Author: Hunanian Jack

"THE LIBERATED TERRITORIES ARE NOT SUBJECT TO SURRENDER"

/10/14/karen-abrahamyan
12:32 pm | October 14, 2009

An NKR serviceman does not trust the protection of his homeland and
family to anyone.

"Look! You can see my house from here. We have already experienced the
tides of war. We sleep under Azerbaijan’s bombarding every day. We
don’t need the help of peaceful forces," says Karen Abrahamian,
Lieutenant-Colonel of the NKR Defense Army.

Karen Abrahamian says Azerbaijan’s military announcements pursue
political goals but "if Azerbaijan were sure to win the country would
have taken military actions long ago."

The fifteen years of the ceasefire regime proved that Karabakhi lands
belong to Karabakhi people. "I can only trust the protection of my
homeland and family to my friends and me. We need no one’s support
in this sense."

NKR Army doesn’t take the allegations on territorial surrender
seriously.

"The lands liberated at the price of blood cannot be ceded," says
the Lieutenant-Colonel.

NKR serviceman David Eghiazarian says Azerbaijan’s announcements
raise the fighting spirit of Karabakhi soldiers.

"It is a great honour for me to serve my homeland," he said.

SWEDEN, TURKEY AND CROATIA OUT; FRANCE, PORTUGAL FACE WORLD CUP PLAYOFF
Andrew Lawn – AHN Sports Correspondent

HN
October 14, 2009 5:41 p.m. EST

Lars Lagerback’s long reign as Sweden manager came to a disappointing
end on Wednesday when his side became one of a number of high profile
World Cup casualties.

Sweden, beat Albania 4-1, however Portugal’s 4-0 win over Malta
condemned them to elimination.

Portugal celebrated, despite finishing runners-up to group 1 winners
Denmark, forcing them into the playoffs will be deemed, by many,
a failure.

Group 2 saw Switzerland confirm its place in South Africa with a 0-0
home draw with Israel.

That result coupled with Greece’s 2-1 win over Luxembourg, saw Israel
and Latvia knocked out, with the Greeks going into the play-offs.

Slovakia delighted their fans by topping Group 3 and sailing into
the World Cup.

Neighbours Slovenia will join them if they can continue their
impressive form of beating sides with bigger reputations.

Its second place finish sees the Czech Republic and Poland’s World
Cup hopes extinguished.

Group 4 had been wrapped up on Saturday when Germany went to Russia
and won 1-0, seeing the visitors off to South Africa, while the hosts
enter the playoffs.

Spain wrapped up group 5 along time before Wednesday, winning all 10
of its matches.

Bosnia go into the playoffs despite being trounced 5-2 by Spain,
and Turkey beating Armenia in a game which meant more than qualifying
points to the respective nations.

England were another side who had long sealed their place in next
summer;s tournament, and wrapped up group 6 with a 3-0 home win
over Belarus.

Ukraine pipped Croatia to the playoff spot, seeing England’s former
victors becoming the victims.

Group 7 saw another shock as Serbia travel to South Africa as group
winners while former world champions France will go into the playoffs.

Current world champions Italy will defend their crown next summer
after topping group 8.

The Republic of Ireland finished second to claim their playoff place.

The Neth alify having won group 9 with matches to spare.

Norway finished second, but are unlucky in that they are the worst
second place side out of all 9 groups and are thus eliminated.

The draw for the World Cup Finals groups take place in Cape Town
in December.

ARMENIA’S CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM TO BE BROUGHT INTO LINE WITH EUROPEAN STANDARDS

armradio.am
14.10.2009 15:25

Reforms will be implemented in the civil service system of Armenia
within the framework of Armenia-EU cooperation.

During today’s sitting chaired by Secretary of the National Security
Council Arthur Baghdasaryan, members of the interdepartmental
commission decided to work out a program of reforms corresponding to
EU standards.

The program aims to bring the Armenian civil service system into
line with those of EU member states, create a network of cooperation,
develop new mechanisms and frameworks of cooperation.

The commission decided to complete the development of the program by
June 2010.

PROBLEMS OF CUSTOMS LEGISLATION IN IT SECTOR WILL BE PARTIALLY SOLVED BY FEBRUARY 2010 – UITE

ARKA
Oct 14, 2009

YEREVAN, October 14. /ARKA/. Problems of customs legislation in
IT sector will be partially solved by February 2010, said Karen
Vardanyan, Executive Director of Union of Information Technologies
(UITE) to the journalists of ARKA.

He said that by the assignment of the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran
Sargsyan a decision on the assistance of development of information
technologies was carried out on July 30 about the creation of working
group consisting of the representatives of IT sector and State Income
Committee.

He said that the main task of the working group which starts working
from the next week is the discussion of implementation of proposals
by the representatives of IT sector and the Government a month ago
which is related to reformulation of tax and customs legislation.

UITE and representatives of IT sector developed a package of customs
reforms, the aim of which is risk reduction in customs sector.

Representatives of IT sector think that there are four main issues –
problems of import, export, re-export and change of equipment.

"In fact we move into new phase of problem solving with State Income
Committee", said Vardanyan.

