Author: Hovhannisian John

VARUZH KARIM-MASIHI AWARDED MINISTRY OF DIASPORA PRIZE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.07.2009 12:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Ministry of Diaspora has established a
special prize to best Diaspora director at Golden Apricot International
Film Festival. The prize was bestowed on Iranian Armenian director
Varuzh Karim-Masihi.

"Unfortunately, Varuzh Karim-Masihi could leave Iran because of the
internal tensions," Ministry representative Hakob Asatryan told news
conference. "He shot a wonderful film and we will hand him the prize
as soon as he arrives in Armenia."

CNN
July 19 2009

Iran plane crash bodies returned to families

updated 5:49 a.m. EDT, Sun July 19, 2009

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — The bodies of 152 people killed in a fiery plane
crash in Iran Wednesday have been returned to their families, an
Iranian state broadcaster reported Sunday.

An Iranian Armenian woman places flower at crash site.

1 of 3 more photos » Ahmad Majidi, the head of the special working
group investigating the Caspian Airlines crash, also said a Russian
team had arrived in Iran to help study the crash of the Russian-made
plane, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said.

The plane went down in a field near the city of Qavzin Wednesday,
killing all 168 people on board and leaving a huge smoldering crater.

Majidi did not say what had happened to the 16 bodies that have not
been handed over.

The plane’s flight data recorders have been recovered and are being
studied by Iranian and Russian experts, IRIB said. Fragments of the
plane are also being examined to help determine the cause of the
crash, Majidi said.

The plane "disintegrated into pieces," said Col. Masood Jafari Nasab,
security commander of Qazvin. See a map of the crash location »

Video of the crash site showed a huge crater in the earth scattered
with charred pieces of the plane and tattered passports. Watch as the
flight data recorders are recovered »

"The aircraft all of a sudden fell out of the sky and exploded on
impact, where you see the crater," a witness told Iran’s
government-backed Press TV from the crash site.

Ten members of the country’s youth judo team were aboard the plane,
several sources including Press TV reported. The government-backed
network said the dead included eight athletes and two coaches.

It was at least the fifth major airline accident in the world this
year, following crashes of planes flown by Colgan Air, Turkish
Airlines, Air France and Yemenia Airways. A US Airways pilot managed
to land his plane safely on the Hudson river in New York City in
January, with no major injuries, after the plane lost power.

But aviation safety expert John Wiley said there was no reason to fear
air travel in general, and no one airline or aircraft is particularly
dangerous.

Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 — a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154M plane
— went down near the village of Jannatabad near Qazvin at 11:33
a.m. (2:03 a.m. ET) Wednesday, Press TV reported.

Conversations between the pilot and the ground were normal and did not
indicate any technical problems, the network’s Web site reported,
citing the managing director of Iran’s airport authority without
naming him.

The Tupolev 154 is essentially banned in the West because it does not
comply with European noise and pollution regulations, but it has a
safer-than-average accident record, Wiley said. Wednesday’s crash is
the first on record for Caspian Airlines, which was founded in 1993,
he added.

The plane crashed 16 minutes after takeoff, said the newspaper
Hamshari, quoting a spokesman from Iran’s civil aviation organization.

That would have put the flight in one of the safest stages of travel,
according to International Air Transport Association data. Only about
5 percent of accidents take place during the phase called en-route
climb, 16 to 20 minutes into a flight, when a plane climbs to cruising
altitude of 35,000 feet.

24 Hours (Toronto, Canada)
July 17, 2009 Friday
TORONTO EDITION

Family shattered by news of crash

BY CP

A close family friend says a Toronto woman and her three-year-old son
are among those killed in a plane crash near Tehran.

Leonard Rideout says 35-year-old Nana Antashyam was flying to Armenia
with her son, Edward Khachik, to make arrangements for her sister’s
birthday party.

He says Antashyam’s husband and brother-in-law dropped the mother and
son off at the airport Wednesday only to hear news of the plane crash
on the radio as they were driving home.

Rideout says the family had left for Tehran in early July to baptize
their son and adds Antashyam’s husband, Vahik Khachik, is shattered by
the news.

Antashyam was a classical pianist and piano teacher with the Ontario
Conservatory of Music.

