Author: Hovhannisian John

Armenia – one of few countries signed all documents regulating human rights
10.12.2009 14:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The driving force of the modern society is
knowledge that help people competently defend their rights. Our goal
is to create an environment where everyone can freely exercise their
rights and freedoms without prejudice and discrimination," the
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan told a round table on December
10 timed to the International Human Rights Day. Roundtable
participants stressed that Armenia is one of few countries which
signed all documents regulating the human rights.

"We cannot say that we have achieved great results in human rights
protection, though we try, but positive developments are also
observed. In respect of human rights protection, Armenia is ahead of
Azerbaijan, Georgia and many CIS countries. Certainly, we still have
much to do," Armenia’s Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan told reporters.

CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS BY NKR PRESIDENT BAKO SAHAKYAN

Aysor.am
10/12/09

President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan sent a
congratulatory message on the occasion of the Commemorative Day of
the Republic’s Constitution and State Independence Referendum.

"Dear compatriots,

In the modern history of Artsakh December 10 twice proved to be
pivotal. In 1991 on this day the Artsakh Armenians expressed their
unified will and confirmed the dedication of creating an independent
statehood. On the same day of 2006 again through the nation-wide
referendum the basic law of our state, the Constitution, was adopted
registering another great victory of our state, which succeeded in
defending its independence and freedom and was firmly staying on the
path of democracy.

December 10 is also celebrated as International Human Rights Day. This
fact is symbolic for itself as the Artsakh movement; the birth and
the very existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are the integral
parts of human rights, the reflection of the basic universal rights
of equality and self-determination of nations.

The people and authorities of Artsakh are adherent to the principles
that the December 10 twin holiday has entrusted with us. For us the
powerful, independent, sovereign, democratic and legal state is an
exclusive value that has no alternative.

I congratulate our entire people on this crucial holiday and wish
peace, robust health and all the best."

ARMENIAN SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS CLOSED DECEMBER 8-19 FOR FLU PREVENTION

Tert.am
12:45 ~U 08.12.09

Yesterday evening, Armenia’s prime minister had an advisory meeting
with RA Healthcare Minister Harutyun Kushkyan and RA Education and
Science Minister Armen Ashotyan.

Having as its basis the RA Healthcare Minister’s proposal, RA Education
and Science Minister signed a decree to close down preschools and
public education institutions in Armenia from December 8 to 19.

"The observations and studies of the last 10 days revealed that
there’s a rise in contagious illnesses in the Republic, particularly
in schools and kindergartens," said Harutyun Kushkyan in his address
on public television.

Kushkyan once again reiterated that there’s no reason for panic and
that these measures are simply accepted method of prevention.

Armen Ashotyan, in turn, explained that the decision was approved
taking into consideration the fact that it’s children of that
particular age that are at risk.

"Stemming from physiological, anatonomical specifics, children of
this age are more at risk," said Ashotyan.

As for a decision on continuing classes at higher educational
institutions, in the minister’s words, currently there’s a process of
certification at colleges, universities and institutes: students are
preparing for exams, reviews, and group meetings, and the likelihood
of being infected is low.

A YEAR OF INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
08.12.2009 18:05

The year 2009 is coming to an end, and as usual, the political forces
and government bodies are summing up the passing year. Member of the
Republican faction, member of the Council of the Republican Party
of Armenia, Artak Zakaryan today spoke about the achievements and
omissions of the domestic and foreign policies in the past year.

Artak Zakaryan pointed to several outstanding events, which are
important for the political and public life of our country. First
of all, he emphasized the initiative of the President of our country
targeted at the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

According to the MP, another remarkable event in the life of our
country was President Sargsyan’s pan-Armenian trip, "which brought
the issues discussed to a pan-Armenian level and resulted in the
signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols in Zurich on October 10."

According to Artak Zakaryan, the protocols are just the start of
the process reinforced by steps in the direction of establishment of
diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Speaking about the "reasonable framework" for the ratification of
the protocols, the MP said "the sooner they are ratified, the better."

The MP assessed the passing year as successful as regard the settlement
of the Karabakh issue. "An important achievement was the statement
of the Council of Ministers of the OSCE member states, which once
again stressed the importance of peaceful resolution of the issue
on the basis of the principles of non-use of force and the right of
peoples to self-determination," he said.

In the field of foreign policy it was important that Armenia was
included in the Eastern Partnership Program of the European Union.

Among the interesting domestic developments the MP pointed to the
withdrawal of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun from the political coalition.

However, the coalition government continues functioning.