All problems will be sorted out by their priority, implementation
opportunities and impact on the situation in general. For finding
more optimal ways of problem solving, round tables and working meeting
will be conducted during which certain proposals will be developed.

He said that the most precise decision will be elimination of problems
related to export of goods of double assignment as the whole IT
production is going under this category.

"Today for exporting such products which requires engineering and
intellectual decision, we need about one month and significant
resources which brings to the loss of compatibility of Armenia in
the market", said Vardanyan. Such problems are already solved in
many countries and their experience can help Armenia to overcome the
obstacles and develop Armenia as an IT country. "By February positions
will be formulated regarding the main problems. Moreover, we plan that
some of them will be already solved before it", said Vardanyan.

STANDARDS OF ARMENIAN CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM TO BE MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH EUROPEAN STANDARDS

ARMENPRESS
Oct 14, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS: Within the framework of Armenia-EU
cooperation reforms in the civil service system in Armenia will be
carried out. At the session of the inter-departmental task group
chaired by the Secretary of Armenian National Security Council Arthur
Baghdasaryan it was decided to develop program of reforms relevant
to EU standards.

Press office of the National Security Council told Armenpress that
the goal of the program is to harmonize the system of the EU member
states and Armenian civil service, form cooperation network, develop
new mechanisms of cooperation.

Arthur Baghdasaryan noted that the reforms suppose development and
adoption of training concept and book of ethical rules for civil
servants, improvement of mechanisms of accepting for work in the
system.

At the session it was decided to finish the works on development of
program of reforms by June 2010.

THE MAIN PROBLEM

Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Common sense eventually prevailed and Republican People’s Party,
or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal accepted a request from Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and extended an invitation to the premier
for a tete-a-tete meeting at the CHP headquarters sometime next
week. Finally, the CHP has taken a constructive step rather than
insisting on stubbornness or aggressiveness, a characteristic that
has become synonymous with the leadership style of Baykal.

The CHP leader not only invited Erdogan to a tete-a-tete meeting
at the CHP headquarters but asked him to have the meeting in front
of cameras and the broadcast of the discussion on a mutually agreed
channel at a mutually agreed date so that the nation could learn what
was discussed and avoid a second controversial "Dolmabahce concord."

So far, Erdogan has not replied to the recorded meeting request
of Baykal, yet he welcomed the meeting invitation. Although it was
clear from Baykal’s letter that the CHP remained skeptical of the
government’s opening intentions and most likely will not cooperate with
it, it was good that Baykal has agreed to invite the premier to the
CHP headquarters and listen from the mouth of the horse, as they say,
what indeed are the intentions and plans of the government. Would
Erdogan reveal such details at a recorded meeting, is of course
another problem.

An interesting poll

However, it is obvious that the nation is very much confused
on the opening intentions of the government. A public opinion
poll conducted by the Eurasia Public Opinion Research Center, or
AKAM, clearly demonstrated the opening rhetoric of the Justice and
Development Party, or AKP, government could not stop the erosion in
the popularity of the ruling party that dipped to 38 percent in the
March local polls from the 47 percent level the party received in
the July 2007 parliamentary elections.

According to the AKAM public opinion poll, which was conducted
through face-to-face i vinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa,
Kocaeli, Edirne, Van, Erzurum, Å~^anlıurfa and Diyarbakır with
a total 2,150 people, only 30 percent of the interviewed said they
would vote for the AKP if elections were to be held this weekend. The
CHP, which received 23 percent of the votes in the March local polls
has apparently increased its public support to around 25.3 percent,
while support for the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, was at 14.5
percent level. 5.2 percent said they would support the Democratic
Society Party, or DTP, while the Islamist Saadet, or Felicity Party,
received backing from 4.5 percent, the far right Great Unity Party,
or BBP, was supported by 2.2 percent and the Democrat Party, or DP,
was backed by two percent. These results, while they are nothing more
than a public opinion poll and might not be indicative of what might
be the political picture after the next elections as at present there
is no election in the horizon yet, still are indicative of the public
trend and obviously demonstrate that erosion in the AKP popularity
is continuing.

That was the widespread expectation anyhow. Many people were
already stressing that the Kurdish move, or democracy opening, of the
government might produce a very heavy price for the AKP in the western
and central Anatolian provinces and some modest gains in the east and
southeast. It is obvious that AKP needs to undertake a more serious
effort to explain itself and its openings to the Turkish people,
because even if it still remains the biggest party, a 30 percent or
less electoral support cannot bring it to power alone.

Since we mentioned the AKAM poll, let’s continue with the main
theme of that poll. AKAM did not try to measure the public support
for parties. Rather, it wanted to identify the main problems of
the country. According to AKAM poll, neither the Kurdish opening,
the Armenia protocols or even the Cyprus problem were considered by
the public as the main problem of the country. For understandable
reasons, and I sincerely hope the CHP, which claims to be a social
democrat party, will take this poll very seriously, 29 percent of the
polled group defined unemployment as Turkey’s most important problem,
while 27 percent said economy. That is 56 percent of Turks listed
economic hardships and unemployment as the most important problem
of today’s Turkey. Only 17 percent listed the Kurdish issue and 11
percent listed education while 48.5 percent said they agreed that the
Turkish judiciary was under political pressure. 38 percent said the
so-called Ergenekon investigation and trials were part of a political
vendetta campaign.

