Author: Jagharian Tania

OBAMA SCORES TRIUMPH

A1+
[12:55 pm] 05 November, 2008

The November 4 decisive election for the Americans and the whole
world ended with the glorious victory of the Democratic candidate.

Yerevan’s "Congress" hotel was overcrowded today morning. The invitees
of the US Embassy in Armenia had gathered at the hotel since 7:30 a.m.

Before the end of the vote, Republican candidate John McCain
congratulated Obama on victory after seeing the great difference
in votes. He also thanked all people voting for him. All Americans
living and working in Armenian could follow the historic moment on
live broadcast.

"Today marks the victory of the first African-American candidate
Barack Obama. It is really very important as forty years ago Americans
murdered Africans because of deeply-rooted race discrimination. Today
we have the first African-American president to win the White House,"
the first Secretary for the Political-Economic Department of the US
Embassy, Daniel Hastings said to A1+.

In reply to our question whether Obama’s victory implies the end of
the Iraqi war and whether the American troops will be withdrawn from
the country, Hastings said:

"Barack pledged to withdraw the troops within a year and to concentrate
more resources in Afghanistan. He also promised to reinforce ties
with our European partners. I think it is very important who will be
appointed the next foreign minister of the country."

To note that in reply our remark that Republicans also lose elections,
Armenian Republican MP Armen Ashotyan said: "I find Republicans’ defeat
as normal. If we ruled Armenia the way they did in the USA during
the last eight years, we would undoubtedly lose elections in Armenia."

YEREVAN, LONDON TO BRISK UP POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.10.2008 14:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Currently in London, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian met in London with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband to
discuss regional and international cooperation as well as Armenia-UK
relations, the RA MFA press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Armenia-UK relations have good potential, which should be used and
developed," the RA Minister said.

Touching on regional conflicts, Minister Nalbandian briefed on
Armenia’s position on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and voiced
hope that political will can help its resolution. He also presented
Armenia’s vision for normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

AZERBAIJAN: DEFENCE SECTOR MANAGEMENT AND REFORM

International Crisis Group
=5751&l=1
Oct 29 2008
Belgium

Azerbaijan wants to create a strong army to regain Nagorno-Karabakh
and seven adjacent districts, either by improving its negotiating
leverage with Armenia or going back to war. It has exponentially
increased its military budget, though it has not so far gained clear
superiority over Armenian forces. If the new military is to be not
only stronger but also better governed, however, it needs deep reforms
to make it less corrupt and personality driven, more transparent and
better directed. So far there has been insufficient political will
either to do the part that should involve increasing democratic and
civilian control or to break the habit of treating the army as above
all an instrument with which to protect elite interests.

A war in Nagorno-Karabakh is unlikely in the immediate
term. But in the longer term fragmented, divided,
accountable-to-no-one-but-the-president, un-trans­par­ent,
corrupt and internally feuding armed forces could all too easily be
sent off to fight to satisfy internal power struggles. A modern and
efficient army, even if subject to democratic, civilian control, is
not unproblematic while the Nagorno-Karabakh situation remains deeply
resented in the polity. However, the ability to hold the leadership
responsible for expenditures and policy priorities at least has the
potential to make the system more responsible and predictable. NATO,
which is helping with military reform, should enhance Azerbaijani
knowledge of peacekeeping and laws of war, and when possible facilitate
dialogue and contacts between the militaries of the two sides. The EU,
U.S. and Russia should also reinvigorate efforts to push the parties
to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The government’s pledge to significantly reform the military is part of
a stated goal of national modernisation and democratisation. Though the
presidential election on 15 October 2008 was technically improved, it
offered no genuine alternative to the incumbent. As democratisation has
stalled, so too have crucial parts of military reform. Thus, parliament
has failed to oversee military expenditure and has no authority to
summon power ministers, including the defence minister, to report on
their activities, but it is itself the product of flawed elections and
far from a truly democratic institution. Democratic improvements in
the military can contribute to national democratisation, but they are
unlikely to drive that process or advance in isolation. If Azerbaijan
is committed to thorough reform of the military, it will need to change
substantially in many other areas of government and society as well.

The defence reforms that have occurred have often been stimulated
by cooperation with NATO. Azerbaijan was one of the first former
Soviet countries to join the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program
in 1994. Especially the 2005 and 2008 Individual Partnership Action
Plans (IPAP) provide a blueprint for democratic control of the armed
forces, defence planning and budgeting, interoperability with NATO and
structural reorganisation according to NATO standards. Baku has often
dragged its feet in implementing IPAP-recommended reforms, however,
in part at least because it has no clear membership aspirations,
due to a foreign policy which seeks to balance interests with the
U.S., EU, Russia and Iran. Moscow’s August military intervention in
Georgia has further convinced it of the advantages of an ambiguous
policy and made it less ready to push forward with NATO integration.