NUMBER OF GAS CONSUMERS IN ARMENIA INCREASED BY 18776 IN JANUARY-NOVEMBER 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.12.2009 12:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The number of gas consumers in Armenia reached
592731, increasing by 18776 during the period of January-November 2009,
ArmRosgazprom press office said.

2629 gas consumers installed security systems in their apartments as
of December 1, 2009.

New York Times
Dec 6 2009

Three Favorites, One Surprise, in Final Four at World Cup

By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Though upsets continued at the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia,
three of the four semifinalists ‘ Boris Gelfand of Israel, Ruslan
Ponomariov of Ukraine and Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine ‘ have enough of
a pedigree to not count as surprises. But probably no one could have
predicted the fourth, Vladimir Malakhov of Russia, who was the No. 22
seed before the tournament began. He beat Peter Svidler of Russia, the
No. 3 seed, in the quarterfinals.

Gelfand is the No. 1 seed, so clearly his presence in the semifinals
is not unexpected. He is, however, the oldest remaining player (he is
41) and was one of the oldest players at the beginning of the rigorous
event, so he has performed well, particularly in light of how many
other top contenders fell by the wayside early on. In the
quarterfinals, he outlasted Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia, No. 9, beating
him in the second and third tie-breaker games after the two games of
regulation ended in draws.

Ponomariov, No. 7, has a great deal of experience in the format used
by the World Cup. He won the World Chess Federation championship in
2002, which was also a knockout event, and he was runner-up to Levon
Aronian of Armenia in the 2005 World Cup. Like Gelfand, he won his
quarterfinal match against Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan, No. 2, in the
tie-breaker games, winning the first and second and then drawing the
third. Ponomariov was a bit fortunate as he unsoundly sacrificed a
piece in the first tie-break game, but Gashimov misplayed the
position, allowing Ponomariov to advance a pawn far down the board,
which ultimately decided the game.

Karjakin, No. 12, is, at 19, the youngest semifinalist. He holds the
record as the youngest grandmaster in history (12 years 7 months) and
he was a semifinalist in the 2007 World Cup, so he has been here
before. Oddly, while his compatriot, Ponomariov, was beating Gashimov,
one of the two remaining players from Azerbaijan, Karjakin was beating
the other, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, No. 13. Unlike Gelfand and
Ponomariov, Karjakin took care of his opponent in the regulation part
of the match by winning the first game. Mamedyarov lost by blundering
in a rook-and-pawn endgame in which he could have probably held a
draw, but instead walked into a mating net.

Malakhov also won in regulation after Svidler, who was playing White,
launched a wild attack in Game 1. Svidler went all out for checkmate,
but overlooked something rather simple that allowed Malakhov to turn
the tables and ensnare Svidler’s king in a mating net. In Game 2,
Malakhov had White and easily held a draw to send Svidler home.

Though Malakhov is among the world’s super grandmasters (those rated
over 2,700), he is not all that well known, so much so that a search
for him on Google first turns up the ballet dancer and the ice hockey
player. Of course, few chess players share a name with people famous
in other disciplines, but Malakhov is ranked No. 24 in the world,
according to an unofficial, but reliable ranking list. Malakhov might
have to win the World Cup to get a higher profile than the hockey
player; the ballet dancer is probably out of reach.

The semifinals begin Sunday.

5/three-favorites-one-surprise-in-final-four-at-wo rld-cup/

Azerbaijan.az
Dec 6 2009

Armenian National Congress: Armenia has given an official consent to
solve Nagorno Karabakh conflict basing on Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity

`With the statements of the co-chairing countries’ foreign ministers
and OSCE Ministerial Council Armenia has undertaken a commitment on
the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict basing on the
principles of the territorial integrity, non-use of force and
self-determination,’ says the statement issued by the Armenian
National Congress led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The statement says that
for the first time Armenia has given an official consent to solve the
conflict basing on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

`The inclusion of the right of people’s self-determination does not
compensate Armenia’s compromise. Joint application of the territorial
integrity and right of self-determination means that even if Nagorno
Karabakh is given the highest right of self-government, this right
will be realized within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity,’ he said.

via

US STATE DEPARTMENT: "NAGORNO-KARABAKH WILL BE ONE OF THE MAIN DISCUSSION ISSUES DURING TURKISH PRIME MINISTER’S UPCOMING NEGOTIATIONS WITH US OFFICIALS"

APA
Dec 4 2009
Azerbaijan

Washington. Isabel Levine – APA. Nagorno-Karabakh will be one of the
main discussion issues during Turkish Prime Minister Redjep Tayib
Erdogan’s upcoming negotiations with US officials, APA’s Washington
DC correspondent was told at the US State Department.