The cause of the crash was not yet known. Investigators have recovered
two of the three black boxes belonging to the jetliner, which was
bound for Yerevan, Armenia.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 18 2009

RF ready to continue efforts on Karabakh settlement ` Medvedev

18.07.2009, 17.17

MOSCOW, July 18 (Itar-Tass) – Talks between the presidents of Russia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Dmitry Medvedev, Ilkham Aliyev and Serzh
Sargsyan, was held in a constructive atmosphere, presidential aide
Sergei Prikhodko said.

`During today’s, fourth, meeting, between presidents of Russia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Dmitry Medvedev confirmed readiness of Russia
as co-chairman of the Minsk Group to continue exerting efforts to find
mutually acceptable solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,’
Prikhodko said on Saturday.

`In our view, the meeting was very constructive. It focused on certain
problems, which remained open,’ he added.

`President Aliyev and Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Dmitry Medvedev
for his efforts to bring closer the positions of Armenia and
Azerbaijan and contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,’ the
Russian presidential aide stressed.

The tripartite meeting was held in one of Moscow’s restaurants after
horse races for the Russian president’s prize.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I SENT CONDOLENCES TO ARMENIAN AND IRANIAN PRESIDENTS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.07.2009 22:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
sent his condolences to Armenian and Iranian Presidents and families
of catastrophe victims in connection with the crash of the plane in
Iran on July 15.

On July 16, a service for the dead was performed at Antelias
cathedral. Cilician Catholicosate Delegation passed Aram I’s
condolences to Iranian Embassy in Lebanon, Cilician Catholicosate
Press Service reported.

PRESIDENTS’ MOSCOW MEETING WILL BE A DEAL ON WHAT ARMENIA WILL GET IN EXCHANGE OF RETURN PART OF OCCUPIED LANDS TO AZERBAIJAN: AZERROS OFFICIAL

Today.Az
cs/53863.html
July 16 2009
Azerbaijan

Editor-in-chief of St. Petersburg-based magazine Konservator, member
of the Central Council of the Eurasian Congress of Azerbaijanis and
presidium of the Federal National and Cultural Autonomy Azerros Rustam
Arifjanov spoke in an exclusive interview with Day.Az.

Q: What do you expect from the coming Moscow meeting of Azerbaijani
and Armenia Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan?

A: If I am not mistaken, it is already 6th meeting of the heads of
two states over the last year and it is very important. Previously,
the meetings were not so frequent. This points to constant interest
by Azerbaijan and Armenia to solve the problem and that the Minsk
Group mediators, and, above all, Russia and the United States, have
more interest in this.

Moscow and Washington require the conflict to be resolved in the
shortest time possible. And the involvement of Turkey in this matter
points to U.S. impact on it. I think the international community today
is more interested in solving this problem. Therefore, I do not think
that this will be the last meeting. I do not think that this meeting
will be historic, but there is some progress occurring. Political
scientists and experts from both sides interpret them differently. Of
course, people in Armenia say that Madrid principles infringe their
interests. This is the same case with those in Azerbaijan. But the
question could not be solved in a different way. Of course, some
interests will be harmed. Otherwise, there will not be any compromise.

I think that earlier the talks were composed of three parts – the
non-use of military force, the right of nations to self-determination
and the principle of state sovereignty over the territories. But
military component is now being discussed to a lesser extent. You
can do this with the help of ministers of foreign affairs and defense.

Q: Is Armenia’s readiness for preliminary stage of resolution, that
is, return of five regions, is being discussed?

A: There is a need to find a compromise between solution of the two
other specified parts. I think that the question of the return foothill
and lowland areas of Karabakh overdue and may well be resolved in the
foreseeable future. Another question is that what compromises Armenia
may require from Azerbaijan. I think that the presidents speak more
frankly as they sometimes meet without mediators face to face. A more
candid and more realistic. We do not know what they say and in what
terms and we will hardly ever know it.

But it seems to me that there is principle position on return of
these territories to Azerbaijan. This position is held by Armenia as
well. Otherwise its situation becomes hopeless.

I think that the meeting that will be held on July 17, roughly
speaking, will be a deal on what Armenia will get in exchange of return
part of occupied lands to Azerbaijan. I think that opening the border
with Turkey is a vital issue for Armenia, but it is impossible to
insist on this during a meeting with Azerbaijani president and it is
not within the competence of Azerbaijan. It is not enough for Armenia
and they want to win something and in the Karabakh conflict. Most
likely, Sargsyan will insist on providing a temporary status of Nagorny
Karabakh (the shorter the period the better it will be for Armenians)
and the acceleration of the referendum on final status. If Sargsyan
insists on this position, then he can call himself a winner in the
eyes of the Armenian community.