Defence sector reform in Azerbaijan is an understudied subject, about
which little comprehensive analysis has been attempted. The bulk of
research has been carried out by a handful of journalists. The defence
sector remains one of the most secretive and non-transparent segments
of the government. Crisis Group was restricted in its own field work
by limited access to government sources, military personnel and
installations. By improving the dissemination of information, the
government could do more to dispel the doubts that arise regarding
the impact of its increased military spending.

If it indeed wishes to pursue a more efficient, NATO-standard military,
subject to more democratic civilian control and greater transparency
and accountability, the government should:

enhance the oversight capacities of the parliament, especially its
standing committee for defence and security and the audit chamber and
encourage parliamentarians to increase their knowledge about military
reform by organising regular training, work­shops and conferences;
improve public information on and participation in security sector
management by publishing the NATO IPAP documents, making it easier to
access information on military matters, and setting up a regularly
updated defence ministry website; increase civilian control in the
defence ministry; complete elaboration of a military doctrine and
conduct a strategic defence review; amend legislation and military
regulations in line with its international human rights commitments,
in particular by disallowing detention of service personnel without
proper trial, adopting a new law on alternative service and creating a
military ombudsman; and improve personnel management and training by
establishing efficient systems for payment and compensation, officer
rotation, reservist training and call-up systems, military education
and merit-based promotion.

In the meantime, NATO should carefully review its strategic purpose
in working with the militaries of Caucasus states, particularly
with respect to unresolved conflicts. It should focus its military
cooperation with Azerbaijan strictly on efforts to improve democratic,
civilian control of the armed forces and not move beyond the IPAP
while Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved. Especially the U.S. and the
EU should at the same time move resolution of that simmering conflict
much higher up their agendas and seek, in cooperation with Russia, to
put pressure on both Azer­baijan and Armenia to compromise in line
with the principles proposed by the Minsk Group of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

–Boundary_(ID_EhCYWA2ZUrsGSfZ29snQyw)–

THE US WILL CONTINUE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN THE KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PROCESS

armradio.am
28.10.2008 17:12

US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse declared that the US is ready
to continue the efforts targeted at the Karabakh conflict resolution.

"We are ready to participate in the process of settlement of the
Karabakh conflict and work with the OSCE Minsk Group counties to
search for ways of settlement of the issue," she told reporters today.

Anne Derse reminded that US Vice-President Richard Chaney noted
during his recent visit to Azerbaijan that today it’s necessary to
rapidly solve the Karabakh conflict. "As the Vice-President said,
the question has greatly sharpened and the necessity to solve it has
arisen after the Russian-Georgian conflict," Derse noted.

The American diplomat noted that the US has always been actively
participating and will continue participating in the Karabakh conflict
settlement process.

REPUBLICAN LEADER ADMITS DIVIDE INSIDE PARTY

Lragir.am
14:47:45 – 28/10/2008

The deputy leader of the Republican Party Razmik Zohrabyan hosted at
the Friday press club on October 28 made interesting statements about
the situation inside the Republican Party as he spoke about the post
of the leader of the Republican faction which is still vacant. Razmik
Zohrabyan said in answer to the question of reporters that remaining
vacant is not dangerous. According to him, there are different groups
inside the party which have different likes, and maybe the nomination
of the faction leader is delayed by reluctance to aggravate tension
among those groups.

Razmik Zohrabyan said the problem will be solved soon. According
to him, inside the Republican Party there are rightists, leftists,
centrists, like in every normal party. At the same time, however,
Zohrabyan admits that it will be the way the leader of the party
Serge Sargsyan will say. At least, Razmik Zohrabyan stated that he
will vote for the candidate whom Serge Sargsyan will nominate.

Razmik Zohrabyan said if he were to vote against the nomination of the
party leader, he would not be a member of the party now. In answer
to the question whether the controversies between the groups do not
indicate controversies between the teams of Andranik Margaryan and
Serge Sargsyan, Zohrabyan said the deceased prime minister and Serge
Sargsyan have always had good relations, till the end of the life
of Margaryan.

The party has 140 thousand people, and it is impossible that they
vote unanimously, there is always a small group which is against,
but on the whole the party does not deviate from its program, Razmik
Zohrabyan stated.

The reporters asked whether there is a question regarding which
Razmik Zohrabyan would not vote unambiguously for the proposal of the
party’s leader but would consider voting for or against it. Razmik
Zohrabyan said the proposals of the party leader are not just, they
are the result of serious discussion and consideration of different
opinions. In other words, it turns out that in the Republican Party
they first discuss then propose rather than propose then discuss.

