.

He cited midfielder Ragnar Klavan, who plays for Dutch top-flight
side Alkmaar, centre-back Raio Piiroja, of Norway’s Fredrikstad,
and goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko, of Russian club Tomsk.

"Klavan had an appendix operation in July, but can now play,"
Uiboleht noted.

The Brazil game is also a festival marking the 100th anniversary
of competitive football in Estonia-two local clubs first played one
another in June 1909.

Estonia’s international presence in football dates back to 1921,
after the country emerged from the embers of Tsarist Russia.

The country disappeared from the political and sporting map during
World War II, when it was taken over by the Soviet Union, but returned
to the fold in 1992 after the communist bloc had collapsed.

The match is also providing some light relief for fans struggling in
the face of the deepening recession in this nation of 1.3mn.

Ticket-holders for Wednesday night’s game at the 9,300-seat A. Le
Coq Arena-named after an Estonian beer-have been given free access
to Brazil’s training session on Tuesday at the request of the visitors.

Due to the economic crisis hitting fans’ pockets, the Estonian
federation halved its planned ticket prices-which had originally
started at 1,500 kroons (96 euros, $136).

YERKIR UNION: GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES PREPARE PROVOCATION AGAINST VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
10.08.2009 11:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yerkir Union learnt from reliable sources, that
the Georgian authorities are preparing provocation against Javakhk
political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan aimed at his physical elimination
or neutralization.

As Yerkir Union informed a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, reliability of
these data is indirectly supported by the fact that on July 31 of 2009
Vahagn Chakhalyan was moved from Gldaniysk detention centre number 8,
Tbilisi to a general regime colony number 2 in Rustavi, having much
more favorable conditions for a possible provocation.

Yerkir Union states that the responsibility for possible provocation
against Vahagn Chakhalyan belonges to Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili personally and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia
Vano Merabishvili.

Yerkir Union calls from the Georgian authorities to guarantee the
safety of Vahagn Chakhalyan and for this purpose to move the Javakhk
activist back to its former place of detention.

Yerkir Union requests the Public Defender of Georgia Sozar Subari,
the international human rights organizations, accredited diplomatic
missions in Georgia to take effective steps to ensure the safety of
Vahagn Chakhalyan.

Reuters
Aug 9 2009

Turkey says to build gas pipeline to Azeri exclave

Sun Aug 9, 2009 4:42pm IST

ISTANBUL, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Turkey has agreed to build a natural gas
pipeline from its eastern border to Azerbaijan’s Autonomous Republic
of Nakhchivan, state-run news agency Anatolian reported on Sunday.
Turkey has been in high-level talks over the price and volume of gas
it receives from major regional gas exporter Azerbaijan. Disputes over
the price Turkey pays for Azeri gas has been a source of tension
between the two traditional allies.

"We will sign a memorandum of understanding for (a pipeline with the
capacity of) almost a half billion cubic metres of gas a year," said
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz during a trip to Nakhchivan over
the weekend.

Nakhchivan, from which Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family hails, has
suffered under an economic blockade from arch-enemy Armenia, which
geographically separates the Azeri exclave from Azerbaijan
proper. [ID:nLH171801]

Turkey buys 6 billion cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shakh
Deniz basin each year at $120 per 1,000 cubic metres, which is far
below what it pays for Russian and Iranian gas.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this year that a new gas
price to be negotiated between Turkish and Azeri officials would be
more "fair".

The planned Turkish-Azeri pipeline will run from Turkey’s eastern
province of Igdir to the autonomous republic.

No timeline for the construction of the pipeline was given, but
Turkish state pipeline company BOTAS and Azeri state-owned oil company
SOCAR would hold talks on the commercial and technical aspects of the
line, Anatolian reported. (Reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Mike
Nesbit)

HEAD OF CRIMEAN ARMENIAN COMMUNITY CAN BE APPOINTED NATIONALITIES AND MINORITIES’REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE LEADER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 19:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Crimean Russian Community intends to voice
their protest for appointment of Crimean Tatar to the position of
Nationalities and Minorities’ Republican Committee Leader. Crimean
Russian Community suggest that the position should be occupied by one
of legal national -cultural minority leaders: Head of Crimean Armenian
Community Oleg Gabrielyan, Crimean Republican Society Leader, Bulgarian
Ivan Abazher or Germans’ Republican Society Leader Yuriy Gempel.

According to Crimean Russian Community, both vacancies of Republican
Committee Deputy Leaders should be occupied by ethnic Slavs to
eradicate "national disbalance in the committee", where 90% of
positions are occupied by Crimean Tatars, resulting in Committee’s
being under full control of Crimean Tatars’ illegal ethnic parliament,
Analitika.at.ua reported.