What is indeed Turkey’s main problem?

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE THREE-HOUR DELAY

Asbarez
hat-happened-during-the-three-hour-delay/
Oct 12th, 2009

ZURICH (DPA)-There was a three-hour delay to the signing of the
Turkey-Armenia protocols on Saturday and diplomats were shuttling back
and forth frantically to salvage what appeared to be a threatened deal
– but in the end Armenia and Turkey were finally able to sit down and
sign a deal that paves the way for full diplomatic and trade relations.

"We knew this was not going to be a walk in the park," said one Western
diplomat, two hours after the signing ceremony in Zurich was supposed
to have begun.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to work, using her phones,
running between buildings and rooms and forcing motorcades to
do U-turns. Along with Swiss diplomats, she was eager to solve
eleventh-hour disputes over language in speeches for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the other guests – including Sergei Lavrov and Bernard
Kouchner, the Russian and French foreign ministers – were sitting
together, watching the World Cup qualification football match between
Germany and Russia, and missing their flights.

For the Swiss, who mediated the talks and now wanted to host a historic
signing of diplomatic ties between countries with generations of
animosity towards each other, it became a turbulent ride.

But the Alpine diplomatic efforts paid off, being backed by the
muscle and commitment of the US. Clinton even drove the Armenian
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian to the University of Zurich,
where the signing was to take place, pushing him to compromise.

After more negotiations at the university, the sides agreed: Cancel
the speeches, sign the papers and move on. And so it was.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey made the briefest of
introductions, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Nalbandian
of Armenia inked the appropriate places, hands were shaken, a few hugs,
some smiles and everyone ran for their planes.

"There were several times when I said to all of the parties involved
that this is too important, that this has to be seen through. You
have come too far, all of the work that has gone into the protocols,
you know, should not be walked away from," Clinton recalled on her
plane from Zurich to London.

The protocols call for the renewal of diplomatic ties, opening of
the common border and establishment of a historical commission to
investigate the Armenian Genocide, but for a time diplomats worried
they would not be signed.

The Armenians opposed Turkish language in the speech that would have
connected the ratification of the protocols by the Turkish parliament
to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict favoring Turkey’s
ally Azerbaijan.

In the West the issues are seen as separate but connected.

"Progress on one will help elicit further progress on the other,"
said one Western official. The deals are "separate, but moving forward
at the same time."

The Turks too were unhappy, even if to a lesser extent, about language
that referred to "historical events."

Turkish officials claimed the compromise to skip the speeches as their
own, with one diplomat saying: "We want to get the process moving."

Questions still hung heavy in the humid Zurich air after the
signing. The two countries could not deliver speeches side by side
and still required the world’s top diplomats to work overtime for
signatures on documents agreed to weeks in advance.

The road ahead is not smooth, even if a major hurdle has been
passed. It is now up for the two parliaments to ratify the deals,
leading to open borders within two months.

YEREVAN HOSTS FROM WATER TO MARKET EXHIBITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.10.2009 14:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ‘From Water to Market’ exhibition opened in Congress
Hotel, Yerevan, on October 13.

The opening ceremony was attended by Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan
and U.S. Ambassador to RA Marie L. Yovanovitch, who said that her
country will continue contributing to development of agriculture
in Armenia.

CEASEFIRE REGIME VIOLATED

ceasefire
06:22 pm | October 12, 2009

Official

According to the NKR Defense Ministry, the ceasefire regime was
violated on some sections of the contact line between Karabakhi and
Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the night of October 10 and on October 12.

The enemy opened fire in the direction of Horadiz, Ashagh Abdurahmanli,
Chakhrl, Mehdili, Yusufdzhanlu, Marzili, Saridzhanlu, Seysulan,
Djraberd, Levonarkh Namirli, Yarmdzhan and Talish.

The enemy retired after the NKR Defense Army took retaliatory actions.

At the same time, the NKR Defense Ministry refutes Azerbaijan’s
allegation that the Armenian side wounded an Azerbaijani serviceman
near Fizuli after breaching the ceasefire on October 11.

"This is another lie by the Azerbaijani side,"said the NKR Defense
Ministry.

Tigran Balayan: `A breakthrough has been registered in the
normalization process of Armenian-Turkish relations’

ZURICH, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS: `Quite important step, we might say a
breakthrough, has been registered in the normalization process of
Armenian-Turkish relations,’ spokesman for the Armenian foreign
minister Tigran Balayan said, assessing the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols October 10 in Zurich. He highlighted the
support of the international community to the process. `I particularly
want to note the presence of the foreign ministers of member-states of
the UN Security Council, Secretary General of the Council of the
European Union, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe which testifies about the support the international
community is giving to the process. We highly assess the support of
partners and friends,’ he said.
As to the delay of the signing for several hours, Tigran Balayan
pointed out that in the oral speech of the Turkish side there were
certain inadmissible definitions for the Armenian side and after
negotiations is was decided not to make any oral speeches.