National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: Weekend Edition
October 25, 2008 Saturday

Scholars Explore Lasting Judeo-Persian Culture

SCOTT SIMON, host:

Iran’s contempt for the state of Israel is perhaps the most strident
in the world. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingMahmoud Ahmadinejad, -Search using:
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once described Israel as a rotten, dried tree that will be annihilated
in one storm. Yet Iran has the largest Jewish population of any Muslim
country and a history that links the two nations. Centuries ago, when
the country was part of Babylonia, rabbis debated legal matters with
peers who practiced Zoroastrianism, the dominant faith in the
region. Today, Jews have an elected deputy in Iran’s parliament, and
they’re recognized as a religious minority under the country’s Islamic
constitution.

Next weekend, scholars will meet to further explore the history of
these men and women and their ancestors. "Iranian Jewry: From Past to
Present" is a conference hosted by the University of Maryland and the
Library of Congress. We’re joined by two professors who’ve helped
organize the event. Hayim Lapin is director of the Jewish studies
program at the University. Thanks very much for being with us.

Dr. HAYIM LAPIN (Director, Center for Jewish Studies, University of
Maryland): Thank you for having me.

SIMON: And Ahmad Karimi is director of Persian studies. Thank you very
much for being with us.

Dr. AHMAD KARIMI (Director, Center for Persian Studies, University of
Maryland): Thank you so much.

SIMON: And gentlemen, how far back does a Jewish community go anyway?

Dr. KARIMI: The best dating dates it about 27 centuries ago in the
Babylonian age. By the time Cyrus the Great invades Babylon, which is
near Baghdad today, he issues a proclamation that Iran is very proud
of, in which he recognizes the human rights of all the colonized
people as well as their freedom to practice their faith.

SIMON: Why have this conference now? What’s the urgency?

Dr. LAPIN: Less urgency than opportunity. Ahmad and I both are the
heads of programs that have an interest in expanding knowledge of a
long and rich culture. This is a diaspora community that has an
identity as Persian. They may be alienated from the present government
and the present state, the present republic, but Iranian Jews
frequently understand themselves as belonging in a Persian world.

SIMON: Professor Karimi, your background is in Persian literature. I
want to ask you about a phrase we noticed: The imagination, a
political agency.

Dr. KARIMI: Well, yeah, we have this scholarly jargon. But the process
of modernity affected not only the Muslim majority but all religious
minorities too. And so the Armenians and Jews, they were not as
anchored and steeped in the Muslim tradition as the majority, and so
they quickly rose to the position of agents of change. And this
imaginary of Iranian agents’ movement from the subjects of a king to
citizens of a country was aided by Armenians, kinds of Christians, and
Jews of Iran.

And so they it was who as a group went much more often than the Muslim
majority to places of education in Europe, such as, for example,
Istanbul, to Paris, London, Austria, and got back doctors and
engineers, and started the process of integrating into society. So the
way Iranian modernity was imagined was through the agency of
non-Muslim minorities, including Jews.

SIMON: I know that there are religious groups in Iran that are
discriminated against plenty. To what degree is the Jewish community
tolerated, merely tolerated, or accepted?

Dr. LAPIN: I would say for the most part tolerated. Occasionally there
are accusations within Iran at members of the Jewish community. The
most recent had to do with accusations of espionage for the state of
Israel. But by and large, the community is tolerated.

SIMON: I don’t want people to get the impression that this conference
is just a group of scholars, however distinguished, yammering away on
the topic. There is also some music. Izra Malakov’s Bukharian Jewish
Folklore Ensemble is going to have a concert. Let’s listen to a little
of their music.

(Soundbite of song by Izra Malakov’s Bukharian Jewish Folklore
Ensemble)

SIMON: What is the song about?

Dr. KARIMI: This is a wedding song. It started, like, congratulating
the groom and the bride. The dialect is Central Asian Persian. There
are some efforts to minimize the use of Persian. So music, because
it’s committed to memory, and especially in the diaspora places such
as New York where these performances are held, are preserved and
mingled with local musical tradition.

SIMON: Gentlemen, thank you both very much. Ahmad Karimi is director
of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian
Studies. Hayim Lapin is director of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish
Studies. They’re both professors at the University of Maryland in
College Park, and the school is co-hosting the conference November 1st
to 3rd.