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS KAREKIN II HAS THANKED THE RUSSIANORTHODOX CHURCH FOR ITS SUPPORT IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Interfax
July 15 2009
Russia

We note with gratitude the contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church
to the cause of the fair and peaceful settlement of the question of
Nagorno-Karabakh started by the late Patriarch Alexy II, the Armenian
spiritual leader said at a meeting with head of the Russian Orthodox
Church Patriarch Kirill in St. Daniel’s monastery in Moscow.

He expressed the readiness of the Armenian Church to continue lovingly
cooperating with the Russian Church for the sake of peace on earth
and the settlement of acute regional problems.

MOURNING FOR PLANE CRASH VICTIMS

Russia Today
July 17 2009

Iran and Armenia are mourning the victims of the Caspian Airlines
flight which crashed in northern Iran on Wednesday, killing all 168
on board.

The doomed flight’s black boxes have been recovered and could hold
clues to the cause of the tragedy that happened just 16 minutes into
the flight to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

Caspian Airlines are flying 54 relatives of the victims to Teheran
to help identify the dead. Some of the relatives are still coming to
terms with their loss.

"I still had hope yesterday that I would see my cousin again, but now
all hope has disappeared," Dina Sargisyan, a victim’s relative told RT.

24 year-old Sora Deravanesyan lost his father in the plane crash. His
father was a prominent figure in Armenia – the director of the local
branch of the Red Cross. Now, Sora has been left in charge of his
entire family.

"I came directly to the airport because my sister was waiting for
my father. Then I gathered my family, everybody had collapsed. I was
holding myself together, but really, I’m heartbroken," he confessed
to RT.

This was the sentiment echoed by many of those relatives of the crash
victims who were preparing to board a flight to Iran.

The national flags in the Armenian capital of Yerevan have been
lowered in a sign of national mourning and respect.

Meanwhile, the official investigation of the crash is still
underway. It remains unclear what caused the plane to nose dive in
a field in northwest Iran. However, according to some eyewitnesses,
one of the plane’s engines caught fire, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

Flight recorders from the aircraft have been recovered, but some are
said to have been badly damaged and it is, therefore, still not know
if they will shed any light on the tragedy.

ANCA: NAGORNO KARABAKH MUST BE A FULL AND EQUAL PARTICIPANT IN ALL ASPECTS OF PEACE PROCESS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.07.2009 11:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a letter addressed to US President Barrack Obama,
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian
expressed "profound disappointment" at the unreasonable pressure being
applied by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, which could threaten the
viability of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Minsk Group’s "heavy handed" approach to secure unilateral and
dangerous concessions by Armenians regarding the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict would "imperil the security of Armenia, the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic (NKR) and the Armenian people; increase the prospects of
renewed Azerbaijani aggression; and undermine the ability of the actual
parties to this conflict to reach a truly lasting and durable peace,"
says the release addressed to PanARMENIAN.Net.

Hachikian also calls for NKR’s Participation in Peace Negotiations. "As
a direct party to this conflict and the primary victim of Azerbaijan’s
aggression, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic must be a full and equal
participant in all aspects of the peace process," he noted. Similar
concerns were addressed in letters sent to French Ambassador to the
U.S. Pierre Vimont and Russian Federation Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR CONSTRUCTION FOLLOWS NORMAL COURSE, ARMENIAN PREMIER SAYS

ARKA
July 16, 2009

YEREVAN, July 16. /ARKA/. The construction of the North-South transport
corridor follows its normal course, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
told reporters.

"All the programs signed with the Asian Development Bank have been
approved. During his last visit, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
said that Georgia had reached an agreement with the bank as well. Our
delegation is to go to Georgia within the coming ten days to discuss
all the issues," he said.

An agreement on the construction of a
Yerevan-Gyumri-Akhaltsikhe-Shuakhevi-Batumi corridor was reached
during RA President Serzh Sarghsyan’s visit to Georgia on September
30-October 1, 2008. This section is part of the North-South corridor
running through Armenia as far as Meghri. The program provides for
an outlet to the Black Sea for Armenia.

"We have our Georgian partners’ political consent, a program and
necessary funding," Premier Sargsyan said.