Prime-Minister Erdogan will visit Washington DC next week. He will
meet with US president Barak Obama and a number of other high-level
US officials on December 7th.

"The Obama Administration will make sure that Nagorno-Karabakh issue
is addressed during the negotiations with Mr. Erdogan" – told in an
interview with APA one of the famous American analysts on Turkey,
Ian Lesser, Expert at Washington DC based German Marshall Fund. He
mentioned that US’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh is clear – Washington
supports the ongoing peaceful process and is participating in it.

According to the expert, US also will be very clear that, Washington
would like to see the other aspects of the rapprochement between
Armenia and Turkey implemented.

"We would probably commit ourselves to put everything we can do to
the international efforts to solve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh"
– said American analyst.

Mr. Lesser was a member of the US Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff
at the US Department of State, where his portfolio included southern
Europe, Turkey, and the multilateral track of the Middle East peace
process in 1994-1995.

According to analyst, Iran and its nuclear program, Afghanistan and
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement also will be discussed during the
Turkish Prime Minister’s visit to US. Some other issues like PKK,
Cyprus or Missile Defense will be on agenda as well.

"With Iran there is no any certain agreement with on the nuclear
question. Many initiatives were proposed but there are no conclusions
about what Iran’s policy is. There were also some initiatives that
Turkey proposed so clearly Washington would want Turkey to have tough
messages on Iran’s nuclear program".

NECESSARY STEPS IN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT WILL BE TAKEN IN EARLY 2010

news.az
Dec 4 2009
Azerbaijan

Asim Mollazade News.Az interview with Asim Mollazade, deputy of
parliament and member of the committee on international relations
and interparliamentary ties.

How do you assess the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement after
the Athens meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia?

The advancement is observed here. It is possible to say basing on
the statements of the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan and always
optimistic statements of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs that the
sides discussed most issues related to the framework agreement. The
signing of such an agreement will undoubtedly pave way to creation
of a global peaceful agreement. We know that several occupied lands
of Azerbaijan may be released after the framework agreement. On the
whole, the process seems to be proceeding normally and the meeting
in Athens promoted creation of the due program of meetings of both
the co-chairs and at the highest level. We believe necessary steps
will be taken in early 2010.

Which achievements do you imply?

This is primarily the coordination of principles of a framework
agreement that will allow liberating the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

We will draw the due schedule of holding these events and each further
step. We hope that after the Azerbaijani lands are liberated the world
community will carry out serious work with Azerbaijan and Armenia to
reach a comprehensive peace agreement.

Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan again presented Nagorno Karabakh,
not Armenia, as the main conflicting party. Doesn’t it prove that
the previously reached agreements will be blocked by Yerevan again?

I think Armenia is used to playing such games. They do it as soon as
some complicated moments emerge in their internal policy. In fact,
we are dealing with Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan, its
territorial claims and occupation of a greater part of Azerbaijani
lands. Today, Armenian citizens serve in the occupied Azerbaijani
lands and Armenian armed forces are dislocated there. Therefore, any
statement by Nalbandyan and the use of this map of a puppet regime
in Karabakh is groundless.

We have already had a sad experience when the negotiations were nearing
completion under former Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan but
coup occurred and the negotiations were thrown far behind. Today the
sociopolitical tensions in Armenia are growing. Can it affect the
negotiation process again?

Certainly, there are concerns that some powers may hamper the
negotiations process like it has already occurred. I recall the
shooting of the parliament in Armenia and many other cases of this
kind. Nevertheless, the optimism today is mostly related to Russia’s
intensification. At least, Russia is demonstrating will to settle
the conflict. Therefore, we hope the force majeure circumstances that
have earlier hampered the advancement will not repeat this time.

What is the cause of this positive intensification of Russia?

It is connected with its economic interests and global interests in
preserving energy monopoly in Europe.

UAE FOREIGN AFFAIRS’ MINISTER ANWAR GARGASH TO VISITS ARMENIA UAE

Aysor
Dec 4 2009
Armenia

Foreign Affairs’ Minister Anwar Mohammed Gargash will visit Armenia
on December 5-7, informs the press and information department of the
Foreign Ministry of Armenia.

Within the framework of the visit the Minister is expected to meet the
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Territorial Administration
Armen Gevorgyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The delegation headed by Anwar Gargash will visit Tsitsernakaberd to
lay a wreath at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and the United Arab Emirates will
sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in fighting human
trafficking. The signing ceremony will be followed by a joint press
conference.