Technology News Focus
October 22, 2008

Impeva Labs Joins Worldwide Focus on Armenian High Technology at
ArmTech ’08

Impeva Labs, Inc., the leading supplier of continuous global asset
visibility (tracking, tracing, monitoring and security), announced its
participation in ArmTech Congress ’08, to be held October 4-5, 2008,
at the Fairmont Hotel in Yerevan, Armenia. The company has a key
software engineering and technology development team in the Republic
of Armenia and has contributed to the event through the activities of
key executives – including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Tony Moroyan, who will deliver a keynote address. The Republic of
Armenia has adopted ArmTech ’08 as the official high technology
industry event of Armenia, and plenary speakers will include His
Excellency Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia,
and other high level officials from the Armenian government;
executives from operating corporations in Armenia; university
representatives; and counterparts from the U.S. and other
countries. For more information about ArmTech ’08 and Armenian
Technology Congress, please visit

"Impeva Labs’ extensive participation in ArmTech ’08 reflects our deep
commitment to Armenia as a center for world-class technology
development and its rising status as a destination for investment and
expansion," said Tony Moroyan, Chairman and CEO of Impeva
Labs. "Building on the success of the inaugural ArmTech ’07 in Silicon
Valley, we are eager to support this year’s conference in Armenia, and
confident that attendees will gain essential insights and information,
deepen their appreciation of the technology resources of Armenia, and
make valuable worldwide connections."

THE JAMESTOWN FOUNDATION HOLDS A DISCUSSION ON "ARE TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF?"

The Washington Daybook
October 15, 2008

LOCATION: The Jamestown Foundation, 1111 16 Street NW, Suite 320,
Washington, D.C.

CONTACT: 202-483-8888 [Note: RSVP required to [email protected]
with your name and affiliation.]

PARTICIPANTS: Jamestown Foundation President Glen Howard; European
Stability Initiative Senior Analyst Diba Nigar Goksel; Armen Kharazian,
Washington-based security consultant on the South Caucasus; and
Paul Goble, director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan
Diplomatic Academy in Baku

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION URGES GOVERNMENT TO "MITIGATE" EFFECTS OF WORLD CRISIS

Mediamax
October 16, 2008 Thursday
Armenia

Yerevan, 16 October: Oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) made
a statement, in which it demanded from the government taking measures
"to mitigate the consequences of the global financial crisis". Mediamax
reports that the statement of ANC, headed by Ex-President of Armenia
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, reads that "by its inaction and absence of
corresponding measures, the government contributes to deepening of
the approaching crisis and shocks".

The opposition demanded from the government realizing a number of
measures, among which:

"CB [Central Bank] should introduce a ban for construction recrediting
by commercial banks and a 100 per cent reservation of such credits";

"The government and the CB should announce about ruling out any
limitations, related to return of deposits, at least, in cases,
when the term of the deposit has not expired";

"The government and CB should guarantee 100 per cent return of
shares, issued by ‘ArmRosGazprom’ and ‘Vallex Group’ Companies by
means of IPOs. At the same time, they should ban realization of new
IPOs without the government’s participation;

"CB should lift all limitations concerning money transfers systems";

"CB should take upon itself the responsibility to secure in the course
of the coming 6 months the exchange rate of the national currency
within the limits, established together with the government".

KEENE STATE GENOCIDE AWARENESS LECTURE: ‘GENOCIDES IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE’

Targeted News Service
October 20, 2008 Monday 7:47 AM EST

Keene State College issued the following news release:

Professor Donald Bloxham will give Keene State College Cohen Center for
Holocaust Studies’ 2nd Annual Genocide Awareness Lecture: "Genocides
in Comparative Perspective: Does the Holocaust Fit?" on Monday,
October 27. The lecture is free and open to the public and will
start at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room of Keene State College’s
L. P. Young Student Center.

An expert in Holocaust and genocide studies, with focused work on
the Armenian genocide, Bloxham is professor of modern history at
the University of Edinburgh and has authored nearly 50 articles and
book chapters. He is co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of
Genocide and serves on the editorial board of the journals Holocaust
Studies, Patterns of Prejudice, and the Journal of Genocide Research.

Professor Bloxham was the 2007-08 J. B. and Maurice C. Shapiro
Senior Scholar-in-Residence at the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, where he completed his forthcoming book, The Final Solution:
A Genocide and Its Contexts. He is the recipient of the 2007 Raphael
Lemkin Award for genocide scholarship.

The Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, recognized as a "center of
excellence" by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, has a strong
collection of print and media resources, holds a biennial residential
summer institute for educators, and supports a minor in Holocaust
studies at Keene State College.

One of the nation’s oldest Holocaust resource centers, it is a
nonsectarian organization dedicated to teaching the lessons of the
Holocaust. It fulfills founder Dr. Charles Hildebrandt’s charge,
"to remember … and to teach," through annual community programming
and educational outreach activities.

For a schedule of workshops, in-service training, classroom
presentations, and individual curriculum consultations, visit
For more information, contact Margaret Barney,
[email protected], or call the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies
at 603-358-2490.